Questions for self-coaching

Competitive Discussion
1

I have some questions about how to go about coaching yourself in a vod where you were playing a comp or map that you don’t know how to play around or, better yet, playing against a comp that you have limited experience playing against.

  1. How do you identify the win condition? How do you identify what is needed in this scenario compared to what might usually work in others? How do you identify what isn’t going to work that would otherwise be viable, outside of just trial and error?
  2. How do you identify what the problem is? How do you correctly identify what the important mistakes were? E.g., what was it that actually contributed to winning or losing a fight; what did the enemies do wrong to lose a fight, despite us playing incorrectly; or why did we lose a fight despite excellent coordination?
  3. How do you tell what’s happening when the circus is in town? When there’s so much goofy garbage happening on screen and nobody knows what’s going on, how do you determine what play should be made?
  4. Who should be countered? Are you supposed to just always counter the tank, or whoever’s popping off? This question probably encapsulates questions 1-3.
  5. What should you do when you’re being hardcountered? In this instance, let’s assume that swapping means you’ll be playing much worse, but maybe on a much better hero for the situation. Practicing more heroes is obviously always recommended, but if you’re forced off of a hero being countered, and your team is demading the swap, should you politely ask your teammates who don’t have ult to swap to something more synergistic? Or will them staying on their mains be more effective than a comp that’s synergistic on paper if multiple teammates would be on a relatively unfamiliar hero to accommodate for the new comp?
  6. How do you determine what the team needs? This goes back to questions 2 and 5, but on a more micro level — how do you determine what more is needed from your (or a teammate’s) individual gameplay to be effective, beyond just mechanical issues (e.g., something that’s quickly actionable in a match in progress)?

These questions don’t necessarily completely apply to me, but I see these concerns all the time and I don’t see a recent active thread for many of them, so hopefully this post brings forth some productive competitive discussion.

For question 6 in particular, one actionable thing I like to examine is how we’re playing against ultimates; e.g., if I know Sombra has EMP and she’s skulking around trying to find an opening to use it, I’ll call for my team to spread out and play around close corners to make her choose not only who to EMP, but also how exposed to be if she wants to land a huge one.

2

thats not an easy thing to explain as it changes on a per map/per fight basis, what you should look for is what counters does the enemy have that could potential shutdown what you have - ie: trans voids blade but if you can bait trans then blade becomes useful

this requires observation - is your healer being harassed and unable to support the other members? do you need swap your char to assist your healer? is the tank going in solo? is there a stagger going on? are your dps playing picks who can engage the enemy dps?

the communication scroll wheel is useful especially if people arent in vc - try to coordinate through that, spam your ult if you are going to use it - when respawning perhaps type something quick like RESEST

easiest thing to do is swap, unless you can outskill the counters, its hard if the enemy team is playing together tho - you can also avoid your counters and focus on other enemies

ask yourself this - is there anyone on my team i can combo with that will enable space to be taken or swing a fight in our favour - easy example: if dps are running airforce, perhaps a mercy would help or a dva who has high mobility and can finish off the enemy who went around the corner with 50 hp left

3

I have to add something about this rq: Don’t do this unless out of LOS of the enemy. It shows an ult icon above your head that the enemy team can see. I also wouldn’t use the “3, 2, 1…” comm unless out of enemy LOS for the same reason.

(ofc, low rank players never notice this anyway and might not even play around it, so mileage may vary)

4

the enemy has been tracking your ult, so they know when its about to get used.

5

They can track when I have it, but saying “HEY! I’M ABOUT TO SHATTER” to the enemy team via the comms wheel is a fantastic way to have it called out and/or blocked, for example (actually a very fitting example because you see Flats take advantage of this all the time).

tbh I think this could stand to be changed about the comms wheel. I’m pretty sure the “My ultimate is ready!” lines aren’t audible by the enemy, although I am a bit hearing impaired, so I can’t say for sure.

6

so work on timing, if its rein v rein, break his shield first, then watch them try to block your shatter. you are getting yourself into a circular argument here

7

May as well just never use that comm on a frontline character, it does more harm than help

Anyway, I’m pretty sure it’s an inconsistency in the comms wheel (see what I said about the voice lines) and if so, should probably be changed.