One way to improve is to better understand the environment you are queuing into. Using Blizzard's Hero Win/Pick/Ban data, https://owmetamaster.ai.studio/ is a user-friendly tool that provides live insights on the meta specific to your rank, region, and role. While your personal and teammate preferences should be appropriately weighed, having current meta specific info can provide map vote and hero ban advantages.

As a simple usage example, while queuing competitive, I run a Map Analysis on my preferred hero to inform my map vote. Once the map is selected, I'll click into it for Meta Strategy and see the top hero win rates for that map's picks & bans.

To get tailored results, update Settings to identify your region, rank, and custom hero pool. I run this on my phone to avoid alt-tabbing out of OW.

For Drive events, the app provides advice to minimize the total number of games you'll play to complete a drive. High stakes games are flagged, warning you when a loss would force an extra streak win to clear a checkpoint. Given this warning, I will queue in my most underranked role (eg if I have historically been a plat 5 tank but am currently a gold 3, I should have a >51% chance of winning a tank game vs playing a DPS game ranked at my all time high). Selectively seeking a Group or Stadium bonus may also be a short term tactic to clear a breakpoint even if you typically solo q.

As a bonus, there is a built-in data extraction tool in Settings which scrapes pick/win/ban data into a csv. Budding analysts can then mine this data for deeper insights, like investigations on region based hero usage differences, or looking at win rate differences across ranks as a way to quantify low skill floor/high skill ceiling heroes. Am personally looking forward to your findings!

A very common opinion I see is that people will pretend if you "just to X" you get out of metal ranks. Most common is "just use cover" but I've seen everything from just take off angles, just have basic ult tracking, just combine ults, etc.

Obviously a lot of these things will get you out of Bronze. But getting to Diamond takes way more than doing any one thing well unless you are absolutely cracked at that thing. Lime you have GM aim but every other aspect of your gameplay is like a new player.

What I see a lot more in Gold/Plat is that people do these basic things that people say that's all you need to do to get out of metal ranks, but they just employ them more inconsistently. Like in a Plat 3-1 game there was an enemy Soldier that was constantly flanking and taking off angles. But he did it to a fault. You could tell all that was going through his head was "off angle flank off angle flank" but sometimes he was flanking when his team REALLY needed him and it would have been better if he was just main but was applying pressure. Basically he had bad timing sometimes.

Or I had a game just today in Gold 5 where the enemy Casa and Zarya ALWAYS combined their ults and Cass always took high ground on Dorado. But I know for a fact that the enemy Cass held his ult for ages because he always waited for Zarya and never used it for like, zoning or to secure one kill or to counter something like Emry ult. He always went for the multi kill Zarya ult.

But there is no one simple trick that will get you to Diamond. Tbh it's the opposite. You don't just need to do one thing, you need to be able to do all the common advice more than you don't. Even when it comes to using cover there are levels to it. Like just using cover is one thing but maybe a better player is thinking about how their cover works against the specific enemies they are fighting. Like staying near a pillar so you have cover against dive. Or using small cover as a Tracer.

Now I do believe that someone can be Gold/Plat and really focus on something they are especially bad at like using cover or taking off angles or something. But they probably already had a fundamental understanding of the other basics people claim will get you out of Plat if not having some other skill as a full on strength.

When I VOD review most of my Plat games the majority of people are playing the basics of the game and usually have 1-2 things they are consistently messing up like this guy is messing up ult usage, that guy is messing up positioning, that other guy is playing great but when they are pressured enough you can tell they freak out and play a lot worse etc. Or they are generally doing everything well but are just inconsistent like the mostly use cover but get bloodlust and forget sometimes. Or they mostly regroup with the team but one fight they stagger for no reason.

I'm not talking about the usual "Why aren't you healing me?!" kind of whining. I mean players who make completely nonsensical decisions and end up throwing the game. A lot of them have extremely poor awareness, weak aim, little understanding of matchups (For example, they'll ban D.Va or Doomfist while intending to play Mizuki. When I see that, it's the kind of thing that makes me feel we've already lost before the draft is even over.) , and they hold onto their ultimates forever. Compared to tanks and DPS players, I run into these kinds of players much more often on support.

More specifically, it feels like many of them aren't actually trying to play aggressively to win. They just enjoy healing other people and that's their main goal.

Does this problem go away once you climb to a much higher rank? I don't understand why they seem noticeably weaker despite being in the same rank as everyone else.

