As Season Four Reloaded begins its first weekend, the 2021 Call of Duty League season continues its final stage before its Championship event.

In other words, it’s a great time to be a Call of Duty fan and get into the competitive spirit, which this edition of the Prestige Primer is all about.

Let’s level up:

This Week’s Featured Operators – Call of Duty League Champs Tickets on Sale Now*

After the New York Subliners Home Series, featuring their live OMGNYSLBBQ that saw hundreds show up in support of their hometown team, we’re continuing our “full send” into talking about the Call of Duty League within the Prestige Primer.

That starts with our first featured Operator, Karla “Rivas” of NATO, who has “The Boss” Operator Skin to rep the league proudly. It’s part of the Call of Duty League Midseason Pack, which also includes an assault rifle Weapon Blueprint, two Calling Cards, two Emblems and four Stickers, all of which are perfectly themed for this hot summer pack.

Our other Operator is the official Call of Duty League Operator in the Minnesota Røkkr’s Home Uniform. The Røkkr host their Home Series this weekend, and it’s already shaping up to be a do-or-die event for Stage V and Playoffs seeding.

The host Røkkr are the middle of the pack both in their Stage V group and for Championship seeding. Realistically, they are fighting to keep the #6 seed at the 2021 Call of Duty League Championship Weekend, and their final gauntlet to hold onto it involves a strong finish through Stage V.

Be sure to tune into the T-Mobile 5G Weekly Drop that will end the weekend on July 18, as the Røkkr will look to topple the Dallas Empire for another 10 crucial CDL Points.

The rest of Stage V all leads up to the 2021 Call of Duty League Championship Weekend, where the top-eight teams from the regular season standings will play in one final event for $2.5 million in prizing and the glory that comes with being Call of Duty League Champions.

Want to see what could be the most epic moment in Call of Duty esports to come for yourself? You’re in luck; tickets are going on sale* for the event, which will take place at the Galen Center in Los Angeles, California from August 19 through August 22. Get your tickets now by clicking this text, or by pressing the “CDL Champs” button at the top of the page!

Top Tip – How to Earn “Pro Issue” Weapon Blueprints in League Play

Season Four Reloaded is a full clip’s worth of content across Warzone^TM and Black Ops Cold War, from the new game mode Payload to the incredible “Mauer Der Toten” Zombies experience which we covered here.

One bullet point you may have found in our extensive blog was the announcement  of new CDL-themed Weapon Blueprints and cosmetic rewards in League Play.

Based on the official Call of Duty League ruleset and map rotation, League Play is where you can play like the pros and earn the right to call yourself a Master of competitive Call of Duty.

League Play serves as the official place to get some competitive practice in before your local tournament or online Challengers Cups, and Treyarch has already added a selection of Weapon Charms, Emblems, and Stickers at the start of Season Four for Event Ladder placements. And now, coming shortly after the launch of Season Four Reloaded, there will be three Legendary Weapon Blueprints and a whole host of new cosmetic items and XP bonuses to unlock along with them.

Of course, these tips are for those already familiar with League Play – if you aren’t, Treyarch has a great breakdown of the mode here.

But for those who know their way around the regular ruleset, here’s how you can unlock those upcoming Weapon Blueprints in Season Four Reloaded:

Unlocking “Pro Issue” Weapon Blueprints – Win Requirements

Just by earning wins in League Play after Season Four Reloaded kicks off, you can earn three Legendary-rarity “Pro Issue” Weapon Blueprints. These unique weapons all have a custom Call of Duty League design and are pre-configured with “meta” attachments for Multiplayer and League Play, allowing you to throw them into your Loadouts as-is and show them off in the lobby.

We’re calling them by their main roles in the competitive scene – the main Pistol, Assault Rifle, and SMG – which fans already know by heart after the season so far.

Click through to see what these three weapons are and their specific unlock requirements:

Five Tips for More League Play Wins

1. Learn the Maps and Modes. Within League Play, you’ll be playing Search & Destroy – AKA S&D – Hardpoint, and Control on a specific map set. Knowing where the objectives are on each map, where teams will initially spawn in, and the various paths and sightlines around each map are a big part of winning games before gun skill comes into play. You’ll learn them over time as you play, but if you want a more casual way of practicing, try loading up a Private Match with friends or bots (A.I.) with these settings.

2. Know Your Role. Usually, the pros fall into either an “AR” role with the Krig 6, or an “SMG” role with the AK-74u. Knowing not only which weapon you’re better with, but also that particular weapon’s strengths and weaknesses (which we cover in our Gunsmith Weapon Blueprints of the Week section), will help you avoid engagements that can easily turn into losing battles.

3. Play Your Life. In modes where your lives aren’t unlimited – S&D and Control – it can be easy for a squad to lose a round via the numbers game; there is a reason why we love when the underdog wins a 1v4 situation, as most often, the solo player gets overwhelmed and falls. So, as the pros say, “Play Your Life;” when your squad has no more respawns in Control or it’s just you and a single squadmate in S&D, patient play could pay more dividends than reckless attacks. With that said, always keep your mind on the objective, as the Operator who sits and waits for a fight away from it is just asking for a “ninja defuse” – when the defending team in S&D sneakily defuses the bomb without the attacking team even noticing.

