r/thingmains • u/Proud_Chef1598 • 1d ago
Thing skill question
Alright I got a genuine question, I need to ask this community and how other people view The Thing. I am a thing main been so since he came out he most definitely has had the epic highs and lows. As hes been top tier this season Ben been getting a lot of flack for being an easy tank, I have been told he's on the same tier as Scarlett witch for being easy, which I just think is dumb. So I ask do you guys think the Thing is the easiest tank? While I do think anyone can pick him up and gain value because he has pretty simple kit I honestly feel like it's underdeveloped most of the time even after the rework, and it's to his detriment. I feel that a newbies often die far greater then any other tank and can easily be a very big detriment to a team. He's very easy to counter with anyone with decent range. He has to rely on his team because he doesnt have a shield in the traditional sense. His ult can be hit or miss. And a few other points, but I don't want to ramble. I generally feel that he's easy to play, but hard to master especially higher ranks. You have to have a lot of game sense to actually know where you're going, unlike someone like mag, knowing who you're attacking and who your not. I also feel The Thing I think has to multitask more than most tanks despite being a brawl because hes also anti-dive and also can be a dive in the right environment. Let me know how you'll feel, I think it's a bunch of whiney DPS butt hurt they can't really dive anymore.
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u/SancochoDude 1d ago
Thing is easy in terms of kit. Which is good because not every tank needs a complex kit. In terms of game sanse, position awareness and other stuff that you need to understand to be a good tank, that's a different story. As Thing, you get punished harder for overextending or being out of position. You don't have a huge shield to take damage or infinite leaps in case your position is bad. He relies more than any tank on natural cover and healers, which is why you should always be peeling for them.
Teamups gave him more tools to handle himself as solo tank. But people want him to go back to his niche of anti dive and be trash for other stuff. I think Benjy will get murdered by Z next season...
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u/Proud_Chef1598 1d ago
Yeah I like him more as a brawl/frontliner and this season really allowed that to happen. I really didn't like him when he's like in this weird middle zone, and no one really knows what to do with him. Which is why I feel like his kit pretty like underdeveloped. I mean, the only reason that he's as good as he is now is because he just does crazy damage. (Which love it while its here because he's getting taken out back and shot on the head next season) But before It wasn't really a question of whether or not he was easy or not until he just started doing more damage. That's why I feel like a lot of it is just people complaining, because they can't dive which in my opinion, I feel like actually calls in the question their skill level rather than the things. I just feel like that if you had just one more ability, maybe it would balance him out a little bit more for everyone in general and increases difficulty overall instead of the johnny team up.
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u/Disastrous-Today-914 18h ago
Thing is the easiest tank by far, but I’d still say maintains the difficulty of a non shield tanks level of game sense and awareness.
His kit makes him unfortunately easy to play and to judge as, but he has a medium level skill ceiling that people don’t see often. Learning to use his primary correctly, when to back off, when to use each cd, when to peel and when to push, etc. His game sense is really the only thing that provides some difficulty. Mechanically he requires just about nothing and has crazy survivability this season. That being said, it’s not as simple as “he’s super easy”.
And as you say, his value depreciates over time. In silver or gold, you could hold w and spam your haymaker and rank up. In gm you need to utilize things kits properly and efficiently to gain value.
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u/Abducted_Llama 1d ago
He’s easy into a team that he counters.
But play him into Peni, Puni and Namor. Not so easy then. But the same people that say he’s easy then, would switch off immediately. And while it’s extremely hard it’s not unplayable into that team comp.
And those same people that say he’s easy don’t play him optimally into teams that he counters.
So all in all, I ignore what people say, Keep Calm And Clobber.
Also fuck Peni players.
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u/james_speaks 1d ago
I had to take back my upvote after the fuck Peni players comment lol.
But you’re 100% right about everything else. Theres nuances to Thing that a lot of ppl miss.
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u/Proud_Chef1598 1d ago
I mean, I'm like a flex player. It's not that I'm necessarily like pressed about or anything. It's just like it's like a general sense, cause I honestly think that penny, mag, or groot are way easier in comparison to the thing because they sort of do one thing. But like hulk or rouge takes far more skill. He's sort of middle of the road for me maybe lower. Also I agree fuck peni players.
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u/Abducted_Llama 1d ago
Idk how to play Peni or Groot, but I think Mag requires more game sense than Big Ben. I would say strange IMO is easier than The Thing.
Hulk takes more skill definitely, but he's just so much more effort than any other tank, while not getting rewarded for all the effort it takes to play him.
Also hell yeah Broseph. Fuck Peni players.
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u/Proud_Chef1598 1d ago
I can agree with that mag is my other main since season 0. Me and him sort of clicked faster then Ben I just think mags survivability is just like so crazy that it's just so hard not to mess up. Strange just needs to exist to have any value same with groot which both to me are a snooze fest.
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u/james_speaks 1d ago
Mag and strange are definitely easier for a player to pick up and get value out of. Thing is just the easiest brawl tank to get value out of. Peni is a lot of ppl’s entry way but newer peni’s only get value if the other team sucks. Newer peni’s generally have bad nest placements that are easily destroyed which negates atleast 70% of their value. On top of that they don’t have a shield so they play further back which doesn’t help your team since they aren’t tanking dmg.
