So how are your games going lately? [megathread]

[Deleted]

Those numbers mean that they are in "Top 500" and the number shows their rank. Don´t know if its region restricted. Don´t think it is.

I figured it was something like that, just didn't make sense for me to play with them...

[Mormolyce]

Whatever your thoughts, it doesn't justify half the team switching up the moment you pick her.

Are you picking Widow when there's no tank or healer?

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Gotta be careful of Hog and Discord orbs but he's really good otherwise, easily fits on a lot of comps.

Try him on maps like Hanamura B (Defense) too sometime, really fun to have access to just about every route there just by leaping once.

Yeah Hog's probably the most regular threat. I have used him on defense too, particularly if the enemy team is vulnerable to him.

[Deleted]

I think Widowmaker is a difficult hero to "fix", many consider her a troll pick as most people really can't play her to the same level they can play any other hero (with few exceptions), you're almost always better off with a different pick over Widowmaker outside of trying to get one-two kills right at the beginning of a game and immediately switching to something else.

Even Hanzo is easier to work with as he's not really a sniper, he's usually much closer to, if not on top of the objective, and his ultimate has much more combination potential with Reinhardt, Zarya, Mei, perhaps even Orisa with her pull ability.

Even a "troll" Genji will often get more work done as at least he's in the face of the enemy, taking damage and potentially capping the point, if nothing else at least he's a distraction. But a bad Widow (and most Widow's are awful, not saying you are, but most), has almost zero impact on the game. Even her ultimate becomes useless if your team can't act on it appropriately, it's more of a team ult than personal ult than many like to think.

In the end, try to not let it get you down, if you want to play Widow then play Widow. I've endured countless "Why are you playing Mercy on KOTH?! Switch to Lucio/Ana/Zenyattaa!" and "you'll never make it to diamond with Mercy!", even "you'll never make it to masters if you don't play Ana instead of Mercy!", and guess what, I'm nearing Grandmaster...

If you really like a hero, then give it your all and make sure to become damn good with it. Widowmaker as a hero certainly has potential to rise high in ranks, it's just a lot harder than most other heroes.

[Jessicka]

Are you picking Widow when there's no tank or healer?

I'm picking her and tanks and healers switch off tanks and healers. I regularly do play tanks and healers myself, so it's not like I always instalock Widow.

Besides, it's not like there's a first come first served rule and the last one has to pick support.

[ThatsOurEric]

Besides, it's not like there's a first come first served rule and the last one has to pick support.

Sure feels that way. I've been often forced to do so, otherwise the team's going in missing either or.

[Coconuter]

I'm picking her and tanks and healers switch off tanks and healers. I regularly do play tanks and healers myself, so it's not like I always instalock Widow.

Besides, it's not like there's a first come first served rule and the last one has to pick support.

Yea, I'll agree with OurEric. Feels like it is first come first serve. I normally start by picking a support or tank, and even then I normally have to change to something I can solo tank or heal with because of how greedy people are with DPS picks. I'm playing around 2400 SR, the dps tend to not do much. It's the tanks and heals winning the games generally, with DPS occasionally picking up slack and bumping the flow of the game in a different direction.

People find Rein boring for example. He's a tough hero to master, and you end up having to worry way more about what idiotic things others are doing than you'd ever like. Then timings on your shield, baiting abilities, and charges, make it take quite a bit of effort.

For you in QP, playing Widow, nobody should care, I certainly take QP with a grain of salt. It's a team game though, and the majority of Widow players tend to care less about their team. So when I que for ranked, I always sigh at the instalocks on DPS characters. The majority of them won't help fill the needed roles or change to DPS that counter the opposing team.

[xerus]

Seems the anti-Widow sentiment is increasing in QP now too, seems picking her makes everyone else switch to create an unworkable comp. This shit has been going on since S2, was bad enough being excluded from comp because of the abuse, but QP too? Blizz seriously need to address this.

How do you expect to Blizzard to address the fact that no team (from pro to scrub tier) wants a sniper, be it Hanzo or Widowmaker, on their team regardless of game mode?

QP I won't say anything (except probably to friends I'm grouped with if the sniper is ass) because it's QP. I like winning as much as anyone (probably more) but it's QP and nothing is on the line, so whatever. Just don't bring that stuff into Comp and expect people not to say anything.

[Jessicka]

How do you expect to Blizzard to address the fact that no team (from pro to scrub tier) wants a sniper, be it Hanzo or Widowmaker, on their team regardless of game mode?

QP I won't say anything (except probably to friends I'm grouped with if the sniper is ass) because it's QP. I like winning as much as anyone (probably more) but it's QP and nothing is on the line, so whatever. Just don't bring that stuff into Comp and expect people not to say anything.

It's not on me to find the answers, I mean, in other games they buffed things through the eyeballs to promote their use before reining them back. Obvious answer, but maybe something else.

End of the day though, it's clearly spoiling your game that people want to play them and your reaction to it is spoiling their game. It doesn't help anyone to keep them in this state.

