Dr Disrespect reverse boosts & breaks Black Ops Cold War SBMM on stream

Dr Disrespect has joined the Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War SBMM debate by demonstrating how to reverse boost kill-death ratio (K/D) in an effort to manipulate SBMM on stream.

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Call of Duty enthusiasts are very passionate about the polarizing subject of skill-based-matchmaking (SBMM). Unlike games like Overwatch and even earlier CoD titles like Call of Duty: WWII, there is no split between ranked play and open play in Modern Warfare – or, at the moment, Black Ops Cold War.

As such, high-level players, professionals, and streamers alike have been adamant that SBMM is ruining their experience. Among pro players, Seth ‘Scump’ Abner has been at the forefront of the anti-SBMM crusade, claiming it “does not belong in Call of Duty.” That sentiment has been echoed by unpaid players as well, with 51.2 percent of fans saying it should only exist in a ranked playlist and 24.6 percent saying it shouldn’t exist at all, according to our Twitter poll of 80,000-plus CoD enthusiasts.  

Unsurprisingly, an entertainment-focused streamer like Dr Disrespect has joined the fray, as he spent multiple games of his October 9 stream reverse-boosting his K/D in an effort to counteract SBMM.

While Scump originally caught flack (and some praise) for reverse-boosting by simply killing himself relentlessly, Treyarch deployed a new feature with the beta that complicates the technique. Developers added spawn immunity to the Black Ops Cold War beta, making it impossible for players to just eliminate themselves as soon as they spawn in. 

• Read more: Black Ops Cold War adds anti-reverse boost feature to protect SBMM

Thus, Dr Disrespect tanked his K/D the old-fashioned way: By running around, getting zero kills, and letting enemies put him out of his misery. And for those newcomers that didn’t understand why the two-time champ was playing like complete fodder, he gave an impassioned explanation:

“If you’re just rolling into the arena, we’re doing it on purpose …and what we’re doing is not killing anybody, tanking our K/D and then after three games we won’t be influenced, in theory, by the SBMM that everyone is losing their minds on.”

While the two-time didn’t go so far as Scump in complaining about “Scuf-wielding Game Fuel-chugging demons with ‘szn’ in their PSN,” he did have to take action instead of just getting frustrated with such competitive lobbies.

• Read more: David Vonderhaar appears to confirm Black Ops Cold War ranked play

While it’s unclear whether ranked is coming to Black Ops Cold War or how long the Doc’s SBMM subterfuge will last, fans can at least be happy that he was able to prioritize his mental wellbeing. After those three games tanking his K/D, he proceeded to stream for hours.