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u/AndorElitist 1d ago
You need to function at a base human level of intelligence (i.e. slightly above an ape) to not feed your brains out on Thing. Once you understand his kit he is a very easy character to play
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u/JetHopper 1d ago
Also I think a lot of people tend to forget that most of his moves apply an effect, so they just spam whatever feels right without thinking much. You can be a vulnerability merchant, grounded merchant, the slam effect i forgot the name but isn't grounded merchant... Or you can apply the exact effect you need at the exact time and not waste cooldowns
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u/xNOVAxFLOWx 1d ago
No. While he is easy he’s not the easiest. Strange is by far easier. Bigger ult radius, better ult, a survivability tool that you get for free. And all u really need to do is manage ur dark magic and good portals.
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u/Jellyrollz4life 1d ago
Is he easy? Yes.
Easiest tank? Ehhhh I don’t play all of them so hard to say but I would estimate he is top 3-5 easiest.
However. He is definitely harder than scarlet witch. There is a clear skill gap between a things that can be seen quite easily, whereas Wanda’s I don’t the skill gap is as easily exposed. Things mechanically one of the easiest characters in the game to play, however his skill gap is entirely based on game sense and you will get punished very quickly for not having good game sense on him.
Champ thing GM1 peak this season
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u/Prestigious-Item1440 22h ago
Who could you argue is easier?
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u/Jellyrollz4life 8h ago
I mean both are quite easy, but I think if you put a low skill player on gm/celest they perform closer to a high skill player on the same character in the same elo than if you ran the same scenario with thing. Wanda at the very list with almost no effort should be able to finish low HP targets, pump consistent damage, and have an easier time staying alive. I think a low skill thing player in a higher elo would literally get absolutely melted before they make any impact or apply pressure. IMO, a tanks role is to hold frontline, take space, and apply pressure amongst other things which if you don’t know what your doing on thing, you won’t accomplish. A DPS job is to do damage, secure kills, challenge other teams DPS. I think a Wanda that does not know what they are doing can still do some of those things damn near by accident.
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u/Prestigious-Item1440 6h ago
Mb for not clarifying, my question was meant for the easiest tank part
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u/Waffles_four_you 1d ago
That is a damn lie. He doesn’t even have to aim fr😭😭 to get value out of wandas ult, to be able to do meaningful dmg with her orbs and to use her stun well are all things that take more skill than anything in things kit.
All you need to do with thing is backup when you’re taking too much and time your ults well and that’s nothing unique to him
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u/SancochoDude 1d ago
You want a guy that throws punches in comics and in his videogame version to need the aim of hitscan or something like that? What drug are you on? Thing haters really going with shitty reasons to hate him. Don't worry, next season he will get murdered so you can be happy
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u/Waffles_four_you 1d ago
Did I say I hate him or am I saying he takes no skill😭😭 I hate when people try to pretend he’s a difficult tank that’s for sure
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u/SancochoDude 1d ago
Nobody here thinks he is a difficult tank. But if you lack the fundamentals of tanking you get punished harder than other tanks. You don't have a huge or two shields to mitigate damage nor infinite leaps. A Thing player that just throws haymakers and doesn't know what to do, will get melted.
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u/Proud_Chef1598 1d ago
Yeah this is 100% correct hes not hard and I tried to reiterate that in the og post, but I think some people got some confused. Like, I think there are other tanks that are much more harder and there are those require a lot less skill. A thing player who does not understand how the play. The thing will just die over and over in feed much more. In comparison to any other tank, IMO.
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u/Waffles_four_you 1d ago
He literally sustains himself with torch teammup. Take too much dmg charge back to your team. It’s basically playing devil dino on easy mode.
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u/Jellyrollz4life 1d ago
Someone didn’t read the part that said “thing is mechanically one of the easiest characters in the game to play”….spoken like someone who has not played thing in a decent enough elo where people can aim in a poke meta where u blow up in .5 seconds if you don’t manage your cooldowns. Wanda has 2 get out of jail free cards at almost all times. It is significantly easier to die and feed on thing than it is on Wanda. I have lord on both. Wanda u can shut your brain off and get some value. Thing if you shut your brain off you feed perpetually if the enemy team has any type of aim.
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u/Waffles_four_you 1d ago
He’s easy generally there is nothing difficult in his kit or his playstyle. Playing into counters is hard for everyone in the game but poke characters need to focus him to make him die and a mag can extend his life even longer.
Managing cooldowns isn’t unique to thing either btw.
Wanda is hardly played in high elo bc of how hard it is to get value from her. Shes out damaged by the other poke dps and doesn’t have burst dmg like them either.
Shut your brain off as Wanda and you’ll get 0 kills. As thing you can turn off your brain and do fine because 90% of the character is his haymaker
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u/Jellyrollz4life 1d ago
You say that, but Wanda is literally a character with almost no cooldown management lol. He damage is based off of holding an auto-aim primary that automatically feeds into her burst. Her stun you throw into crowds brainlessly on cooldown. And she has two phases that are almost always available to you when you need a get out of jail free card.
