Scump’s best AK-74u class for Black Ops Cold War multiplayer

Joe Craven
Scump and AK-74u on Moscow map from Black Ops Cold War

Seth ‘Scump’ Abner, veteran CoD pro for OpTic Chicago, has shared his competitive AK-74u class setup as the powerful submachine gun continues to lead the way in Black Ops Cold War’s meta. 

With Treyarch’s latest Call of Duty instalment approaching a couple of months old, the meta is cementing itself as the second CDL season approaches.

As such, we are seeing which weapons we can expect pros to use and, unlike last year’s rather predictable M4A1 and MP5 dominance, there appears to be some early variety in weapons. The MP5 and AK-74u are dominating the SMG picks, while the XM4, Krig-6 and AK-47 are all popular choices among AR players.

Scump, as a historic SMG star, has been primarily running the AK-74u in OpTic Chicago’s early scrimmages. During a recent stream, the King gave us a look at the attachments he’s running for competitive play.

With Black Ops Cold War inheriting Modern Warfare’s Gunsmith system, there is an incredible amount of choice in terms of attachments. Thankfully, pros like Scump give casual players an idea of the best attachments to run.

Scump's AK-74u loadout in BOCW's GUnsmith
Scump’s AK-74u loadout.

Scump’s AK-74u loadout for competitive Black Ops Cold War

  • Muzzle: Spetsnaz Compensator
  • Barrel: 9.3″ Extended
  • Underbarrel: Spetsnaz Speedgrip
  • Stock: GRU Elastic Wrap
  • Handle: KGB Skeletal Stock

The Spetsnaz Compensator gives a 12% improvement in terms of vertical recoil control, but loses 8% control over horizontal recoil. However, the loss of horizontal recoil control from the muzzle is negated somewhat by the Spetsnaz Speedgrip, which also improves sprinting speed, allowing Scump to move around the map as quickly as possible. In pro matches, reaching a certain head-glitch or power position before an enemy can easily make or break a hardpoint.

The 9.3″ Extended barrel offers a 40% improvement in bullet velocity, enhancing the AK-74u’s already impressive bullet speed. Next up, the GRU Elastic Wrap essentially combines the benefits of the Dropshot Tape and the Spetsnaz Field Grip, offering flinch resistance, a reduction in ADS time and the ability to dropshot. However, reductions to shooting movement speed and and sprint to fire time are the penalties to pay.

Finally, the KGB Skeletal Stock massively boosts sprint to fire time (30%) and aim walking movement speed (40%). The only price to pay is a reduction in hipfire accuracy.

As you can see, Scump’s AK-74u massively improves many aspects of the gun. One weakness is the 30-round ammo capacity, which has been left alone in the attachments. Given the gun’s fairly fast reload time though, it’s a moderately small price to pay.

We can expect to see Scump rocking this AK-74u class in scrims for the time being, and the CDL season when it launches in 2021. That is, barring any serious nerfs from Treyarch.

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About The Author

Joe is a former writer for Dexerto, who focused on Call of Duty, FIFA, Apex Legends and Rainbow Six Siege.