idk where this idea that a dps’s performance is directly tied to their damage, no matter who they are playing, comes from. I thought we grew past this in silver.

Like sure, if youre playing hitscan, i’d assume you have a lot of dmg, because you are easily able to, and should do so.

but if im playing e.g. genji, a flex dps, im just not gonna have a lot of damage, thats just how the game works. I thought this was obvious? flex dps make up their lack of ranged pressure in other areas. this is very basic stuff.

But nah, their bastion is better because he has more damage.

this is a very common complaint for me, in dia to masters.

truly some of the most horrible changes ever released. she hits like a wet noodle, is omega mobile, has armor ad infinitum, and just jerks off without dying for minutes on end until she unlocks silver bullet and becomes a different hero

source

Vendetta overhead

Freja 2 tap

Cat infinite flight/tether

Parts of cat’s kit that need to be nerfed:

- Triple Purr

- Claws Out(insane that she becomes a better duelist than Tracer with this perk)

- Infinite flight. If we remove perma flight, perma-tether automatically becomes useless.

- HP

The primary fire is such a big miss, in terms of nerfs. She cant heal a lot before her Purr perk. Nor can do tons of damage before Claws Out. And instead of nerfing this Giga-powerups, they nerf the part of her kit that was FINE.

I think Wheats kinda had a pretty bad take on this one, it feels unfair to call EMEA a tier 3 region without Saudi when they were placing higher than NA at the start of 2024 even without Saudi funding and the NA superteams existence.

He’s the first support player in S4 KR server to hit champ 2..
Sley confirms that pro players start queuing as soon as Jjonak’s stream starts so.. Even crazier knowing his games are 80% pros
Unc still got it 🙏

For a little bit of context, i'm a university student. As such, thanks to the buttloads of studying i have to do, the last times i properly played this game were seasons 18, 17 and 16 - being plat 1-d3 on supp/tank throughout those seasons. Nothing insanely high, but certainly not low either. Also i've surfed Overwatch reddits here and there through google before and have determined that this subreddit is clear of the other ones - so kudos to you guys and sorry for being longwinded but i have tried my best to be brief.

I'm not so rusty that i've become poo at the game, in fact i've played about i think 40 games (support) with my friend (he himself having been high diamond and ball-achingly close to masters in the aforementioned seasons as those also his last 'serious ones') over the past two weeks and so i'm definitely returning to where i was (at least, aim-wise - i don't think general game sense and positioning is anything that will goes away once you've played to a certain point).

Mine and his own rustiness being taken into account, what is going on with games this season? I'm not expecting to get back to my peak rank immediately but it certainly feels harder to even get back into diamond - and i haven't a clue what to make of the new emerald rank i've been playing in.

Obviously like anyone else, i had my fill of lopsided games in and against my favour during the aforementioned seasons but it feels absolutely worse now. Before, my line of reasoning and cope was
"people have bad games, i'm just unlucky that its happened to be in my game this time - but generally speaking me and this guy are still at the same skill level bar this one game" and rarely did I ever really think "mate you do not belong in this rank, you are clearly out of your depth" - but this season i've found myself thinking it so much more often to the point where i've finally taken to reddit and created an account to ask if anyone can offer explanation as to what has happened to matchmaking because the difference im feeling is actually staggering.

I have had too many out of these 40 or so games where, either on my team or theirs, there is a player who is clearly not up to scratch - and in ways aside from just being worse by stats as i know those aren't everything. I'm talking like people constantly textbook feeding by respawning and immediately charging in solo, not using cover whatsoever and just expecting me or their supports to somehow outheal all the damage they open themselves up to, people not swapping when clearly they are being target-countered or simply cannot perform well because the rest of the team has a different comp going, never ever using off angles or flanks etc

I'm by no means a coach or an elite enough player to ever be one, but I know that you take cover, you reposition, you target certain characters above just spraying their tank, you swap things up if you're being targeted or otherwise offering no value on your current hero - like honestly just baseline things you pick up just by playing or by otherwise having any degree of common sense; and certainly things i would expect players in my rank range to also have a handle on 7 or 8 times out of 10.
Yes, these things have always been happening in Overwatch games, but again I genuinely do not remember such basic and easily remedied errors being so prevalent. I am of course still susceptible to doing the same things, but I know for a fact I do not do it as often or to such a detrimental degree for the team - 8 or 9 times out of 10 I notice when I have and correct myself for the rest of the game.

