Verdansk’s Containment Protocol hit a startling new level as of yesterday, as areas where zombie hordes marched through became heavily contaminated with toxic fumes. This in turn made these areas Corrupted Zones: deadly points of interest where death turns an Operator undead.

Warzone was already a fight for survival – now, it’s a war for the right to remain among the living.

Whether you drop in to fend off both elite Operators and the undead in Warzone or Black Ops Cold War, you’ll reap the rewards of a Triple-Double Event this weekend. From now until April 19, you’ll receive Double XP, Double Weapon XP, and Double Battle Pass progression to help you finish out Season Two strong… and hopefully, not as one of the horde.

With that said, there’s no time to waste – let’s level up.

This Week’s Featured Operators

Season Two is ending soon, so we of course have to show off Naga and his sinister “Warlord” Skin, unlocked at Tier 100 of this season’s Battle Pass.

Haven’t unlocked this incredible skin yet? You’re in luck. As we mentioned, there’s a Triple-Double Weekend going on, making it easier to climb up those Tiers to earn this awesome Operator Skin, the Operator Mission that goes along with it, and plenty of other incredible rewards.

As for the other featured Operator, we have the Toronto Ultra Primary jersey on the official Call of Duty League Operator to celebrate the team’s incredible victory over Atlanta FaZe in the Stage II Major. As one of the underdogs of the tournament, the Toronto Ultra made an incredible loser’s bracket run to hand Atlanta FaZe their second loss of the season.

Needless to say, their performance was one to watch back for sure, and that doesn’t even scratch the surface of the exciting moments that happened last weekend.

For now, you can pick up the Toronto Ultra’s Team Pack in the Black Ops Cold War or Warzone Store to jump on their bandwagon – or grab the other 11 Team Packs available – and watch back last weekend’s event here on the league’s official YouTube channel.

Stage III of the Call of Duty League is set to begin next weekend, so be sure to pick up your Team Pack before then and rep your favorite squad in game!

Top Tip – Warzone’s Corruption Zones Explained

After weeks of undead hordes taking over various points of interest around Verdansk, they have settled in at the Gora Dam with every mutation ready to hold the line. On top of this stronghold, previous points of interest have started to emit toxic gas, which adds an additional layer of strategy and lethality to the already deadly Battle Royale.

This is what you need to know about these lethal locales, and what happens should you perish within them:

Navigating Through the Corruption Zone

When travelling through Verdansk or when viewing it on your Tac Map, you may see an area that has its own miniature gas circle outside the main Circle Collapse. This is known as a Corruption Zone.

Just like the Circle Collapse, entering a Corruption Zone without a Gas Mask will cause your Operator to start gasping for air as their health and armor chip away until they are downed and, ultimately, eliminated.

If we left the description at that, your strategy around them would be simple: avoid them like you would other areas in the Circle Collapse. Of course, there is a massive reward to come with the risk of travelling through a Corruption Zone.

First, you’ll find plenty of Gas Masks within a Corruption Zone, most likely left behind by Operators who perished before. These can be used to prolong your search through the zone, or to help you escape with your life intact.

In addition to a Gas Mask stockpile, Corruption Zones also contain high amounts of Epic and Legendary items, along with Rare Supply Boxes. Those looking to build a loadout for survival have some serious incentives to travel through here.

Of course, this means you may not be the only Operator looking to bolster your arsenal. It may be a good idea to come here after the whole squad has their custom loadout or a powerful setup from items gathered around Verdansk, in addition to a Gas Mask to enter the area without taking damage.

Life After Undeath

When an Operator perishes in the Corruption Zone, their fate is sealed all the same: they return to Verdansk as a zombie, ready to feast on the living with supernatural powers.

If you recall the nightmares of October during the Haunting of Verdansk, you may be familiar with how to play as a zombie. If not, here are five quick tips for becoming an effective member of the undead army.

1. Undead Fortitude

A zombie resists the Circle Collapse completely, allowing players to move about Verdansk freely. Just like using this collapse with a Gas Mask, consider using it to rotate around the map and pick off Operators trying to escape it.

2. It Must Be the Decomposing Feet!

Zombies also do not suffer from fall damage, which works well with one of their active abilities: Charged Jump. The longer you hold down the command to make a Charged Jump, the further and higher you’ll jump. Use it to close the distance between yourself and an Operator, especially snipers who think they are safe on high rooftops.

3.No Weapons? No Problem

The undead don’t have enough coordination to handle a weapon, but they do have access to deadly melee attacks. Swipe early and often against an Operator. One hit will not be enough to bring them down, so take advantage of your quick melee speed to hit multiple body shots quickly.

4. EMP and Gas Explosions – Deadly Utility

Besides Charged Jump, zombies have access to an EMP Blast – which temporarily disables electronic devices like Proximity Mines, vehicles, and optics – and Gas Grenades, which function similar to the Tactical Equipment by the same name. Both of these blasts project directly out of your zombified Operator, so try and close the distance first before activating one of these.

5. Strength in the Horde

Like any good zombie afficionado knows, the undead are the most powerful in hordes. Try working with fellow zombified Operators to swarm living teams, or cause a nuisance by becoming a “third party” to an active engagement.

Gunsmith Blueprint of the Week

During the previous weekend, a new Mastercraft weapon became available that’s fit for the ongoing undead apocalypse in Warzone: the “Mortal Anguish” Weapon Blueprint, found in the “Hellscream Mastercraft” Store bundle.

As-is, this Mastercraft is frighteningly good. The attachments here are great for a silent sniper who wants to fire on the move and isn’t afraid of trying to hit the occasional no-scope.

However, with the new Gunsmith Customs feature in Black Ops Cold War, we created a version of this sniper rifle that plays to this weapon’s strength of having the best handling speeds in its class. With an epic quad feed and plenty of high-elimination games under our belts while testing it, we present the following custom Blueprint, which we recommend for Black Ops Cold War Multiplayer.

Our goal here was to bring the Aim Down Sight (ADS) speed of this weapon to its absolute minimum while also maximizing damage potential, which are two key components of kitting a sniper rifle for aggressive play. We achieved this by putting on an Airborne Elastic Wrap, which offers the greatest ADS buff out of all Handle attachments, and the Tiger Team Barrel, which increases our one-shot elimination potential on the body to the upper shoulders, boosts the rate of fire and bullet velocity, and even quickens the reload speed.

That’s great to have with our 7 Rnd Magazine, which we kept from the original Mastercraft, as we need it to boost to our ammo stockpile without ruining our ADS speed. Speaking of speed, the back of the weapon has a Marathon Pad to help our Sprint to Fire speed, another necessity for a sniper that will be running and gunning. A Raider Stock could work as well, but it does hurt Hip Fire Accuracy more and obscures part of this weapon’s awesome design.

For the last attachment, we considered a Steady Aim Laser for its boost to Hip Fire Accuracy and lack of ADS penalty, as well as a Flash Hider Muzzle to remain under the radar outside of a few meters. At the end of our testing, we went with the Patrol Grip, since it complemented our fast-paced playstyle the best with its slight buff to Sprinting Movement Speed.

All combined, this kits the sniper rifle for some extremely aggressive play. When using this custom build, be sure to push often, stay quick with those scope-ins, and above all else, hit your shots.

Execute the mission.

For more information on Call of Duty®: Black Ops Cold War, check out: www.callofduty.com, www.youtube.com/callofduty and follow @Treyarch, @RavenSoftware, and @CallofDuty on Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook. 

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