Although Ranked Play has plenty of weapon restrictions in Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2, there is still an order to how powerful they are. Some weapons are clearly at the top of the meta, and others are only used when you want to ruin a match for your team.
It helps to know which weapons are meta, which ones are viable, and which ones should be avoided at all costs in MW2 Ranked Play. Our Tier List will rank all of these weapons from best to worst using the usual letter-rank formula. Lower ranks may change, but the meta is set in stone until further notice.
Weapon Tier List – COD MW2 Ranked Play
Only five weapon classes are allowed in ranked: assault rifles, submachine guns, sniper rifles, pistols, and knives. Each option will be ranked based on effectiveness in its role, so do not be surprised to see the combat knife so high up. The full list of Ranked Play weapons can be found below.
S-Tier Weapons:
- TAQ-56
- Vaznev-9k
A-Tier Weapons:
- SP-X 80
- Combat Knife
- X12
B-Tier Weapons:
- Lachmann Sub
- Kastov 762
- MCPR-300
C-Tier Weapons:
- VEL 46
- MX9
- Minibak
- M13B
- Victus XMR
D-Tier Weapons:
- Lachmann-556
- Kastov 545
- FSS Hurricane
- PDSW 528
- BAS-P
- Signal 50
- LA-B 330
- M16
You will notice that two weapons are still available to use in Ranked Play loadouts that you do not see on this list. These weapons are the ISO Hemlock and the TAQ-V battle rifle. You can see these in the loadout screen, but they have been restricted from being used in the CDL ruleset shortly after Modern Warfare 2 Season 2 went live.
Related: Best M13B Loadout in COD MW2 Ranked Play
For nearly all of your MW2 Ranked Play matches, you want to stick with options in S-Tier or A-Tier. Anything below that and you are asking to get torched by the enemy or berated by your teammates in MW2.
That is all. For more on the Call of Duty title, head over to our dedicated Modern Warfare 2 section full of guides, news, updates, and more.
