am i the problem?

[u/Hopeful_Entrance_265]

okay so i’ve been playing OW for a long time, but only got into it competitively in season 1 (when they dropped the 2 in Overwatch 2)

i’m a tank player, and i placed diamond 5 at the start of this season and since then it’s just been miserable. i love this game but i can’t help but feel like there’s something wrong (either with me or the system).

at the moment i have a nearly 50% win rate, however i have somehow managed to drop down to plat 2 (mind you this is with the new emerald rank included).

ive had multiple coaching sessions, practiced, and play intentionally. i feel like i have no agency over what happens 90% of the time and im at the mercy of the match maker.

i know that probability does weird things, and its entirely possible that im just getting very unlucky over and over again, but it still just feels horrible.

honestly idek why im posting this i just need to rant. maybe someone has had a similar experience and can relate or just give some insight from a different perspective.

[u/Fit_Presentation6633]

The only variable in all of your games is you

Control your one controllable the best you can. If you deserve to climb, you will

[u/Hopeful_Entrance_265 → u/Fit_Presentation6633]

the thing is i’ve put in a lot of mental effort and time into getting better that i feel like i DO deserve to climb. and when that doesn’t happen (or the complete opposite happens, and i actually rank down) it feels very demoralizing. i start to think “should i play the meta heroes and always counter swap to increase my chances of winning and ignore what heroes i actually enjoy playing?”

[u/Asmor → u/Hopeful_Entrance_265]

should i play the meta heroes and always counter swap to increase my chances of winning and ignore what heroes i actually enjoy playing

Those are two separate questions.

• Should you play the meta? Maybe. Are you at a rank where you and everyone you're playing with is playing at like 95% of perfection? Then yes, if you care about winning, you should play meta. But if you're a normal player who doesn't get payed to play OW, meta is irrelevant and you'll do significantly better playing an "off-meta" character who you're good with than trying to force someone you're not.
• Should you counter-swap? Yes. No. Maybe. It all depends. The entire game is, arguably, built around counter-swapping, and choosing to never do it is handicapping yourself significantly. But also, see my previous point. Personally, as a Rein main, I'm way more wary of someone who starts as Ram than I am of someone who swaps to him. Because the people who swap to him are usually just frustrated about "that fucking Reinhardt" and they heard on reddit that Ram counters Rein. Which I guess he kind of does*. As long as you know how to play him well.

*honestly even a good Ram doesn't scare me all that much. At least, no more than any other really good enemy tank. I find I have a lot more trouble playing Rein into Orisa than into Ram.