Greetings! My name is Y1nno, and for this season, I’ve decided put my season 14 experience on the record in the form of a spreadsheet that I’ve been dutifully filling out in order to have a solid understanding of how the competitive season went. This is a rather long post, and not something I can format a TL:DR with, so I’ve done my best to keep it concise and format it so you guys can go straight to whatever you’re interested in. That said, I recommend everyone take a look at the link below, to a google spreadsheet (Thanks to Basilisk335 for sharing their Overwatch Performance Tracker) where I’ve recorded all of my data. Also, it’s very important to note that all of this comes from my experience, which is probably very different from yours.
https:/docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1bYPC2X2Uyc6VliPJd3jXPRdQ4m0mipv_keMDMsuBLks/edit?usp=sharing
- About Me
- Spreadsheet Quirks
- Placements
- Solo Queueing
- Six-Stacking
- LFG/2-5 Stacks
- SR
- Time of Day/Day of Week
- Attacking VS Defending
- Maps
- Hero Selection
- My Season 14 Positives
- Improvements for Season 15
- Conclusion
I played Overwatch on Xbox from the beta to around Season 5, when I swapped to PC. From season 8 to season 10, I played on various amateur esports teams, going 6-4 in the Open Division season 2 with team 1’Tick. Unfortunately, I was cut from the team and spent my time in season 11 coaching bronze to plat players. At my peak, I was 3478 in season 10, playing mostly support and off tank. After being cut from the team, I gradually lost interest in Overwatch, and during seasons 12 and 13, I didn’t touch the game.
A couple of days before the start of Season 14, my interest returned to Overwatch. I knew I lost skill and knowledge going in, so I decided to first use my alt account “Y1nno” which had placed 2616 during season 11, before returning to my main account. Additionally, after I made this post asking for advice for a returning player, and receiving responses several responses like: “Play literally anything else,” I decided that recording details of my games could help me evaluate the state of the game. During my time queueing solo, I decided to record details on the level of communication and the instances of toxic behavior.
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When multiple heroes are entered into Input tab they are weighted evenly, which may not be accurate if there was a significant difference in the time played between those heroes. Most of the time, if I had played a hero for less than a minute in a match, I usually did not include them while inputting data.
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Since I was using a tracker turned out to be slightly dated, the heroes Ashe and Hammond, and the map Busan could not be entered into the tracker. I probably could have added them myself, but I didn’t want to mess with the math and cell placement of the original sheet.
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Blanks on the Map column in the Input tab are games that took place on the Busan Map. This leads to 7 control maps not being taken into account in any of the Map analysis tables/graphs on the Analysis tab.
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Any entries of the hero Widowmaker are placeholders for Ashe. I did not play Widowmaker this season there were no issues in distinguishing performance between the two heroes.
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I had less than a minute of playtime on Hammond overall, mostly to stall out points. As stated above, I had no interest in tracking stats for heroes that contributed little to my overall playtime, so a placeholder for Hammond was not needed.
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After game #78, there is only 1 meaningful comment in the “Notes” section. This is because the majority of games following that point are made in 6-Stacks, where there was always what I would consider moderate or high communication and no instances of toxic behavior.
I knocked out all of my placements on the same day, my first time playing competitive since August… you could say I was excited to come back. I went 5W-5L, placing 2578, which surprised me. I had expected to have a more significant negative impact on my team’s performance due to my absence playing the game, which did happen, but only after placements. Additionally, after reading the forums for a couple days, I expected more toxicity than I had received. During my placements I had only one instance of my teammates flaming each other and only one instance on a leaver on the enemy team.
So first, some quick stats and facts all from solo queueing:
- I solo queued 62 games this season, approximately 49.2% of matches.
- While solo queuing, I had 53.2% win-rate.
- I lost four games in a row 2 times and three games in a row 5 times
- I had my largest winning streak of 10 games
- 6 out of the 7 games that I played DPS where while I was solo queueing
- 11 instances of toxicity or no communication from my teammates. (17.7% of solo queue matches)
I solo queued during my placements and during the first 61 games of the season, (excluding game #8) coming back, I didn’t have any ties to people I felt comfortable playing with. Additionally, I felt solo queueing would help me become a better player, forcing me to flex sometimes and helping resolve issues between teammates.
While the forums describe rampant toxicity, I never really felt the same way. Even the 17.7% seems higher than I remember feeling during the first half of the season. The way I see it, there are a couple of explanations for this:
- Luck – As far as I know, the matchmaker doesn’t decide to match someone based on their endorsement level, so there’s always a chance that each person placed on your team is going to be extremely toxic, and by some magic, I have dodged the majority of it.
- Rage – The players posting about toxicity on the forums often include personal anecdotes of their recent match. They could be emotionally charged to over-exaggerating the problem.
- Communication – I habitually started the match inviting my teammates to voice chat, greeting them with a hearty “Howdy,” and usually started the match on a positive note. Not everyone got in voice chat and not everyone responded but opening up lines of communication reduced the amount of overall toxicity I experienced. Teams who don’t communicate have a harder time realizing why they a struggling, which breeds frustration.