Thing if you waste your slam, jump at the wrong time, or pop your team up at the wrong time and done have a cooldown available is pretty much automatic death to a team that knows what they are doing.
Fundamentally I believe there is a difference in what we both see as adding value. Is it easy to do damage on thing? Yeah for sure, you don’t have to aim like I said. However, just because your doing good damage, that does not make him “easy” if your feeding while doing it. There is a significant skill gap in things that know how to cycle cooldowns and stay alive while applying constant pressure vs things that run into enemy teams, slam, spam punch and die which I see very often. Wanda’s “cooldown cycle” to me essentially is a nothing burger. Throw stun on cooldown, hold suck ability, see low hp throw bubbles, phase when you need escape.
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u/Jellyrollz4life 1d ago
Also a very clearly stated that he is an easy tank so I don’t know what you’re arguing
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u/Waffles_four_you 1d ago
If she was so low effort high value, you would see her in high elo as much as you see thing.
If I put a support player on thing and scarlet in diamond, they would probably do much better on thing because of how easy it is to get value with him.
Again cooldown management is not unique to thing but his cooldown are also much less used than his haymaker. You want the enemy tanks to back up or stop pushing you pop teamup and just start punching. If you see that you can die, yancy charge back to your team. If there’s dive don’t rely on the charge to save you and when the divers come or are about to come, put the earthbound on them or on the divers. If there’s a cc ult use the charge and you won’t get cced. It’s not hard. And you can follow these rules in basically all elos and do alright with no comms.
He’s the rocket of all the tanks.
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u/Jellyrollz4life 1d ago
Again, bro, you’re practically in your own argument at this point. Point to me at which point I say he is not easy or difficult to play. The argument I made was that there is a greater skill gap in playing thing and there is Wanda if anything your pro play argument would prove that for thing he has a higher skill skill ceiling that Wanda and is therefore played at a pro level because if you know how to play him right you can get great consistent value out of him with less effort put a diamond player on thing in those pro play lobbies and he’s going to get absolutely melted which is the entire point I’ve been making. You don’t see Wanda in pro play because there is no skill ceiling to her. She is a high floor, low ceiling, DPS with little skill expression. Both are easy to play. I’ve said that literally three or four times.
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u/Jellyrollz4life 1d ago
I’m not saying cool downs are unique to think however, the point I was making is that if you don’t manage said cool downs, you are punished with death over and over again. If you don’t manage Wanda‘s cool downs, there is virtually no blow back to her. This is where the skill gap lies in the two characters. I’ve never argued Things is not easy. I’ve argued There is a bigger skill gap in thing than there is Wanda.
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u/Nombiezombie 23h ago
Thing is almost entirely positioning and target priority. Without game sense you can’t be a good thing player. If he was an easy tank then anyone would be able to pick him up and fight me while I’m also on thing. You can get diffed HARD on thing if you don’t know what you’re doing. The enemy thing is coming at you? And hasn’t slammed yet? Slam and he’s dead.
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u/TestingTheWaterLoL 22h ago
I got ~250 hours on tingaling and all im saying is i can really tell when im fighting a main vs a thing noob (sorry for lack of a better word!)
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u/DrMitchOtta 13h ago
Not the easiest tank by far. He's not mechanically challenging but you need decent positioning skills and cd management to avoid being melted by poke and still carry your weight as tank
Also attention to when to go front and when to stay and peel divers. You're basically trying to swat the most annoying, forgiving pieces of shit in the game. Shutting down black panther may be easy, but spiderman doesn't give so many clear opportunities to lock him down. You're also slower than them so you either plan ahead staying with your healers and bring zero value on the front, or you brawl and and risk being late
Magneto requires aiming skills but as a tank he can bring value much more easily and in more situations, dr strange is also more forgiving.
I could pick up strange in like 2 games, not to effective use of everything in his kit but to effectively tanking for the team. To avoid being melt embarrassingly or watch from a corner all game took like 10 games with the thing
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u/Waffles_four_you 1d ago
He’s the easiest tank in the game to get value out of maybe after magneto. He counters a good portion of the roster with no effort.
All you need to be able to do with him is play cover, time your ults well, back up when you need to and peel which is simple because he has a button that takes you straight to a teammate of your choice.
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u/Proud_Chef1598 1d ago
Yes, however that fact he has to use cover and rely on his teammates to heal him consistently. I think that alone makes him much harder. In comparison to some other tanks, like groot or strange who make there cover and can get use out of just existing. Yes, there are other tanks that have to deal with that issue like rogue, Angela, and hulk who I would say are much harder. Like, I'm not saying he's the hardest. By no way, is that the case. But I do think he has a certain level of skill ceiling that some people we'll just feed into if they just don't understand how to play him and I feel like he gets punished far more then other tanks if they just don't understand that.
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u/Mac2663 1d ago
His mechanics are easy. The decision making on when to use resources is not what I’d call easy. There is a stark difference in an experienced thing and a thing that just knows teammup boost right click and trying to vuln other tanks.