Here's how you climb

Competitive Discussion
1

Git Gud.

I didn’t believe it and haven’t been able to climb since the game was released. I cried and moaned about it. I was wondering why I wasn’t winning games when I was constantly flexing for the team, making calls, being positive etc…

Then it hit me the other week… Yes I can flex all the characters but I never put maximum effort into learning ONE character VERY well. I’ve gotten so much better at Ana in the last week by watching Vod’s, watching the pro Ana’s, and asking this community for advice.

I also accepted that the reason I don’t climb is entirely my fault and I need to correct my bad play with ONE character first and foremost.

I’m still silver, still have a long way to go, but I’ve noticed a significant increase in close games and good games now that I have learned a lot about ONE character. We don’t respect the depth of each character enough and flexing isn’t always the answer.

You should be able to flex but compliment it with a good main. So basically if you want to climb , stop making excuses and take complete ownership over yourself. It is not your teammates fault your losing games (though you will lose games once and a while to someone tilting or someone who is just mechanically bad). If you lose this way, just remember that they are trying to learn too and SR isn’t as important as having good games and improving yourself.

I have learned SOOOO much more from my losses than my wins. Happy climbing :slight_smile:

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Can this be? Someone who actually realized the truth? Nice. It’s going to be a slow process, but you’ll get there. Put in quality time, and you’ll climb. I came to the same realization about where you are now, and after really focusing on myself managed to peak 4003 and now sit in mid-high master comfortably. It can be done, and you’ve taken the first step.

If you ever want a vod review done, I’d be willing to do one. My specialty is tanks and Lucio/Zen, but I’m comfortable reviewing all roles up until diamond.

Good luck!

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Thanks man. I made the Ana vod thread that might still be on the first page. That was from a few days ago though and I’m already doing much better with all the advice. Ill make another one and tag you sometime soon.

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It took me awhile to figure this out too and I began to focus on improving my skill with one or two characters, but still actively played most characters within my chosen role. I am a Support main and since making this change I have noticed a drastic improvement. I like to play my mains, but being able to flex within the role to compliment my team or counter the enemy team accordingly has changed the outcome of countless games.

I also realized that SR does not accurately represent your overall skill level. There are too many factors that affect the outcome of a game and a simple win or loss (gain or drop in SR) cannot quantify your skill level. I have played Competitive since Season 1 and I have pretty much have been locked into mid to high Gold because of my MMR every season. I have managed to get into Plat a few times and that is my ultimate goal every season. I know I am not a Masters or above player and I am fine with that, but I do think Diamond is very achievable with continual self improvement and communication with my team. On a side note, I was invited to a party and I played with a high plat / diamond level team and held my own against the enemy, receiving several compliments from my team and the enemy, and even got the POTG.

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Good work man. With this mindset of complete self ownership, you will certainly get better WAY faster and have better games.

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Yes, I sill flub up enough to know I don’t belong in GM, but damn if my win streaks aren’t getting crushed by 3 instalock deeps, trollers who have no intention of winning, and that one person who quits the match because we’re behind.

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Flexing and being a team player is overrated. I climb the most when I play selfishly.

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8

Disagree with it being phrased this way.

It is worth flexing if you can, but you want your pool to be small and consist of characters you are already good at. Going Rein because someone says ‘we need a Rein’ but not being good at him is one of the worst things you can do.

So:
“Only play who you are good at” and “get good at 2 or 3 characters” is what I would suggest.

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9

It’s going to happen still, but if you shift your mindset and focus on yourself improving one main, you will have better games overall. Doesn’t mean you will get to GM. It means you will get enjoyment knowing that you improved your skill set even if you lose to some random bullcrap.

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I’ve played with you. Bad news. “Maining” in low elo won’t get you anywhere. Especially Ana. I promise you I have like 10x the amount of hrs than you on Ana (>100 this season, >100 last season)… she’s not a climber lol. I play her becuz she’s the only hero I enjoy (literally).

I’ve improved sooo much since I started. My aim, game sense, skill… considerably I am so much better than when I started in Silver… yet I am still here. I’ve recorded vods, had coaches review them, aim drills… you name it. When I play Ana paintball or FFA DM, I beat diamond/masters consistently top 5 in the DM game. Yet I still remain in Silver despite hitting shots, sleeps, and nades… Ana isn’t carry… don’t expect to climb just because you play well with her… just a warning. You’ll find out soon enough lol.

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Should be able to play 1-2 per category. THAT is how you climb. If you only learn one you just lose when countered or another one trick takes your role.

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I think it might have more to do with your negative mindset but OK. I simply don’t believe you that you consistently beat master players in DM. That sound’s like a self delusion.

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K. Might see play with ya soon. I’m not a negative. Endorse is level 4. I get friend requests everyday. I’m cheerful, hopeful, give props and shoutouts to good plays.

Ive just sunk like 300hrs on this game, 90% of which are on 1 hero (Ana) maintaining a 54% winrate and the needle hasn’t moved from Silver so… yeah kinda just jaded.

Also you’ll come to realize the truth. Promise you won’t be getting to plat anytime soon. Maybe if you play like God for 2-3 seasons… GLHF… If this MM system hasn’t drained your hope yet lol… just wait till after a few hundred hrs.

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FFA is very different to competitive 6v6. Landing sleep darts and nades and being able to aim is super important in FFA. In comp, landing the sleep dart or nade on the right targets at the right time is what matters. You can sleep dozens of enemies in a match and still have no real impact on the game. On the other hand, landing only 3-4 but on really important targets at the right time (think nano-blade) could make the difference between winning and losing.

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Ana is a hero who relies heavily on teammates. She is only as good as her team because of exactly what you stated: timing and picking right targets. If your teammates suck, you don’t have a good nano target. Your sleeps get ruined. Your bionades aren’t followed up or capitalized on (antiheal nade a transcendence or zarya grav… 0 kills? Happens a lot to me…)

This is why ML7 does not play Ana when he does his 24hr to Top500 streams. He’ll typically go Zen and just DPS carry in low elo. He’ll only start playing Ana when he gets to around diamond.

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Fine, you need an organised team to make the most of Ana. But surely if you’re playing at a level low enough to make Ana’s utility pointless, the enemy is so bad that you could just out heal them as Ana. I mean, her healing output can be great and bad DPS have really long time-to-kill.

I guess what I’m getting at is, she might not be the best hero to climb with, but if you’re good with her you will still climb. Then the bonus is that after you have climbed, your team will really benefit from having a good Ana, whereas they might not benefit as much from whatever “carry” hero worked in low ranks.

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Agreed. I can instalock Mcree and get to Gold pretty easily. But I only enjoy playing Ana. I’d rather rank up with brute force. I’ll get more “fun” value out of it. But it has been an insanely frustrating uphill climb… especially around 1800/1900 SR

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Should read:
Git Gud, and play a ginormous number of games.

Gitting Gud won’t stop losses from non-gud teammates and the ever-lurking throwers/smerfs.

For those of us who can’t play 40+ hours a week. Gitting Gud alone won’t really help much with this flawed and frustrating comp system.

Congratulations! You got it half-right at least! :+1:

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Just have fun. Since Overwatch isn’t life. Cheers. You want to play comp, just treat it like QP since you embrace losing instead of winning

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I’ve read your posts and pretty much disagree with everything you said. If we were to believe you, climbing would be impossible. It is just not true and not fair to say to a guy that is actually trying… You are making excuse, over excuse over excuse all to say “it is not my fault”… just read yourself.

So it is Ana’s or teamates fault, but you are all perfect, aren’t you??

Sucks to be you bro with this kind of limiting beliefs…