u/KingHeej

Been getting in my Psy bag more this season after hitting my goal rank of GM1 in the first half and it's been interesting going from Elsa/Bucky/Cyclops to her.

Vs triple strategist she barely even distracts them well I found. Feels like you're playing that guy punching SpongeBob for an entire episode.

But when you have a good venom on your team that allows you to stage your flanks and focus a healer backing up from him you're able to get picks and generate value distracting backlines.

Anyone else feel that she's actually great to play with a dive tank but kind of worthless outside of that?

Can you guys stop doing this. You guys got to the rank you're in playing melee. Only a small fraction of you are gonna be able to keep up with the aimers in the same rank as you. Most of y'all just need to stick to diving and surviving because you're likely just gonna camp by supports and shoot at tanks all game thinking that's how poke wins games.

Even a mid diver can win you a game off their passive value from distracting supports so the real carries can do their job, as long as they play to live. I hate seeing a Lord BP or Magik switching to their Lord Bucky on my team because I know it's genuinely LeBrover at this point. Conversely I love seeing it on the other team because I know they don't put the hours in that aimers do and don't know how to survive off of rationing one mobility cooldown

What's up y'all, as an NBA fan with a touch of the tism I love comparing people I enjoy watching in other fields to their NBA equivalents. In Rivals specifically I find it interesting watching how differently the 2 best players approach the game, and how it relates to the consensus 2 best players ever in the NBA (though I'd argue Polly Abdul Jabbar has a real case to be put over either when you look at how favorably their resume compares to everyone at their position).

While their mechanics are on a similar level; Terra like Jordan has imo a more aesthetically pleasing shot (tougher flicks in particular), and Energy like LeBron has better overall movement and covers more ground while still having a consistent shot from all ranges.

I've learned more from watching how Energy pre-rotates on his angles (especially when he's been scouted) than I have watching any other player. Dude consistently knows how to space the floor correctly as often as possible much like LeBron. Terra meanwhile likes to stand his ground, hold his angle and attempt to dominate in isolation much like Jordan.

To further continue on this train of thought, Energy much like LeBron seems more self sufficient as an offensive engine and generally tries to make the right plays that are less risky; while Terra like Jordan can pop off for big numbers but also relies more on having great teammates that put him in the right spots to get busy.

I haven't been into eSports since the Halo 3 MLG days and it's amazing to see how much bigger and better the scene has become and how much variety in playstyle these new gen games have to offer.

Thank you for coming to my TedTalk. Looking forward to a matchup between these 2 teams at LAN next weekend!

I thought the debate was still silly that first week post-nerf but it seems people still argue for the CnD one. In organized play Emma teamup seems to be the go-to. I just started playing this game again with friends, and am ranking up thru Diamond on console currently which is currently around top 10%ish lobbies. I can send my clone ahead into the enemy and they'll often waste precious stuns, grabs, and knock up attacks on the clone tnat I get back in 7 seconds

She's literally only been MVP-able for me if I have a Venom creating space but that Emma teamup tricks people into giving out so many cooldowns even in top 10% lobbies.

What's up guys just started playing rivals again with friends and want to add Wolv to my hero pool. Feel likes he's the most consistent melee DPS of all time and his grabs suck to get hit by but you respect the fuck outta them. I bet when y'all grab a Starlord out the air it hits like crack in the 80s. Anyways any tips currently diamond peak c3 around when I stopped mostly playing non melee characters in all roles so this is gonna be fun. Appreciate it in Advance

As many know, the best antidote to dive is contesting side lanes and marking them on their approach angles early to make them abandon their hit early. And now in season 9 with regenerative shielding being part of the new update divers can play deeper and more creative flanks on their setups before the hit due to the self sustain they've been awarded.

Cyclops has several incredible tools to counter this. His best one is easily the ricochet blast with Phoenix teamup as it not only marks enemies and gives you pseudo-wallhacks, it destroys their regenerative shields uptime because it ticks 42 damage over 3 seconds if it doesn't get exploded. Meaning further downtime for them before the hit if they're on a deep flank.

His laser that sends you to Narnia has a really strong Slow effect, if you can hit that on a diver on the way in they're down bad on their hit. If you get them with it as they're diving you then it's nearly a death sentence if your team focuses the slowed diver afterwards because they likely had to go in to your team to try and get you.

His jump cooldown is great for ground based heroes or messing up Panther marks on his dash, plus his concussive beam allows him to float out of their range.

Lastly his primary is forgiving, he's essentially the Hitscan version of Bucky with the level of precision required to have decent accuracy. You use this to whittle them down on the way in, and his concussive beam has a massive hitbox up close that you can use when they're flying around in melee range.

If you're struggling with dive consider using Cyclops. It's always fun when they can't get anywhere and a BP player tries to swap to Bucky and diff you on a poke hero just to further reveal why they're handless on aim characters and main melee DPS.

I've been watching all of Tap's Psy games since the nerfs came out and having played against Psy's using Emma teamup while I'm on CnD, the one thing that sticks out for me is how much more usage you can get out of the clone.

