The Call of Duty League 2021 season is already heating up as a return to 4v4 play was just announced. In a short clip on Twitter, the CDL revealed that in 2021, with Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War, competitive play will be 4v4 instead of 5v5. A return to traditional roots is what the community has been asking for and Activision was able to deliver. While 5v5 was an interesting idea, it simply never panned out for the competitive scene. However, the experiment is now over and 4v4 is back in Call of Duty esports.
Call of Duty League returns to 4v4 for 2021
This was the rumor all along, as it was well-documented how disliked 5v5 play was. There were simply too many players on the map, and strategy was essentially thrown out of the window these past two years. Also, it made the viewing experience quite hectic and unfulfilling.
𝚂𝚎𝚊𝚜𝚘𝚗 𝟸 𝙸𝚗𝚝𝚎𝚕 pic.twitter.com/EhO1uK6wde
— Call of Duty League (@CODLeague) August 31, 2020
Thankfully, Activision came to its senses and had Treyarch design Black Ops Cold War for 4v4 play. While this is great news for 2021, it does come with some consequences. Now that only four players can start on a Call of Duty League roster, 12 starters from this previous year will need to be dropped.
While some starters could move to the bench, that won’t be the case for most. It’s likely we’ll see mass hysteria once certain players get dropped. For example, if the reigning champion Dallas Empire drops Indervir “iLLeY” Dhaliwal, teams will claw at the bit to pick him up. However, this means whoever signs iLLeY will need to drop an additional player, and the cycle would continue.
imagine winning champs and next day you gotta decide who gets dropped
— Surge Arcitys (@Arcitys) August 31, 2020
Many in the community are hoping that this announcement means more expansion teams are coming to the CDL. This would give those 12 dropped starters more of a chance of landing another starting spot on another roster. There have been rumors that Rise Nation and 100 Thieves could be in the mix for an expansion spot, but nothing is confirmed.
At the core, this is terrific news for the Call of Duty League. However, Free Agency will be one of the most hectic times in the series’ history.
Make sure to stay tuned to Daily Esports for all CDL news.
