Today we're going to talk a little bit about Game Sense, or Game Knowledge, or in an even clearer light, knowing when and why to do things. In a sense of the word, it's more like game wisdom than anything else.

There's a great debate between various communities as to whether in game knowledge or mechanical skill are important, but surely they both are, and they're both necessary. The age old argument is that someone with superior mechanical skills can get far simply with their ability to shoot well or kill people, and this may be true, but in Overwatch, simply shooting well isn't enough. Similarly, having an in-depth knowledge of the game isn't going to help you win if you can't left click. So, for the sake of time and sanity I'm going to assume that most who read this are capable of shooting people and finding the objective, if you're not, that's an article for another time. So in lieu of that, here is this.

The Purpose of Tanking:

One of the things I've noticed the most while playing competitive Overwatch is that people tend not to know how to play tanks and supports. For tanks, it might be easier if I Illustrate this from the position of Reinhardt, as he's mostly straight forward, but definitely has some high-end nuances. Most new players or people who may not understand Reinhardt will simply stand there with their shield on, Reinhardt is more than just a large shield. If all you're doing is simply standing there and soaking up damage, this is going to create a lot of frustration for both parties, for you, as you're sitting there wondering why nobody is doing anything while you watch your precious shield destroyed before your eyes, and your teammates, who're wondering if Reinhardt is ever going to do anything other than just stand there. Honestly, sometimes standing there can make all the difference in the world, but only when just standing there is the most relevant or contextual option. If you're just standing there after you've Earthshattered the entire enemy team, you're doing it wrong. Of course there are an infinite number of scenarios that can be created and analyzed, but usually there's always one right answer. Sometimes it may not appear to you tell after the game, but there usually is one.

Furthermore, one of the most challenging aspects of playing Reinhardt is knowing when to be the shield and when to be the hammer. This scenario and decision is at the heart of tanking with all the characters in Overwatch. For instance, with Reinhardt, sometimes it's better to walk down your enemies with the shield while contesting the payload and create threat, forcing the enemy team to have to deal with you or step back. This is much better than simply being an immovable object (temporarily), in a position which has no merit, or simply standing in place waiting for your shield to break. The key difference in this scenario, is even as a wall, you are accomplishing something for your team within the game. You're focused on the main objective of the game: the payload. The objective is what tanks should care about more than anyone, as their entire purpose is to take objectives and to hold them. This is the primary paradigm shift that must take place in the mind of tanks if they ever are to be top tier. Surely protecting your team is important, but you're protecting them so that they can take the payload, or the objective, not just so they don't die for the sake of not dying. Death is inevitable, and deaths taking the point are worthy deaths, while pointless deaths get you nowhere, not even a medal for most deaths or failed attempts at tanking.

Hence, a wall that is helping you take the payload is more useful than one that's simply protecting you. In addition to this, the tank that walks down the payload is more threatening than one who's simply protecting his team. The tank that walks down the payload is threatening a win, or at the least a checkpoint which is an opportunity to further win the game. One that is simply protecting you, does neither. More importantly, a tank who walks down the payload and knows when to defend and when to fight is far more useful than even the aforementioned tank, but I'll still take the one who knows his purpose and the purpose of the game over the one who does not. A Reinhardt that transitions seamlessly between aggression and defense is the perfect tank. It's smarter to use Fire Strike to punish your opponents as you walk them down rather than simply walking them down. It's also at times more prudent to charge into the crowd and take the fight to the enemy team rather than cautiously walking them down.

On the other hand, if you go too hard as a tank, your team may not follow you in and leave you hanging, or the fault may be on your hands and you may simply overextend and allow the enemy team to kill you for free, leaving your team outnumbered and vulnerable. So then charging in is prudent, but only when it will win you the fight, or give you the best advantage possible to win the fight. For instance, if you've noticed that an enemy Genji is wrecking your team, or that the enemy Mercy is carrying their tanks, making it nearly impossible to kill them; it's better to pin them and kill them as Reinhardt. This takes their potential game changer out of the game, and gives your team the opportunity to redeem themselves by showing they can take the enemy team without their star player.

