Top 20 Players of MW3: #1 Simp

The #1 player of the Modern Warfare 3 season brought to you by HouseBets.com is the 2024 Most Valuable Player, Chris “Simp” Lehr.

The Tiny Terror was back in full force during the Modern Warfare 3 season, reminding fans of his play at his full potential. Helping Atlanta to a 2.8 average placing this season, Simp won multiple pieces of hardware including the Major 2 Championship, the regular season MVP, the SND Player of the Year, and more. The superstar SMG finished the year with a 1.14 overall KD, 86.6 Slayer Rating, and was one of 3 players with a 1.12 KD or better in every mode. Simp excelled at Slaying while doing loads of objective work across all three modes. Chris was the most all-around player in the Call of Duty League during Modern Warfare 3.

Season Review

After a season of ups and downs in Modern Warfare 2, Atlanta opted for another roster shakeup in the offseason. Austin "SlasheR" Liddicoat parted ways with the team as they sought a faster-paced AR to pair with McArthur "Cellium" Jovel. Paired with Tyler "aBeZy" Pharris, the SMG duo with Simp could compete with anyone, so figuring out the AR position was key. With the LA Thieves' World Championship lineup disbanding, flex AR Zack “Drazah” Jordan became available and joined the roster. Drazah's addition aimed to resolve the pacing issues that plagued the team last season, while also strengthening their SND gameplay. With another star-studded lineup, expectations were sky-high.

Facing the pressure to secure multiple championships in Modern Warfare 3, Atlanta needed to deliver this season. After dominating Cold War with four titles, the franchise had managed only one Major win in the two following seasons. However, the first qualifier went exceptionally well as they swept four teams, including LAT and Texas, finishing with the best map count in the League (21-5, 81%) and a 7-0 series record, securing the top seed for Major 1. The Major began just as smoothly with victories over LAG (3-0) and Texas (3-2). Riding a 9-game winning streak, FaZe faced Toronto for a spot in the Finals, where the Ultra ended Atlanta's run and defeated them again in the Finals, 4-1. The second-place curse continued for FaZe.

📸 Photo by @Spribs_

FaZe quickly bounced back, starting 1-0 in the Major 2 Qualifiers. Despite dropping two Map 2 games to LAG and New York, they finished the qualifier with a 5-2 record and a 19-7 map count (73%), earning the 3rd seed for Major 2. Though they didn't dominate the qualifiers, they excelled at the Major, with back-to-back game 5 wins over LAT and New York, advancing to the Upper Finals against OpTic Texas. FaZe delivered a strong performance, defeating OpTic 3-1 and then 4-1 in the Grand Finals to claim the Major 2 title, driven by outstanding Hardpoint (13-5, 1st in CDL) and Control (9-2, 1st in CDL) play.

After a brief mid-season break, FaZe resumed their campaign in one of the best qualifiers of the year. Atlanta finished 7-0 in the series with a 21-4 map count (84%), defeating every other top 4 teams. With wins over New York (3-1), Texas (3-1), and Toronto (3-0), Atlanta entered Major 3 as favorites to repeat. Their run started strong with a 3-0 victory over Miami in the opening match, followed by another 3-0 sweep against New York. However, just one match away from the Grand Finals, Atlanta stumbled with back-to-back Map 5 losses to Toronto and Texas, ultimately finishing 3rd at Major 3. After such a strong qualifier, it was a disappointing end to their run.

📸 Photo by @CODLeague

While Atlanta dominated respawns during Stage 3, going 25-4, their SND performance lagged with a 6-7 record and two Map 5 losses. Improving their SND play was crucial for a return to dominance, and they did just that, starting 5-0 in the final qualifiers of the season with strong SND performances. Despite a 2-3 loss to Toronto, the team finished 6-1 in the series and secured the 2nd seed behind Toronto.

FaZe began the Major with back-to-back 3-0 victories over New York and Seattle, reaching their 4th consecutive Upper Finals of the season. A 3-0 win over LAG put them in the Grand Finals against the New York Subliners. Although FaZe had previously beaten the Subliners at the start of the tournament, New York fought back to win 4-2 in the Finals, securing their first major victory of the season and handing Atlanta their second runner-up finish of the year.

📸 Photo by @CODLeague

Despite achieving top-three finishes at every Major, Atlanta managed to win only one championship, putting them under significant pressure to perform well at Champs. They handled their opening match against Miami Heretics with a 3-1 victory, but that was the extent of their success at the tournament. Atlanta then fell to New York (2-3) and Toronto (0-3), leading to a surprising and early exit. This marked the franchise's worst placement at Champs in the CDL era, leaving everyone involved deeply disappointed.

How good was Simp in 2024?