4. Listen-In and Communicate Often. Hitting your shots and knowing your routes are two key skills for being the best competitive player in the world, but none of that matters if you can’t be the best competitive squadmate in the world. Call of Duty League pros live and die by “comms,” communicating with their squadmates on where their enemies are and how much health they have (e.g. “he’s one-shot,” when this may or may not be true.

5. Watch the Pros. Yes, this tip really helps – by watching the Call of Duty League, you’re essentially learning about these maps from the best of the best. Whether it’s being reminded of the previous four tips by seeing them in action or learning about new power positions or routes to objectives, you’re getting a masterclass in high-level Call of Duty. Watch, learn, and maybe become a fan in the process.

Gunsmith Weapon Blueprints of the Week

Rather than modify these awesome new “Pro Issue” Blueprints, let’s talk about what each one does in the competitive meta.

Even without these Weapon Blueprints, these three weapons and the attachments shown are considered the foundations for a pro-level League Play loadout. Here’s how you can use them effectively in League Play and Multiplayer:

Pro Issue Pistol

This secondary weapon is often switched out by pros once they find an enemy’s AK-74u or Krig 6 on the ground, as primaries are often preferred to sidearms in competitive games.

Still, this pistol holds its own as a burst-fire sidearm capable of eliminating foes in one burst, often done within less than a dozen meters. Outside of that, it can be great suppressing fire to ward off foes, if your primary weapon is out of ammo or is reloading, and as a means of faster movement, since its movement speed is among the fastest in the game.

If you watched the Call of Duty League last weekend, you saw this in action during the MTN DEW Game Fuel Marquee Match, as in the initial Hardpoint on Moscow, this pistol was used by several Optic Chicago players when they initially spawned in to get to hills faster before they swapped back to their Primary Weapon. It was also used to lay down suppressing fire to prevent the New York Subliners from running straight from the first Hardpoint to the second one.

Again, this is not the weapon you want as your primary means of attack, but when that primary weapon runs dry and no other squadmates are around, it might just be your saving grace.

Pro Issue Assault Rifle

The Krig 6 is the main assault rifle used by pro league players, an accurate rifle that can “beam” targets at mid-to-long ranges.

By design, the Krig 6 has an effective range of 50 meters, which covers most, if not all, sightlines on competitive maps. That means out to that range, it deals 35 damage per bullet at a steady fire rate; if every shot hits, your target goes down in less than 4/10ths of a second.

“If every shot hits” is the key phrase there; Krig 6 users often contend with the weapon’s fire rate, the slowest out of the three weapons, making follow up shots harder to put down range. Thankfully, the weapon’s recoil pattern is predictable and manageable, and it’s known for consistency so long as the user behind it can keep its kick down.

The “Pro Issue Krig 6” comes with five attachments, but more often than not, “AR” role players use the Gunfighter Wildcard to add a Muzzle Brake 5.56 (for recoil control) and an Optic (for a better sight picture). We recommend doing this if you can, especially if you are struggling with the weapon’s vertical recoil.

Krig 6 users are known for locking down sightlines and defending objectives at a distance. Play to this weapon’s strong points, and you’ll keep those SMG users at bay all game long.

Pro Issue SMG

It’s the SMG player’s bread-and-butter known for being the king of close-quarters engagements within the competitive meta.

The AK-74u has a very small effective damage range – less than eight meters – but boasts 42 points of damage per shot and a better fire rate than the Krig 6. Even past its effective range, it can do well at a distance, just not as well as the Krig 6.

Its recoil pattern is also arguably tougher to handle than the Krig 6, but with enough practice, you’ll learn how it kicks up and to the right at first, then jumps back left after the first six bullets, then back to the right as you expend its full clip. In other words, it demands more of you than the Krig 6, but can reward you with eliminations as quick as you’ll have to be out in the field.

As an SMG player, your game is all about speed and dexterity; a few missed shots can be forgiven if you strafe (move from side to side) or change your stance profile often. This is to prevent you from being taken out by those Krig 6 players who will lock down sightlines.

Few are more dangerous in the League Play lobby than an AK-74u user who has the hands fast enough to bob and weave while in gunfights. If you think you have what it takes to play aggressively and be the first one into the fight, pick one up and never stop ego challenging.

So, which weapon will you choose in League Play as you start your journey to 100 wins and unlocking all three “Pro Issue” Weapon Blueprints later in the season? If you need some advice and some role models, tune into the Minnesota Røkkr Home Series this weekend, and above all else, don’t forget to pick up those 2021 Call of Duty League Championship Weekend tickets*.

Execute the mission.

* Event attendance shall be subject to any local public health, venue or other event restrictions and guidelines.

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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