Modern Warfare 2 Ranked Play wishlist: 4 must-have features

Luca Di Marzo
Modern Warfare 2 Ranked Play CDL skins

With Modern Warfare 2 Ranked Play right around the corner, now’s the perfect time to put together a wishlist of four must-have features that the competitive mode desperately needs.

Treyarch are hard at work applying the finishing touches on Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 Ranked Play. The competitive mode is slated to arrive sometime in 2023 and fans of the CDL are desperate for it to be a January release.

With hype for Ranked Play building throughout the Call of Duty community and CDL’s Major 2 on the horizon, now’s a great time to put together our wishlist. Here are four must-have features that we’d love to see in Modern Warfare 2 Ranked Play.

Ranked Play preset classes & loadouts

Modern Warfare 2 offers a ton of customization from Tuning attachments to building your own Perk Package. For a competitive mode to thrive, players should be on equal footing when it comes to the weapons and tools at their disposal.

For this reason, preset Ranked Play classes and loadouts would be a welcome feature in Modern Warfare 2. It would simplify the process of creating complex classes, tuned to perfection for each scenario.

Not all players who hop into Ranked Play matches are fully aware of the meta weapons and attachments. Therefore, simplifying the selection headache with several preset loadouts would allow for in-game skill to dictate your ranking above all else.

Optimized & accurate ranking system

Black Ops Cold War Ranked Play ranks divisions

A fully optimized ranking system is the backbone of any Ranked Play or competitive mode. The way in which players gain ELO is extremely important, as is the amount lost and gained with every match.

While wins and losses should form the basis of how much ELO is dished out or lost, they must not act as the be-all and end-all. In other words, your individual performance should also weigh in the balance. Were you the team’s top slayer? Did you throw yourself at the objective repeatedly? These factors should absolutely come into play alongside the outcome of the match.

Vanguard’s ranking system was a solid offering, but it was far from perfect. Countless CDL pros were left baffled at their initial ranking following their placement matches. If the system is unable to properly rank players from the get-go, it’ll lead to issues later on with unbalanced matches.

Ranked Play Solo playlist

Solo players deserve a Solo playlist in Modern Warfare 2’s Ranked Play mode. Getting steamrolled by a party of four whose callouts, communication, and teamwork eviscerates the level playing field that the ranked system provides is very unpleasant.

There’s nothing wrong with playing with friends and four stacks should be allowed to team up and play together. However, creating a Solo playlist would allow those who don’t have that luxury to continue to enjoy their Ranked Play matches.

Restricting players from partying up as was the case at the start of CoD: WWII Ranked Play is not the solution. Ultimately, restricting players is bad and providing more options is great, simple as that.

Grind-worthy Ranked Play rewards

Vanguard Ranked Play rewards

I don’t think anyone would call Vanguard’s Ranked Play rewards “grind-worthy.” Even CDL-obsessed players who enjoy competitive modes require some incentives to keep coming back to the Ranked Play experience.

Modern Warfare 2 has the perfect opportunity to up the ante and blow Vanguard’s Ranked Play rewards out of the water. A couple of lackluster camos aren’t going to cut it. Delivering worthwhile rewards that refresh with each Ranked Play season will encourage players to climb the ladder consistently.

Unique weapon blueprints and full-blown competitive Operator skins are just two examples of possible rewards. Utilizing Call of Duty’s rich history as a franchise would also work to perfection. Call of Duty players love to bask in nostalgia and throwback items like Modern Warfare 2 (2009) Prestige emblems or iconic camos would light a blaze under most players.


When Treyarch reveals specific details of Modern Warfare 2’s upcoming Ranked Play mode, we’ll be sure to share that with you.

For more, check out our ranking of every map in Modern Warfare 2 and the best controller settings to use in Season 1 Reloaded.

Image Credit: Activision