League play is coming to Black Ops Cold War per an announcement from Treyarch. Here are the details.

League play has been a major request from the Call of Duty community and is coming to the game during Season 1. Confirmed via the official Call of Duty Twitter, we should now be seeing League Play in the coming weeks.

The mode is expected to drop before February 23, which is the last day of Season 1. A huge update is coming February 4, bringing a new Zombies map and remastered Multiplayer map, Express. Considering the large update is slated for release then, we could very well see League Play drop with it.

Welcome to #BlackOpsColdWar Season One: Reloaded.

The biggest year in Black Ops continues with new maps, modes, weaponry, and more. pic.twitter.com/YUpBCGLT0h

— Call of Duty (@CallofDuty) January 14, 2021

What is League Play?

League Play is a competitive playlist with an aggressive skill matching system. Players will compete in game modes with restrictions to weapons, perks, and attachments in line with the official Call of Duty League ruleset.

Game modes are also adjusted to custom rulesets, and maps are restricted to a custom map pool, voted on by the Call of Duty League professional players. This is the ultimate mode to play like the pros.

What to expect

If Black Ops Cold War’s League Play is a traditional Call of Duty League Play, we should be expecting several rank tiers, with a seasonal reset system. Each season, players should have a variety of ranks to progress through by winning games.

• Read More: Black Ops Cold War & Warzone Season One Reloaded: Express, League Play, more

If Black Ops Cold War follows the Black Ops 4 formula, you will progress through skill ranks by obtaining gems from game wins. As you collect gems, your skill rank will increase. Black Ops 4’s league play was heavily debated amongst players due to it having a gem cap each day. Hopefully, Black Ops Cold War will change this system a bit if they choose to use it.

In the best-case scenario, we could also receive exclusive rewards for progressing through the league play ranks. This could be in the form of tiered character skins, weapon camos, or calling cards. This may be wishful thinking, but it is worth noting that Advanced Warfare’s ranked playlist did have custom exo-suits for the skill divisions, so it could very well happen in another Call of Duty game.

For now, we’ll have to wait for official communication from Treyarch for more info. Stay tuned.

The Call of Duty League has officially confirmed the start date for the competition’s second season, announcing the Kickoff Classic in late January, and the Opening Weekend Home Series in February.

A new year means a new competitive season in Call of Duty, and after weeks of speculation, Activision Blizzard have finally confirmed details for Black Ops Cold War’s first two competitive events.

Coming off the back of a successful first season for the franchised competition, the Call of Duty League will host a celebratory pre-season event to mark the one year anniversary of 2020’s Minnesota event, before heading into proper league action two weeks later.

Call of Duty League Kickoff Classic

The CDL’s 2021 season gets underway on January 23-24, with a special pre-season event titled the Kickoff Classic. The special broadcast will celebrate the one year anniversary of the competition’s Launch Weekend in Minnesota.

• Read More: BOCW CDL ruleset updated with Raid & tactical rifle bans

Fans will have a major say in the match-ups we see at the Kickoff Classic, as avid CDL viewers can vote and choose the opponents of the top-three regular season teams to determine who they’ll square off against.

There are some tasty possible match-ups, with Clayster given the chance to face his former team Dallas Empire, while OpTic Chicago’s first match could be against the L.A Thieves. You can view all the options below.

• 2020 CDL Champions Dallas Empire: New York Subliners, Paris Legion, London Royal Ravens
• Atlanta FaZe: Florida Mutineers, Los Angeles Guerrillas, Seattle Surge
• OpTic Chicago (formerly Chicago Huntsmen): LA Thieves, Minnesota RØKKR, Toronto Ultra 

Teams who don’t win their poll will still compete at the Kickoff Classic, so even if your favorite team doesn’t finish first in their poll, you’ll still see them in action.

CDL Atlanta FaZe Home Series Opening Weekend

Just three weeks later, the 2021 Call of Duty League will officially kick-off, with Atlanta FaZe set to host the Opening Weekend Home Series from February 11-14. Like most Home Series in 2020, the first event of the 2021 season will take place online.

During the Kickoff Classic, the CDL will feature a “unique Group Selection Draw Show,” which see a “special snake draft format [that] will allow teams to select the team that will be placed in its next-ranked opponents group.”

This means Dallas Empire will be able to select Atlanta FaZe’s first Group B opponent and will continue down the order of teams based on their 2020 CDL positions.

More details about the draw format and the Atlanta FaZe Home Series will be made available in the near future, along with additional season format details, the full 2021 schedule, and information about prizing.

The CDL ruleset for Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War has been updated on January 7 with the latest bans including on tactical rifles and an update to the map pool

The new CDL ruleset, released on the Call of Duty League website, has been shared as the start of the new season gets closer.

The new update replaces existing maps in the rotation with Raid, the new fan favorite remake that arrived in Season One in December. And, the CDL team has banned all Tactical Rifles from use in the CDL.

Here’s the updates, made on January 7 to the rules:

• Map & Modes List
  • Hardpoint: Added Raid and removed Cartel
  • Search & Destroy: Added Raid and removed Crossroads
  • Control: Added Raid and removed Moscow
• Restricted Items
  • Added Tactical Rifles:
    • Type 63
    • M16
    • AUG
    • DMR 14

This update introduces the ban of all Tactical Rifles in the game (due to their high power and time to kill at range), while also adding Raid as a playable map to all gamemodes.

Since DLC maps in Black Ops Cold War are free, we may also see other remastered maps make it into the competitive ruleset. We’ll update you if there are any further changes.

Players interested in understanding the full rules in the Call of Duty League can see the competitive rule set on the CDL website.

Image Credits: Activision