Elo Hell Probably Exists (Long Text)

Competitive Discussion
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I’m a low-mid Gold player at the moment - I fluctuate between 2100-2300 SR. I don’t think Gold is “elo hell” at all, but listen up.

Today I played comp in duo with a friend (High Bronze). The matchmaker put us against an all-Silver team, as I expected. The rest of our team was Silver too. I thought the match would be easy ride. Boy was I wrong. Silver is much, much worse than I thought.

Guys, our team had 3 DPS - one Sombra, one Junkrat and one Soldier - and none of them got more than 2 or 3 picks during the entire fight. None of them tried to group up (not even once). None of them switched after seeing it wasn’t working. They spent the entire match feeding, and trying to 1v6 the enemy team. Ignoring their frontline and the tanks.

As I tank, I got 0 heals. For f***’s sake guys, I saw our Moira running away from our team to search for health packs two or three times instead of healing herself.

Of course we lost. Half of our team was doing literally nothing. I’m not exaggerating. Seriously, most people start comp in mid Gold or Plat, they have no idea what Silver is like. The opposite team won because a Reaper (a really bad Reaper btw) was harassing our backline alone all the time, and none of our DPS (not even hitscan) were good enough to deal with him (or to at least HELP the tanks to deal with him). They ignored the point, the payload, everything.

At first, I thought this match was just really bad luck. My friend suggested we tried comp together again. Again, we played as tanks - I was D.va, he was Rein. Again, same pattern; two tanks, only one healer, and three DPS who refused to switch.

Guys, the Bastion in our team ignored the Rein/shields (my friend) entirely. We were attacking in Hollywood, and he tried to FLANK alone. To face an entire team alone. A Bastion trying to attack alone in Hollywood, facing the enemies from the most obvious and open spot ever. Yes, this happened.

Out of all 4 teammates, only one tried to help - the Mercy. The rest were TERRIBLE DPS.

You might say we lost because I’m a bad player, and as Gold I should be ROFLSTOMPING on Silvers. If I were Diamond or something, yeah, I should have an easy time against a Silver team EVEN if all the rest of my team were terrible players throwing.

But as a Gold player, maybe even Plat, how are you supposed to climb (at a reasonable pace) from Silver if you end up in teams with players who seem to do everything they can to make your life miserable?

Yes, if you belong in Gold or Plat, you WILL eventually climb. But you will climb much, much slower than you deserve. If I were my friend (who is in High Bronze) I would play Hog and Reaper only until Gold. There is no way you can expect anything from your team in Bronze or Silver. Call-outs, heals, nothing. Your best bet is self-sustaining characters.

Or better yet, I would create a new account and start from zero. Train a bit in QP and play placement matches with healers. This should put you at least in Gold. So many people spend a lot of time in Bronze/Silver when there’s no need for that. They don’t deserve to be in these s***hole ranks, they actually deserve to be at least a bit higher.

Gold is a very mediocre rank and I don’t like to be a Gold player, but today I learned there’s a lot worse. I was in an insane win streak actually, peaking 2400 (playing solo).

Explain this to me: why do I win most of the times playing in Gold (against other Golds, and with Gold teammates) when I solo queue and why do I lose as a Gold playing with Silver teammates? Yeah I’m convinced elo hell really exists.

Unfortunately I told my friend I won’t play Comp with him anymore. I would stop playing Overwatch probably if I had to play with teams who are mostly made of Silver players again. I’m impressed there are people who keep trying over and over again to climb from this rank (even admire their persistence). There’s only so much bulls*** a human being can tolerate.

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ELO hell is the rank at which you can no longer carry, which, as a soloQ player, is an approximate range of where you belong. You might be able to perform at higher ranks, especially with team synergy and performance, but that’s not what your rank “should” be as a soloQ player because you could say that about all of your competition too—that they could perform at a higher rank.

I once queued into a morning game with chipshajen on my team. I was on a masters account and he was #4 at the time. I was in a GM game over my head but you know what? He managed to cover up my mistakes with incredible heals and I went on to get POTG and a card at the end. Does that mean I’m a GM player? Hell on.

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I could probably carry in Silver, but at the cost of being a terrible teammate and ignoring all of my team’s composition. As I said, I would pick something like Hog or Reaper, maybe Mei. I would NEVER pick a healer in Silver.

Now, carrying in Silver as a tank? ROFL. Good luck to anyone who is willing to try. I regret picking a tank just to try to help these terrible Silver DPS.

If I don’t belong in Gold, I should be a thrower/a detriment to my team in Gold and lose the majority of my matches in Gold. This isn’t what happens in the vast majority of the times, and I flex (all the 3 roles).

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Main tank has the highest carry potential in the game. Just watch OGE or Super or another OWL level main tank stream and they just see the game through completely different eyes. They’re off getting gold damage as Winston with GM dps on the team.

Off tanks can carry too. You can’t just exist though, you have to be oppressive.

