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Michael “MajorManiak” Szymaniak is one of Minnesota Røkkr’s Call of Duty League (CDL) star e-sports players. And this young man who plays Call of Duty for many more hours than we imagine will be a CODE Bowl coach for the upcoming Call of Duty Endowment, a charity event sponsored by the US Air Force on December 11. Never been in the military, but the son of an Air Force veteran, Szymaniak will give advice to real-world military soldiers who will train with their peers in the different military.
At the second annual event, the Call of Duty Endowment will raise funds to provide jobs for veterans. This year’s event will feature three new teams making their debut from the US Marine Corps, US Air Force, and US Space Force. Additionally, with the participation of the British Army, the Royal Air Force and the Royal Navy of the United Kingdom, the CODE Bowl will also be the first transatlantic military esports competition to feature all of these branches. I spoke with Szymaniak about what he’s going to tell these veterans about how to fight a battle in a virtual military game, this year’s Call of Duty: Black Ops – Cold War multiplayer.
Szymaniak was appropriately respectful of irony in that situation, but he’s not shy when it comes to giving advice on a game he’s played for countless hours. I asked him about that advice and got him to deviate a bit from his mission to focus on what’s really important: his recommendations for becoming a better Call of Duty player.
Now before my colleagues say that this cannot be done, I must report my results so far this year. I played a full day and three hours and 26 minutes. I have reached Prestige (the highest tier) in multiplayer combat and have played 167 games. I’ve been on the winning side 79 times and lost 77 times, for a win / loss ratio of 1.03. My kill (kills) / kill ratio is 0.91, which means I die 100 times for every 91 kills I get. My personal best streak is 13 kills before I got rejected. My favorite weapon is the Stoner 63 Light Machine Gun (LMG), but I am currently trying to level up my M82 sniper rifle.
My overall rating is 2,591,806. That means there are 2.5 million players who are better than me. Before you laugh too much, I think that could put me in the top 90% of players. In the last few years, I remember being rated around 4 million or 5 million. Any explanation as to why I am doing well this year will probably have to do with practice, as I have been playing Call of Duty: Warzone for much of the year and have also been more committed to alpha and beta testing of this. year. And with a fully leveled LMG, I can now get more kills in a game than kills. One of my best games on the Cartel map was 46 kills and 22 kills.
Above: Dean Takahashi’s record in Call of Duty: Black Ops – Cold War multiplayer.
Image Credit: Dean Takahashi
Of course, while these results make me proud, for someone like Szymaniak, they are ridiculous. During our interview, he was kind enough not to laugh at my scores.
“Anyone can really take a controller and play and shoot the enemy in front of them,” he said. “But I think that what separates a lot of professional players from the rest is the way they play the game, fundamentally. It’s all about knowing in the respawn game modes how to play the Hardpoint (the point on a map that everyone should try to hold) the right way and making sure you’re rotating correctly as the Hardpoint spins. You have to pay attention to the radar, which tells you where your people are and where the action is. “
Another important thing is communicating with your other players and not just cursing them. Hardpoint, Search and Destroy and Control are the maps played by the pros in the Call of Duty League. These modes are less forgiving and focus players on checkpoints on the map. You have to find the right position in order to dominate the Hardpoint, said Szymaniak. That can mean “camping” for other players, which is frowned upon as unsportsmanlike. Campers stay in one spot and take out unsuspecting players and rack up kills. But Szymaniak sees it as taking advantage of the terrain so that you can hurt enemies when they respawn or take them down when exposed by trying to attack the Hardpoint through a bottleneck.
“It’s easier to win fights if you’re in the right position,” he said. “If you are in the right place on the map, you are in the position of power. You’ll get more kills and you’ll be harder to kill. “
He said you should always try to memorize the maps and the order of rotation, like where the Hardpoint will move next. That comes from practice. And Szymaniak practices all the time. You get up in the morning, exercise, eat right, and then practice for hours with your teammates. Treat it like a job. He likes to be competitive and he can’t get enough of it. He picks up other games like Fortnite from time to time, but he always comes back to Call of Duty because he thinks it’s a race. He is one of 48 CDL players, and many people would love to be paid to play like him. Players can get rich playing and it has all the health benefits.
“I always tell people that I don’t have another job because I can’t,” he said. “I exercise every day like a normal job. There is no check-in or check-out time. With this, you move on. I can’t have another job. And I am blessed that I don’t need another job. “
Above: Michael “MajorManiak” Szymaniak is a member of the Minnesota Røkkr esports team in the Call of Duty League.
Image Credit: Activision
As for weapons, he noted that the Tundra and Pellington are the best sniper rifles. When fully level, they are much easier to shoot quickly and come with scopes that magnify the targets, making them hard to miss. But playing as a sniper is also about positioning, like settling on the cliffs on the Crossroads map while your friend settles on a rooftop so you can put enemies in a crossfire.
“You put yourself in those positions of power to get multiple kills, duck, reload and come back up to shoot from those long angles,” he said.
On the Cartel map, the tower is a good place to stay and try to dominate the map. Overall, I enjoy Cartel, Crossroads, Miami, and Armada more. Szymaniak likes them too, but he also likes Moscow, Garrison and Checkmate.
While light machine guns can be impressive, they are banned in competitive play and assault rifles can deliver better results because they are faster to handle and are still quite lethal. He likes the AK-47 and the Krieg, using the Microflex LED scope or the Red Dot scope. The accessories you unlock as you go up the ladder are really important, and you can spend all day watching videos talking about the correct accessories. Pros also use submachine guns such as the AK-74u and sometimes the MP5.
“You can move more freely and change your position compared to the LMG, where you are not as mobile,” he said.
Generally, you will not shoot unless you are in tight spaces and are near panic and on the verge of being killed. But aiming down is critical. You want to fly or jump around corners and take aim to take down a surprised enemy.
It is also important to pay attention to your teammates. Instead of charging all the way to the enemy’s spawn, Szymaniak will stay behind with his teammates and stay close to them.
“You don’t want to play basketball and beat the other team on your own,” he said. “You want to count your blessings. Keeping the crossfire with your team and rotating that is good. “
Back to reality
Above: map of the Cold War Navy.
Image Credit: Activision
I could have stayed on the phone and tipped for hours, but we only had a short time to chat. I realize that I will never be able to devote as much time to the game as someone like Szymaniak, and he deserves to be among the top 48 esports players in the league with his dedication. And I realize that millions of players are likely always better than me because they put in hours and are simply more skilled. But I enjoy doing it better than I usually do this year, and I’m looking forward to going back to Warzone as well when I switch to Cold War.
While this game has made us all feel better during the pandemic and distracted us from our crazy real world, it is important to remember that Szymaniak is a good sport and that it is also working for an important cause. His own father has been in the military for 37 years and has been deployed twice.
“I’ve been in the military my whole life, and if I hadn’t played Call of Duty, I probably would have gotten into the military,” he said. “My dad is doing the real thing and I’m on the virtual side.”
The Call of Duty Endowment has funded the placement of more than 77,000 veterans in high-quality jobs since its inception, and its goal is to place 100,000 veterans in meaningful jobs by 2024. And if Szymaniak does his training well enough, maybe some of Those veterans will get jobs playing in the Call of Duty League.
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