Like a lot of people, I was extremely excited when Competitive Play was released. Quick Play was fun, but I always wanted to know how I measured up compared to everyone else. I found out that I am not terrible, but still have a good amount of room to improve (my highest rank this season is 72 and I have aspirations of 80 before this season ends). Since competitive released I have had varying success, but I started noticing a pattern in my gameplay when I went on win streaks. I figured I would share what I found that worked to get my rating high. Please note that this is written from a one hundred percent solo queue perspective, and if you play with a group some of these may not really apply as much. This is also not intended as a "one simple trick" thing. Improving takes thought and effort. None of what I say here will instantly improve your rank, but it is meant to help you make the most of your abilities.

- Mechanical Skills

This one is fairly obvious, but one of the best ways to improve is simply to practice shooting skills. How exactly to do this is something I am not really an expert on and for each person is different, but many pros have shared their methods on warming up and improving their aim which would be a good place to start. My method is extremely simple: play a Quick Play match before Competitive, and to practice a new hero, play Quick Play until you feel comfortable with him. Some others I have seen go into the practice range and flick shot or practice ability combos. You will have to find what works for you. Adding to this, knowing the more intricate details of the heroes you play is also important. Many videos from pros or streamers can be found that will give you seemingly small tips, but when integrated into your play can make the hero much more effective.

- Communication

This is one of the most important aspects of a team, and just because you do not know everyone you are playing with does not change this fact. Use voice chat for callouts, regrouping, planning a strategy, and creating your team composition. Encourage all the groups on your team to join team chat so that you can maximize its usefulness. Do not be toxic in voice chat, regardless of the situation. No one has ever played better because you told them they are useless. If you think a hero switch is in order, say so in a nice way and use a logical argument. An example of this would be "You are doing well on Genji, but I think we need more front line damage like a Soldier." Say something like this even if he was not doing well on Genji, as people usually like to prove they are good when you tell them that they are not doing well which will lead to him making careless mistakes and not switch. If there is someone being toxic in chat, mute them so that it does not get under your skin. You lose the benefits of the callouts he might give, but gain a more solid state of mind for yourself. If people are arguing, try and tell them to stop and focus on what you can do going forward.

- Character Selection

This is always a fun topic of discussion. Many people swear up and down that a support player cannot get to a high rank in solo queue. I strongly disagree, as I have most of my time on Lucio and Zenyatta and have still gotten relatively high. My advice is to simply play what you are best at, and be ready to swap to fill roles your team cannot fill. If you go in solo, you need to expect to have games where one of your teammates also likes your favorite hero. In these cases, you need to work out who can best fill the other roles still needed on the team. You should be ready to flex to any role to some extent, even if your hero pool in those roles is limited (for example the only DPS hero that I can play at any sort of high level is Soldier, but that is usually enough for the limited number of times I need to flex to DPS).

"Maining" a hero to the extent that you only play that one hero is not really a good idea, as then you can be easily countered or can lose effectiveness to a much larger extent when a new patch comes out. That being said, having a few heroes that you know inside and out is very good and a natural habit as we all find a hero that we simply like to play and are naturally good with. If you run into one of the single hero players, do not all jump in and tell the guy how bad he is and how he is ruining the team with his pick. Again, this has never made anyone play better. Get your team to play around the pick and try to maximize the rest of your team. Those matches can be annoying, but they are not instant losses if you just do your best as a team.

- Mindset During Games

Always stay positive. Do not dwell on that last round of a two checkpoint map. Just do your best right now, and try to get your team to do the same. When you play Competitive, you will not win every game and expecting to do so is simply stupid. When you lose do not try and distribute blame to players, but think about why you lost. Was it team composition? Strategy? Was your team simply mechanically out-matched? Also remember that as much as it sucks to admit, you were part of the reason your team lost. All six of you lost and if you think the only reason was all five other members of your team was bad, you will not improve as you think you are already at the pinnacle of play in the game.

Every loss is an opportunity to learn, and if you do not try and maximize the opportunity then you are not going to improve as quickly. If you ever hear yourself say something like "Blizzard simply does not want me to win", take a break. Blizzard does not care about your Competitive success, and logically has absolutely no stake in you winning or losing. If you are saying this, you are not thinking clearly and are probably on tilt. It is fine and it happens to all of us when we care about something and it is not going well, but recognizing it and stopping yourself from going down the road of a losing streak is important. Maybe play Quick Play, or watch an episode of a show, or do whatever you want. Once the last games do not seem as big of a deal, that is when you can go back on and get your ranking back.

- Game Sense

This one is very difficult to give advice on as some people have it more naturally than others, but just having a feel of what the other team is trying to do has a huge impact on the game. Having a sense of when that Reaper is going for the flanking ultimate, or when the Zarya is going to pull your team together and preventing it can change the game. My best advice for this would be to try out all the heroes in Quick Play to the extent that you sort of understand what they are trying to accomplish, even if you are not to the point of being able to effectively play them in Competitive. When you were playing Reaper, when would you try to go in? If you think like that you might be able to sense when the enemy is trying to do the same. Knowing how long it has been since enemy ultimates is also extremely important. Ask your teammates if you do not remember everything they used, and try to keep tabs on what the enemy still has so you know what you are getting yourself into during the next fight.

These things have helped me do fairly well, and I hope they lead to some success for you. Like I said, this is not some sort of thing that will instantly get you a higher rank. Nothing will. But if you constantly try to improve and have a good mindset to learn from your mistakes you will find yourself climbing.

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