Ultimately, I was dissatisfied with solo-queue the same way many others are. People play comp for different reasons, some are serious, some troll, and some are laid back. Some people only want to play a specific role, some will flex. Some will communicate, some won’t. This leads to inconsistency in match quality and hurts players who want to develop skills in a particular role/hero
Again, some quick stats and facts from my time 6-Stacking:
- I played in a 6-stack for 37 games this season, 29.4% of matches
- During these matches, I had a 64.9% win-rate
- My biggest losing streak, (5 games in a row) was played in 6-Stacks, except for the second game in the streak, game #98, which was played in a group of 4
- There were 6 instances of winning streaks of 3+ games in a row
- I only played DPS once
Towards the end of January, I joined an organization called Neso Esports, (more information below) which allowed me to network with players with similar attitudes. We formed the Neso Esports NA Academy team and started playing competitive together. As I mentioned, the reason I stopped recording the quality of communication and instances of toxic behavior on the Input tab is because grouping up with with a concrete team and similar ideas communication soared and toxic behavior vanished.
While I definitely prefer stacking and playing with team members and others from Neso, which makes the quality of matches increase dramatically, however, I believe that I’m not being challenged in the same way as I was while solo-queueing. Also, since most of the Academy team has a lower SR than I do, actually climbing with them is difficult because of how average team SR factors into SR gains and losses, see more in the SR section of this post. The last drawback to 6-Stacking is that competition is much more fierce than solo queueing at the same rank purely because of the increase in communication and team play, and the decrease in inconsistency and toxic behavior.
For people dissatisfied with solo queue, I recommend finding people to play with. There are several ways that I’ve met people that I regularly play with today:
- Group up with players you meet while solo-queueing. – If you have a positive experience with a teammate, try sticking with them and establish a connection with them. Even one friend playing with you can improve the quality of matches.
- Join a Guild/Team – amateur teams, gaming guilds, or esports organizations are great ways to meet people who can play with you.
- The Forums – The Overwatch forums are an easy method of meeting people with similar ideas, inviting them to play, competitive or otherwise, could be a good idea.
Quick Stats from games where LFG has been used or 2-5 stacks have been played:
- I have played 27 Games in stacks of 2-5, 21.4% of games played
- Between these 27 games, I had a 40.7% win-rate
- I have played 2 games using LFG, losing both games
While I have a small sample size between these games that I played in intermediately sized groups and the statistically revolting sample size of 2 data points for LFG, my experiences with in these situations have driven me away from this type of play. While LFG and intermediately stacking are fundamentally different, I believe they run into the same problem that sometimes only becomes clear after the match ends. Stacking in a group smaller than six does increase the overall consistency of match quality, but it forms a divide within the team. It’s too easy for a stack to blame the performance of solo queue teammates when it comes to a loss, especially since the solo queue players would likely be unfamiliar with playstyle with the group or uncomfortable with the role that the five-stack would like them to play. The role problem is managed with using LFG to complete a group, but the differences in game philosophy (where to hold, when to back up, etc.) and playstyle is enough to isolate any solo or duo that plays with a group that takes up a majority of the team.
After finishing placements with five wins and five losses, I expected to perform on par with other 2750 SR players. If you took a look at the first 23 games of the season, you would see that this is not the case, with a startling record of 7 wins to 16 losses, starting off the season 214 SR lower than I placed. However, the next 30 games were even more dramatic, with 22 wins, 6 losses, and 2 draws, skyrocketing me past my placement SR to 2933. Then, as the next 7 games saw me lose 5 times. All of this shooting up and down made my confidence in blizzard’s matchmaker weaken. Looking back at a reply on a forum post
I made at the time, my reasoning for these peaks and valleys was an acknowledgment of my deteriorated skill, and realizing the power of tilt, even if I don’t feel tilted. If you’re suffering from the same problems, I recommend looking at that post and following the advice.
Past game 60, my SR change can be characterized by plateaus with sharp increases or decreases. I think at these plateaus are great, (in terms of quality of the game, not my personal goal of climbing) it means the matchmaker has found the SR where my wins and losses even out, where I’m close to my true skill level. I believe that the sharp shifts in where those plateaus have come from my habits. In their video: “What I Learned as a GM in Gold Pt. Two: Why People Get Stuck in Ladder,” SVB (an Overwatch analysis content creator) makes a point that I think most would agree with, that certain behaviors in Overwatch have certain ceilings where they will prevent you from climbing the ladder. A DPS could find success with an over-aggressive playstyle in lower tiers, but will be punished in the higher tiers, preventing them from climbing. So, I believe that a sharp increase/decrease in my SR, preceded and then followed by a plateau indicates a change inconsistent behavior, not a drastic change in mechanical skill.