[Woobels]

Widowmaker is incredibly difficult to buff though, she isn't bad but her skill ceiling is extremely high.

Overpowered Widowmaker is one of the least fun things to play against in this game, but maybe they can buff her body shot damage up again like it used be, or a little less, so less skilled players can have an impact on her more often.

I would personally really dislike that sort of buff though, but outside of some weird utility they could make up on the fly for her, I wouldn't know how to buff her enough to change public opinion on her.

[Jessicka]

That ceiling is probably the hardest capped in the game though, 6 consecutive headshots. You can't really do a lot to the floor to change that. To make that 'better' short of barrier penetration.

[Tziva]

I wish they'd put her ult back like it was, where the emote was difficult to hear if you weren't close. The way it is now, zone-wide call, basically makes it useless since everyone just waits it out.

But yeah, I don't know how to tune her to make her more useful to average players without being OP to good ones.

[Very Tired]

I wish they'd put her ult back like it was, where the emote was difficult to hear if you weren't close. The way it is now, zone-wide call, basically makes it useless since everyone just waits it out.

But yeah, I don't know how to tune her to make her more useful to average players without being OP to good ones.

An ult that basically delays an enemy push an extra dozen seconds or so would actually be pretty useful.

But if they didn't want that, they could always just wait until the enemy team is already pushing and committed before popping their ult.

[Woobels]

An ult that basically delays an enemy push an extra dozen seconds or so would actually be pretty useful.

But if they didn't want that, they could always just wait until the enemy team is already pushing and committed before popping their ult.

The issue with her ult it actually ends up being not that useful at higher levels of play, routes enemies take are pretty obvious, it's not going to deter divers from getting your ass, and it's even worse on offense where Widowmaker shines (imo)

Great ult for Widowmaker personally, and in messy solo queue games.

[xerus]

This is with regards to comp, QP doesn't really matter.

The inherent issue with snipers is that they are not visibly contributing to the team. They aren't taking hits, they aren't healing, they aren't pushing the payload, they aren't capping the point, or delaying cap (physically) for the team. They have to be really annoying to the other team for the opponents to even waste time with sending someone to specifically harass them. It's usually better to just take advantage of the perceived 5v6.

The only way a sniper is typically considered useful is when they are probably twice as good as the team they are on and are getting constant kills. Even then they will get flack sometimes unless the other team is pissed about how good they are.

Unless the sniper is smurfing they probably aren't going to be much better than the people they are placed with and because its a skill based role they will likely appear worse.

Hanzo at least has a big visible ult that can force a choke or point clear, even for just a small time (and maybe get a kill or two), that their team can exploit. Widow's ult might make people play a little more cautious but its effect generally is negligible for everyone but herself (and Hanzo).

I don't really think in this game, as it currently is, there is anything they can do to make snipers a desired pick over any one else. Honestly I wish it wasn't so. I enjoy playing a sniper, but I'm no where near good enough to pick one when it matters. Unfortunately neither are most people that try to play them, despite what they think.

[Woobels]

This is with regards to comp, QP doesn't really matter.

The inherent issue with snipers is that they are not visibly contributing to the team. They aren't taking hits, they aren't healing, they aren't pushing the payload, they aren't capping the point, or delaying cap (physically) for the team. They have to be really annoying to the other team for the opponents to even waste time with sending someone to specifically harass them. It's usually better to just take advantage of the perceived 5v6.

The only way a sniper is typically considered useful is when they are probably twice as good as the team they are on and are getting constant kills. Even then they will get flack sometimes unless the other team is pissed about how good they are.

Unless the sniper is smurfing they probably aren't going to be much better than the people they are placed with and because its a skill based role they will likely appear worse.

Hanzo at least has a big visible ult that can force a choke or point clear, even for just a small time (and maybe get a kill or two), that their team can exploit. Widow's ult might make people play a little more cautious but its effect generally is negligible for everyone but herself (and Hanzo).

I don't really think in this game, as it currently is, there is anything they can do to make snipers a desired pick over any one else. Honestly I wish it wasn't so. I enjoy playing a sniper, but I'm no where near good enough to pick one when it matters. Unfortunately neither are most people that try to play them, despite what they think.

Hanzo is played wrong by a lot of the community, you shouldn't be sniping from way back, you should be at mid range helping your team, look at players like Taimou or Libero play him, sure they'll 'snipe' to try and get random picks, but most of the times they're relatively close trying to destroy people with scatter arrows and flicks, playing him like a traditional sniper is never going to work, it's simply too inconsistent.

His current buffs make him quite good and he'll definitely be an 'accepted' pick if he the pro scene starts using him more than they are now, I don't mind Hanzo that much anymore.

Widowmaker is also played wrong pretty often imo, there are VERY few games where you can realistically get away with playing Widowmaker for the full duration of the match, unless you're just much better than the enemy team, but there's definitely places where she excels. (And they're usually not defense.)

