Professor Poom’s secret to climbing guide
Let me ask you something: if you can’t carry your entire team on your back at your current rank, do you honestly believe you deserve to be in a higher elo?
What makes you think you’re going to be able to perform at a higher level if you can’t even carry your team at your current level of play?
If you’re a lower-elo player, keep playing, keep making mistakes, and keep learning from those mistakes. Until you reach a level of competency where you’re not only able to carry your team by yourself, but you’re also able to eliminate the enemies with ease,
As you climb the ladder, this logic diminishes a bit as your reliance on your teammates to perform dramatically increases, but it still very much applies if your goal is to climb. For example, if your rank is masters 2 and everyone in the lobby’s level of play is 4, then your level of play needs to be at an 8 if your goal is to get to a rank like GM. You need to be levels ahead of everyone in your lobbies if you wish to climb.
It’s weird logic because it’s a team game, right? You’re supposed to climb with your team in mind, right? Of course, at some point you will need to rely on your team to even perform, but that reliance on your teammates isn’t something you should be requiring at the lower levels of play.
Here’s a little tip: If you’re having trouble carrying your teammates in the lower levels of play and you feel you must rely on your teammates to be able to climb, play characters that have an all-in-one agency of their own.
For support, I’d recommend Baptiste; he has a consistent damage output, he has self-healing abilities, and if you find yourself in a bad spot, you have an immortality ability.
For DPS, I’d recommend playing Tracer. She deals great damage and has insane mobility, which allows her to grab health packs with ease. She also has a recall if you find yourself in a bad spot.
For tanks, I’d recommend Roadhog. His damage capabilities are not the greatest anymore, but he still has a ton of HP and a self-healing ability, which gives him the freedom to play without the complete reliance of your team.
In conclusion, if you’re playing at a lower level of play, play characters that have good self-agency, so you don’t have to be so reliant on your team. If you’re struggling to carry your team with the characters that have good agency, keep playing and make sure you’re learning from your mistakes so that you may improve. Ask yourself why you couldn’t get that kill, why you died, how I could have done that better, etc. And lastly, don’t expect to be able to climb if you’re not able to carry your team. If everyone is playing at a level of 4, then you should be playing at a level of 8 if you wish to climb, i.e., get gud.