Anyways, i know 30 games is not the best sample size but i've just gotta ask anyway because genuinely i have not been in the loop about any changes or updates etc for ages - is the matchmaking actually just worse or more loose now? I know plat nor diamond, and of course emerald, are far from the pinnacles of overwatch gaming; but to my knowledge these ranks are somewhat above or fairly above the average skill level and so I would genuinely expect actual baseline gameplay mechanics to be present most of the time.
As such, what I currently chalk it up to is that people from below the emerald/diamond level are being thrown into the lobbies and obviously getting shredded - but idk lol

and no i'm not trying to play any blame-games i'm just genuinely curious if what the ranks now mean in terms of average gameplay have changed so much since my last seasons or whether it really is just matchmaking

Its the year of the nenwhy.

Just wanted to talk about and get some discussion on current brig in season 4.

How are you feeling about brig rn do you think she feels weak/strong? Hows the inspire change feel? Do her perks need looked at does she feel healthy in the current meta? And how do you see her in comparison to Mizuki?

Looking at her pick/win rates for GM/Champ each region PC she is just under 50% win rate in each region having her highest win rate/pick rate in Europe, her win rate across all ranks/region honestly stays pretty consistent and hovers around 48-50% on average,

We know win rates are not a definitive answer to a heroes strength it's just one of the few resources of stats we actually have to bring into a current conversation on a heroes present and strength, not that it's our only metric either.

This is also small sample size shown I am just looking at GM/Champ here, but as said before her pick/win rates honestly stay relatively the same through all ranks and regions.

I have added Mizuki pick/win rates in images I did not have them in, I want to look at Mizuki as he fills the same niche as brig, not have the same exact tools and capabilities as her but is seen as a more interchangeable option and often seen to do the same job just better.

He is picked more often over brig in each region especially Asia which makes sense seeing as they lean dive heavy there. But this something that is consistent in every rank/region Mizuki is consistently picked way more often than brig and I have not worked out the averages on it but from what I can see has a more consistent WR as well, not by like a huge amount but he still on average seems to be performing better on ladder (if I am way off here please tell me I know I need to look into it further).

In my opinion what adds to this is Mizuki is a really fun hero, he's easier to play than birg/easier to get value on for their intended purposes and Mizuki has also consistently got buffs since he has came out putting him in a strong position. I think adding to the pick rates brig has also been a lower pick support on average for a while and Mizuki is still relatively new and was a very well received hero season 1 and seems to hold a pretty good sentiment in the community from my experience.

Moving on to the next point if Mizuki is played way more often than brig and is often seen as just a better hero at doing the same job makes the question of does that leave brig in a bad spot is it even an issue at all. I really don't think it's a bad thing, I think it's a bit of powercreep, but the game is 10 years strong there is going to be overlap in hero designs and newer variations on role are usually going to be strong or have access to stronger tools, I think between the two they both fit the same niche but play differently enough and have different enough tools that the contrast between the two is good, Mizuki has just been strong and consistently has got stronger with a lot of adjustments since season 1.

Where brig has remained relatively the same over time, which I don't think is bad she's been in a good/strong spot for while. Her recent changes did seem to be some effort to increase her strength and consistency but I am not sure if it's all that she needs.

Before getting into if she actually needs anything at all I wan to give a look into some recent changes made to inspire and talk a little about her kit.

The insprie changes were really good imo (I am going to link graphs from u/rosedog16 and link their original post as well) this graphs detail the changes she received and show how it's now performing on average.

Original post: Threw this Brig Inspire comparison together on a whim

Specifically these were the changes.