If you play her on 2CP Offense you don't even have to be consistent with her, just get 2 lucky headshots and you probably just capped Point A, the issue is that you should switch off after that but a lot of players just try to make it work for the entire game which never happens.

Also if you're on defense and you pick Widowmaker you better be an incredibly good player because you'll have to be constantly useful if the enemy team is capable, if you fail to hit shots during a push there's a good chance you're losing your team the game, there's a reason almost all professional Widowmaker play is on offense.

She's also almost always bad on KOTH, there's very little reason to pick her there.

[DeadmanWalking]

There was a time when Widow Maker made or broke teams. Every high end pro game boiled down to which team had the better Widow. A game should not hinge on one character and I'm glad we have moved beyond that.

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Hanzo is played wrong by a lot of the community, you shouldn't be sniping from way back, you should be at mid range helping your team, look at players like Taimou or Libero play him, sure they'll 'snipe' to try and get random picks, but most of the times they're relatively close trying to destroy people with scatter arrows and flicks, playing him like a traditional sniper is never going to work, it's simply too inconsistent.

His current buffs make him quite good and he'll definitely be an 'accepted' pick if he the pro scene starts using him more than they are now, I don't mind Hanzo that much anymore.

Widowmaker is also played wrong pretty often imo, there are VERY few games where you can realistically get away with playing Widowmaker for the full duration of the match, unless you're just much better than the enemy team, but there's definitely places where she excels. (And they're usually not defense.)

If you play her on 2CP Offense you don't even have to be consistent with her, just get 2 lucky headshots and you probably just capped Point A, the issue is that you should switch off after that but a lot of players just try to make it work for the entire game which never happens.

Also if you're on defense and you pick Widowmaker you better be an incredibly good player because you'll have to be constantly useful if the enemy team is capable, if you fail to hit shots during a push there's a good chance you're losing your team the game, there's a reason almost all professional Widowmaker play is on offense.

She's also almost always bad on KOTH, there's very little reason to pick her there.

My problem with running him at midrange is his reduced movement speed while drawing back an arrow. It gives him very little chance to avoid things like helix rockets or other slow moving projectiles. If you want to avoid you have to give up offense and you are pretty much dead unless you can pull off a lucky climb escape.

[Woobels]

There was a time when Widow Maker made or broke teams. Every high end pro game boiled down to which team had the better Widow. A game should not hinge on one character and I'm glad we have moved beyond that.

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My problem with running him at midrange is his reduced movement speed while drawing back an arrow. It gives him very little chance to avoid things like helix rockets or other slow moving projectiles. If you want to avoid you have to give up offense and you are pretty much dead unless you can pull off a lucky climb escape.

This is possible to overcome though, mid range doesn't necessarily mean close, you can still position well, use high ground etc, and the current buff on ptr where you can hold an arrow charge during a wall climb is quite nice aswell.

[DeadmanWalking]

This is possible to overcome though, mid range doesn't necessarily mean close, you can still position well, use high ground etc, and the current buff on ptr where you can hold an arrow charge during a wall climb is quite nice aswell.

Yeah but I really don't care to see the constant wall crawling in battle, it not only looks dumb to constantly be doing but I really don't care for that playstyle. Up and fire, up and fire, up and fire. Why? It's harder for players to track vertical movement as opposed to horizontal.

[nozmail]

Hanzo is played wrong by a lot of the community, you shouldn't be sniping from way back, you should be at mid range helping your team, look at players like Taimou or Libero play him, sure they'll 'snipe' to try and get random picks, but most of the times they're relatively close trying to destroy people with scatter arrows and flicks, playing him like a traditional sniper is never going to work, it's simply too inconsistent.

His current buffs make him quite good and he'll definitely be an 'accepted' pick if he the pro scene starts using him more than they are now, I don't mind Hanzo that much anymore.

Widowmaker is also played wrong pretty often imo, there are VERY few games where you can realistically get away with playing Widowmaker for the full duration of the match, unless you're just much better than the enemy team, but there's definitely places where she excels. (And they're usually not defense.)

If you play her on 2CP Offense you don't even have to be consistent with her, just get 2 lucky headshots and you probably just capped Point A, the issue is that you should switch off after that but a lot of players just try to make it work for the entire game which never happens.

Also if you're on defense and you pick Widowmaker you better be an incredibly good player because you'll have to be constantly useful if the enemy team is capable, if you fail to hit shots during a push there's a good chance you're losing your team the game, there's a reason almost all professional Widowmaker play is on offense.

She's also almost always bad on KOTH, there's very little reason to pick her there.

been watching a lot of wraxu. he stays on high ground, at mid range. i don't even think his aim is that good, but his positioning makes him a great hanzo.

[DeadmanWalking]

I've already seen a lot of hanzo's doing the climb fire climb fire routine, its dumb as shit. Its like seeing 76 do a cartwheel everytime he goes to fire his gun because it makes his survive longer.