So background: none of my friends like OW, I work crazy shifts and I don’t have a lot of time to play games. I also don’t like communicating that much (so much toxicity), if an English speaking player is communicating nicely I’ll talk though.
Can I climb with these handicaps? I ended Season 12(?) at 2650, but I ended Season 11 at 2100 and have been as high as 2800 in Season 10. I have a real love hate relationship with the game as I feel (like most people) I’ll get a decent team for 2 or 3 games then get bumped into a streak of 5 or 6 with people intent on not working together. Obviously I’m to blame for that as well. My SR has never really settled, im either in win or loss streaks.
So my playstyle and tactics:
I main Mei, Tracer and Soldier and play a lot of Ana in QP but last Season I played mainly Orisa, Brigitte and Moira (because no-one ever picks tanks or healers so I need to fill).
It sounds good on paper but if your team don’t support you it’s pointless. As Orisa the enemy just steam roller right through you if you have no support. I tend to stick with the shield totting tanks when I play DPS or a healer and will split off to heal squiggies as and when they need it (if they haven’t wandered too far). You’d think as the only tank (especially with a shield) the play centres on you… Nope. Most of my teammates just wander off to do their own thang.
Same goes with picking a Healer, especially Moira. If I’m a squiggie and need heals I’ll either find a health pack or come to my healers. Not most of my teammates. I can have a Widow asking for heals when I’m Moira… in an area only she can get to. I’ll have a Genji spamming I need heals while he’s behind the enemy line, what am I supposed to die just to heal you because you’ve decided to trickle into a 6v1 situation? And as Mercy you just get no protection. That’s why I like Brigitte, as toxic and game ruining as she is (and she really is man), you don’t rely on your teams protection quite as much.
If I choose my mains we have a bad team composition and lose (I did that 2 Seasons ago and lost 80% of my games).
Many of those problems are impossible to remedy if you play with random players instead of known ones.
LFG provides a 100% working solution to the team composition problem if prefer playing a specific role (most people prefer playing DPS). By filtering for endorsement level 3 in LFG you can lower the number of toxic people you come across.
You summed it up OP.
Silly people that don’t understand they need to stick together mostly and going in solo is as good as throwing a match.
I’ll pair up with you for a few rounds of you like.
I mostly main Moira ATM but I’m okay with Junk, D.Va, Orisa ( in a good team that understands she’s not static) and Symetra.
Core of that problem is QP. People will tell you they’re practicing, but they’re just trolling without even knowing it.
Ofc, for those playing in groups, QP makes sense for practicing … as long as they’re picking proper heroes for the job.
I play on PS4, drop me your PSN if you do as well and we lose together ha.
I actually used the LFG feature like Tron suggested, I’ve used it before but it was awful, because the heros were locked in, if the enemy tank was better than yours you were pretty much screwed. But after losing 8 of my Placements and being placed in Gold for the first time in a while I thought what the heck. Was brilliant. I found an English group full of really nice guys and had a blast. Tbh I was totally carried, but they got me out of gold and back into 2550, still 100 off where I normally sit but getting there.
Try to get used to communicating, it’s really the biggest key to climbing as it counteracts toxicity, leaving and lack of organisation. Be the first in voice chat, be friendly, be proactive, be positive - and you will get better team mates out of it.
Also, it helps to climb when you really get used to a tank or healer and mostly stick to them - 95 times out of 100 you will get to play them, and there is never a point where there are too few DPS mains on your team. If you don’t like the feeling of being at the mercy (^^) of your team when taking point, supporters, especially Ana or Zen might be your cup of tea, where you can sit back and have complete control over the battlefield.
As for the rest of the issues you mentioned: communication solves a lot of those. It was a big hurdle for me as well, cause I talk in my job all day, so my voice doesn’t like that much strain, but you instantly see the success it brings. Also, if you’re the first to say something, you’ll be the one setting the tone and have control over whether or not it’ll get toxic.