Call of Duty might seem like nothing more than fun and games, but, like most video game communities, many of the players take it more than seriously. Much like popular first and third person competitive shooters like Overwatch and Counter-Strike: Global Offensive, each yearly CoD title picks up to❀ns of steam in the MLG community every November (or, in this case, mid-October).

Call of Duty’s classic arcade-style multiplayer may make it seem like an odd option for eSports, but the sheer visibility of the franchise is what makes it such a popular game in these circles. There may be a competitive scene for just about every multiplayer game out there, but few garner attention like the Black Opܫs and Modern Warfare games.

That said, where there is an official competition, there are official rulesets to go with them. Most Call of Duty titles are relatively straightforward in terms of gameplay, and the basic formula for these titles hardly ever changes from one entry to the next. That said, there is an entire officiating body and a governing league—the Call of Duty World League or CWL—to band pla꧙yers together. Professional Call of Duty teams have formed, are allowed to take part in paid sponsorships, and even ear fan-bases much like any team in a more established sporting league.

Some of the CWL’s rules, however, aren’t all that obvious to MLG newcomers or new fans of the sport, and some may s😼eem a little ridiculous at first. That said, here are 20 crazy things that are forbidden from pro-CoD.

20 𒀰 Ringing/Player Impersonation

For one reason or another, ringing, or the act of a for competitive purposes, is an issue among the Call of Duty elite. This is definitely an issue specific to Major League Gaming, as publicly impersonating other players in other, more physical sports would be pretty difficult. Of course, certain sta♏ts and configuration may be wildly different depending on which account a player is using, and it wouldn’t be fair to skew a match based on statistics and factors which aren’t a players own. This really only pertains to online matches, as all players must be present in the same arena for offline or LAN matches.

19 All Players Must Be Ov🅠er 18

This may seem like a ridiculous restriction given Call of Duty’s exceedingly young audience, but all CWL competitors must be over the age of 18. This rule was included in order to comply with the series’ , which makes sense. However, there are tons of pro-level Call of𒆙 Duty players out there who may not quite be old enough to compete, and it seems weird to bar potential contenders based on age. This may be a biꦺt of a stretch, but athletes as young as 14 are allowed to compete in the Olympic games—why can’t the same be said for professional Call of Duty?

18 Soft Play (Or Th꧃rowing A Match)

Soft Play is a term which refers to a player purposely throwing a match or not playing to the best of their abilities in the hope that they will eventually lose. This often ties directly into under-the-table wagers made without the league's knowledge and can be a huge source of corruption in the burgeoning MLG community. The CWL explicitly states that such actions are banned, though it can sometimes be difficult to determine who may be unreasonably underperforming in real time. Blowouts and high scoring games are some of the most enthralling things in just about any sport, but the ability of certain players to mask their soft play puts a ♔bit of a damper on these situations. Players found to be in violation of this rule can.

17 Res🃏tricted Weapons

Each year, the CWL institutes a list of in-game weapons which are . The Call of Duty games have been plagued by weapon imbalance and overpowered weapons for years. As a result, the league has banned a certain subset of weapons which would likely be used much too prominently should they see inclusion in professional competition. In WWI🙈I, loadouts including the Lewis, the MG 42, and the Orso were barred from league play. The M1 Garand, despite its contention among pro gamers, didn’t see an immediate ban which resulted in a bit of controversy among the MLG crowd. Onlookers may be upset over these restrictions, but they make for an overall more balanced competitive Call of Duty experience.

16 ൩ Submit Your Controller for Approval 🅺

Much like any sporting equipment in any other game, controllers used by players during official CWL matches are all . This is important because contestants are always eager to be on a level playing field, and things like modded or excessively customized controllers can damage the integrity of the match. While even 🤡casual Call of Duty fans should be able to spot players crossing the boundaries of what should be possible with a controller, exploitative maneuvers aren’t always obvious to the un🍒trained eye. While software, hardware, and monitors are all provided, player-owned controllers add a small element of volatility to the relatively well-regulated sport.

15 💫 Be On Time Or🐲 Don't Bother

In a move that must come across as terribly ironic to many high school and college educators, Call of Duty competitors are required to arrive at each event on time or risk facing a penalty or disqualification. This should be a basic expectation of just about every pro sport, but it comes across as more than a little funny that the rulebook for Call of Duty’s professional league makes a point of punctuality. There can’t really be a game if none of the players show up, of course, and delayiꦺng an event because one single person didn’t show up is nothing short of annoying, but, as the old saying goes, they don’t make it a rule unless someone has done it before. They aren’t messing around, either: arriving late to a match can result in a .

14 Intentional Disconnect 𓃲 ꦜ

Online multiplayer functionality, ubiquitous though it may be in modern video games, is far from a perfect science. Games often time out, lag, or simply stop working for one reason or another quite frequently, and this issue has plagued online CWL matches since the organization’s inception. Multiplayer in the C𒅌all of Duty games tend to, and a weak WiFi signal or artificially throttled download speeds may pose a major threat to the integrity of each match. Prematurely ended matches are rescheduled based on the discretion of a CWL official, though an intentional disconnect executed as a last-ditch effort to avoid a loss could r🎃esult in forfeits and penalties.

13 Official Game Modes ONLY 😼

This may come as a surprise to newcomers to the professional Call of Duty scene, but there are only a small handful of officially-sanctioned game ty🌠pes available for competitive play in the CWL: . Available modes have varied depending on the year’s CoD title and the overall balance of certai๊n game modes, but these three were the mainstays of Call of Duty: WWII’s competitive play. It may seem like an oversight to exclude more basic game modes, but gameplay types which don’t involve a direct objective tend to be very slow and involve tons of waiting and hiding—not exactly prime viewing material.

12 ꦰ Gentlemen’s Agreement

In an effort ꦅto mak💜e the Call of Duty pro scene a bit more accessible to the average viewer (and to cash in on a previously untapped area of the market) Activision founded the Call of Duty World League ahead of the 2015 launch of Treyarch’s Call of Duty: Black Ops III. The team behind the game specifically designed the multiplayer to ensure that nothing would be outright banned from use by the league. As a result, plenty of crazy, overpowered weapons and scorestreaks were initially greenlit for competitive play. Soon after, however, pro players got together and formed what they called a ‘’ to unofficially bar certain elements of the multiplayer from use in CWL matches.

11 ♌ More Loadout Restrictions 🦩

Weapons are far from the only aspect of Call of Duty’s multiplayer which has been subject to discrimination by both players an꧟d the league: tons of attachments, scorestreaks, basic training skills, equipment, and even entire divisions have been barred from official use. This may seem like a severe stripping-down for , but that’s because professional players by-and-large prefer a balanced, equal experience to the thrill of high-octane, ridiculous armament usage. Strangely enough, trivial things like recon and counter-recon aircrafts were banned. These scorestreak elements have been in the game, in some form, since 2007’s Modern Warfare, and barring their use may raise some eyebrows.