If you find yourself wondering why Ana seems to have had a recent surge in popularity in Competitive mode, the reason is most likely due to the NIP strat. If you've ever had team mates that asked the team to use three tanks and three supports, one of whom is Ana, you've come across people attempting to use the NIP strat.
However, while the strategy has proven effective at the pro level, it is unlikely to replace the current 2/2/2 meta team composition common in Competitive [.....]
Like many competitive games, Overwatch's meta tends to be dictated by the pros. The meta refers to the current strategies commonly used by the game's community, and most average players in competitive will eventually hear about it from their team mates.
While there are many things that the average player could and should learn from the pros, not everything should be copied wholesale in Competitive mode. Any high-level Overwatch player will tell you that the pro meta is very different from the standard Competitive mode.
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Note: This post explores how Lucio may maximise his rank gain in Overwatch through personal performance. As Blizzard will not reveal how exactly the game measures individual performance due to potential for abuse, conclusions drawn in this post are educated guesses based on available data.
This post will be updated as new information becomes available over time.
It's a common misconception that Lucio receives less skill rating on a win and loses more on a loss than his DPS or tank team mates. However, this [.....]
Average Overwatch players who would like to experience Overwatch in a tournament setting can sign up for the Affinity Gaming Tournament.
Started by the Affinity Coaching Overwatch Discord server, the tournament aims to provide a setting for players under 3150SR to experience the competitive meta.
The tournament is scheduled for September 30, 5.30pm PST. Players can enter as teams or as individuals. In the latter case, the organisers will assign people to teams based on their preferred roles.
Affinity Coaching was started by a [.....]
Personal Analysis posts critique my own replays to identify areas for improvement, while hopefully sharing learning points for fellow average players.
If you see something you'd like to add or would like to share your own videos for future blog posts, please do so in the comments! [.....]
Solo queuing competitive mode in Overwatch can feel like you're playing the lottery at times. Get the right team mates, and enjoy your steamroll. Get matched with a troll or toxic player, and all you can do is just pray for a minimal hit to your skill rating.
For better or for worse, Overwatch was designed to be a team game. That means no one person can carry an entire team unless you happen to be a misplaced Master rank player. The most reliable way to [.....]
A common complaint about Overwatch's Skill Rating (SR) system is the seemingly arbitrary way it assigns SR gains and losses. The lack of transparency over how personal performance is measured is a cause of constant angst on the official Overwatch forums due to differing gains amongst team mates in the same match.
Blizzard has stated that it will not release how SR is calculated due to the potential for abuse. However, sites like MasterOverwatch offer interesting macro views of competitive player data that can give a [.....]
In Overwatch, Elo Hell is a term frequently used to describe lower tiers of play, mostly up to the Gold tier. From Season 2's Skill Rating (SR) distribution, Gold tier appears to be the equivalent of Season 1's rank 40 to 29.
Elo Hell appears to exist at different levels, depending on the player. Former rank Diamonds will call Platinum tier Elo Hell. Former Platinums believe all is lost once they've dropped to Gold. And the pattern continues.
Whether it exists or not, here are six common characteristics of players who believe they belong in Elo Hell.
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Personal Analysis posts critique my own replays to identify areas for improvement, while hopefully sharing learning points for fellow average players.
If you see something you'd like to add or would like to share your own videos for future blog posts, please do so in the comments! [.....]
A long maintenance last night to patch in fixes brought with it some interesting changes. According to the patch notes, several bugs have been fixed which hints at issues with the ranking system, especially for Junkrat players.
Fixed several issues causing some players obtain a skill rating that's higher than their actual rating
Note: A very small number of people were affected by these issues, but those who were affected will have their skill rating adjusted appropriately
During PTR testing for Season 2, [.....]
Note: This post explores how Lucio may maximise his rank gain in Overwatch through earning in-game score. As Blizzard will not reveal how exactly the game measures individual performance due to potential for abuse, conclusions drawn in this post are educated guesses based on available data.
This post will be updated as new information becomes available over time.
Lucio is quite possibly one of the most misunderstood supports in Overwatch. The ease with which most players can pick up and use him at a basic level [.....]
Note: This post explores the mechanics of scoring in Overwatch and how it relates to competitive rank gains. As Blizzard will not reveal how the game measures individual performance due to potential for abuse, some conclusions drawn in this post are educated guesses based on available data.
This post will be updated as new information becomes available over time.
Not all Overwatch players are ranked equally. Although there are six players in each team, everyone gets a different skill rating gain or loss based on their [.....]
Season 2 unexpectedly got an early release on September 1, five days ahead of the originally announced date.
While most will likely want to get into a new competitive season asap this weekend, average players looking to achieve the highest possible rank in placements may wish to consider these five reasons to wait before jumping in.
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The time is early in Season 1 competitive. I'd placed 43 on the first day, in a 6 stack of friends who played extremely casually, and we got destroyed. Two of our 3 wins were on KOTH maps, which were later confirmed to be bugged and not awarding the proper amount of rank XP.
After continuing to play in a group of four with friends who were more serious about competitive, I rose to rank 47. Then life happened. One left on a trip, another was [.....]
Update: Blizzard has confirmed on the forums that a majority of players have been found to have placed too high on the PTR, and players will experience abnormal drops in skill rating until they reach the SR they should be actually at. This change will not affect live placements. This post has been updated with my latest observations of the effect of these changes.
Overwatch Season 2 will feature an overhauled rank system, with ongoing testing in the PTR.
Instead of ranks 1-100, Season [.....]
No matter which role you play in Overwatch, the ability to hit a target is paramount. It should be no surprise that the higher a player's rank, the better their aim, even if they play mainly support characters.
The good news for average players is, while natural ability and reflexes play a part, aim for the most part is something you can train. Most players in the top skill brackets have been playing FPS games at high levels for years.
Fortunately, there are ways for [.....]
This post discusses how rank gains/losses likely works in Overwatch's Competitive mode. Blizzard has not released detailed information on how the ranking algorithm works, so the information here is very much up for discussion. Information is based on Blue posts on the official forums, forum/Reddit discussions, data from MasterOverwatch and corroborated by personal experience.
This post will be updated as more information becomes available.
What Goes Into Competitive Ranking
According to this post by Blizzard CM Lylirra, when calculating your rank gain/loss at the [.....]
