SMGs are one of the most popular weapon archetypes in Call of Duty, allowing players to abuse the movement mechanics of the new CoD engines while running and gunning at speed. It’s one of the more adrenaline-hitting playstyles, and leads to some of the most hype CoD moments. The design philosophy is not changing much in MW2, so we aim to rank the best SMGS in MW2 using this philosophy and any noteworthy hybrid SMGs.

Best SMGs in MW2¶

The philosophy behind our SMG ranks is that we highly rank weapons with decent range when needed, solid fire rate, and shred in the close range as they should. Keep these factors in mind with the best SMGS in MW2, at least in our opinion.
S Tier

• FSS Hurricane
• Lachmann Sub

A Tier

• PDSW 52B
• Fennec
• BAS-P
• MX9
• Vel-46

B Tier

• Vaznev-9k
• Minibak

S Tier SMGs: The best SMGs in MW2¶

The two best SMGs, at least from the beta, are the FSS Hurricane and the Lachmann Sub (MP5).

The FSS Hurricane is a high ammo count weapon, with a 50 round magazine, and can be modified to be extremely mobile, have decent damage range, and low TTK at close quarters. Not to mention it is a great ADS weapon, and the hipfire is reliable. The Hurricane has everything. The only downside is that its recoil is slightly hard to control, so players will need to learn how to control their sensitivity to mitigate its only flaw.

Lachmann Sub players dominated the beta, and it was one of the only weapons to get a nerf. However, the Lachmann still operates with one of the best TTK among the SMGs. It has decent range, and is, by default, great at movement speed without mods. There’s a reason it is one of the more dominant and easy-to-use SMGs in the game.

A Tier SMGS in MW2¶

The A Tier SMGS are the weapons that can dominate a game in the right hands, but they appear to have more noticeable downsides than the S Tier SMGS.

PDSW 52B, aka the P90 is also in the game. Its role is to be a more reliable spray transfer with its high base ammo count and damage. Its downside is that its accuracy does sway either side, so it can make it slightly unreliable weapon with attachments. It also has a slightly low damage profile made up with its rate of fire and ammo count. The P90 has a few noticeable weaknesses, but its still plays rather well, and builds can help mitigate it in some areas. It is great for objective play and challenging contested map control points.

The BAS-P (the UMP), one of the dominant SMGs in original MW2, is back. It’s similar in class to the Lachmann Sub but feels less accurate than it, as its spray does sway slightly sideways. However, it has strong damage, and fairly decent range as far as SMGs go. If you want a pocket M4, the BAS-P is probably the gun to fill that void.

The MX9 is a hybrid SMG, with it being the SMG version of the Aug. This weapon is rather mobile, has a solid damage profile, while retaining some of the qualities of the close-range power of SMGs. Sadly, it isn’t much of a match against the meta SMGs, but it makes for a better hybrid weapon.

The Fennec, aka the Kriss Vector, is one of the most rapid-fire rate SMGS in the game. This is one of the only weapons that break the MW2 rule that whoever ADS first, wins, thanks to its high fire rate. The downside is that this weapon has a terrible magazine capacity. You can mod that to make it better, but you lose some of that mobility doing so. Its damage range also isn’t great, but the fire rate can offset that if you land the shots, thanks to the higher mag count enabling those opportunities. Lastly, the Fennec has subsonic rounds by default, which hide deth markers to the enemy team, which is an amazing advantage for the stealthy players out there. Overall, it tries to match the FSS Hurricane; and while it wins the RoF war, it loses every other battle against it in design. Balancing can help tip the balance. This is a weapon for those who love spewing ammo like its a hose and dropping enemies before they can react.

If you want a very mobile, higher ammo count weapon, the Vel 46 (uzi) is a great gun. It has a strong rate of fire, and great damage profile. However, it is slightly beaten by other SMGs. This weapon works via its hybrid life, designed for ADS in short and medium ranges. However, it’s slightly weaker than the Hurricane. You’re better trying to spec this to be a mobile AR, adding longer barrels, while still benefiting from the mobility and easy recoil control.

B Tier weapons¶

The B Tier weapons are weapons that work rather well in very specific builds, maps, and objective combinations. Outside of that, they are lacking what the others have.

We’re not quite sure what’s going on with the Vaznev. It’s pretty much a AK 74u, but slightly more mobile with a lack of range. It’s a strong round hitter, noticeable more than other SMGs making it a good prefire SMG. Perhaps it can spec better in the hip fire department, becoming its niche. But, this game is played better with ADS, so it feels like it falls short in its niche.

The Minibak is a very strange weapon. It has the highest base magazine capacity, but an utterly awful damage and range profile. It feels like a noticeable drop in quality from the P90, but with 64 round magazines to offset it. The Minibak seems to be for those more hectic close-range objective matches where you can keep your high magazine spray wrapping up kills. It is certainly a niche that won’t see much play outside of that criteria though.

This wraps up our best SMGS in MW2 list. What are your thoughts on the SMGS in MW2, and how do you rank them? Let us know in the comments.