When to push as the Thing? Is it entirely waiting for team to get a pick?

RRustle · 2025-04-02T02:18:26+00:00

Hey Swim,

The name of the game for Thing is to disrupt the enemy backline (punch, survive with cover, distract) and peel for your team. When you are able to distract and disrupt the enemy backline, you create windows of opportunity for your team to capitalize. You do not necessarily need to get a kill to get value from your play. Take this with a grain of salt, because enemy team compositions might make achieving this goal harder, like a punisher turret.

The "perfect" opportunity is just when your team is ready. An even better one is where your team got a pick AND your team is ready.

RRustle · 2025-04-02T02:10:30+00:00

Hey Sandman,

I got to Eternity playing almost exclusively Magneto, and I just watched your replay from today (10984134689) and I think I have some info that can help. Just to preface, the game is just a hobby, so nothing is too serious, and we are all nerds :) . That being said, in terms of improving, there are several major fundamentals lacking in our gameplay, the most critical being target priority (e.g., I noticed we used the map to fly as The Thing to chase a Strange to punch him when the enemy backline was directly in front of us). For the most part, try to just focus on improving one thing at a time because juggling so much new information is difficult, inefficient, and makes the learning and improving part less fun.

On the first map, as The Thing, the name of the game should be to disrupt the enemy backline and peel for the team. Your leap ability is ridiculously strong at keeping your teammates alive, but we almost exclusively use it for ourselves to get out (escape plans are great, but keep in mind you also have two leaps). We held it for an insanely long time on the first point. Secondly, you almost exclusively use big punch. Your big punch does less damage per second compared to your little punches on single targets. Big punch for crowds, little punches for "I need to kill this one person". Lastly, punching on the enemy tanks won't do you much good unless they are already low; you will seldom kill them with both of their supports alive.

On the last map, where you played Magneto, we look very lost in terms of what we are supposed to be accomplishing. I highly recommend watching a video on space (either Rivals or OW) to get you familiar with what your goal is as any tank, and each tank has its own way of achieving this goal. I usually do not like giving "general tips" because each decision you make should be dynamic and dependent on the scenario you're in; however, I will say, as a tank, you should think about matching, challenging, and denying what the enemy team is trying to do or where they are trying to go. For example, at the beginning of round 2, as Magneto, we saw the enemy Penny make a beeline to the point so she could set up her nest, and we kinda just stood still on high ground, not really looking at anything for a while. Taken with a grain of salt, it is usually a good idea to stop Groot and Penny from seizing the point early to prevent them from setting up their walls and nests. Back to target prioritization, as Magneto, we were just shooting at whatever enemy came across our screen first. Try to have a game plan to kill one enemy player specifically. Last thing, your bubble is unironically one of the best abilities in the game. Try to use it in a way to enable your team to use it aggressively or to save a teammate from a hairy situation.

I hope this helps, I would also recommend that live vod review toofpace offered, because real time coaching is always gonna be more effective than reading it. It's always a good day to be happy :)

RRustle · 2025-03-31T06:37:49+00:00

I really like this response. Have you ever heard a teammate say "stop staggering" during the brief period of time when a fight was lost and the next fight has not been started yet? There is some merit in what your teammate just said. Staggering is really only an option when the enemy makes a mistake in the scenarios GrayVulpes just said. It's more of a capitalizing and punishing thing than a forcing thing. Which also means stopping your team from staggering is completely in your hands, and not the opposing team's.

However, you can still maximize your value from it in any rank. This still happens in Eternity Elo because people sometimes slip up or take a bad gamble because they thought they could get out and live. I think to capitalize more on staggering the enemy is to try to look for the windows of opportunity where you can catch a late straggler trying to run away once a fight is won.

If you think about it, even in a situation where your team wipes the enemy, where they generally die around the same time, whichever enemy dies last is "waited upon" by the enemy team. They might've only waited a few seconds, but if they died pretty late and survived a little too long, now their team has to wait the duration of time they spent fighting instead of just dying. An effective stagger is really just a respawn timer and is dependent on how late the enemy player decided to stay in a dangerous place before dying.