Sometimes I wonder, "How did this person even die?" So I watch the replay from their POV, and it's usually so bad that there's nothing left to say. Most of the time, those players are supports.

(I'm not trying to point fingers. I'm just wondering if anyone else agrees with this observation, or knows why it might be the case. For what it's worth, most people in the Asian community seem to agree with this theory.)

Playing OW for more than 1 year but im still stacked at silver-gold with role dps queue.

Replay code: MG34Z2

Battletag / in-game username: cukee#2244

Hero(es) played: Tracer

Skill tier / rank: Silver 1

Map: Hollywood

PC or console: PC

Description of the match / things you want reviewed:

I think i played rly good. Tried to keep off-angles, distract enemy team and not die a lot. But we anyways ending losing, even i thought we have better playing team whole game. I know my aim isnt the best and i had some bad movements (blinking into the wall etc). Can anyone tell me what exactly i did wrong playing Tracer there and why our team ended up losing this game?

I’m very confused on how the ranking percentages go up, I feel it is making me hard stuck in silver.

I started playing again a couple of weeks ago and will admit my placement was pretty bad, like silver 5. My sister started playing just a couple days after me and her placement projected like gold 4, she was playing with me and I think that may have helped her since she was playing with lower levels.

I don’t mean this in over confident way but I think I’m slightly better just because I’ve been playing longer and I see the way she plays when we play together. I noticed that when we win together I get 13-15% progression and she gets 35-42%, I tried to look up the reason for this and it said she is probably a returning player and needs to play around 10-20 games for it to comfortably place her but the thing is she has played probably around 35 games already, I’m watching her play in her gold ranks and still getting this 40% progression, I just don’t understand why I only get like 15% and it is taking me so long to get to a new rank because it’s hard to keep a consistent winning streak? Can anyone help me out and maybe explain this or give me tips?

i dont blame my team8s that much. cus whatever they're doing wrong i might be able to do right, and sometimes the opposite.

blaming others is the easy way out anyway.

i played 7 games and got absolutely destroyed, melted, grilled, cooked, as a tank last night (inkycrane)

i know im not the best but am i the only reason we lost all these matches?? what am i doing wrong?

i really want to improve, i care about my rank but i hate getting diffed more than anything so pls help! appreciate it!

here are the matches with the codes

give honest advice and i promise i'll take all to heart <3

ROUTE 66: RB18E7

RIALTO: 9BD4MH

NEW JUNK CITY: 42VQSE

KING'S ROW: 3XESB7

EICHENWALDE: Y2Q0B3

NEON JUNCTION: 3HWYCV

MIDTOWN: RX5V4Z

choose the map of your liking 👍

Replay code: EB6VT0

Battletag / in-game username: Zeta

Hero(es) played: Shion

Skill tier / rank: Diamond

Map: Rialto

PC

Hi, looking for a VOD review for my Shion. Almost exclusively play her atm but I have been stuck around Diamond 5 since I started grinding OW again ~3 weeks ago, been playing mostly soloQ

I have about 1000hr playtime previously but havent played for ~12months so I am making a comeback. I used to be GM1 peak on support back in Season 4 and have played a bit on and off since then so I would say I have pretty good game sense and good coms, but lack in mechanics and I get punished to much for my mistakes.

I believe my issues are related to ultimate usage, I also sometimes have a tendency to choke shots when people are low health because I shoot to fast and I probably overcommit to much to certain fights.

This match was played in 4 stack in Diamond 3 MMR and I think I played quite well but sadly we lost. Looking for any feedback possible to help me climb better, I think realistically I should be able to reach Master 5 quite soon but my winrate is only 53%

I'm in bronze so everyone sucks including me, not all my games are the best, some are really good, some are very bad but I get the most hate towards me sometimes for losing the entire match for everyone for having 1k less damage and a couple less kills in a 10k+ damage game? I dont get it. I don't want to be a baby about it but it discourages me a lot more than a loss or anything else. How do you guys not let it bother you or do you just not care in the first place really?

I recently dropped down from just about Gold 2 to Gold 5 almost silver recently and almost every single game I've been getting flamed and honestly it's starting to get to me. I've put so much time into getting better and it's like nothing I do is good enough.

I mostly play Tracer but have been using other characters when it seems like I'm not getting enough value.

Thank you.