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Can any tank carry with no heals? Seriously. I’m not exaggerating: I’m saying virtually zero heals, or close to zero heals.

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Being 1 rank above doesnt mean you will destroy them…

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i see people still refuse to understand that the game below 1700 is not Overwatch. the concepts of Overwatch completely stop working there.

and the players in that range are mostly the ones who jump to conclusions like “everyone in my team is throwing”, “everyone on enemy team has aimbot”; not because that is true, but because they don’t work with at least one other teammate together (just by being around them and looking at what their teammates shoots and shooting the same target), and because their positioning is so badly thought out that it sucks and blows, while their movement is extremely predictable right up to standing still.

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pyah is on the money here.

Different ranks emphasize different skills and you need to change your behaviours appropriately.

eg. In Silver ignoring the enemy Pharah because you assume your team-mates will kill it is a sure enough way to lose the game because she dominates at this rank.

At a higher level you may be able to ignore her because you have competent DPS, but that doesn’t mean you should be. Even as a tank in this situations or even Brig, I will get in a cheeky shot or even whipshot to ensure she backs away or is killed by all the other fire coming in at her.

The thing is, ultimately you are responsible for your progression. As pyah pts out, anyone who is playing at a level above their skill level can win a game because others compensate for them, but it doesn’t mean they will keep winning.

When playing a tank at a lower level, you will need to be making a difference yourself. Rein has a hammer, so bully your way onto the pt and start swinging, don’t sit at the choke or have your shield up protecting no-one.

Winston and DVA because of their high mobility are great at taking out high ground targets. While hog will usually just kill everyone at this rank.

Even Orisa can thrive with shield dancing and aiming at head height, she will require multiple people to take her out at silver assuming you don’t spend most of your time sitting in front of your shield.

Yes tanks can really shine with a support behind them, but so can DPS.

Remember ultimately a tanks role is to make space or maintain space, depending on who you pick.

Make sure you are doing that and making people back away from you. That’s simply what you need to be doing. Whether your team is using this space or using your shield is up to them. Just be in the right place at the right time doing ‘your thing’.

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No, but it does mean you should be winning most of these games. Of course some will be losses, but being a higher rank does tend to imply you are better at the game than those lower than you (on average) surely?

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Exactly. It is not Overwatch; it is not a team game. It is like Deathmatch. No comms. No “group up”. Nothing.

It is just people trying to kill the enemy team alone, praying to kill as many enemies as they can before getting killed themselves.

Being a good player involves team skills and awareness. How are you supposed to show how much team awareness you have if your team completely refuses to work as a team?

The main problem of most of these players is not even mechanics, I’d say. I have bad mechanics myself. But they are so bad, they don’t get the basics of the basics. “Group up, it’s a team game”. They don’t get that.

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You will always be able to identify faults in your peers. It can be a lot harder to see your own.

It may well be that you have ‘good team-work’ but that isn’t the entirety of the game. You could be making fundamental mistakes in terms of your game sense or your mechanics which are what holds you back in these situations.

Try not focus too hard on the mistakes your team-mates are doing. Sure sometimes they will cost you the match, but there will always be something you could have done better.

Here is an amusing story that happened to me last night in QP:
I was playing Mcree on a team with a Baptiste and a Rein on attack on Hanamura B.

I had my ult ready and we had control of the high ground against quad tank.

Baptiste drops his ult in front of our rein shield, I stand behind the rein shield and activate my ult…

Then rein dropped his shield, I get hooked and die.

We lost the match and that was a key moment where the necessary move was likely for the Rein to only drop his shield once I had fired (if it was necessary at all).

Was it frustrating for me? Certainly, but I made a myriad of other errors during that match as well. In that case, I should have communicated with my team-mate that he should hold up the shield while I ult through the Baptiste amp matrix.

For tank play, it may just be the case of being in positioning to protect mercy as she goes for the res, or stepping in front of the ulting Mcree, there are lots of things you could be doing. It may be even as simple as not insisting that the team groups up, but instead finding the strongest of those 4 feeders and just going in with them, allowing them to get that 1 more pick which may be all that was needed to win the match.

Needless to say, try focus on yourself more and consider using the replay functionality. You could well be horrified to know all the dumb mistakes you are making.

(Last night I jumped off the high ground on Oasis City Centre last night trying to finish off a Junkrat I missed my 2nd shot on and it cost us the match :frowning: … I mean why leave it if I had control of that area? LOL!)

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Wait, isn’t the whole point of most posters here “you are where you belong”? Every time I see someone complaining about elo hell, this answer is given.

How I’m playing in a rank above my own skill level, especially if I’m solo Q 95% of the times? Is this even possible?

Either people are where they belong, or they aren’t. If you are going to make an argument that I’m playing in a rank “above my level”, why can’t people make arguments for why they are playing in a rank ”below their level”?

