All players & teams that won a Call of Duty World Championship

The 2023 Call of Duty League Championship Weekend is over, and four new players have etched their names in COD’s history books.

Everything changed for Call of Duty fans following the 2019 CWL Championships, with the esport moving to a franchised model that saw 12 teams purchase a place in the newly-minted Call of Duty League.

Since then, the end-of-year spectacle has undergone several different formats and iterations, but one thing has remained the same: every player in the CDL wants to get their hands on that trophy and their championship rings.

There have now been 11 crowning world championship events in Call of Duty, dating back to 2013’s Black Ops 2 when Karma, KiLLa, Parasite, and Mirx dominated the competition and became all-time CoD greats. Fast forward to 2023, and while those players have long since retired, a new batch of players are joining the elite club following New York Subliners’ dominant victory over Toronto Ultra.

All players to win a Call of Duty World Championship

30 competitors have earned a Call of Duty world championship ring, and nine legends have multiple championships to their name. Karma, Crimsix, and Clayster lead all challengers, winning three world championships each.

This list of players has already cemented their COD legacy:

1. Karma (3)
2. Crimsix (3)
3. Clayster (3)
4. ACHES (2)
5. JKap (2)
6. Apathy (2)
7. Simp (2)
8. aBeZy (2)
9. Arcitys (2)
10. KiLLa
11. MiRx
12. TeePee
13. Crowder
14. John
15. Scump
16. FormaL
17. SiLLY
18. Prestinni
19. Huke
20. Shotzzy
21. iLLeY
22. Cellium
23. Octane
24. Envoy
25. Kenny
26. Drazah
27. Assault
28. SlasheR
29. Attach
30. Parasite
31. HyDra
32. Priestahh
33. KiSMET
34. Skyz

All teams to win a Call of Duty World Championship

There have been two dynasties in COD history, but no organization has ever won back-to-back World Championships. ACHES, TeePee, Crimsix, alongside Clayster, and eventually Karma, formed the first dynasty in Call of Duty esports under the CompLexity and Evil Geniuses banners.

The decorated group won 13 offline tournaments in two years and recorded 16 top-four finishes. And then over a two-year time frame, OpTic Gaming, with the key figures of Scump, FormaL, and Crimsix, alongside Nadeshot (briefly) and Karma, won 18 offline tournaments and placed top four 28 times.

Despite going on dominant runs, both dynasties only won one World Championship.

Here is a year-by-year recap of every World Championship winner.

Year/Title	Team	Roster
2013 / Black Ops 2	Fariko Impact	KiLLa, MirX, Parasite, Karma
2014 / Ghosts	Complexity	Aches, TeePee, Crimsix, Karma
2015 / Advanced Warfare	Denial	Clayster, JKap, Attach, Crowder
2016 / Black Ops 3	EnVy	JKap, SlasheR, John, Apathy
2017 / Infinite Warfare	OpTic Gaming	Scump, FormaL, Crimsix, Karma
2018 / World War 2	Evil Geniuses	Aches, Apathy, SiLLy, Assault
2019 / Black Ops 4	eUnited	Clayster, Arcitys, Prestinni, Simp, aBeZy
2020 / Modern Warfare	Dallas Empire	Crimsix, Clayster, Shotzzy, Huke, iLLeY
2021 / Cold War	Atlanta FaZe	Simp, aBeZy, Arcitys, Cellium
2022 / Vanguard	LA Thieves	Envoy, Octane, Kenny, Drazah
2023 / Modern Warfare II	New York Subliners	HyDra, KiSMET, Skyz, Priestahh

Who misses out?

There are not that many noticeable absences from this list, given the fact that the overwhelming majority of big names have, at some point, won a championship.

There are several top players who failed to win CoD Champs, both retired and active. The likes of Nadeshot, ZooMaa, Dashy, and Gunless are all names that arguably had all the makings of world champions — be it insane individual ability, dominant teams, or even a mix of both.

Nadeshot will no doubt have been happy to see his LA Thieves win it all in 2022, but the likes of Dashy will definitely still be waiting in the wings to earn the ring that seems inevitable.

That’s everything you need to know about the storied Call of Duty World Champions list. For more, check out the rest of our CDL coverage.