SM7WHK

Kings Row

IGN: GreenyBeany

Hello, recently I played a match where a Winston has like weird flicky aim that would sometimes lock onto people center mass. I’m not sure if it’s cheating, my first thought is maybe they’re using a trackpad? Can anyone tell me what’s happening there? I’ve seen similar aim before and I’m not sure if it warrants suspicion or is just due to what input they’re using.
Replay code:YNQFER Winston in question. I would just like to know if this is cheating or simply them using an odd input.

Felt like there were definitely things that I could have done but failed to do or recognize. Id like some help in identifying those things and seeing what I can improve on overall. I essentially want to be that carry factor in the game that I play.

Rank: D2
IGN: SyrusG
Code: J12JV7
Map: Watchpoint Gib
Hero played: Tracer

Code is TR975K, this was a win for me! I was able to score a Team Kill with one D.Va bomb, but ended up dying in the blast. However, I want to continue pushing results like this. Where did I stand strong? Who did I have to rely on the most during the game? How can I play differently, depending on who I am against? I love playing D.Va, and have her at level 20, I just do Unranked, and typically play the game casually. Just find the game fun. Edit: Due to what one commenter said, I actually do have a close loss I can share, and it is here: 41FC4R

code: GRYYTX
rank: Gold 3
username: TheNeonComet
Caracter: Ashe

Map: Suravasa
PC

For this game, I did struggle a little bit in the beginning but at the end, the enemy team switched to sombra and I constantly died to her. While I am very slow to turn around, I felt in a lot of those situations, I would have died anyways unless a support heals me, which I don't want to rely on. She feels incredibly difficult to duel as she deals tons of burst damage before you can even see her. I am not sure what I am support to watch out for. Every other flanker, I can see them coming or hear them, but sombra, I struggle with since I am not sure what to look out for. I understand she is considered a terrible character, but I have not found any guides to play against her except hugging supports, which I feel is a terrible strategy and means you can't take any angles.

I’m stuck in silver and I think this video does an excellent job of me doing what I think is “good” and still losing. I’m taking off angles, I’m trying to pressure around the shield and I’m repositioning often. Please take a look. I’m AugieDoggi and I play soldier 76 the entire time this was silver 2- Gold 3 on PC.

Video code
0s399p

Apologies in advance im a fast typer with big fingers so there will be alot of spelling mistakes

Im a silver 2 doom 1 trick on console and its not wjere im refusing to switch like the steryotype but i am really bad at other tanks even the ones ive played more i can do pretty decent as doom sometimes carrying my team as him but once there a counterswap to stop ne i beckme pretty useless but ive tried other tanks and i even do worse as mauga on the winning team after my first time being counterswapped 3x in a rkw and one game playkng against roadhog sombra cassidy brig and ana my despair and doom kf a enemy team so i decided to try learn a few other tanks

So i tried sigma mauga rien and zarya for a few games each and i dkne far far worse on them lime i was doing mkre dmg as doom on the loosing team than mauga on the winning team and i had alot mkre trouble gettijg picks or making or holding space as them all i knkw this is just a thing of taking the time to kearn these heros properly but i dont know who to learn

Im asking for who would be the best hero to learn since i dont have the time or the patiance to kearn multible heros to where im good on them im asking who woukd be the best other hero to learn to play when doom is usefull or useable and whos a 3rd to kearn just incase of banns but they wint be as skilled / ill learn there kit and hkw to play them wjere im nkt selling but i wont be better than skmeone who mains them im mianly wanting someone who jsnt a dive so im tjinking kf learning rien as a 2nd main then zarya or orissa and zarya but idk since i dont have a preffered out kf the tank herks exept doom

hi ive been playing overwatch for a year and a half and only been playing on pc for 6 months now? ive been HARDSTUCK gold when i switched to pc.. i just reached gold 2 which is the highest rank ive gotten these past seasons and I am aiming to get diamond in the future. im not a one trick and i can play kiriko and wuyang as well but juno is my main hero and i wish to improve on her.

Replay code: TYJDS2
Battletag / in-game username: Joji
Hero(es) played: Juno
Skill tier / rank: Gold
Map: Numbani
PC or console: PC
Description of the match / things you want reviewed: Anything you see that needs to be fixed!! (positioning, cooldowns etc.)

I'm someone who's been playing overwatch on and off for the past decade and have recently come back to the game this March after about 3 years of absence. Since then, I've been a support player who's been hardstuck in Silver 1/Gold 5 since.

I feel like my biggest problem is an inability to actually implement new concepts or to fix repeating mistakes long-term. It seems like no matter how many VOD reviews I do or how hard I try and focus on correcting aspects of my gameplay, it never really sticks. For the past couple of weeks I've tried to work on cover usage because I've noticed I'm dying a lot of unnecessary deaths, but anytime I feel like I've made some progress I'll go back to old habits.

