Learning how to lift teammates without having to frag out is the best way to boost your impact in the match. Together we’ll learn how to understand your role, so that even if your aim isn’t great, you can still contribute to the team.
Contrary to popular belief, just because you’re at the bottom of the scoreboard doesn’t mean you’re not doing anything. Duelist instalocks are the first to call out those beneath them, but sometimes, it could be the top-fragger’s fault that you’re losing. Frags do not equal impact. To have a positive impact in the game is to understand your role and to fulfill its needs to the best of your ability. To take from legendary football coach Bill Belichick, “’Do your job!’ means being prepared, working hard, paying attention to the details and putting the team first”. Let’s learn how to do all that, so we don’t rely on fragging out of our minds every time we play, because everyone has their off days.
General contributions to the team are things you should be doing already even if you are fragging out of your mind. Focusing on these attributes is important because it shows that you are paying attention to the details and putting the team first. First, communication is key. Whether that is through a microphone or through the game’s ping system. Communicating to your team gives more information to work with which could help sway the round and the match. Even if you don’t feel like talking (please comm in-game as much as possible, it helps out so much), using the ping system along with text chat is easy and shows that you care about the team and the match.
Another way you can contribute to the team is by being on Utility Shooting Duty (as long as you’re not a Duelist). If you aren’t your team’s primary entry, shoot and call out the utility that the opposition is using. This allows your entry to not have to worry about it, so that they can focus on getting the opening pick.
On the subject of utility, focus on how your teammates can use your utility instead of how you could use it. Understanding how your utility can positively affect your teammate, allows for them to get easier duels, this is a great way to understand what utility usage is working and what isn’t. Focusing on bettering your teammates is great, especially when you’re not having a great duel win percentage during the match.
Now with those general tips in mind, we can focus on agent-type specific tips. There are 4 agent types in the game being Sentinel, Controller, Initiator, and Duelist. They can be split into two general play types, Passive Gameplay (Sentinels and Controllers) and Active Gameplay (Initiators and Duelists). Depending on who you are playing, you can focus on different features of your agent to boost your impact in game and ultimately help your team to win the game (without having to frag out).
These agents are the easiest to boost your impact in the game without having to rack up kills. The first thing you need to focus on is buying time for your team. Buying time for your team can look different depending on your situation. The first way to buy time for your team is to delay the Attackers while you’re on Defense. Using utility in combination with your other site anchor will slow the Attacker’s push tremendously, allowing for your team to rotate and support you.
However, if you are overwhelmed by the attacking force, buying time can also be shown by leaving site completely. If you leave the site, you can rejoin your rotating teammates for a re-take and have a larger number re-entering site. This allows your team to retake more quickly since there are more allies (with abilities) available to retake with. Staying on site and potentially dying costs your team not only a life, but precious space as well. Dying on defense is worse than dying on Attack since you need to control the space given to you rather than take it. 1 Defender’s life is worth 2 Attacker’s lives in the round, which means a trade won’t compensate for your slain life. Being down a man also increases to the time it takes for your team to retake a site since it has to be done slower and more cautiously because they have less players than the opposition.
Your life as a Sentinel or Controller is worth more (in-game) than a Duelist or Initiator, which is why it is of utmost importance that you stay alive. If you can’t frag out at least stay alive. It seems unlikely but putting yourself out of harm’s way will help your teammates. If it comes down to it, you can even be used as bait or be put in a position to clutch up. If you clutch, that can boost your confidence and lead to fragging out.
It is important for Sentinels and Controllers to stay alive because of the importance of their abilities. Smokes, and delaying abilities restrictions the freedoms of the opposition, making it harder to take space and take site. If you die, it makes it a lot harder for your team to fight your opponents. Simply staying alive gives your team an advantage without having to get frags.
Even players that are relied on to frag out can positively impact the game, without having to be relied on as the team’s sole opp slayer. Their impact might not be as huge as a passive agent player, but it is still possible to boost your impact without fragging out. If you’re playing as an Initiator, it is important to use your utilities for your duelists. Work with duelists to coordinate utility usage since your utility works best off of another player. Rack up those assists instead of frags, use your head instead of your aim to boost your team’s chances of winning. Using utilities in tandem with your duelist allows for more space to be taken as well, which raises your team’s chances of winning the round.
Another thing Initiators can do is to put the Initiate in Initiator. Trying to IGL (in-game lead) is a great way to contribute to the team that doesn’t show on the scoreboard. IGLing includes things like:
IGLing is easiest when you can collect information with Initiators. If you can’t help your team through scoreboard numbers, help lead your team through strategies.
Duelists are the least impactful if you’re not fragging, but you can still help your team if it’s just not your night. The best way to do this is by gathering information by being the first entry and calling out how many Defenders are on a site. The second-best thing to do is just to act as bait for the rest of your teammates. You can bait so that others can get a trade (remember 1 Defender’s life = 2 Attackers). You can also bait yourself by using yourself as a decoy (Yoru is best at this). Fake a site push to put pressure on the defense, so that your teammates have an easier time pushing onto the opposite site.
Another thing Duelists can do to impact the game is to put themselves in high percentage duels. If you put yourself in a 2 v 1 duel, most likely, you’ll lose. But if you isolate your duels and take 50/50s, it is more than likely you will win a few. Getting those frags and those opening picks will help boost your confidence, so that you can start fragging out and focusing on your role as a Duelist.
Understanding your importance in the game is essential to boosting your impact without having to frag out. Doing your job in the role you signed up for helps your team whether you’re aiming like Tenz or aiming like an Iron player. Remember to pay attention to the details of what your opponent is doing and put the team first. It’ll make a difference between a win or a loss.
