Call of Duty League: What Is Going to Replace Domination?
In recent Call of Duty News, popular Call of Duty League leaker CDL Intel unveiled that their sources had heard of a meeting taking place between the league and players, discussing if Domination should be removed as one of the three game modes for competitive play.
With the possibility of Domination being ousted from competition, much to the delight of viewers and players, there are a few options the CDL can take when it comes to reworking the structure of a typical series.
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#1 - An Extra Hardpoint
A standard best-of-five series contains two Hardpoint matches, two Search & Destroy matches and a third mode in the middle of the series often known as the “swing game.” If Domination is out, the likelihood of seeing a third Hardpoint match added is high considering the lack of alternative game modes that will be viable for competition.
Last season saw the introduction of Control, a mode resembling Attack/Defend from Overwatch. The objective was simple, each team had a total of 30 lives with one team attempting to capture two objectives while the other defended them. A round was one when both zones were captured or one of the teams ran out of lives.
#2 - Capture the Flag
Click to enlargeWhen Domination was first announced as the third game mode for the Modern Warfare season, several professional players attempted to find an alternative to the game mode that is often dull to watch.
Once Capture the Flag arrived into Modern Warfare as a limited-time mode, players jumped into a custom game immediately to see if it would be a viable alternative to Domination as the third game mode.
Due to the current team structure being 5v5 and the map design being less than ideal for competition, players ruled out the potential return of CTF to Call of Duty esports leaving Domination to be tuned in such a way for it to be deemed appropriate for competition.
#3 - Control?
The addition of Control for Black Ops 4 was a breath of fresh air and provided several memorable moments throughout the duration of the season. But why would Control be a better choice than Domination?
The spawns. Control only had two or three main spawn points making them easy to predict when attempting an aggressive play. Mid-way through the Modern Warfare cycle and spawns are still just as bad as when the game released back in October. There have been several instances of a player spawning on the opposite side of the map despite a team having control of two flags and are keeping well away from the remaining flag in order to maintain a spawn trap.
Control would eliminate the questionable spawns, fixing the locations to three different areas of a map, providing some much-needed balance.
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Will A Change Happen?
It is great to see the CDL and players co-operating on such matters but as the season reaches the halfway stage, the only change likely to happen is an additional Hardpoint game replacing Domination. This decision would be a shame to an extent. Call of Duty esports stands out from the pack, with players having to master three game modes and adapt to a brand-new title every single season but given the current state of Modern Warfare, dropping Domination for an extra Hardpoint is certainly better than no change at all.
Why It Should Remain
If recent Domination matches are to go by, then it certainly has a place in the current competitive setting. At the Florida Home Series, we saw the Toronto Ultra take Gun Runner Domination by a single point against OpTic Gaming Los Angeles in one of the most competitive Domination matches ever seen.
If there was an in-game option to enable a team to surrender when the game becomes mathematically impossible, it would certainly make it much more bearable rather than having to watch the remainder of the game which will do nothing to influence the result.
Who Will Benefit Most?
All the teams are pretty even when it comes to Domination due to the unpredictable spawns that can turn a game on its head. It'll favour the teams with more of an AR presence on the team but the real winner will be you, the viewers, because it can be insufferable to watch at times.
Stay tuned here at GGRecon for more Call of Duty League news and features.
Images via Activision