Looking at games 90 to 126, one thing becomes very clear: I’m losing more SR than I’m receiving. Even though I have won 18 games and lost 17 games, (with one draw) I am down 72 SR…. which is very frustrating. As mentioned above in the 6-Stacking section, this stems from my group’s average SR, which is lower than my own. This makes sense, as a higher rated player, I am expected to perform well when placed in a match with people of a lower average SR, even in a six stack, however, I’m faced with a dilemma if I want to maintain my SR. As far as I can tell, there are three solutions aside from Blizzard changing how Sr is calculated:
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Play with a group whose average SR is closer to mine – I dislike this option purely because I like playing with the group I already have, and I would feel shallow abandoning them on the grounds of SR
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Solo Queue to recover SR – I’ve grown uncomfortable with the inconsistency of solo queueing, and while this option isn’t as rude as abandoning the group altogether, it still limits my playtime with them.
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Keep playing with the group – While I may be losing more SR for every loss, I realize that my teammates that fall under the average are gaining more SR for every win. Since we started playing together our average has increased by 171 SR, more than what I’ve lost.
I have also considered the role of PSBR in my average SR gains and losses. From games 90 to 126 the average SR gained for a win is 21.4 and the average SR lost for a loss is 24.7. From a PSBR perspective, this indicates a player who is distinctly underperforming, however, the win-rate (50%) indicates a player who is performing on par with their rank. If I were to be underperforming to the extent that PSBR indicates, my win-rate should have been lower than 50%.
My stats show that there’s little impact on win-rate during the times I usually played, 6:00 p.m. CST to 2:00 a.m. CST. These stats have a limited sample size from 6:00 p.m. and 10:00 p.m.
However, the day of the week seems to a slight impact. Monday, Tuesday, and Friday all have win-rates hovering around 47%, while Wednesday and Sunday have win-rates close to 67%
Both of Day of the Week and Time of the Day stats can be explained as a combination of internal and external factors. External factors, when it comes to time, are often how the time of day/day of the week limit or facilitate certain demographics of the people currently in the competitive queue. Internal factors would rely on my personal behavior. My question for myself is now “What habits do I have that are reliant on the day of the week?” None come to mind immediately, and it may take more reflection and observation before I find an answer.
For me, starting on the attacking side yielded a 52.5% win-rate overall, while starting on the defending side yielded a 58.1% win-rate overall. My reasoning for this data is that when defending first, you have a clear goal set for your team during your attacking round. Even if you get destroyed on defense, your team knows that in order to win, they MUST do the same, or else they’ll lose (duh). However, if you’re attacking, your team may be prone to settling for less, even subconsciously, because it’s unclear how much they actually need to fully complete their objective in order to win.
Even without accounting for Busan, my matches took place on control maps 28.6% of the time. Although this percentage is only 3.6% higher than what would be expected of between the 4 game modes, I could definitely feel myself tiring of the concentration of control matches.
Additionally, I surprised to see how dramatic some of my win/loss rates have been on certain maps: 0% win-rate between 6 games on Kings Row, and 85% win-rate between 7 games on Route 66. I may have to re-evaluate my performance on these maps, can this data be determined by a null hypothesis? (Is it just random chance?) Or am I underperforming on these maps?
Between solo queueing and six-stacking, GOATS has had very little showing in my rank and when it does, it usually isn’t as oppressive.
As for myself, one look at the “Hero Breakdown” table on the Analysis tab on the spreadsheet, and it is clear that the 37.2% played as Zenyatta reveals my main, when compared to every other hero that falls below the 11% range. As I mentioned in the Solo-queueing section, playing solo forced me to flex sometimes, which I believe is important. Playing only one hero or only one role limits your game sense and leaves you out to dry when that hero or role leaves the meta. While my team captain on the Neso Esports Academy Team encourages (forces) me to play varying support heroes in our matches, I don’t get to swap roles as much as I would like, and I worry that my game sense may suffer as a result.
To combat this, I spend a lot of time playing mystery heroes, either the arcade mode or in a custom FFA game, much to my group’s collective distaste.
- I’m back from a long break, and this season has felt great in my opinion.
- There was way less toxicity than expected
- For the first time, I started reaching out and making connections to people on the ladder, the people I’ve met are great and this has made competitive more rewarding.
- Although I’m not where I was when I left, I’m proud of the skills I’ve relearned and the confidence I’ve gotten.
- With a skill-based support like Zenyatta, I can really fine tune my mechanics, instead of playing brain dead as some of the other less mechanically challenging supports.
- I’ve started ult tracking, something I wasn’t comfortable with before my break.
- I need to branch out in terms of supports and roles, either on a different account or taking the SR loss on this account.
- There are still some habits that I need to iron out in order to climb, that will take some VOD review and some coaching.
- My accuracy, both hitscan projectile needs work
- I’ll probably use a different spreadsheet for next season that is updated with the new maps and heroes
Well there you have it, 27 hours of playtime condensed into under 13 minutes of reading time. As I said, I’m glad to be back to playing Overwatch, I’ve learned a lot by recording stats and jotting down notes, and I definitely recommend doing it for anyone who is wondering where they can improve. Thanks for reading, I’d love to hear your experience of season 14 and any questions you have for me.