Top 5 best Call of Duty players of 2024

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As a die-hard Call of Duty fan who’s been playing since the early Modern Warfare days, I can confidently say that 2024 was an exceptional year for competitive CoD. The talent pool has never been deeper, and the skill level has never been higher.

2024 marked a momentous year for Call of Duty, as Modern Warfare 3 revived some of the most legendary maps from the COD series, Black Ops 6 made its grand debut, and OpTic Texas claimed their first World Championship title in seven years. Herein, we delve into our top five standout players of the Call of Duty year 2024.

During the 2024 Call of Duty League season, there were numerous champions across six separate tournaments (including the postseason Esports World Cup). Throughout this period, diverse players showcased their talents and shone at various moments throughout the season.

Nevertheless, these athletes reached remarkable heights and maintained their dominance throughout the entire previous year. Here’s our comprehensive roster, honoring the most exceptional players in the league at this moment, as we gear up for the start of the CDL 2025 season.

5. Brandon ‘Dashy’ Otell

In every season of the Call of Duty League, Dashy has consistently stood out as an exceptional player, and this trend continued during Modern Warfare 3. Remarkably, he clinched his first-ever world championship following years where he narrowly missed out on the title.

He was widely regarded by Call of Duty fans (and there’s a lot of discussion about this) as the player with the best clutch performances in the league. This is supported by numerous one-versus-multiple (1vX) scenarios that he successfully navigated. One particularly memorable instance was his impressive solo effort against Atlanta FaZe, where he managed a 1v3 during their run to victory at Major 3.

Multiple candidates were vying for the top 5 position, with Cellium being one who showed strong potential following this season’s impressive displays. However, Dashy’s Championship victory and remarkable clutch moments earned him a spot on the list.

4. Anthony ‘Shotzzy’ Cuevas-Castro

Among Dashy’s teammates on OpTic Texas, Shotzzy stands out as a master of dynamic playstyles in Call of Duty esports, and he consistently leaves spectators exhilarated more than any other competitor.

As the Most Valuable Player in the Champs Finals, Shotzzy consistently grew in skill throughout the year (except for a disappointing performance at Major 4 that Optic fans might rather overlook). However, his performances have definitely silenced any doubts about his status as a top-tier talent.

In the current season, only two SMG players managed a higher Kill/Death (KD) ratio in Search & Destroy than Shotzzy, a fact that underscores his outstanding performance in this mode, and it’s worth mentioning that these two individuals are included on this list.

3. Thomas ‘Scrap’ Ernst

As we near the end of 2024’s gaming season and gear up for the debut of Black Ops 6 in 2025, it’s important not to overlook Scrap, who had a strong contention for the Most Valuable Player (MVP) title throughout most of the year. OpTic and FaZe may have been the standouts, but Scrap was a force to be reckoned with too.

Among all players in the league, he was renowned as the top Assault Rifle player. Even with Dashy’s achievements and Cellium’s impressive kills, Scrap has established such an exceptional standard within the league that whenever he fails to compete for a championship, he feels he’s falling short of his own expectations.

In respawn game modes, his skill level surpassed everyone else significantly. If he manages to secure a few more championship titles, it would probably place him among the greatest single seasons a Call of Duty player has ever had.

2. Paco ‘HyDra’ Rusiewiez

During a significant portion of the 2024 season, there was intense debate within the community over who deserved the MVP title among two standout submachine gun players. Unfortunately, HyDra came up short in his bid for the top position, as he couldn’t translate his exceptional gameplay into victories at either the CDL Championship or Esports World Cup.

As a passionate fan, I can’t help but acknowledge that this French player seems to have the highest potential in our league, surpassing even the world champions and veterans who’ve dominated for years. He approaches every skirmish as if he’s wielding a mythical Ray Gun, and manages to emerge victorious, often when the odds are heavily stacked against him. It’s almost like watching other pros transform into BillybobSniper123 in comparison.

In the year 2024, he undeniably stood as the most formidable scorer in the league, boasting extraordinary runs and multiple high-scoring playoff series. However, there was another player who managed to narrowly surpass him for the number one position due to a significant tournament win.

1. Chris ‘Simp’ Lehr

It’s widely acknowledged that Simp is rapidly progressing towards being recognized as the greatest Call of Duty player ever. This consensus was solidified in the year 2024, with his performance truly shining through.

Throughout the Modern Warfare 3 season, Simp consistently stood out as a top MVP contender. Right from the pre-season tournaments, his exceptional play earned him MVP-worthy recognition, and this high level of performance was sustained without diminishing.

He serves as a model for how fans anticipate Hydra to perform in the upcoming years, and even though he’s been a professional for five years, there’s no sign of him reducing his pace whatsoever.

He was the regular season MVP, Major 2 winner, and a true beast in all game modes. That was all before he won the Esports World Cup, too, which helped nudge him above HyDra in our overall rankings.

Previously noted, there are several names that didn’t quite make it into the top 5, due to factors such as Cellium, Drazah, or Ghosty, who significantly improved his gameplay in 2024, becoming a more versatile player.

As the 2025 season nears, it’ll be intriguing to observe if this roster changes or remains the same by this time next year. It seems challenging for any players to surpass those currently on this list, but as history has shown us, every new season holds a few unexpected twists to keep things engaging.

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2024-11-29 21:29