Call of Duty: Black Ops 2 - League Play Tips and Strategies
League Play
If you've read that other article of mine, you'll know that I have something of an issue with how League Play runs in BO2. My article: Call of Duty: Black Ops 2 - League Play is Broken! has been read over 500 times in just under a month, and it details how I think that League Play was not presented or created well enough to be useful to Joe Average (or SlydeDraco, for that matter), but to be used and useful only to the e-Sporting community. If it was intended for "the rest of us", it has failed, in my humble opinion!
However, just because I feel it has the potential for growth does not mean that I think it is a failure, entirely. Au contraire, mes amis! I still play League Play, and have found a few things that make the tough going just a little more bearable. I rage quit far less often, now! ;-)
Tip #1: Relax!
Seriously! It's just a game, not life, right? OK, so you take your gaming seriously. So do I! And sometimes I get a little aggravated and tend to overreact to the situation. Then my girlfriend hurls at me all of the stupid things I always say when I am getting frustrated with the game ("As if!" , "WTF?!?", "That's ridiculous/ridonkulous!"). Usually, that will make me stop, take stock of what I am doing, and have a good laugh at my own expense!
Sometimes - and I ONLY recommend this if you are of age! - I will have a beer or some other alcoholic drink while gaming. As I am of an age where it is OK for me to do so, I find that this will sometimes relax me, and I can enjoy my gaming a little more. But if you are under the age of majority in your region, stick to chocolate or something like that. It can have pleasant mood-altering effects as well!
Tip #2: Never Game Alone!
If you have a slew of friends online, or even if you only have a clutch of friends, get a few of them into the game with you and make a League Team. You will have FAR more fun with a group that are either of similar skill, or at the very least whom you are good friends with! Then you can get in there, co-ordinate your attacks and defenses, and you will have way more fun.
I haven't done a lot of gaming in BO2 with friends, but I did quite a lot while I was learning the ropes in MW3, and I found that I not only got less angry, but I would often have more fun and do a lot better than I did solo. I am still looking for a good group on XBox Live for Black Ops 2, so hopefully I can test out this recommendation in League Play soon, as well!
Tip #3: Practice, practice, practice!
There is no substitute for getting in the game and running the mode that you prefer to get better. Learn the maps. Learn the tricks that other players do. Check out YouTube videos from some of the top players. I watched a lot of NadeShot and Ali-A, as well as LegendOfThunder, and after seeing some of the things they do, I found that I was able to tailor what they do to my style of play and became better as a result! I don't do everything the same, and I would never go so far as to say I am as good as them (not even close!!!), but I was surprised and amused at how much better my play got as a result of seeing how the "pros", so-to-speak, do it.
Tip #4: Talk to your teammates!
Even if you are running solo League Play in Black Ops 2, it's possible to hook up your microphone and talk to the other players on your temporary team. Tell them where you found someone camping, or a group rushing in. Don't let your death be in vain! If you come around a corner and there's a group running up that alley and they kill you, tell your team! That way, they can hopefully avoid a similar fate, and maybe even avenge your death! The more you contribute to the team effort, the more everyone will contribute, and your play can improve with just that simple communication!
And don't be shy! I am the world's shyest man, and I even speak up on occasion. I never used to because I felt stupid talking to random people, thinking they are judging me, but I found that if I called out an enemy and saved someone's bacon, they more often than not shot back a thanks, and were there when I was about to get ganked the next time!
Tip #5: Watch for Double XP Events!
As someone mentioned in the comments section of my other COD: BO2 League Play article, you can make quite a bit of experience towards your public match by playing League Play. I agree, this is a good thing to note, though if you have hit level 55, and just want to stay there and not prestige, it doesn't do you any good.
However, during the Double XP events, such as the one that just passed this weekend in advance of the Uprising DLC that just came out today, you earn 20,000 XP points for a win, and 15,000 for a loss towards your public rank. I decided to roll over to Prestige 5 on Thursday, and built myself all the way back up to Level 37 by the end of the Double XP event - and I was sick for most of the weekend and didn't play much at all! You can easily do a full prestige or more with lots of play time, at 20,000 points per round!
Final Tip: Have FUN!
That's what this game is all about anyway, right? If you aren't having fun, you shouldn't be playing the game! This is something I teach my daughters when they start to get frustrated, and something that I need to remind myself of at times, as well. If I am not having fun, why am I continuing to do a voluntary action that is causing me frustration?
Whether you are a hardened veteran of FPS games, or a n00b trying to learn the ropes, as long as you are having fun, you are doing it the right way! Keep those trigger fingers itchy, and good hunting!
Cheers!
-- Slyde
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Comments
Hello, I am a competitive player, and I'll try to give some tips.
1: Like he mentioned, NEVER play alone. In a random team there will always be that rage-quitter or that guy that don't knows what 2 do. You need people that you can trust, even if there not as good as you.
2: Try to use as much tactics as you can, like rotations, anchoring and callouts. An anchor hold the spawns in hardpoint so you always spawn close to it. Use callouts so your team knows where the enemy's are. And if a teammate said there is an enemy close to your flag, rotate back to it instead of random running. It's al about map control.
3: Don't put your sensitivity to high. When you play against better players, you know they hardly miss shots. Accuracy is more important than look sensitivy 14.
4: Go to combat training and practice your jump-shots and dropshots. These are good to dodge bullets and shoot back.
5: Try to keep calm, keep it professional, no trash talk, give callouts to your team, and practice setups and positions in custom games or scrims.
Good luck!
- Author
Thanks for the tips, FLeX-Djordos! Some of those are ones I had never thought of, but they would certainly come in handy! I will try to use them myself the next time I get in. Cheers!
Why would you keep your eyes open for double XP weekend lol? It has nothing to do with improving your League Play
- Author
Thanks for the comment, butthole (lol - awesome name!). These aren't so much strategies to become a better player, but ideas for "The Rest of Us" who are not pro players and need some ways to find goodness in the often frustrating grind of League Play. If we want to prestige for more unlocked weapons or items, or more custom loadouts, etc., for public play, we need to get that XP up, and double XP weekends drive the levels up in a very quick fashion!
Some extra tips for the 3 League/Competitive game modes.
Capture the Flag:
There is a 'good' side, and a 'bad' side. Try to stay alive on the good side
and get a capture on the bad side. e.g. slums CTF. When you spawn on the blue house side, try to stay alive and don't focus on getting a capture. When you spawn the other side, you can easily get a spawtrap on cop car, and get a capture. When it's overtime, don't play defensive. because when your team is down, the enemy has a free capture. Try to get map control. When you have it, and die, you will respawn and be faster to defend your flag than the enemy can grab it.
Hardpoint:
Do not stay close to the hardpoint. Most people think the key of a harpoint game is holding the hill. but you can lose control very easy. The key is: Prevent the enemy to come close to the hill. On that way , the enemy spaws on the other side of the map, and your team spaws next to the hardpoint. So remember, push up!
Search and Destroy:
This game mode is all about timing and positioning.
But when you are on the defensive side, don't rush. just play safe, and use a lot of headglitches. The enemy will be forced to push up and plant the bomb. When you do it correctly, a defense round is a winning round.
A good tip I found was to use classes that you feel comfortable with and do good with rather than using someone else's class and doing rubbish with even if it is nOOby
- Author
Liam - absolutely. I've tried other people's "killer class" or "awesumz pnwzrs N00BZ BEST EVAR" class and played an absolutely shite game! Then I went back to what I knew and was good with, and rocked out. It's about playing to your own strengths and style, not trying to imitate someone else just because THEY can do well. Cheers!
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