Modern Warfare 2 CDL expert reveals pro tips to dominate Ranked Play Hardpoint

Liam Mackay
modern warfare 2 ranked player sniping from cover

You’ll need to master Hardpoint to dominate Modern Warfare 2’s Ranked Play and climb through the Skill Divisions, and expert OpTic Rambo has revealed three top tips to dominate.

Although Call of Duty is simple in concept, there are a lot of strategies used by pro players to dominate the CDL and Modern Warfare 2’s Ranked Play. As you grind through the Skill Divisions to earn the rewards on offer, you’ll quickly learn that shooting straight with the best loadouts won’t be enough.

Raymond “Rambo” Lussier, General Manager and former Head Coach for CDL team OpTic Texas, has revealed some top tips that pro players use to dominate the Hardpoint mode in Modern Warfare 2’s Ranked Play.

Learn Ranked Play Hardpoint spawns & how to take advantage

Showing gameplay from CDL superstar Anthony “OpTic Shotzzy” Cuevas-Castro, Rambo explained how “pushing up on the map” towards the enemy’s spawn creates “favorable engagements” in Ranked Play’s Hardpoint.

Moving away from the Hardpoint and positioning yourself in the “focal point where the spawn is” can block spawns for the enemy team, forcing them to spawn in a way that makes defending the objective much easier for your team.

Spread out when breaking Hardpoint hills in Ranked Play

Similar to defending Hardpoint objectives, spreading out on the map can make breaking hills much easier in Modern Warfare 2‘s Ranked Play.

This lets you hit the Hardpoint from every single lane and getting the break forces the enemy team to spawn out which is “really what you’re trying to accomplish when you’re breaking hills.”

Use Trophies & Tactical Equipment in Hardpoint

Trophy Systems and Tactical Equipment are vital to defending and breaking hills, and OpTic Rambo reinforced their importance in Modern Warfare 2 Ranked Play Hardpoint.

“Your team has eight combined grenades and stuns and the Trophies can only withstand three of each,” he explained. “Using them at all times and breaking hills is really going to make it much easier for you to get into your enemy lines.”


Executing these three strategies should up your Hardpoint game in Modern Warfare 2 Ranked Play, letting you control the map while breaking and defending hills with ease.

For more Modern Warfare 2, be sure to check out our other guides:

Best guns in Modern Warfare 2 | Best Assault Rifles in Modern Warfare 2 | Best audio settings for Modern Warfare 2 | Best SMGs in Modern Warfare 2 | Best controller settings for Modern Warfare 2 | Best PC settings for Modern Warfare 2

Image Credit: Activision

About The Author

Liam is CharlieIntel's Editor. After graduating in Journalism from Edinburgh Napier University, Liam made use of his passion for FPS games, including Call of Duty, by writing for sites such as The Nerd Stash, Red Bull Gaming, and GAMINGbible before joining CharlieIntel in November 2020. You can contact Liam at [email protected].