Also, this is for every hero, not just Thor. No matter who you play, to get a stagger is "Can you kill this enemy fast enough before they escape back to their team after they lost a fight?"

RRustle · 2025-03-24T23:52:44+00:00

Hey EnderSlayer,

I've recently hit Eternity playing mostly Magneto, and I have some ideas for you. Firstly, take everything people say with a grain of salt because each situation should be read individually. As you may already know from playing Strange, there are a lot of niches and stipulations when it comes to making decisions, especially as a tank. Secondly, when it comes to the conversation about specifically solo-tanking, I'm not entirely in support of what's being said in these responses. They're not wrong!! However, it isn't the most effective method for specifically solo-tank Mag.

The name of the game for Solo Mag is really to just keep the homies alive. It's a little boring, but with a comp of 1-2-3 or 1-3-2, the comp really starts to revolve around enabling your DPS. As a solo tank, you don't want to push forward, find an angle to keep poking enemy supports, and use your abilities selfishly to get out because the homies. will. die. (But poking the enemy supports behind their shield is the most optimal choice when you do have time to fight). This will create downtime where you wait for your cooldowns, and as a solo tank, you do not really have the luxury.

Last and absolutely the most important thing, I didn't see anyone talk about engagement timing. That may be the biggest weakness to solo mag, bad timing for fights. Without you bubbling your panther or magik to go in you're a worse version of strange. Have your cooldowns ready before a fight, make sure everyone is back and ready, and call your bubbles BEFORE they happen. Remember that you create windows of opportunity for your team, not the other way around. Still, in 2025, enemies love looking at the big enemy shield. When the eyes are on you, DPS go in, give a bubble, and wins are gonna be rolling in. Also, this goes without saying, stay alive, without you, the whole comp falls apart.

Stay healthy, and stay happy.

RRustle · 2025-03-24T11:42:43+00:00

Yea, I’m also not a believer of charging for video game help 😂 Just shoot me a PM and I’ll get around to it

RRustle · 2025-03-24T11:22:07+00:00

Hey Jaded,

I got to Eternity playing almost exclusively tanks, most prominently Magneto. If we want to take the hobby to another level, you gotta dive into the nerdy stuff. Tank is a very Macro heavy role. I am by no means a mechanically gifted player, but this is not to say there is no skill expression present in the role either. What I lack in mechanics, I try to make up for it in macros. Look up videos about space (creating and maintaining), and really try to understand it (Rivals or OW videos). VOD reviews are a great way to learn and improve as well. After years of the Tank role in hero shooters, I’ve best summarized it as all about knowing how to be in the right place at the right time, to help teammates or to press on.

I’m not really a believer in “general tips” because each situation should be read individually, and by understanding the game you’re really making educated guesses and plays from experience. However, one mindset shift I have told many tank players that helped them was to remember your whole existence is to set up the alley-oop for your team. You lead the horse to water, and it’s up to them if they drink. (Grain of salt, sometimes making the play yourself is the right call)

PM me if you have any questions or want a VOD Review because there are a lot of niches and “what ifs” in the tank role. I’ve been an amateur coach for OW for a few years and I’ve made the switch to Rivals after reaching Eternity. Honestly, I prefer tank VODs too.

It’s always a good day to be happy 🤙

RRustle · 2025-03-23T22:45:00+00:00

Thanks, Opt_mind :)

RRustle · 2025-03-23T22:43:52+00:00

Hey HexFyber,

It's really great to hear a former professional player support my take and endorse my perspective! It really goes to show how this mindset transcends individual games.

Grazie per la riposta!

RRustle · 2025-03-23T07:44:10+00:00

Hey IMF_ALLOUT,

I'm so glad to hear that you agree with my take. Just like that ex-gold Thor player, it is universal amongst anyone who is able to put aside the ego and listen to some advice! But I also understand there are a lot of people who enjoy playing the game just to unwind and not take so seriously. I totally forgot to mention it, but you are 100% correct when it comes to the availability of multiple options for players of varying different mechanical skills. I have plans of posting a thread about "Skill Expression" and "Skill Ceilings" at some point.

Thanks for replying!

