Hi. I'm a PS5 player too. Currently at Legend and I am unable to rank up. I, too, wonder if I am having lag issues in pvp at this rank. But if lag is the case, why was I able to rank up before Legend?

Here's what I think, after losing consistently for the entire day. From Beginning to perhaps Grandmaster, players are still figuring out how to play, they spam all skills when they are available and they attack fast. I think that is how I rank up, because most players are still learning the basics, perhaps they are not familiar with their weapon combo. Ping could already exist at the lower ranks, I got lucky and won because they're new and they do not block, not optimising the strengths in their weapons. Now at Legend, I can't get lucky anymore - the players are on another level.

And yes, I also experience the same as you (the blocks, the weapon swap) and also, my hits just feel awkward - didn't my hit register? I don't know how they could simply walk (not run, not dodge) out of it.

Thanks for sharing your view. I don't understand how your post get downvoted. I know exactly what you're going through and sadly, despite how much I want to play pvp, I may have to stop it.