Supports:

Similarly, supports are all about timing. In Overwatch, it's better to know when to use your abilities rather than simply spamming them. This is one of the most important things to understand as a support. Don't simply spam your abilities (unless of course the situation demands it) but rather wait for the most opportune moment. For instance, as Lucio, it's easier to spam your abilities without as much recourse as other supports, but that doesn't necessarily mean it's wiser to do so. Sure, you could constantly switch between healing and speed, but it's often more effective to stick to one song instead of changing the beat. However, the best Lucio knows when constant change ups are needed, and when one is all you need.

One of the most important aspects about Lucio, and pretty much every support in Overwatch is knowing when to use your ultimate. With some supports, it's more clear than others. Oddly, some of the more basic supports have more nuanced or specialized ultimates than those that are more difficult to play. This is why I chose Lucio as the example. Lucio's ultimate has various uses, but doesn't necessarily seem as though it would have so many different uses at first glance. Sometimes it's better to use Lucio's ultimate at the start of a fight. It gives your team the advantage if they're being engaged upon unknowingly, or even knowingly at times, and sometimes this simple ult can change the course of the whole battle. Sometimes you may not need the ultimate at the beginning of the battle. If your team is engaging the enemy team and has caught the enemy team off guard, or is winning the fight from the beginning, it can at times be most prudent to ultimate in the middle of the fight or even towards the end if things get closer than they ought to be. Sometimes Lucios get into ultimate wars with other Lucios and the timing may vary. It's often not the best case scenario to be the first Lucio to ult in these situations. If your ult is forced out, hopefully your team has done enough with the advantage, or is able to hold while the enemy team than takes its own advantage. Generally, the best case scenario is a wash. That is, that both Lucio ults essentially cancel one another out. But even knowing that you should try to achieve a wash or some kind of advantage, is game sense in itself.

Another fine example of this is Mercy. Surely raising people from the dead is always a good thing... Right? Maybe. With Mercy, it really depends on how many people you're raising from the dead, and just exactly who you're raising from the dead. Sometimes, sure, numbers are enough to win a fight if the fight was close, and if by regaining your teammates you'll actually achieve some kind of advantage. It's often more easy to use Mercy's ultimate than Lucio's, but there are nuances. Surely saving your Rez to get one Huge Rez (resurrecting 4 or more people) is the best idea, right? Again, maybe. If you've just lost the best player on your team at the beginning of the fight, and they have been carrying every fight, it might be more prudent to raise them from the dead at the start of the fight than to wait until a few other people die along with them.

For one, this will probably give you the best chance of winning the fight, and second, the longer you wait to raise more dead people, the riskier it becomes and the more pressure there is on you to pull off one Huge Rez. By risky I mean, the more dangerous it becomes for you, the Mercy player, as you have fewer people to protect you. Not that everyone isn't face diving you already, because you're Mercy, but now there's even less of a chance you'll survive and especially after you ult, than if you had ulted earlier to bring the pro Genji back to life.

Furthermore, even though they're trying to change this, with less targets to distract the enemy team, you're more vulnerable by ulting, meaning that if you wait too long you're going to die while trying to achieve that Huge Rez, because if they haven't prioritized you already, they're definitely going to once everyone is dead. On the flip side, holding your ult tell the very end of a fight, or right before it's breaking point, can be the most prudent thing to do as well. If the fight is close, and you're doing your job, you may not need the Rez and can save it for later, especially with the longer recharge rate it has nowadays. However, if the fight is close and it appears as though it can go the other way, or quickly does, ult like your life depends on it, because it does. In these scenarios, a close fight usually becomes a crushing defeat, after a 3v3 or 4, quickly turns into a 6v3 or 6v4, and sometimes raising that pro Genji at the beginning of the fight just won't pan out.

With Mercy, raising a few people at the beginning of the fight can often be more profitable than holding it or waiting for that perfect 5 man Rez. The qualifier for this is always who you're rezzing. This might sound harsh, but don't waste your Rez on a single player or several players if the fight is close, and they may be the weakest link. If it doesn't grant you a pure numbers advantage or skill advantage it probably isn't worth it, but if you seize either, give it your best shot. One major caveat is that if this is the end of the game, let's say, defending a final defensive point or during the last few meters to victory, or if you're trying to stall for overtime, you should pretty much always Rez. You've got nothing to lose, and who knows, maybe you'll get Play of the Match.

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