I’m doing it because even though you’re safe, I can’t get to a safe place to heal you unless I put my head directly inside Widow’s crosshairs.
I’m doing it because your scrap gun’s sound effects are pretty loud so, maybe you didn’t notice that half your team is dead behind you.
I’m doing it because Sombra/Tracer/Genji are in the backline and the comms wheel doesn’t have a “There are flankers that I’m not equipped to deal with on my own while simultaneously healing you” option.
I’m doing it because while I’m sure you think you’re just walking forward to poke and build some ult charge while the rest of the team respawns, that’s exactly what the last tank/DPS/other support thought right before I watched them die through a wall because they didn’t wait for the rest of their team to be alive before engaging, too.
I’m doing it because—even though you, as the Tank, have the unenviable job of deciding our pacing and where/how we’ll engage, and you, as the DPS, have vanishingly small windows to capitalize on our enemies’ mistakes—I have the widest view of the battlefield.
It’s easier for me to see that Pharah just snuck around for a flank and we’re about five seconds away from a justice enema in our backline. It’s easier for me to see that there’s a Sombra about to backcap the payload and her SMG is just a smidge stronger than my pistol. It’s easier for me to see the difference between Genji about to pull off a potg blade, and Genji about to go in, alone, and die before eugene can even karaoke.
You don’t have to rip your W key off your keyboard just because I said “Fall back!” once. I’m wrong sometimes and maybe you actually can pull off a pretty cool play! So feel free to ignore it occasionally!
But I’ll make you this deal: When you hear “Fall back!” the first time, just do a quick double check to see what’s going on behind you. In the middle of a team fight if you’re able, but definitely if you hear it while you’re just walking back from spawn. Even if you can’t look behind you, hit Tab when you get a sec. If your healer died first and they have a Sombra or Tracer or Genji on their team, slow the roll just a little bit on the next team fight to make sure your backline is safe before pushing in.
You do that, and I’ll only hit that button once. I won’t keep spamming it. I’ll trust that if you’re pushing in anyway, it’s because you see something I don’t about howe we can win. And I’ll even heal you a hell of a lot more (because we’ll be alive at the same time). Fair deal?
And hell, if we can’t manage that agreement, at the very least don’t stop what you’re doing in the middle of a team fight to type “I’m muting Mercy because her pings are fucking annoying” while I watch you die for the 14th time this match because you thought pressing Q meant you’re legally required to win a 1v5.
Signed
Your friendly neighborhood Support
As a DVA main, I’m gonna take this to heart, and keep it in mind when attempting to defend my team. But also, I think allot of people miss what I’m trying to do by staying in the forefront, which is to draw attention AWAY from everyone else. In that instance, Its my hope that my healer stays on the team UNTIL I’m out of my mech, and at that point try to help keep me alive long enough to take cover. *It’s been my observation that seasoned enemy junkrat, Cassidy, Hog, Symmetra, Sojourn, and Soldier mains generally stay on DVA when they’re in the front, and I use that to draw their attention to me so my team can fall back and get heals.
Real talk: it made me a much better healer once I learned that the DPS need more healing attention than the tank, and that if it’s a dive tank, I’ve got more leeway to let them come to me. Now, if I see “Critical!” on my Cass and Dva, I’m going to heal Cass first and trust that you’re making space where you’re at. So you’re dead on and I see you.
We all got a lot to learn, but I think teams do better when we’re all trying to understand what our teammates are doing, rather than assuming everyone’s just an idiot or a coward lol