Warzone’s meta is finally balanced but Vanguard guns still come out on top
After weeks of the NZ-41 dominating Warzone, Season 4 Reloaded’s buffs and nerfs have brought the top weapons’ pick rates in line. However, Vanguard guns are still much more popular than Modern Warfare and Cold War’s.
Vanguard’s weapons hit Warzone alongside Caldera in December 2021, and immediately became the meta picks. Players have been desperate for old Modern Warfare and Cold War favorites to re-enter the meta, and the devs buffed some of these weapons in Season 4 Reloaded.
This has led to one of the more balanced metas we’ve seen in a long time as players can’t decide which weapon is best, but it’s clear that Vanguard weapons are still the overall favorites.
WZ Ranked’s data proves that the NZ-41 and Marco 5 had been leagues ahead of the other weapons in terms of popularity ever since the end of June. However, their popularity takes a sharp dip with July 27’s Season 4 Reloaded update.
Now, the popularity rates are closer than they have been for weeks, with Modern Warfare’s Kilo 141 closely behind the NZ-41. Plus, the Marco 5 is no longer the most popular SMG, with the H4 Blixen overtaking it.
We’ll need to wait to see how the rest of the season pans out, but with the NZ-41’s popularity falling and the KG M40 rising, we could see a new meta Assault Rifle take over the rest of the season.
However, while the pick rates of the top weapons are extremely close, Vanguard’s weapons still dominate overall.
As we can see in the graph from WZ Ranked’s data, Cold War weapons are only picked 15% of the time, while Modern Warfare’s are slightly more popular with 28%. Although taking a dip with the launch of Season 4 Reloaded, Vanguard guns are still picked almost 60% of the time.
This shows a major difference between the different game’s weapons and proves that while Modern Warfare weapons are powerful again, the majority of players are still taking Vanguard weapons into Warzone.
How the meta will continue to evolve will be anyone’s guess, but Warzone 2 arrives later this year and will only include the weapons from Modern Warfare 2.
Image Credit: Activision / WZ Ranked