Tanks? Dead To Play

Just play OPEN QUEUE

Tank is the carry position of the game. Your teams tank line dictates how the entire match is going to go. Unfortunately the tank role is also not the most intuitive to new players since the common first mistakes are hold a shield at the choke and pray DPS gets a pick. Which always follows up with tanks thinking DPS are the problem because as soon as their shield dies they start back peddling and the enemy starts to stream in. “Trash dps”, “Kill something”. Those are some awesome tips coming from the person who held a shield at choke for half it’s HP while the rest of their team walks back from respawn. Can we blame those misguided tank players? Eh kinda hard to hold it against them when the tank role isn’t explained well at all. Heroes like Roadhog then confuse the situation even worse.

Once players do figure out what the tank role requires then it’s a crap shoot on getting them to want to play tank.

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Tank is the carry position. You do almost as much damage as a DPS and have 2-5x the health. There are games where you just can’t get a heal because your main healer is duo’d with a DPS and pocketing them or you have 2 off healers into a spam comp. There are also games where your DPS are just having an off day and are whiffing shots or the enemy team has people with good movement who are legitimately hard to hit.

But, just like when you DPS and have to counter Pharah, Bastion, Widow, dive tanks, etc or you just lose, you have to adapt as a tank and support as well. There seems to be more of a stigma against DPS who won’t swap but tank/supports who won’t swap are equally detrimental.

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You can feel the pressure difference as tank between someone who’s actually shooting non stop and someone who is trying to aim for their heads and just missing non-stop, so if they say that mid game, it’s prob true. If they say it at the end of the game, maybe not.

At all ranks tanks are the deciding factor (in role queue).

Barring DPS smurfs (as you mentioned).

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It’s the same for DPS really, do they have big ults that make a difference? Nobody likes playing with a junkrat who gets one kill every ult for 5-6 times. Same with a Rein only getting 1-2 in a shatter. Like what Nickdarick said, go ball and make plays. There needs to be another char like ball to spice it up

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True true, i just meant that after diamond, pretty much every game is tank diff, as opposed to most games in lower ranks.

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You mean… Winston, DVa, Tracer, Genji, Pharah, widow? All heroes that work well with Hammond if you know how to play…

I’d agree with this…

My GM friend is heavily critical of tank players (he’s DPS).

His description (he mains widow), if he gets a pick, the fight is over…

It’s not that simple in GM since positioning and movement have been mastered…

What ends up happening more often than youd think in low ranks is that both teams have terrible tanks who dont push up, which is common in low ranks, and the game is decided by which dps can get a pick and get their tanks to push in.

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Lol… I 1,000,000% agree with this…
(Diamond for DPS btw)…

When I play in gold/plat games it’s literally the tanks standing at choke calling the DPS trash for not killing anyone.

Tanks have to take space for DPS to have an opportunity to get angles on enemy players (Hanamura is a perfect example)…

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Nah chill bro, those chars really don’t work well with hammond, it’s the player who works well with them

I mean, coming from a gold player who’s down talking gold DPS players, is a pretty big self superiority flex…

It’s all a matter of synergy so sure… You could run completely immobile heroes with Hammond and be successful…

But that’ll only work a handful of times…

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Maybe they’ve risen up from lower ranks where they don’t get heals so they’re scared to commit?

I’ve had to really rein in my tank play as healing often terrible. I’ve never seen a healer card above 28% this season. Saw a card for a mere 22% once.
In 2.4k my support games damage healed circa 30-40% on healer card, be it me or some one else.

I mean… The higher you climb, the more proficient players become at their roles, especially if they only focus one role as opposed to flexing…

I see too much back and forth (I’m also guilty) DPS sucks. DPS trash, our DPS are worthless… DPS difference… etc.

DPS is the least impactful role in Role Queue Overwatch… Because DPS are so much more dependent on correct tank play, it’s crucial that tanks be a little more cognizant of the issue.

And yes, healing/team sustainment in gold is not great. But consider the fact that NOBODY in gold peels for the g Damn healers… EVER…

Of course heals are bad when they spend more time in spawn than on the field. The support role provides supplemental DPS, their class isn’t build around winning 1v1s.

That’s why there’s a main tank and an off tank. The off tank is supposed to peel. One of the two DPS is supposed to be near by at all times to peel… Thats how the balance plays…

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You’re prob one of those “can i get a double shield” types. 1v1 me

Not in bronze. It’s just anarchy down there. If people won’t use barriers nor stick with you, little point playing a Rein, for example.

I’ve wondered why 90% of enemy teams run two off tanks and it’s pretty obvious. It’s the best way to tank in bronze. If you can’t protect your team mates as they’re suicidal, try to protect them by killing the enemies asap.

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I haven’t been there in forever so I have no idea to be honest. But to escape bronze… It’s literally just a game of whose the better killer…

Kill everyone, cap point… Get me the f out of this Elo :joy::joy::joy::joy:

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No… My hero pool is diverse enough that I flex to our tank composition.

Unless the tanks aren’t doing their jobs. In which case, I’m always looking to work on my sombra/Genji gameplay…

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Yup, you’re not wrong.

What also strikes me is how much more skilled bronze tanks seem to be vs bronze dps.

eg, enemy bronze Hog using door ways and cover, never getting isolated, taking a breather whenever in trouble and retreating. Maybe a smurf?

Another game a dps just standing in the open 1v6 and gets chunked instantly. Same sr, utterly different skill level.

That said, seen gold Junkrat stay on ground, never dodge and fight enemies up close and die over and over. Then see a bronze Junkrat use high ground and perfectly execute the two hit dive combo.

SR system is a mess, for sure.