At the end of the day no matter how aggressive you play Psy, even the best Psy in the world (Tap) still has tons and tons of time where he's poking from cover. The CnD teamup is functionally useless during those situations. However with passive applying to teamups now you can farm a new teamup cooldown in like 8 seconds flat.

There's just WAY more opportunities to get usage out of the clone because you can send the clone in to draw aggro (hell maybe even draw out a cooldown lmao) while you poke from your angle, where with a CnD teamup it's just sitting there useless.

15% damage boost for 3 seconds is still sexy, I don't think the 8% damage increase to primary necessarily outdoes that, particularly because the clone will have less falloff and you naturally have more uptime and sustain from it. The Psy's that I faced with Emma teamup always do more damage over the course of a game despite accuracies not being too different.

Phi in particular is a terrorist for how he uses his blazing blasts lmao. Please Flex DPS stop playing Deadlock and maximize his kit. That character is too fun to watch

With season 9 dropping a couple of friends and I decided to get back on Rivals together after dropping it earlier in the year. Everyone was GM with a couple of us hitting Celestial and now we're all grinding our way up thru Plat after our accounts got reset and man S9 is a completely different game. Now with global damage being up so significantly I've found that taking angles on DPS basically means you're in no man's land as far as receiving support goes because healers struggle just to keep tanks alive now. I used to be able to find a good angle and hold it down trading damage and heals would eventually find me if I played cover, but that never happens now.

Are you guys finding yourselves playing with the team on main more? When I watch pros play one thing I noticed they do different from a rando like myself is they're quick to vacate a spot once they get a few shots in and get scouted. I'm guessing I just need to be less greedy and start working my way back to the team after I get a few free shots in and draw aggro

We're probably gonna get some games in later today so just wanted to get some ideas on things to work on. Also I wonder if I'm fucking up by perma off angling and generally should be playing main half the time. This is my first hero shooter, is there a "golden ratio" for how much you should be on main vs on an angle lmao

He doesn't apply any debuffs or anything with the teamup. Is it just because he uses a teamup? Also I feel like I've seen moments in Rivals where I feel like I'll do damage to someone but if they get healed full then killed I get an assist? Is that what's happening where the DOT gets healed so it's not an elim but they'll still die so I get an assist?

I'm not sure what's going on. Also this should somewhat make him an MVP thief with how the system works if he's getting all these assists that an average Cyclops in that elo wasn't getting last season.

Controversial opinion but there's imo no point in ever choosing this, even with a Gambit on your team. The cooldown is too long and the duration too short to outpace even a dry Phoenix teamup. And the enhanced Phoenix teamup it's not even a competition, that puts you squarely back to prime Cyclops levels of damage

An extra 42 DOT to anyone you refract to helps keep your ult charge churning along. Especially for the harder to reach backline targets that are gonna be eating all of the DOT and positioning slightly less aggressively because of it.

Sup y'all, came back to Rivals for Cyclops and as a Hitscan player his numbers were definitely out of this world at the end of the game. Just from what I remember he'd probably have about 20-25% more damage and kill participation compared to the average second DPS on your team.

I figure with these nerfs an average Cyclops game should be in line with a strong Bucky game stat-wise (gapping average DPS by 10% in each category) whereas before the only characters that could keep up with him on console in raw damage were Moonknight and Squirrel Girl. Is there still a noticeable stat gap with the other DPS or has he completely fallen in line with the middle of the pack.

Just FYI I'd peg an average console Cyclops (40%ish acc) as averaging almost 30 kills and 2000 damage/10min while most DPS I've seen in mid Elo on console be at best around 25/1600

Stat-wise I don't think his kit can really be weak in that sense but just wondering what the baseline experience has been as I grind out the rest of this Lord this season.

Always thought this was extremely weird of him to do, and thought he was doing better this season on support; but the fact that he just doesn't put the hours in is genuinely irritating cuz he's a talented player. I still remember that time at Grand Finals he randomly swapped Starlord. I know Terra wanted to slap the taste out his mouth when that happened LMAO

As someone who was once a major Halo E-Sports fan (Shoutout my homie TSquared), the pro scene immediately drew me in as I got into Rivals after a decade long break from online gaming. Finally got to catch up on all of the NA games and the games of the top 3 EU teams this week before Stage 2 and these are some observations I wrote down over the course of it:

1. Velocity imo is the 3rd best support in NA after Val and Coop. Respect my Loki GOAT. Coincidentally Fauwkz came out with a Pro Tier List about 3 hrs ago and he had Velocity in the 3-5 tier for NA so I like this one

2. Naga is the Rymazing of Europe. 2 Talented DPS players that get forced on Triple Support way too often relative to their perceived skill level on DPS in the scene

3. Black Cat and Phoenix seem a bit overrated. Those characters seem to scale with how well your team is gapping the other team overall. Whenever the going gets rough both sides switch off those characters to Starlord and DD most of the time.