I try not to bit** about people all the time, yeah. Everyone makes mistakes, and I’m sure I have a LOT to improve. But c’mon… it is difficult to swallow when people won’t even TRY to act as a team. What can I do? I’m one player in a group of six. I don’t make miracles. Should I set standards so high to myself to the point of wanting to kill half of the enemy team alone in every engagement, and ignore all the teammates who completely refuse to work and position as a team?

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That was never the suggestion. It was more so underlining why you may have struggled at a lower ELO. Keep in mind this is only 1 or 2 matches, I’m sure your superior play would result in you winning more than you lose and you’d be just where you are now.

I tried to indicate it is hard in the 1st line of my response, because it is. If it wasn’t hard you wouldn’t have so many people complaining on the forums that if it wasn’t because of their team-mates they would be higher or Elo Hell.

It really does take a lot to be able to focus on yourself rather than your team-mates when you are frustrated, especially when you think you are trying hard.

You will find that matches at different Elos feel different, but the reality is with how the system is currently structured, you aren’t meant to be just coasting along wondering ‘What can I do?’ you are meant to be just doing it if you want to maintain or advance (I am not saying you want to do either).

Just try to take a step back and realize they are all going to be making mistakes, just like you. Everyone makes them, it is just typically the higher up you go it is just going to be people making fewer mistakes because they have realized this.

I know you are frustrated as a tank, I’ve been there too when I used to play Orisa, wondering how I can kill 5 of the enemy as they swarm me on the payload before dying while my team couldn’t kill one.

The reality was, even though they weren’t using my shield, I was too slow and immobile and in the wrong position to make a difference except to be the person ‘they kill at the end’. My mechanics and shield dodging meant nothing because my positioning and game sense was trash.

We all make mistakes, all I can say is, focus more on your own improvement and you will likely be happier overall.

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i started in low silver (1500) and now im 3.6k, nope elo hell doesnt exist sorry to break it to ya

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Don’t worry about those silver players on your team, just worry about the silver players on the enemy team. You need to capitalise on the mistakes your enemy makes, and I guarantee they made some.

You say you lost because of the silvers on your team, but the enemy team was full of silvers. It’s no excuse.

Capitalise on enemy mistakes and you will win matches

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This is an extremely healthy perspective to have.

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Thats why i like to talk about ELO Barrier more than ELO Hell. There is a point where as a DPS or healer you can not carry anymore but you still carry as a main tank with ease. Especially if you maining tanks.

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You mentioned you were in a duo with a high bronze and it seemed like you both went tanks. When you came to have issues with receiving heals, did it come by you that maybe one of you could just swap to like mercy or another main healer and pocket the other or something? 2-2-2 is nice but it isn’t the end all be all.

Also maybe your high bronze friend wasn’t ready to play in a higher tier but since he’s your friend you tend to not notice/point out his mistakes.

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The thing is though, even if half your team didn’t do anything, the opposite can be true for the enemy team. The difference is they capitalised on your mistakes and you couldn’t on theirs.

It’s not an ideal situation, but you still could deal with him on your own. As rein, simply charge him. If you were playing d.va, you could matrix (and rocket) him and he could swing. Considering you were duo queueing the both of you could’ve taken him out together without relying on the DPS.

You have a higher chance of winning by playing one main tank and two healers.

In which case you go with him. A bad solo play is a throw, a (bad?) team play is a strat.

Not necessarily. The difference between gold and silver really isn’t all that high in terms of skill. You were also queueing with a high bronze player so that brought your team average down. I tend to win less queueing in a group than solo.

I find the same sort of teams in diamond. The answer is, you identify what you can either do to make up for the failings of your team or punish the failings of theirs.

I will sorta agree with this. Improvement takes time, but the variable nature of teams does make it harder. That being said, the matchmaker does do a good job of getting you out of an elo if it determines you don’t belong there. I experienced it myself recently.

Nope. If you deserve gold you’ll get there. If you don’t, you’ll stay bronze/silver. Even if you make a new account you’ll gravitate to that same point. I’ve done this with 4 different accounts.

You win because you know how to play at gold. You know what to expect from your team and adjust your playstyle accordingly. You have no clue how to play at silver, and you probably use gold strats in that elo which don’t work. If I tried to play in gold as I do in master I’ll lose a lot of games.

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I’ve been in your situation op, twice.

I tried to play support in silver. Won 60% of my games, but broken Pbsr kept me down. Switched to dps and blasted up with 65% win rate and far more generous Pbsr.

2nd time I realised that tanking in silver impossible. If you have a barrier up, your team will just waltz through it, rendering it useless.

I realised that silver is full of players that have zero concept of teamwork. I therefore changed to mobile heroes that could work with my team. I no longer used heroes that required teamwork (or any kind of intelligence) from team mates to do well with.

Shot back up to gold, from 1700, with 80% win rate with Lucio and Moira.

You have to change how you play. If you play tank and nobody uses your barrier, it’s on you to switch to a more suitable hero.

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