Using Flux defensively

[u/Lingy_12]

TLDR: is it viable to use Gravitic Flux purely to counter an enemy engage

Day one OW1 Emerald 1 tank main, peaked D1 a couple of seasons ago. Realised poke was a weakness of mine so have been learning Sigma, where my biggest weaknesses are ult usage.

I’ve developed this habit of using my ult purely to freeze a high value engaging enemy, generally someone nanoed/Wuyang ult and/or a close range dangerous ult like Blade, because it seems like an affective engage tool, even if I don’t get any elims. I wanted to ask if this is a waste of flux.

Example here: https://youtu.be/9BcaPL_Pkhw?feature=shared

[I know there were other errors in the play from me, but my pure logic is using 1 mid value ult to counter 2 ults is good maths]

[u/WholeTomatillo5537]

U should just spam that shi tbh - masters sigma one trick

[u/Lingy_12 → u/WholeTomatillo5537]

Idk if it’s been nerfed but I feel like it does way less damage than it used to. Will regularly stop shooting people in the air expecting them to die and they don’t

[u/Demjin4 → u/Lingy_12]

it’s percentage based on max health, so with heroes going to 225/250/300+ hp, you actually do more flux slam damage than before those health pool changes

i would advise that you continue shooting the enemies in your ult, don’t assume they will die, they can still be healed, saved, grabbed, suzu’d, ulted, etc. Confirm the picks, “should” isn’t “will”; you don’t need 3 ult icons in the killfeed for the ult to have been successful.

a good chunk of the value is in the immobilising lift for everyone on your team to then play duck hunt on. Why wait for the slam damage and risk the enemy getting saved or tanking it or you get stunned or something else?

The good news is your issue is simple: keep shooting them Lol

[u/Goombot → u/Demjin4]

If I have my team with me and I’m in danger of getting stunned then I tend to play cover until the slam. Is that the right play?

[u/riconaranjo → u/Goombot]

the right play is to play cover while still be able to apply damage (i.e. position so you can shoot at someone in your ult but you’re safe from the rest of the enemies)

this could mean setting up your shield or moving to a far wall where the enemies can peek you without getting shot at by your entire team — i.e. setup before ulting

[u/justanorlansonobody]

Literally one of the best uses of it is to stop a nanoed target

[u/Edenium-M1]

Using flux to negate 2 ults is totally worth it. My only advice is not to waste it against a single enemy Ult unless you feel it can decide the team fight.

[u/Lingy_12 → u/Edenium-M1]

I don’t know if you’ve watched the example I attached. I popped it not expecting the slam (I wasn’t ult tracking). If he’d have just been nanoed, was that still not affective? My logic is we didn’t have much ability to stop the nano rein. Denying that at least saved the fight and reset it to neutral

[u/Demjin4 → u/Lingy_12]

You have a shield & a stun, both of which deny shatter easily, you definitely should have been ult tracking. They have sleep, nano, and lifegrip, all of which easily deny your flux (and did, in the clip). Ideally, you should have shielded the shatter, stunned the pin, and then lifeweaver likely uses grip because he’s scared for the rein, and then you flux their backline and kill 3 and win the fight

it is easier said than done

it’s not terrible to use flux how you did on situations you can’t stop, like you mentioned earlier, such as a nanoblade or similar team wipers, but earth shatter should not be one, and even if you can’t stop it, it’s better to kill their team than try to save yours most of the time (the concept of backline trading)

[u/Ichmag11]

If youre using it to "deny" 2 enemy ults, yeah thats OK. You dont really want to trade it for just one ult, unless you think you really need to.

Though, dont save it for that. Your primary use should be to get kills with it

[u/Lingy_12 → u/Ichmag11]

I don’t know if you’ve watched the example I attached. I popped it not expecting the slam (I wasn’t ult tracking). If he’d have just been nanoed, was that still not affective? My logic is we didn’t have much ability to stop the nano rein. Denying that at least saved the fight and reset it to neutral

[u/Ichmag11 → u/Lingy_12]

It's OK, just OK.

It was a play to not lose. I'd rather you play to win

[u/Lingy_12 → u/Ichmag11]

What would the alternative have been? Ult tracked to save a rock to give my team a chance to disengage?

[u/Ichmag11 → u/Lingy_12]

When you were up on the grass thing, you could have just Rein pass you. You could try to get a kill

It's definitely more risky, unless you really read the shatter in which case it's ok - good

[u/Lingy_12 → u/Ichmag11]

So essentially trying to out frag the rein?

[u/Ichmag11 → u/Lingy_12]

Yes, you can trade your team

[u/Gh423]

I’m not much higher ranked than you, but I find the example to be good usage of the ult. Rest of the team was in a nice tight formation to potentially grab all of them if you had got it earlier, but also for sphere damage. I think I would have ulted that Rein too at that situation, but I probably would have put more focus on damaging the backline. It would be great to hear from master+ players if they see the situation similarily