4. Terra has to be the best DPS in the world now as of the end of Stage 1

5. Touzi and Reedis are the 2 most underrated duelists in the Hitscan/Flex roles respectively. Kinda felt vindicated on this take seeing Fauwkz have them both #3 in their role

6. Malenia is the most improved Strategis this year imo, but Wyni holds him back. Fauwkz had Malenia ranked lowly though he implied it has more to do with his mental than his mechanics.

7. Zhiyong had to nerf DD before Crook decided to become the Rank 1 Daredevil

8. Hitscan players can consistently make the transition to Flex/Melee DPS players, but the only Flex DPS main that I've seen compete at the same level on Hitscan is Tanuki. And I guess Self in a pinch on Starlord, but even then his accuracy is lower than the top tier Starlords

9. Hulk is the most fun tank to watch. His outplay potential is nuts and it seems like having a pocket Hulk is what separates the S tier Main Tank players from the A tiers. Fauwkz also said something to this effect in his tier list video about having Hulk in your hero pool being essential.

10. Tank feels like the hardest to gauge impact when watching so I may be completely off with this, but why does it feel like Vinnie fell off heavy compared to last year?

11. Museum of Contemplation seems like the go-to 2nd map choice for some reason. Why is that? Do people feel like that's the best map to pull off a 3-0-3 cheese strat with on defense?

Share any of your takes and insights in here, love learning more about the pro scene in this game. E-Sports is so different now compared to the MLG days.

Shpeediry, Melio, Reedis, Xanjee, Rymazing, Jur3ky, Naga all completely shit on this clown while having a fraction of the time spent on the role. Just goes to show aim is the most important and difficult skill at the end of the day.

Controversial opinion, but in a game with outrageous damage and healing numbers like this it's arguably more valuable to take an angle and miss shots on healers to scare them into backing up out of LOS than it is to afk and farm tanks all game. DPS taking off-angles are the most consistent way to break open fights and create crossfire situations or situations where healers get LOS'd/Distracted and allow the enemy setup to break down.

Tanks on Main have extensive survivability cooldowns and often can use objectives as cover to survive. Meanwhile, DPS on off angles require people to clear them if they want to win the fight but their survivability is minimal without support from healers. Oftentimes it's easy to tell when healers understand this and enable their DPS to control the lanes and off angles that win fights vs the ones that afk main; and the advantage that generates for teams is massive when you have healers that are mindful of off angles.

TL;DR: Don't afk main as a healer, controlling power angles and lanes is one of the most consistent win conditions in Rivals. Prioritize the DPS making plays in these spots over tanks that have plenty of options to survive on main and you'll see more wins pile up on support.

As many of you are aware, raw aim is among the most difficult and time consuming skills to acquire in gaming. Similar to how in sports hitting a baseball is considered one of the most difficult athletic skills to develop. In the earlier years of competitive shooters raw aim was a skill you simply couldn't get around developing to continue competing at higher and higher levels. Going as far back as GoldenEye in the prehistoric era to the peak of MLG/Halo or even when we get closer to modern games like Apex and Valorant, it was expected that to be good you need to learn how to aim; and the crutches in those games were designed such that a person with equal or better aim skills will still be able to win out more often in fair engagements.

Enter Rivals. A good chunk of the strongest characters in the game for each role has seen their top spots held for extended amounts of time by characters that take minimal aim. Whether it be Rocket/Cloak for seasons on Support, Cap/Thing/Rogue at times on Tank, and a smorgasbord of Melee chimp Heroes on DPS whose playerbase copes and seethes to ridiculous degrees every season when people point out their characters once again top leaderboards in terms of Win % across all ranks.

I may get overused responses about how melee characters apparently require a level of game sense that only Rick and Morty fans can achieve to not simply run it down main when sneaking up on supports that literally generate -EV when they fight back against you; but the truth of the matter is baiting your teammates and skulking around in back alleys like a child predator waiting for the perfect chance to button mash an input that plays the game for you is something any player brand new to shooting games can learn to do. Learning to aim and aim well is an infinitely more difficult endeavor.

Characters that make up for having terrible aim in a shooting game only make sense when balanced like Scarlet Witch and Squirrel Girl, or even The Thing where they're easily punishable but can generate decent value if you don't address them. With the way the game is now, a Luna/Venom/Cyclops player needs to massively gap a Cloak/Cap/Daredevil player in raw mechanics to even have a 50/50 shot in isolated duels or to approach anywhere near the same rank in ladder. All of these problems are exacerbated 500% on console btw, which is where most of the playerbase resides, and non aim characters overly dominate. This is also why melee metas are always by far the worst performing in terms of player retention because at the end of the day it's what basketball fans refer to as "not ethical hoops"

TL;DR: People with bad aim are boosted in this game by too many auto aim heroes that are just as strong as skill dependent heroes. Ethical hoopers that play skill characters need to massively gap non ethical hoopers to achieve the same level of impact due to poor balancing. And this poor balancing negatively affects the health of the game, particularly on console.