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Call of Duty: Vanguard Champion Hill explainer

Here's everything we know about Call of Duty: Vanguard's new Champion Hill mode

Four soldiers stare down the camera, each armed with World War 2 weapons and wearing WW2 military gear.

Call of Duty: Vanguard appears to be trying to spice up multiplayer this year, with a load of maps at launch, some interesting new gameplay mechanics, such as destructible environments, and much more.

But one new addition that everyone has been curious about is Champion Hill – the evolution of the Gunfight mode that was introduced in 2019’s Modern Warfare. Champion Hill looks to take the Gunfight formula – small teams on small maps partaking in fast and frenetic gameplay – and give it a couple of twists. Champion Hill adds battle royale and round-based elements to the DNA of Gunfight to create this new mutant mode, which will be the centre piece and only playable experience of August’s Vanguard alpha.

Playable in teams of two or three (and potentially solo too when Vanguard fully releases, if some rumours are to be believed) Champion Hill looks to bring an addictive new mode to Call of Duty multiplayer. But how exactly does it play out, and how do you claim victory in Champion Hill?

Here’s everything we know so far.

Champion Hill trailer

Here is the first official trailer showing what Champion Hill is all about in Call of Duty: Vanguard:

Champion Hill gameplay

Gameplay in Vanguard’s Champion Hill mode will be similar to past Gunfight modes, but each game will see you face eight other teams in a mini tournament-style battle royale. Teams will play each other across four different maps with the aim of knocking off as many lives as possible. Once a team reaches zero lives, they are eliminated and sent packing to the central buy station area to watch the rest of the action from the sidelines.

Throughout these games, you can upgrade your loadout using cash. Cash is earned by picking up cash drops that appear on each map, or by killing enemies. Between rounds at the buy station, you can “upgrade your starting weapons and purchase new armaments, equipment, perks, and killstreaks,” according to a Call of Duty blog post.

Champion Hill maps

Call of Duty: Vanguard’s Champion Hill will have four different maps to compete in at launch. Interestingly, Champion Hill is technically one large map with five separate sections (the four maps and a central buy station area) with no loading zones between them.

These are the four Champion Hill maps in Vanguard:

  • Airstrip
  • Trainyard
  • Market
  • Courtyard

Champion Hill best loadouts

Ahead of the Call of Duty: Vanguard Alpha, many players are speculating about what the best loadouts and buy station strategies will be when playing Champion Hill.

While we haven’t been able to see exactly which weapons, perks, and equipment will feature in Champion Hill, it won’t be long until we find out, with the Vanguard Alpha release date just around the corner.

Champion Hill promises to be an intriguing game mode that takes Gunfight to the next level. The Alpha will be a good test to see just how fun an experience it is and whether it has the potential to be as popular as its predecessor when Vanguard comes out in November.