In my mind these are the 4 things that make up how good a player is in overwatch
some of these aspects can make up more of a player or hero than another
1 - Mechanics - aim, tech etc
2 - Adaptability - how well a player can react to different situations, hero swaps, and all the other sudden things players have to react to within overwatch (this includes awareness for example a doomfist setting up for slam)
3 - Planning - ult tracking, pre fight target, rotations, positioning (setting yourself and your team up for success)
4 - Communication - how well you can tell your team information without clogging up comms etc, easiest to get good at imo
This is the most underrated skill ever, while voice communication isn’t necessarily crucial (some people even in GM don’t use a mic, tho they generally do communicate in non-verbal ways), most people do a lot of stuff that just isn’t helpful, like only using your mic to be negative, rudely asking people to swap (and lets be real, most of the time people ask a person to swap they’re just shifting the blame from the underlying problem the team is experiencing) and just generally saying stuff that puts negativity into their team. Even some GMs and OWL players are like this, you don’t play as well with a negative mindset so don’t put your team into the same mindset you’re in - it’s also why some top teams, be it physical sport or esports do have their own psychologists
And it may seem pointless but complimenting your team does help, some people get anxious when they play and just a simple compliment can help them relax and play better as a result
You forgot
5 - Luck - are your teammates in VC and willing to talk? Are your teammates willing to swap? Can they swap to something that counters the enemy? And of course, are the heroes you like playing actually good?
Adaptability (changing basic movement/positioning patterns based on enemy comp, flexibility between heroes, flexibility in ability/ult usage)
Communication (knowing callouts, being able to make them in a clear but timely manner without distracting yourself or others)
There’s a certain thing however that’s even more important than anything on the list except game sense, and it’s your gaming setup. Having a good standardized setup with decent FPS gives you a massive advantage in OW and is almost a pre-requisite for you to get better at the game in a consistent timely manner
Also what a lot of players seem to miss about the game is that a lot of necessary skills in OW are consistent across all the heroes and some across certain heroes. When they resort to one-tricking a hero even though they’re a lower tiered player, they actually end up hindering their own capability of playing the game and to a certain degree even their main hero. Also for some players this might be the reason they never manage to get better at the game
I’d put the ability to consistently reflect on the shortcomings in your own play instead of your teams failures as the single most important thing for anyone who wants to climb. Doing that is a requirement to reach high ranks as without doing it you’ll never improve enough.
Everything else such as mechanics, gamesense, positioning, ult usage etc all develops from there.
situational awareness - you need to understand what the other 11 players are doing, what they think you are doing, what you think they are going to do next and what you think they think you are going to think they might try and wonder what you would think they might need to try and guess what you think they can try to do when you see them do something they think you aren’t anticipating.
If that sounds confusing, you’re not ready to main Support.
Being omniscient, having godlike knowledge of space and time and knowing what’s unfolding at every moment in time based on what the other 11 players are doing.
I see things like… well enemy Roadhog is not dead and has been alive a while, I don’t see him in the team fight, I don’t see anything in the kill feed… hmm lemme quickly glance at the hallway behind me… oh there he is trying to get a cheapo hook kill on me.
Let me fly over to my Ana who I know is positioned in a place to throw 'nade at enemy group because our Zarya and Pharah both have ults and we are close to capping. This way I can also do a super jump on Ana and get high ground to then fly over and boost Pharah while she blows up that grav’d nano’d group. If Ana dies I can fly back and rez immediately before hook is back off cooldown.
Situational Awareness. When I am not on support, I see most of my team miss stuff like this. All they know what to do is click on heads.
Game Sense - It matters more in Overwatch than any other FPS game, because having a good understanding of the game will simply win you more games. This is the reason why people can go from Bronze to GM playing Brigitte. Knowing positioning, target priority, ult management, when to engage or disengage, is vital in a game like Overwatch.
Mechanical Skill - Having good aim will always have a big impact in any FPS game, but in Overwatch ability management is equally as important. If two Reinhardt fight each other in a mirror match, the one with the best shield management will usually win.
Practice - The more you play the better you will become at the game. This might seem obvious, but seeing as Game Sense is the most important aspect about Overwatch, it matters even more here compared to a game like CoD. It’s not uncommon for people in GM and Top500 to play the game for around 8 hours a day.
