Following the first day of Call of Duty: Black Ops – Cold War's new ranked mode, League Play, players are starting to suspect that its ranking system isn't hitting the mark. Several Cold War pros report that they've been placed in the bottom-tier Competitor ranking following their five placement matches.
Normally, I wouldn't lend much credence to your average player proclaiming that they've been given a lower rank than they deserve, but I raise an eyebrow at any system in which I can outrank a pro. As spotted by the Twitter account CDL Intel, a few pro players are expressing disbelief at their official ranking following an impressive performance.
Here's Joseph "Owakening" Conley of the Flordia Mutineers and Adam "Assault" Garcia of the Los Angeles Guerillas reacting to their new Competitor designations.
I really had a 10 kd just to get put into the competitor division. hahaFebruary 9, 2021
Just had 10k score in my last placement game and got placed in competitor ✌️February 9, 2021
According to Treyarch, that would place them in the bottom 50 percent of Cold War players in League Play. Unless Assault and Owakening conned their ways onto professional esports teams and the jig is finally up, it's probably safe to assume that Cold War's ranking system has some kinks to work out.
As expected, most other pros that have shared their results are placing into the top-tier Master (top 2 percent) and subsequent Elite brackets (top 15 percent). That sounds a lot more reasonable.
Treyarch studio design director David Vonderhaar fielded player feedback on Twitter this morning and was asked directly about Owakening's surprisingly low rank. "I don't know. Will need to trace the games. Might be legit. Might be a bug," he said.
I don't know. Will need to trace the games. Might be legit. Might be a bug.February 9, 2021
Vonderharr is looking to collect more data before jumping to conclusions about Cold War's placement system. In response to one player who said their rank didn't match their sibling's, Vonderharr said, "The more examples like this we get the more we can dig down and be sure things aren't broken."
If there is a bug affecting rankings, it'll likely be fixed after not long. For now, though, it's funny that by Cold War standards I'm currently on the same level as pros who could wipe the floor with me. I'll try to enjoy it while it lasts.