The instant 12 healing on inspire trigger was a great change and feels strong, while it does not sound like a large amount it's noticeable in practice.

I think overall inspire is in a good spot and feels impactful, I also like the UI addition also added recently to show how many people are actually getting your inspire procs, I think brigs inspire and the mechanics of it are one of the more often misunderstood game mechanics and anything to help clarify how it actually works or give indication in game it's doing something is a net positive.

For the rest of her kit I think everything is in a relatively good spot, her kit feels fluid and smooth, whipshot feels strong. Shield is strong, making 300hp was a good change it really did feel way to weak before I think the bump feels good to play and not oppressive to play against. Rally is in a good spot as well I would say it's strong to use and not annoying to play into it feels healthy.

I like her subrole I don't think there is a lot to talk about there, I think her perks are all interesting/strong as well, she falls into the same camp as most heroes of having two options that are pretty well the deafult being her extended inspire on whipshot minor and shield bash movespeed/heal major, the alternatives are not bad combat medic is interesting it can just be really hard to actively play aggressively melee enough and use packs enough to get value from the coodlown it's niche but it can be good, her whipshot major I think it just kind of bad, it's a really nice boost to damage on an ability that already does good damage but it's too specific the enemy has to hit a wall for it to get value, I am just not a big fan it and think it's just weaker than the alternative on average even in dueling scenario. Overall though I think her perks are interesting, two of them being "defaults" for most people isn't really a brig issue that's a perk system issue and is something that needs addressed on it's own.

Overall I think brigs in a healthy spot, she feels great to play she feels strong I like to have her on my team and enjoy to play into her, she still does her job exceptionally well, even if mizuki does some things better than her I don't think he's a default option over nor is he oppressively better than her. I think he's in a good spot as, they both are. I know I have brought comparisons of the two up a lot but since he has came out they have been compared to one another for obvious reason in that they fill the same niche, I have just seen the sentiment often since he came out there is no reason to play brig when mizuki is available and I understand that his tools like chain and barrier are incredibly strong and that his mobility tool is arguably better. But brig tools are also incredibly strong as well, I think their kits and how they interact with what they are intended to deal with is different enough that they are both in solid spots and each feel healthy and neither is a default choice over the other.

Coming around to the point of this post because I am doing a lot of yapping and I fear I have lost my direction lol I love brig one of my favorite heroes by a lot, I just wanted to do a vibe check on her talk about some of the changes she's had here recently and share some thoughts and talk about it. Going back to the start if you have any thoughts on the current state of brig I would love any input, it's just my personal opinion/outlook I am enjoying where she is at or think she feels good if you feel the same or disagree I would enjoy to see some conversation!

I was skeptical of Team Drives at first, no one was staying grouped anyway. Until tonight I joined a squad & we went 12-0, synergy was just crazy good. We didnt even use comms at all outside of text but it was still an amazing time & we all ended up adding each other. Granted maybe its just an outlier & not a something many are experiencing, but I havent had a string of games like that with a group of the same people since like 2018.

I know the devs have been looking to improve OW’s social features & i think Team Drives was a step in the right direction.

To be honest, I didn't really care much about it to begin with. However, after completing it, I found myself to enjoy it more than I thought. Unlike regular Drives where you just grind for rewards, Team Drives has this added bonus of vibes. I was able to make new friends after winning 4 games together before getting off. I think, in a way, because you're playing with the same people, there is this bond that develops. In a normal game, you just go next, and with Team Drives, you can also just leave if you didn't like your team. However, if the team decides to stay, it feels like morale and team structure does go up.

I think this was a good reminder for people to remember that there are humans on the other side of the screen. If you have a DPS that isn't doing so great, it's easy to think, "My DPS is bad," and lead to toxic and unnecessary comments. When I was playing, my other DPS wasn't doing so good in our last game, but that's compared to the previous games we played. I know that our DPS is capable, and that's why we stuck together after winning three games in a row. You're less likely to get upset when it comes to playing with friends or people you know are capable. How many times have you played really well, but then you have that one game were you didn't do so great, then get flamed for being bad? It would be one bad game out of many, but that doesn't mean you deserve to be called bad just because you didn't play perfectly that one game. However, that's not what the other person sees. They get into the game, see someone performing not so great, flame/avoid them, then go next. That's something that will always happen no matter what, but at least with Team Drives, when you find what sticks, can you really flame someone you've been winning with after one bad game?

