Something doesn't add up

Competitive Discussion
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The innumerable threads asking for tips on how to climb out of low ranks and threads complaining about not being able to climb out of low ranks inevitably receive comments stating that you need to carry your way out playing DPS.

The bit that doesn’t add up is that typically part of the reason given for not being able to climb is that there are too many DPS mains and nobody wants to play other roles. So, if the key to climbing is playing DPS then why are there so many DPS players in those ranks?

Note that I’m quite happy with where I am and just want to discuss where this idea came from.

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And thus why I think alot of these people don’t get it. Yes, you can carry yourself with other roles, but really… does anyone care to really think through the unnecessary time spent and wasted on trying to rank up with lesser efficient roles? Remember, aslong as its PVP, the unwritten or overlooked objective is always going to be a form of attrition. And what’s the most efficient role for that? DPS/Attack.

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So your attitude is that a bronze player should play DPS to climb even though there are other roles which need filling which would help the entire team, despite the fact that said bronze player is almost certainly no better than all the other bronze DPS players at playing DPS?

Just play what you’re good at.

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What I’m saying is that I agree with how flawed the logic is. This game is a very team-focused game, and people are saying “play DPS” to rank up… which already enabled bad habits, which in itself is anti-competitive in terms of having a competitive environment.

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DPS can hard carry games much more easily than tanks and support, so if a player wants to climb super fast then they should just play DPS and carry. Makes sense, right? Unfortunately this disregards the fact that players stuck in a tier are stuck there for a reason. If they play DPS and refuse to switch, they’ll just end up contributing to the problem that they complained about.

The real reason is that it’s suggested is because people are always looking for the easy way up, and this is their dream come true. Of course it’s their teammates! They just have to kill the entire enemy team! Hence, the hordes of 48% winrate Genji mains that have been in gold for 8 seasons.

I’m more of a fan of specializing and getting really good at a role. It takes time, but it’s more effective for most. I hit GM from silver with tanks and support. The only time I mained DPS was 2100-2500.

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Right, now I’m with you. Thanks for clarifying.

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To be fair, I didn’t clarify it when I first said it. That said…

I wouldn’t call carrying as DPS to be super fast, just much more reliable in terms of just having more consistent damage output compared to every other hero in the game. That said, I think being a specialist in more demanding roles such as tanks and supports enables good habits and pro-competitive in a competitive environment.

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Yep, that’s exactly what I was thinking. In my experience nobody who’s in a match at their own level can hard carry by themselves, much less do it repeatedly and be able to climb very quickly.

Hmm, is this really true? If they were good enough to output consistent damage as a DPS they probably wouldn’t have so much trouble climbing. Also, the frequency of tanks or Moira getting gold medals for damage in low ranks sort of suggests the DPS are not consistently doing damage.

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Simply because DPS don’t have the sustain to contest, sadly. I mean, you can be good at killing the enemy team, but when you yourself sort of may have to contest because your teammates are inadequate enough to die as fast, if not faster, than the enemy team, then… yeah. Its why I kind of miss old Roadhog left-click. He could contest like a boss and carry via damage alone. Its unreliable to truly just carry with just killing everything simply because, well, it still relies on how competent your teammates can even merely stay alive to contest.

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anyone can climb with anything and climbing is very easy if they approach the game the right way.
The idea that someone can only climb on DPS is misguided.
However, it comes from the idea that if someone is actually better than the rank they are in DPS is the fastest way out. That much is true. If a player is multiple ranks above the SR they are in, in terms of skill or game sense they will crush that rank easily if they play DPS.
If they are not tbh they can be of a determent to a team more than anything else.
I think either Tank play or Zen play is the best way out of a low rank if a person isn’t better than that rank to start.

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This. I play tanks in bronze. I mean I really try to TANK, not play DPS with a bigger health pool. Rein, Orisa, DVa. I almost always end up with gold or silver elims. Not that the medals matters, but just that in bronze matches, DPS is almost never the top for elims. Is this the same in other ranks? About where in the skill tiers can we expect to see DPS routinely placing first/second in elims?

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Dva and orris tend to pepper things a lot so elims are not a good measure comparing dps to tank directly. Gold damage is another story if someone has that on a tank that isn’t dva by the end of the game that might indicate something.

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me an a buddy dueled rein ana solo heals an he had gold dmg as rein.lost of corse

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in a situation like that it’s different since you have synergy that’s something rare to none existent in low elo.

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lol aint that the truth i got accounts in bronze cant climb gold games slightly better an few in mid plat that stay round 2600 to 2800 range slightly better

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Trick to climbing out of something like bronze is mechanical skills game sense doesn’t cut it as well because a lot of it doesn’t apply as much.

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Playing a support or tank at Gold level is better than playing a dps at Bronze level, if you want to get out of Bronze. It’s not what you play, it’s how you play it. Somebody that is truly Gold or higher will never be stuck in Bronze no matter what character they play. A Gold level tank can climb because focus fire doesn’t exist in Bronze and when you tank effectively, you make the space for your dps to do their jobs better, as well as allow your supports to gain ult charge more reliably.

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the only tip that helps climbin out of anywhere, to anywhere is: improve.

not climb, IMPROVE.

doesn’t matter if dps tank or support

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I think as you move up the ranks, other roles become more needed and playing tank/support becomes just as important as dps.

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I know what you mean. Three seasons ago I carried myself out of Silver to Diamond playing mostly Soldier and Reaper. I stayed in high plat to low Diamond for three Seasons straight with more wins at the end of the season than losses.

This Season I started in Plat but ended up dropping to low Gold 2100 after about 30 losses. I had lost about 400+ SR a little at a time playing Soldier and Reaper.

I found that in every match other DPS would pick a DPS hero even though I had already locked into my main Soldier and Reaper knowing I could carry really hard, take down pharra/mercy with Soldier or destroy enemy tanks with Reaper.

I ended up losing over and over again if I stayed DPS cause there were three DPS and only one tank or one healer which was bad and we lose.

So after all those losses I had to start playing tanks or support and learn to carry as a tank or support and it worked. I gained back all the SR I had previously lost in half the matches.

I have about 20 more losses than wins but I was able to get back to Plat by hard carry with tanks and support. As tank (Rein or Orrisa) I had more elims, damage, and ult kills than the DPS on our team. As support I had more heals than the mercy or moira (I play Ana and Zen). I continued to win and gain 30 - 40 SR per win and if I lost a match I lost less than 17 SR.

I had several matches where as Rein I had 54+ elims, 17 kill streak, 20+ earth-shatter stuns with 17 earth-shaker kills, 14+ fire-strike kills (even pharrah), and 17+ charge pin kills with highest elims, highest damage, highest obj kills, and blocked over 20,000 damage. Its a hard carry when you as Rein have more elims, damage, and ULT kills than the 2 DPS combined.

So you can carry using other heroes and do not need to always be DPS.

However, there were matches where I was getting destroyed as tank by Pharrah/Mercy and the DPS was not dealing with it and I was just getting killed over and over again because our support was being destroyed by pharrah flanks. I told them I main Soldier and will kill pharrah and mercy if they let me play Soldier. Sometimes they let me switch to Soldier and sometimes they don’t. When they do we win cause I can kill pharrah and mercy with 47% accuracy and thus keep our support from being killed by pharrah.

With our support not being killed by enemy DPS such as Pharrah then the whole team can get sustain heals including the tanks.

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