Call of Duty: Black Ops – Wager Matches – Taking Your Lunch Money
Since the Release of Call of Duty: Black Ops, I have found myself spending many hours playing wager matches. These are very different than your normal game types. You have strict rules and limited weapons. Also, you don’t get any experience, the only thing you get from a wager match, is COD points, that can be used to purchase gear for your player. None of which can actually be used in Wager Matches!
There are four types of Wager Matches and they all have their own unique twist. In a wager match only the top 3 players get any points. To play, Each player has to ‘Buy In’ to get into the match. Depending on the playlist you choose, it is anywhere from 10 cod points to 10,000 COD points. The person in first place gets 3x their buy in amount, and the second and third place players get a bit less, everyone below the top three slots gets nothing. So for example, in a High Roller match on the Xbox 360, each player buys in with 10,000 CoD points, and the person who finishes in first place, wins 30,000 CoD points, Second place gets 18,000 and third gets 12,000. If two players tie for the same spot, they split the winnings for that spot. So if two players tie for 3rd place, they each get 6,000 CoD points, half of the 12,000 for third place.
Lets look at the four types of games and get a bit of strategy for each one.
One in the Chamber:
This game mode starts each player with a pistol that has only a single bullet, and 3 lives. All pistol shots are instant kills if they hit. If you get a kill you get another bullet. If you miss your shot with the pistol, your only option is to use a melee attack and try to knife someone. If you stab someone, you also get another bullet. So try to stab other players when possible as you can get more than one bullet this way.
Camping really does not help you in One in the Chamber (or any of the wager match types) since you need kills to win. You can easily be the last man standing and still not win because someone who is already dead has more kills than you. If you wait till the end of the match to come out of hiding and there is only one other player left, chances are at best you can get one or two points depending on how many times the other player has died. This mode will also make you a very good knife fighter in CoD.
Sticks and Stones:
This is by far, one of my favorite modes in Call of Duty: Black Ops. The premise is fairly simple, each player has a crossbow, a ballistic knife and a tomahawk. You have unlimited lives, you play until the time runs out. At the end of the match, the player with the highest points wins. Now note that I did not say the highest kills. Kills get you points, but you can also be bankrupted and lose all your points. So can realistically have more kills than anyone in the match and still come in last place. This really lives up to the whole gambling theme. Getting kills with the crossbow and ballistic knife give you more points than getting melee kills. Getting a kill with the tomahawk bankrupts the person that was killed. This leads to some really intense moments towards the end of the match where you spend as much time trying to avoid being hit by tomahawks as you do trying to get kills.
Make sure that when you play this game mode you pay special attention to the mini-map/UAV in the upper left corner of your screen. Spy plane is always on during Sticks and Stones but it is a bit delayed, so the spots on your maps are where the enemy was a few seconds ago. Also look for the gold dot on the mini-map, it is the person currently in first place. This becomes more important towards the end of the match when you are trying to figure out who to bankrupt with your tomahawk. Also remember to always pick your tomahawk back up after you throw it. It can be a life saver, or be the difference between being in the money and out of it. As with the other game modes, camping does not help, especially the mini-map/radar is always on.
Sharpshooter:
Sharpshooter is a very straight forward gametype. The game starts and a random weapon is selected. Every player in the round uses the same weapon. Every 30-45 seconds, the weapons randomly change to another weapon. Everytime the weapon changes, all players switch to the new weapon. Not only are default weapons used, but there will also be attachments added to each weapon randomly as well, all players may end up with an M16 with ACOG scope, or Dual Shotguns… you never know until the switch happens. The round ends when time is up. The player with the highest score wins. Unlike other Wage Matches, you cannot bankrupt or otherwise take away points from any other players, this is straight up Free For All style with randomly switching weapons.
The main thing you need to do in this game type is to make sure you take advantage of the times when you get a gun that you are good with. If you are hiding because you have a gun that you are not good with, then you get a good one, you better make the most of it. Remember that everyone else has the same gun, so racking up as many kills as possible is your whole goal! The players with the most kills win. There really isn’t much else to say about it.
Gun Game:
Gun Game is another favorite of mine. In this mode, all players start with the revolver (Python Pistol I believe), and each time you get a kill with your gun, you get a new gun. The guns are always the same, and there are 20 of them that you have to get kills with to win. The first player to get a kill with all 20 guns wins the round. Getting killed by a melee (knife) attack will demote you back to the previous gun so don’t let anyone get close to you.
When playing gun game you really need to be aware of your surroundings. When you get a kill, it will switch out your weapons which takes a second or two. So you need to make sure you are not out in the wide open or in front of another player when it switches your weapon as you are helpless for a few seconds. This mode will make you good with all the weapon types. My roughest part of gun game is when I get to the sniper rifles. Most of the fighting in gun game is up close, so finding a good spot to snipe, or trying to quick scope are you only options most of the time. The other key to success in Gun Game is to get past the initial guns as fast as you can. You start with the revolver, then get the dual pistols. If you don’t get a kill and get past the initial pistol pretty quickly, the other players will all have much better guns than you and you will get left behind very fast. Fighting a bunch of players with submachine guns with the revolver can be a very hard spot to come back from. The last two weapons in gun game are the Crossbow and Ballistic Knife respectively. So if you see anyone that has either of these weapons, knife them to demote them since they are about to win.
General Strategy:
Always Pay Attention to the mini Map, especially towards the end of the game, look for the player that shows up as a gold dot on the map. If you are playing a game mode that allows you to demote or bankrupt other players, always try to do this to the player that shows as the gold dot. Also remember that if you are in first place, you need to be aware other players will start to target you, so you may need to play a bit of cat and mouse, especially in sticks and stones where you can go from first to last just be getting hit with a tomahawk.
Practice, Practice, Practice… Each Wager Match type has specific weapons that are used, get good with them.
That about covers it for today. Coming up next on the blog, CoD: Black Ops Class guides and other Game Mode Strategies.
SideWinder 24x7
Tainen
