Hi, let’s talk a bit about Mystery (Tl;Dr at the bottom)
Mystery Heroes is missplayed and is THE game mod where you can most easily see what’s wrong with the way people play Overwatch. Here’s why.
First let’s get back to the core principles of this game :
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Coordinate with your team
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Take down the key targets
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Cap the objective
Let me put the emphasis on the order of those principles, because a lot of people don’t get that right. You can be the best fragger in the world, if you make three picks with Widow but your team is not there to take advantage, you served nothing.
We’re touching the first problem with this community. Far too often, and I admit I sometimes do it too, people go solo and disregard entirely the “team” aspect.
It goes as far as to being mocked for trying to get some sort of coordination or focus (it still amazes me). From my personal experience and from what I heard, it’s pretty common on every level of this game.
Let me make a quick call here : If you don’t want to play as a team, it’s fine. Just go to FFA.
The second problem I too often encounter when trying to get a bit of organised play is the “It’s just QP/Arcade” excuse.
It is the most inane reason you could come up with to explain why you don’t want to play a TEAM BASED GAME as a TEAM.
Let me be clear on something : the aim of every game mod is to WIN, not your personal K/D, not your PotG, it’s to win and together with that.
QP and Arcade are there for practice and fun, alright, but the goal is STILL TO WIN.
I’m not that much of a competitive player, I’m all here for the fun. But when I get 4-5 games in a row when we lose not because we miss more shots but because we couldn’t get ONE grouped assault on the objective, I kinda want to quit life.
I have immensely more fun in a game when we put some good teamwork, trying to win together and lose faire and square againt a better team than when I got a win a chaotic game where people where everywhere but together.
BACK TO MYSTERY
I play a lot of Mystery because, as my pseudo gives it, I’m lazy and often don’t want to chose a hero to play. So I have a lot of hours on this mod and here’s what I have to say about it and how people play it.
Mystery Heroes is THE game mod which embodies the most the core principles of OW and it’s problems because it’s NOTHING BUT those principles.
First : As much as I can be annoyed by it, in every other game mods you kinda can carry your team if you are skilled enough on a hero.
In Mystery, you can go 2-3 games in a row whitought getting a hero you like. Chances are, none of you like the hero you got. It is therefore really important to get together and push with your team.
90% of the game I win in Mystery is because my team was somewhat together and played along ; 90% of my lost are because as soon as the game began, everyone went everywhere to play solo because “it’s just arcade”. [Of course the percentages makes no sens, I’m making a point not a peer reviewed scientific paper]
Second : “Yes but if we don’t have hero we like and they do, they win !”, plotwist => No.
Like said previously, firstly you get your team together, secondly you take down key targets. You need to have this in mind in all the game mods but even more in Mystery.
Mystery is essentialy an elimination game mod in disguise. The map objective is less important than taking down the ennemy heroes.
Why ? Because of ult balance.
Ultimates in Mystery are even more important than elsewhere because if you die, you gotta build it up all over again. Far too often I see team just sidesteping in choke points doing nothing but feeding ult for the other team. You gain nothing by being passive, your ults get reset and theirs get fed. You need to be a bit overagressive and get some kills or you’re just making the match harder and harder for you.
I’ll even say that if you can manage to kill ONE key target like a fed Zarya, an anoying Mei or a cheeky Hanzo and lost 3 of your teamate in the process, it’s a win for you.
Often is Mystery, we established that, you don’t get the hero you like so if you can take the one or two good heroes that they have, it’s a win ! You now get to fight a composition they are less confortable with.
Overagressiveness often goes much better than a mild passiveness. Don’t wait, go in together.
In Mystery, your solo skills count for less than you teamplay skills. Being able to go together and focus the same target is better than your mad aiming skill because most of the time, you don’t have the right tool (hero) in you hand.
Tl;Dr : The randomness of the Mystery Heroes doesn’t often let you play your solo strenght, work with your team. Sharpen your key target selecting sens and make the call. Don’t be afraid of going all in on even just one target. Glory for the overagressive, limbo for the pusillanimous.