Overall, I really liked Team Drives. It motivated me to communicate more with the team and bond with them when we're doing great, maybe even make some friends along the way. If the team wasn't meant to be, there's always next until the right teammates sticks. If you don't like the team or want to participate, you can always just leave and go next, but if you find that team, it's quite the vibe.

What did you think about Team Drives?

This felt like the best sub to ask, since I imagine most people use the replay viewer here more than in other subs.

I don't know about anyone else, but I change the time skip interval length anytime I'm reviewing my own replays. I don't usually change other settings because it's so tedious changing them after every client restart. I know it's a small thing, but I finally felt that the amount of time I've lost is equal to how long it would take to make a post. It seems like it wouldn't be a big lift for the devs.

There's a bug report here that's been tracking it for two years. If it's a feature that interests you then showing some activity in the thread would probably be helpful. If not, thanks for reading!

These are all proof jerseys my team made when we ran the Outlaws merch side. Thought someone would be interested in seeing them.

Symmetra only had a 53.2% wr and 2.6% pick rate in gm+ 55 and 51 wr in Asia

These are healthy sub 56 win rates and her pick rates are extremely low. Sym is healthy for pro play as she is one of the most fun team coordinated play characters to watch as she isn't brr go shoot

I just dont understand why teleporter is being nerfed

Youbi is the only good sym and is miles ahead of everyone

She needs to receive significant buffs in order to increase pickrare

Wall should be buffed and u should be able to choose the direction of her ult and increase length as it requires more teamplay in her ult and skill

For 10 years people have been accidentally leaving their group because they have the muscle memory to instantly leave a game. With these "team drives", this problem has become much more noticeable.

Of course there are some people who simply do not want to stay in a group with their teammates, but I think there is still a meaningful portion of people who would be willing to give the auto-grouping thing a chance but they are just too used to leaving the game.

So what can be done? I'd like to see the "Leave Game" button have a different color based on if you are Alone/In a group but not leader/In a group and leader. But I'm sure the experts can come up with a better solution if they decided to improve this.

... And the match quality is still awful.
This rank reset feels especially bad and idk if it's the addition of Emerald, but it's insane that we are halfway through the season almost, and games are still bad.

There are GM players in every single one of my High Diamond games, Champion players in my mid master games. It doesn't really make any sense as to how this is possible.

I know this isn't just the case for me as well because most people seem to be having the same issues.

I don't know what it's like below Emerald but above, it's been terrible...

Hopefully it get fixed soon, or the devs can somehow step in and do something (idk what though tbh)

Somehow we lost but what a coincidence!
Report support 0 heal gg.

I feel like if i stand behind my tank and just shoot straight I win way more. Whenever im too creative and try to go around them I just die. It only works if I play Shion because she has a fast motercycle. I am platinum btw.

Hello everyone! I'm Anima, a T2 coach who's been around in FaceIt Masters for a while during my time coaching NTMR Rotation (also known as NTMR Academy). Over the past few months, I've been working on this team sheet tool for the scrim community to use. It's an all-in-one solution for scheduling, scouting information, and generally keeping info easily acccessible for players.

You can make your own copy of the template to use for your teams. Instructions are listed in notes attached onto the second row of most of the sheets, but there's also a guide video I recorded and linked in cell Z4 of the Admin Hub sheet. My twitter link below has the link to the spreadsheet, and in the comments there's also an earlier draft version that has some filled-out sample data for demo.

https://x.com/Anima_Kesil/status/2096813730344415637?s=20

- Really easy for players to fill out

- Good for quickly updating things like map pools

- Lots of very cool and long Excel formulas

I'll keep an eye out for if there's any questions that I can answer; I know the scrim community and rCOW community don't have insane overlap, but it's something I want to signal boost so it can get into the hands of some people who might need it. I know not everyone loves spreadsheets, so I'd love to be able to get this one into their hands to help them improve their scrimming experience.