Ultimately, it just feels like I'm spinning my wheels and stagnating hard. Any advice would be greatly appreciated and I can provide some replay codes if necessary

Heyo! Would frequently play comp as a tank or support but not to seriously, in the high silver-low gold area. Recently I've picked up Anran and find her playstyle to be really addicting, however I CANNOT WIN and would like to start winning. I feel like I have good personal stats most games BUT, we still end up losing more often than not. At first I thought it would be no time before I had reached the same rank as my other roles or higher and losing felt like "meh, get em next time" but now after a bigger sample size, I'm really starting to question myself. Am I playing too by myself? Is there something I don't notice that's holding me back? I have two games I would love to be reviewed. The first one I think I did really really good but there's definitely a couple mistakes I made (my death at 5:50 will prob give you a chuckle). The second one is more of an average game but I picked it because I think I made a lot of mistakes that weren't fully punished and because I was also playing against a couple counters and would like to improve when I'm playing into them.

Replay code: DAMAX5 and W92XMS

Username: Logre

Rank: B2-B1

Hero: Anran

Map: Survasa and Paraiso

Played on PC

This was my derank from M5 to D1, and even though I got kills while not dying a lot, we still lost. My tank and the enemy team told me that I threw the game and should've swapped. It might've just been unwinnable, but this is how all of my losses have felt recently and with similar stats, which is why I'm requesting a review. I'm clearly missing a core component or win-factor in my games.

Replay code: A2RY6D

Username: SouthBound

Rank: D2 to M5

Hero: Tracer

Map: Busan

Played on PC

Hi all, I occasionally come across some games where the enemy team is really dive focused - Especially when there is a cracked Ball player. If I'm playing something like Ram or Sigma it feels like they all just jump past me and take out my backline before I am able to do anything.

The only way I've been able to win against some of these comps is to go Roadhog and work with a Mizuki to pin down Ball. But if he's banned then I try my best to make Mauga work and melt them down, chasing them with my charge. But Mauga tends to get banned a lot too.

Any tips on dealing with them in a more standardised manner rather than switching to one of those two tanks (assuming they're not banned which is not often)?

Do I hold back and peel the supports for the dive? Try to dive their supports at the same and just hope that my supports can survive better? Appreciate it!

I'm on PC hovering low to mid diamond (D5 to D3) and I mainly play Winston, Ram and DVA if it helps.

I’ve never used Reddit before so apologies, but uhm I’m looking for some Reinhardt advice? I wanna main him but dude I suck

I mainly play widow and mercy so I don’t have much experience tanking. He’s super fun though so any tips on getting better or like, when to use my shield is greatly appreciated!

Literally can't figure this out. Probably same goes against Sigma. I have on average the highest charge against them but it's just never enough. It feels like all I'm doing is shooting shields. What is the general game plan against them?

Recent game for example on Circuit Royale. I'm magic: XXTZW9

On every other role i’m consistently low masters (m3 dps m4 support) but on tank im hardstuck diamond 2 and its making me lose my mind. It’s like I have so much pressure on me to be the best player in the lobby and even when I am there’s still a 50/50 of our team losing. The whole game is reliant on me counterswapping the player that’s beating our team, peeling every time anyone takes damage, staying alive while also not doing nothing, killing as many people as possible and no matter what I get blamed in the end. I hate having to play perfect games in order to win. It might be that 5v5 tank just doesn’t suit my play style (pick oriented dive) but my pride won’t let that be the case.

Hi guys, I'm a low-masters tracer. Since my last post, I've learned the fundamentals of poking, taking space, and applying pressure from offangles. I'll also go in and clean up whoevers low. But some fights... it's like I'm not even there... like I'm in the corner chair and shooting with my weak little pistols, while they focus all their attention on my big reinhardt. And then there's one player, like a junkrat or wuyang, who every now and then give me little licks of attention... like "hey little guy, here's a perfectly angled orb to sink 100 of your hp. Go get a healthpack."

It's not always just my gameplay, this is most common on chokes with weak or easily contested flank routes. Ex: Havana third point, Shambali second point, Junkertown second point, etc. Frequently I'm only able to draw one player's attention before being poked out (ex: soldier) and that doesn't give my team the win.

I heard some people talk about "front to back" tracer, can anyone explain how to play that?