Call of Duty League announces new competitive ruleset for 2020 season

The inaugural Call of Duty League season is set to kick off on January 24 in Minnesota, and Activision has released an updated ruleset that changes the playing field just one week out from the first slate of matches.

Professional players have been hard at work practicing in Modern Warfare ahead of the first CDL matchups in Minnesota, yet just a few days out from taking to the stage, a new competitive ruleset has been revealed.

From the removal of certain maps across a number of competitive game modes to the restriction of various weapons and perks, a wide array of changes have been introduced on short notice.

The first iteration of the Call of Duty League ruleset was revealed on October 29, 2019 and outlined exactly which maps, modes, weapons, and equipment were to be included in competitive play. A number of updates have been released since then, with version 1.5 of the competitive settings being outlined in a January 14 post.

Most notably, a number of maps have been pulled from certain game types. Rammaza has been taken out of Hardpoint, Azhir Cave and Hackney Yard have been pulled from Search & Destroy, while St. Petrograd has been removed from Domination.

• Read more: Modern Warfare Jan 14 patch notes: new Gunfight mode & playlist update

Additionally, a number of loadouts have been impacted by the update as certain weapons, attachments, perks, and equipment have been restricted by the latest ruleset update. For instance, the FAL and MK2 Carbine have been outright removed from competitive play, while the Hardline perk has also been restricted.

The full list of changes are as follows:

Map Pool

• Hardpoint
  • REMOVING: Arklov Peak
  • Map Pool: Rammaza, Azhir Cave, Gun Runner, Hackney Yard, St. Petrograd
• Search & Destroy
  • REMOVING: Azhir Cave, Hackney Yard
  • Map Pool: Arklov Peak, Gun Runner, Piccadilly, Rammaza, St. Petrograd
• Domination
  • REMOVING: Rammaza
  • Map Pool: Gun Runner, Hackney Yard, St. Petrograd

New Restricted Items

• Primary Weapons
  • Assault Rifles
    • FAL
  • Marksman Rifles (All)
    • EBR-14
    • MK2 Carbine
    • Kar98k
• Attachments
  • Laser (All)
    • 1mW Laser
    • 5mW Laser
    • Tac Laser
  • Perks
    • Frangible – Disabling
• Perks
  • Perk 1
    • Quick Fix
  • Perk 2
    • Hardline
• Equipment
  • Tactical
    • Decoy Grenades

All Modes

• Player Settings
  • Weapon Mounting set to DISABLED
• Gameplay Settings
  • Battle Chatter set to DISABLED
  • Announcer Dialogue set to ENABLED

Hardpoint

• Team Setting “Weapon Ping on Compass” set to ENABLED

Are these updates locked in place?

While the latest ruleset comes directly from the CDL website, Optic Gaming Los Angeles coach Jonathan ‘Pacman’ Tucker has disputed the most recent changes.

In a thread featuring a number of veteran players, Seattle Surge’s Damon ‘Karma’ Barlow expressed concern, and stated the updated ruleset “has to be wrong.”

• Read more: London Royal Ravens announce massive CDL challengers event

“It is,” Pacman responded, indicating that the latest set of changes might not be set in stone and that further updates could be on the way ahead of the Call of Duty League’s historic first matchups on January 24.

Update: The original January 14 Call of Duty League blog post featured incorrect changes to the map pool. It is unclear whether all mistakes have no been remedied or if another change is set to be released in the near future. The latest version of the ruleset has been outlined above to reflect the most recent adjustments.

Just days ago, a major development altered the format of competition and shifted to a new points-based system for the 2020 season, so it certainly seems as though much of the league will remain a work in progress.