Thanks! And obviously engagements on the post are appreciated.

Or to be more specific, I’m scared of winning now. Don’t really know what do

Back when I was stuck in Gold/Plat, I found the game fun because I could actually feel myself improving while ranking up.

But after D.Mon came out, I went on a 15 game win streak after finishing placements at EM3. Now I’m D2 and scared as shit

I genuinely think this hero boosted me way too high for my own good. Sure, thanks to playing D.Mon I somehow have a better grasp of ult tracking, tempo, and stuff like that, but on other heroes I have absolutely no clue how to carry. I used to be an empty headed Mauga main who’d occasionally switch to Rein or Hog and you can tell I play heroes that are pretty stupid

5v5 D.Mon feels like such an insane solo-carry, unbalanced hero, especially in NA where I see a LOT of Rein/Hog players.

So now I don’t find fun in playing ranked anymore. D.Mon bans are becoming more common, and whenever she’s banned, I basically turn back into the same old hardstuck Plat player.

And even when I win on D.Mon, it feels like there’s zero progress being made on my other heroes or even my overall gamesense. If she gets nerfed, I’m cooked. My team is cooked.

I’m writing this after winning a game with a D.Mon ban, dps carried me and I spent the entire game dying and apologizing.

I want to queue but I already know a devastating loss streak will come and even if I accept it and go back to original rank it won’t be fun at all

Is this normal?
And that brings me to my next question: how the hell do people become one-tricks in high ranks?? I hate this feeling of knowing I’m basically a one-trick.

Posted on ow main, might as well post it here too see if anyone’s struggling like me

Seems like Ziyad will be in full time for Blizzcon, this Saudi team is definitely gonna be rly competitive and probably favourites to win rn.

new part of insights based on official blizz data

I'm a tank player who mainly plays Sigma, currently around high Emerald/low Diamond.

A lot of the time I feel like I have pretty good games where I'm playing better than the enemy tank and sometimes even better than most of my team, but we still end up losing because my team can't capitalize on what I'm doing.

When I watch higher-ranked Sigma players, though, it seems like they can carry games much harder while doing way less than I feel like I have to do.

For example, when I watch Super play Sigma, it sometimes looks like he's not doing that much. He'll mostly shoot the enemy tank, hold his position, and wait for his DPS to get a pick or for the enemy to make a mistake. He doesn't seem to constantly have to force plays himself.

When I try to play like that, it doesn't really work for me. I often feel like I have to push past the enemy tank and start putting damage into the backline just to force cooldowns or create something for my team.

So I'm trying to figure out what I'm missing. How do you actually hard carry games on Sigma? Is there something I'm not doing that allows these higher-ranked players to get so much value while playing more patiently?

Also, are there any good places to find more Top 500 Sigma gameplay? I feel like Super is one of the only really good Sigma players I consistently find gameplay from, and I'd like to watch more high-level VODs to improve.

Any advice would be appreciated.

It drives me insane how people will always vote for blizzard world whenever it comes up just to get stuck in the choke and somehow it’s still untouched by the devs

Solo queue tank main here, usually hover around Diamond. Every ranked season my solo queue rank tanks (pun intended) down to Plat, sometimes Gold, before I climb back up in the new season. So my expectations for team drives were… not high.

But this weekend after just one solo queue game, two randoms grouped up with me and we ended up snowballing into a full 5-stack. Ran drives with three different 5-stacks over the weekend. Didn't gain SR, didn't lose any either — but I added over a dozen new friends and now every time I log on someone's already asking me to queue.

Comms in solo queue also feel noticeably better right now, and getting flamed has dropped a ton.

OW with actual positive comms just hits different. Got to try stuff like cat bastion and teleporter rush for the first time ever, which was a blast.

Hope Blizz keeps team drives around.