Scump explains why Warzone “just is not” a competitive game

Liam Mackay

Appearing on the OpTic Podcast, professional Call of Duty player Seth ‘Scump’ Abner explained why he believes that Warzone isn’t a competitive game in its current state.

Competitive Warzone tournaments usually take place in one of two formats – 2v2 kill races, or best games out of a set amount of time. Competitive Warzone players aren’t actually playing against each other to see who is best, they’re seeing who can beat up the most casual players.

Competitive Fortnite and Apex Legends have all of the players in the same match, but private lobbies only recently made their way to Warzone so the game hasn’t quite hit that stage yet.

In a round-table discussion with HECZ, Envoy, Hitch, and BigTymeR, Scump discussed the competitive Warzone’s many flaws, such as reverse boosting and stream snipers.

Warzone is “just not” competitive

“As much as I love Warzone, and would love for it to be competitive, it’s just not,” said Scump on December 29’s OpTic Podcast.

Gameplay in Warzone's Verdansk stadium

“The tournaments are competitive because everyone in the tournament is really, really good,” he went on to say. Some of the best Warzone players in the world such as Huskers and Aydan play in these tournaments. “But there’s so much left to chance … it’s literally RNG.”

The problem isn’t exclusive to Warzone, everything in a battle royale game is dictated by chance. What weapons you get from the ground, the server’s connection, and the skill of the other players all contribute to your success.

“There are so many loopholes and ways you can work the system,” he went on to explain. “With skill-based [matchmaking] layered on top of that, that just adds another loophole.” Players are also known to switch regions to get easier lobbies, and tank their stats before a tournament to avoid skill-based matchmaking.

Discussion begins at 11:27

Scump also believes they should scrap the ‘best five games’ format because they’re not competitive at all. “It’s literally, are you getting good lobbies, are you getting stream sniped?” At least in 2v2s, you’re in the same lobby.

“I love Warzone, so I don’t want people to think I don’t love Warzone and want it to succeed,” he clarified. “But those tournaments man….”

The CDL tested out pitting pros against each other in 2020, so we’re yet to see how competitive Warzone will evolve in the future.

Image Credit: Activision

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