Michael "Shroud" Grzesiek has shared his thoughts on today's market of competitive shooters, and he thinks the popular first-person shooter franchise Call of Duty could learn a thing or two from tactical shooter Rainbow Six Siege. Both Call of Duty and Rainbow Six Siege have esports events, though Call of Duty's esports presence has grown since the establishment of the Call of Duty League in 2020. Shroud feels there are a few key components that set the two franchises apart, but the main sticking point boils down to the use of aim down sight.
Shroud's comments come partially from his experience with competitive shooters. Shroud was a professional CS:GO player for esports teams compLexity and Cloud9 before he retired in 2018. He was a member of Cloud9's ESL Pro League Season 4 championship team, and other esports pros have commented on his exceptional aim. Though Shroud no longer plays competitively, he still actively plays several first-person shooter games, including PUBG, Apex Legends, and Valorant.
In a recent Twitch stream, Shroud expresses his opinion that Call of Duty isn't as competitive as Rainbow Six Siege primarily because competitive Call of Duty relies more heavily on the use of ADS. He claims that competitive shooters that make use of "ADS and COD-esque movement aren't truly competitive," and he hasn't seen a "good competitive title with being able to aim down the sights of your gun." Shroud's comparison of competitive shooters starts around 14 minutes and 15 seconds into his GAMES!!! stream.
Shroud does recognize that Rainbow Six Siege also has ADS options, but he thinks that competitive play in the game is superior to Call of Duty because of the "depth of strategy that goes behind it." Rainbow Six Siege gameplay is very strategic and often moves at a slower pace than competitive play for games like Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War. Attacking teams often spend most of the match working through obstacles and traps set up by Defenders, though the developers of Rainbow Six Siege have recently expressed an interest in making the Rainbow Six Siege meta more attacker-sided to speed up gameplay.
ADS is a divisive subject among competitive shooter gamers in general, and Shroud's comments will probably only stir up more discussion. Using weapon sights often makes a player slower, and in some tactical shooters like Valorant, it will decrease a weapon's rate of fire. On the other hand, some players feel ADS gives them better accuracy and a more focused field of view. Often times it's simply up to player preference. Ultimately, gamers looking for good competitive shooters have a variety of options to choose from regardless of whether they rely on ADS or not.