Edit: Sorry for formatting, I’m on mobile.

Before I start, I just want to say the point of this post is to try and help people who maybe aren’t aware of these factors that could be letting your team down. I’m not perfect and make plenty of mistakes myself, but these are some of the problems I keep running into.

Now let me preference by saying I am top 500 in open queue, which is probably vastly different to role queue. I am a mid to high masters for every role in role queue and have gone in and out of GM for support and DPS.

These are mistakes I keep seeing time and time again that bring down the chances of winning most of the time:

1. Not grouping.

Yes, even in high ranks, people will feed time and time again and blame supports. This will never change, unfortunately.

2. Ignoring the players who are diving your backline.

It is so hard to deal with Reapers, Sombras, Tracers, Doomfists, etc; when you also have tanks who just want to dive Frontline. Telling your supports to deal with it themselves is a sure way to lose. We need coordination and teamwork.

3. Not listening for teammates pings.

It feels like my pings are silent to most teammates. I will constantly use pings and get ignored, yet when I say something about it, people will just tell me “well use your pings.” I know it can be difficult with all of the abilities and voicelines in your ears, but please try to stay aware, especially if they have people sneaking around to flank.

4. Not counter picking.

Somehow, even in high ranks, you will still get the Doomfist, Ball, and Rein players who will get hard countered and blame it on supports. Staying on Rein against Orisa and telling your team “nah it’ll work” as we get stomped for 5 minutes is not, in fact, working.

5. Using ultimates after losing fights and/or when teammates are dead.

Please hold on to your damn ults. Unless you are going to swap, there is no reason to be using your hanzo ult when it’s just you and a tracer vs. their entire team.

6. Knowing when NOT to peak DPS

This is mostly referring to all of those players who want a quick shot on a pocketed Bastion in turret mode, or Hanzo/Widows on high ground. Sure, you might get lucky, but it’s just not worth the risk.

7. Staggering

I’m guilty of this and constantly have to remind myself that trying to stay alive at all costs isn’t always the right move. If your team dies but you didn’t and you can’t get back to your team, it’s better to just die and reset.

I just want to add that I’m not trying to start any arguments here or vent out any frustration, I just believe people will see a lot more success by incorporating these into their games.