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MW3 GA List and Official Restrictions

In competitive CoD (i.e. Ranked and CDL), players must follow a different set of rules. All overpowered items in normal gameplay are banned, and between pros, even more items are unofficially banned through a “GA” (Gentleman’s Agreement). Here is a complete list of everything banned by the League and everything that has been GA. Unsurprisingly, the list of MW3 GAs is already quite substantial.

If you’re jumping into the more competitive side of CoD this year, you might be surprised to see how different the competitive rules are from normal play. Among other changes, most of the game’s best weapons and perks are banned in the comp versionbecause they are considered mastered.

However, there are two types of bans to be aware of: official restrictions implemented by developers and “GA” implemented by professional players. We have provided an explanation of the official AGs and restrictions below, then Further down the page you can find the MW3 GA roster and current competitive settings..

What is a “GA” in CoD?

A “GA” (Gentlemen’s Agreement) is in fact a truce between professional players not to use a certain item because it is too powerful. They use GAs to ban items from CDL or third-party tournaments that they consider to be too strong, even if those items have not been officially banned by the Call of Duty developers. The way professional players enforce these GAs is to agree that if one team breaks the rules, other teams will not train with them.

It’s also worth noting that there is a GA MW3 roster for the CDL, but also separate GA rosters for different Challenger regions (the leagues just below the professional level). The same items are often found on GA lists in Challenger and CDL regions, but pros are generally a bit slower than Challenger players in agreeing on various bans.

GAs do not affect you as a normal Ranked or CDL Moshpit player. The only exception to this rule is if you are participating in an open tournament on a third-party site like CMG, in which case GAs may also apply.

What are the official restrictions?

Official restrictions are item bans that CoD developers themselves implement. These bans apply to all modes that use “Competitive Settings”, which includes all CDL modes, all Ranked Play modes, and CDL Moshpit. The developers enforce these official restrictions simply by removing the player’s ability to equip these items when playing competitive mode.

Generally speaking, CoD developers ban the most obviously broken elements, then the pros comb through what’s left. Sometimes CoD developers will officially ban something that they missed early on, and that the pros did in GA, if they agree with the ban and think it should affect all players who enter the rankings, not just professional CDL players.

Official restrictions will affect you as a normal Ranked or CDL Moshpit player.. And thank goodness it does, because otherwise we would never escape the BAS-Bs.

MW3 GA List

Here is the current list of MW3 GAs for the CDL and the different Challenger regions:

Item type CDL GA GA Challenger NA AG EU Challenger GA Challenger APAC GA LATAM Challenger
Weapons
  • MWII Weapons
  • Holger 556
  • MTZ
  • DG-58
  • EN 5.56
  • Melee weapons (knife and karambit)*
  • MWII Weapons
  • Holger 556
  • DG-58
  • EN 5.56
  • Melee weapons (knife and karambit)*
  • MWII Weapons
  • Holger 556
  • DG-58
  • EN 5.56
  • Melee weapons (knife and karambit)*
  • MWII Weapons
  • Holger 556
  • MTZ
  • DG-58
  • EN 5.56
  • Melee weapons (knife and karambit)*
  • MWII Weapons
  • Holger 556
  • MTZ
  • DG-58
  • EN 5.56
  • Melee weapons (knife and karambit)*
Attachments
  • The optic must be used on the AR
  • Rate of fire triggers
  • The optic must be used on the AR
  • Rate of fire triggers
  • The optic must be used on the AR
  • Rate of fire triggers
  • 5.56 NATO high grain shell
  • All muzzle accessories that increase melee damage
  • The optic must be used on the AR
  • Rate of fire triggers
  • The optic must be used on the AR
  • Rate of fire triggers
Lethals, tactics, field upgrades
  • 1 SND smoke
  • 2 trophies reappear
  • 1 SND smoke
  • 2 trophies reappear
  • 1 SND smoke
  • 2 trophies reappear
  • 1 SND smoke
  • 2 trophies reappear
  • 1 SND smoke
  • 2 trophies reappear
Traces
Additional
  • Use only default operators
  • Use only default operators
  • Use only default operators
  • Use only default operators
  • Use only default operators

*If you haven’t used the knife or karambit in MW3, you might be surprised to see that it has already been GA. But the fact is that the knife is way too powerful this year. Needing only one hit to kill, it’s a better option to use at close range than any SMG, and it provides an incredible lunge.

MW3 Competitive Parameters and Official Restrictions

The official competition settings are published annually on the official CDL website for each game. Currently, it still shows the competitive settings of MWII, because the new competitive parameters of MWIII are still being finalized. But given that it is now the fifth year of the CDL, we can already predict the following official bans with 99% certainty:

  • All combat rifles
  • All LMGs
  • All MMR

  • All shotguns

  • All launchers
  • Riot shields
  • All tactics except stuns (and smoke allowed in SnD)

  • All mortals except Frags or Semtex
  • Every field upgrade except Dead Silence and Trophy system
  • All lasers, thermal optics and silencers
  • Underbarrel Launchers/Shotguns

We will update the list with official bans as soon as they are published, although you should only expect this list to grow, not shrink.

This was your guide to the official GAs and competitive settings for MW3, as well as the current MW3 GA roster. Don’t be discouraged from watching the CDL or playing Ranked based on this seemingly restrictive set of rules; without GA and official bans, competitive CoD would be an absolute mess, and on most maps you’d probably see four Holgers used.