Is COD Challengers Becoming More Exciting Than The CDL?

When the Call of Duty League was revealed in 2019, Activision also lifted the lid on COD Challengers, the amateur competition that would sit just one tier below the CDL. For years, Activision (and associated organisers) have been trying to facilitate the amateur (almost semi-pro) scene, but arguably, it has been done best with COD Challengers. Over time, COD Challengers is becoming more ‘recognised’, sitting on the main stages alongside the CDL, and there’s now a debate as to whether it’s more exciting than the highest tier of COD esports.

There may be more money in the CDL, and it’s wholly represented by the biggest brands in the scene, but there’s just something special about COD Challengers nowadays. There are players being discovered in Challengers that are changing the face of the CDL, and as a competition, it’s being brought up onto the main stages of COD esports. It’s an aspiration for many up-and-coming players to compete in Challengers, and some of the most dynamic personalities in gaming call the competition ‘home’.

So, is COD Challengers becoming more exciting than the CDL?

How Valuable is COD Challengers?

COD Challengers boasts a fraction of the value of the CDL, but that’s by design. Typically, there’s a prize pool worth around $1 million designated for each season of COD Challengers, while the CDL prize pool can exceed $5 million per season. There was also (and still is) a buy-in for organisations seeking to enter the CDL worth a staggering $25 million, whereas COD Challengers is essentially free to break into.

Traditionally, across official channels, the COD Challengers circuit receives around 10% of the viewership of the Call of Duty League. There could be many reasons for that:

The CDL is much better marketed and plays out across the top-tier channels with a high production value
The CDL features the talents of the most recognisable, skilled Call of Duty players in the world
The CDL is deeply embedded in modern Call of Duty games, from ads and cosmetics to playlists and modes
The CDL is driven on social media by creators and competitors with millions of followers

It’s less valuable, but in a general sense, is COD Challengers becoming more exciting than the CDL? Let’s think for a moment about its position in the COD esports scene. As it’s the chief amateur competition, it feeds the Call of Duty League with talent, and in recent months, some players have risen from Challengers to essentially change the face of the CDL. Within a relatively short period of time, players that were confined exclusively to COD Challengers can find themselves representing the biggest brands in gaming.

Are The Best Players in COD Challengers?

There’s no doubt that some of the best Call of Duty players in the world are waiting in COD Challengers for that moment that they’re discovered. It’s no big secret that some of the world’s most iconic Call of Duty competitors sit in the CDL – Shotzzy, aBeZy, Simp, Cellium, Clayster – but there are more players making their way up that are disrupting that fact.

In March 2023, Minnesota ROKKR published a feature-length video showcasing the nature of competing in COD Challengers from a behind-the-scenes perspective:

For instance, let’s take a look at Amer ‘Pred’ Zulbeari, the first player from Oceania to make it into the COD League and one of the shining examples of a player coming up from Challengers to dominate the scene. In 2022, he carried Seattle Surge to a Major win and was crowned MVP of the event, and for a while, he was rumoured to have the largest buy-out in CDL history.

How about Thomas ‘Scrappy’ Ernst, a veritable villain in the League who is often spoken about as being one of the best players in the entire tournament? He worked alongside Toronto Ultra to secure a chip at Major III – seven months prior, he was playing in COD Challengers. He accomplished this feat alongside Charlie ‘Hicksy’ Hicks, an English competitor who found himself coming up from the Challengers circuit in February 2023.

There’s no forgetting Daniel ‘Ghosty’ Rothe, the OpTic Texas IGL that rose from Challengers to command a world championship-grade squad. He effectively turned around OpTic Texas’ fortunes, and since he joined the team, the organisation has gone T2 in back-to-back Majors and remains the favourite to win the Call of Duty League Championship. In January of this year, he was a COD Challengers competitor.

There’s a staggering amount of rookie-to-pro talent coming up through Challengers, given that it’s the proving ground for the world’s hungriest and most skilled competitors.

The Biggest and Brightest Stages

Last year, the Challengers final boasted a $250,000 prize pool – a tie for the record high. For the first time in a very long time, the professional scene and the amateur scenes were fused together, with Challengers and Academy teams going face-to-face with the top-most teams in the CDL. In December 2022, to kick off the COD esports season for 2023, a COD Challengers event was hosted side-by-side with the first CDL showdown.

It was recently revealed that at COD Champs 2023, the COD Challengers Final will take place on the main stage in Las Vegas. This will give teams the opportunity to compete in front of a bigger crowd than ever before, giving them untold exposure and putting them in the spotlight. Every year, there are dozens of cups, opens, and events in COD Challengers that, in a way, offer up an ecosystem that surpasses the CDL.

Years ago, the Call of Duty World League invited organisations from all around the globe, but now, the CDL is almost entirely an NA-based competition. It’s something that rankles with fans, but of course, COD Challengers fixes that gap, attracting teams from regions all around the world and giving them each a fair chance to make money in COD esports. Today, an organisation from the farthest reaches of the world can find themselves stepping up on a grand stage through COD Challengers.

Is It More Exciting Than the CDL?

It’s subjective, let’s put it that way. It’s whatever you ultimately think it is.

Every time rostermania kicks off, we see some Challengers players being brought up into the CDL, but there’s also a reverse motion that occurs. Right now, there are many players in the  Challengers circuit that have had their taste of the CDL, which means there are always recognisable names in the Challengers scene, which attracts more fans. Furthermore, some of the biggest personalities in Call of Duty, such as Chris ‘Parasite’ Duarte and Doug ‘Censor’ Martin power the Challengers community, bringing millions of followers into the fold.

There’s more of a hunger in the Challengers circuit to make it big. It’s a representation ground for some of the most diverse, dynamic competitors, all of whom grind remarkably hard to make a name for themselves. As there’s a wider pool of players, it’s much more important to make an impact, which means players throw their all into every tournament, video, and stream. It may not have the numbers or the financial backing of the CDL, but it’s becoming bigger and broader over time.

COD Challengers might just be a more exciting concept than the Call of Duty League.