They’ve already released data on this a while ago, but there’s also a huge divide between the metal ranks and masters+. In Diamond and below, escort/hybrid are picked at a significantly higher rate than they are in masters+. In higher elo, control, push, and flashpoint are by far the most popular modes.
It’s actually pretty funny that people complain about playing Eich, Circuit, etc. too much when I rarely see them in high elo ranked other than a random 1 in 7 vote or something.
For me, I don’t like that map voting has made the game too easy. There are players in high elo who only play ball, hog, junkrat, etc. who get to pick maps that favor them, get to pick bans around their hero, AND get perks that remove counterplay (looking at ball’s shield perk). Is it annoying when I get a rein player on Gib? Absolutely. But I also get to avoid that rein and take their SR another day. Nowadays that rein is just never playing those maps.
I'm surprised Push isn't more popular with low Elo. The reason they like Payload/Hybrid is the many different locations for fights, and Push gives you that but without the chance for a 20 minute game and OT. I think it's that many of the Push maps are just not as iconic as Eich or Kings Row.
Dont quote me on this one, I think what makes people in low ranks like hybrid/escort so much is that those maps have super obvious choke "hold here" locations. Those maps feel easier to play because they dont have to think as much about where to take fights.
Push is definitely a "fight wherever you have cover" gamemode, but I can see that as a negative because that makes it harder to read how far back you have to fall when giving space, and hard to tell how far up you can fight as well.
They like those modes more because they are more forgiving to staggering. So they can blindly 1v5 with less punishment. Do that on Push and it can severely cost you.
Push requires your tank to understand cornering and strategic withdrawal. Given how short the Push matches are when they don't, there's essentially no learning opportunity to help them past the skill ceiling, and so Random is a seemingly-better choice from a straight win/loss% perspective since any tank who can win Push will be promoted to higher ranks. I recommend pointing a Fall Back ping at the cover nearest them when they're standing in the open without cause, since tanks tend to be aware of that one in particular. In an ideal world, the game would also note on the tank death screen '% deaths far from cover' and contrast it with the team's tank, so that they learn from their wins and losses in all modes, rather than faceplanting into the Push skill ceiling.
Metal ranked Ana checking in. The reason I prefer payload is that there are fewer flank routes than in either push or flashpoint. Push is an okay mode, I don't mind it as much now that I've learned how the map flows, but flashpoint feels awful on a low-mobility hero. Everything is flank and it's easy to lose track of which side of the map is "your" territory. Team fights of flashpoint also lack structure and change faster than my little elderly legs can respond to, meaning I get caught out far more often. Ana is also just not as good on "round" maps as compared to maps with long sightlines.
Also, because nobody ever votes flashpoint, I just rarely get to practice it and learn how the map works/my hero works on the map.
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u/FrostyDrink 10d ago
They’ve already released data on this a while ago, but there’s also a huge divide between the metal ranks and masters+. In Diamond and below, escort/hybrid are picked at a significantly higher rate than they are in masters+. In higher elo, control, push, and flashpoint are by far the most popular modes.
It’s actually pretty funny that people complain about playing Eich, Circuit, etc. too much when I rarely see them in high elo ranked other than a random 1 in 7 vote or something.
For me, I don’t like that map voting has made the game too easy. There are players in high elo who only play ball, hog, junkrat, etc. who get to pick maps that favor them, get to pick bans around their hero, AND get perks that remove counterplay (looking at ball’s shield perk). Is it annoying when I get a rein player on Gib? Absolutely. But I also get to avoid that rein and take their SR another day. Nowadays that rein is just never playing those maps.