Hardpoint

Simp was one of the most impactful Hardpoint players in the League this year. The superstar SMG finished the season with a 1.14 KD, keeping it at 1.13 on LAN. For per-minute data, Simp led the team with 24.1 kills and 4391 damage per 10 minutes played. He also added in exceptional objective play, averaging 60.4 seconds of hill time per 10 minutes, the second highest on the team. Simp led the League in the “Cellium Index” as well, finishing 74% of HP maps with a positive KD. Finally, Chris also led Atlanta with 21 maps with 30+ kills (27.3% of maps) and 31 maps with 5,000+ damage (40.3%). Being the leading slayer while playing the objective at this level of play was very unique.

Hardpoint was a standout mode for Atlanta, with FaZe showcasing excellence throughout the season. They concluded with a remarkable 52-25 record in Hardpoint, securing 3rd place in the CDL. Their pinnacle was during Stages 2 and 3, where they amassed a combined 28-8 record in the mode. FaZe boasted a +20.8 average margin (3rd), a 50.4% rotation win rate (3rd), an impressive hold percentage of 79%, and a 33-15 Map 1 record (2nd). However, they stumbled toward the season's end, recording a 2-5 mark in their final 7 Hardpoint matches. This decline contributed to their loss against New York in the Major 4 Grand Finals and their subsequent elimination from Champs.

Search & Destroy

Search & Destroy has been Simp’s best mode since breaking into the League during Black Ops 4. He continued that form during Modern Warfare 3, finishing with a 1.20 KD in the mode & winning the SND Player of the Year award. Chris added a team-high 0.80 kills per round, 157.3 ADR, an opening duel win rate of 51.7%, and a League-leading 56.2% of rounds with at least 1 kill. Simp led his team in slaying while also having the most bomb plants, carrying the bomb in 57% of attacking rounds. The Tiny Terror was a do-it-all player in the game mode yet again.

Search & Destroy has consistently been Atlanta FaZe's strongest mode since the start of the Call of Duty League, and this year continued that trend. FaZe once again led the League with a 41-23 record in this mode. They not only achieved the best overall record but also topped the League in round win rate (55.3%), opening duel win rate (55%), and attacking record (160-128, 55.6%). FaZe excelled in securing opening duels on both the attacking side (53.1%) and defending side (56.8%). Additionally, they ranked 2nd in conversion percentage (76.2%), post-plant win rate (73%), and defending record (161-131, 55.1%), while placing 3rd in retake win percentage (37.9%).

Control

While Control was the game mode with his lowest KD, Simp still played exceptionally well. Chris ended with a 1.12 KD, with a 1.12 on both sides of the game. His 1.12 attacking KD ranked 2nd for qualified players, but he added 1.8 ticks per attacking round. He was the 14th highest for ticks (5th for SMGs), but he had more kills per 10 minutes (20.8) than anyone in the top 20 for ticks per ATK round. Simp led Atlanta in Kills/10m but also in damage/10m at 4148. The superstar SMG was 2nd in the CDL with 27 maps with 5,000+ damage (55% of the maps), one of two players with two 40+ kill games, and was 3rd in the “Cellium” Index in the mode by having a positive KD in 73.5% of maps.

Just like in Search & Destroy, Atlanta FaZe was dominant in Control throughout the season. The team finished with an outstanding 38-11 record in the mode, including 14-4 on Highrise, 18-5 on Invasion, and 6-2 on Karachi. FaZe led the League in multiple key areas, including overall round win rate (62.9%), attacking win rate (42%), defending win rate (82.9%), and average ticks allowed per defending round (3.4). They were unquestionably the best team in Control during Modern Warfare 3.

A look ahead to Black Ops 6

Atlanta FaZe heads into the upcoming season as one of the biggest question marks. Although they consistently placed in the Top 3 at every Major, their underwhelming showing at Champs fell short of the organization's high expectations. The team’s performance at the Esports World Cup will be a crucial factor in shaping future decisions. A strong showing could make next season’s plans clearer, but another disappointing result would only intensify the pressure for roster changes.

In the previous two offseasons, Atlanta has stuck with the core trio of players in Simp, aBeZy, and Cellium. They’d try to find the best fourth player for the roster, and Drazah has been the best fit. Unfortunately, the team lost another two Grand Finals and had their worst-ever placing at Champs in the Top 6. With how good the core is individually, there are always going to be questions about the results. Undoubtedly, the team will have one of, if not the best SMG duos in the League. Simp excels at Treyarch titles, having won the World Championship in the previous two games that Treyarch created. With another longer time-to-kill title, Simp will be a dangerous player on the map in any mode.

📸 Photo by @CODLeague

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