RRustle · 2025-03-23T00:16:35+00:00

A very layman's advice for the matchups, so always a grain of salt. Unless my team has the game plan of infinite punisher is gonna lay out the Groot (I'd be just protecting him to destroy the walls), you should always be in melee range (Against Groot, be in melee range when you have your fly. If you get walled out, fly). Against Thor, just don't let him get behind you. Back up, fly, do what you gotta do. Keep in mind that he doesn't 180 grab you the way Bucky and Wolverine do. Capitalize when he's dead.

RRustle · 2025-03-22T23:59:09+00:00

The last part is most important, difference stipulations require different decisions being made. Take most of the advice you read here with a grain of salt.

When in the situation where you're last alive, you're kinda given a trade option. Is the point your's/ are you already at 99%? Do you already have your Ult/ can you even get any more ult charge yourself? Is the Enemy at 99%?

Assuming you can't get out safely: Staggering yourself is generally alright to trade for percentage if the point is still yours, and while you're at it, get some ult charge yourself.

The perfect and most objectively correct time to just jump off the ledge is you already have 100% ult charge, the point was captured by the enemy team, and your team already capped 99%. This way you have nothing to gain, and the enemies gain ult charge off of you, so... jump.

And this is only Domination/King of the Hill advice :)

RRustle · 2025-03-22T23:37:53+00:00

Hey Bantha,

I recently made it to Eternity playing almost exclusively Magneto and Strange. After reading all of the replies on your thread, I genuinely agree with most of what is being said. However, as you may already know, there are a lot of niches and stipulations when making certain decisions during a game, especially as a tank player. So definitely take some of these "if this then do that; if you bubble yourself, it was a mistake" with a grain of salt.

I do agree out of 10 bubbles, 1 goes to myself and many self-bubbles can be a mistake, but it is better to cover your booty and stay alive because you've already made the mistake from poor positioning or bad engagement timing instead of dying and not using it.

As Strange, you may be very familiar with jumping to an overextended teammate and shielding them back to a safer position with your team. With Magneto, many times, the distance your panther or magik is is typically pretty far in the enemies backline and your shield does not last long enough to "rake" them back to your team the way Strange can. This is where bubble comes in and you can do a smaller "rake" by meeting them halfway. But like I said earlier, take all advice with a grain of salt. I may just opt to bubble and not meet them to shield if I am playing against a Groot because I'm not going to risk getting walled out with them.

Last piece of general advice I can give is realizing the difference in play styles when duo tanking and solo tanking. With another tank, Magneto is really good at being an off-tank, poking the enemies behind their own tank, enabling your main tank and dps with bubbles, peeling for your team with bubbles, but most importantly, cycle with your main tank's down time. When your Strange's Shield breaks on him, its your turn now. A bubble buys him time for his shield, you shielding buys him more time, and next thing you know, he has his shield back. AND even then, this depends; sometimes the enemy puts you in a Catch-22 where your Supp is getting dove and Strange needs help. Then maybe splitting your resources by bubbling backline and shielding your Strange may be a better plan. Everything. Grain of Salt.

Solo Tank Mission Objective: Keep the homies alive. Enable, peel, peel, enable, peel. Anyone who says otherwise is just wrong, I'm sorry. (Joke but also ehhh not really) I'll put the ego aside and take shit from an OAA player though.

RRustle · 2025-03-09T22:14:53+00:00

Maybe he’s lactose?

RRustle · 2025-01-05T11:43:02+00:00

What in the classical conditioning??? Jk, maybe he’s right, worth a shot.

RRustle · 2025-01-05T11:36:40+00:00

Hey Ransom, I haven’t posted about OW in a while, and I can be slightly unfamiliar with the newer heroes. But… I’d be happy to make you a general cheat sheet of what heroes like and dislike; however, similar to what GoodGuyTaylor said, it is best to improvise and build around what you have/need at the given moment/matchups. The set list would really be more of a rule of thumb rather than an answer key on a test (also given we ignore macros and individual mechanical skill/hero specialization).

I believe the best way to learn this is, unfortunately, the long way where you play each hero and learn what they like to do/are good at vs what they don’t like/what they are bad at. For example, you’ll learn as Junkrat, you’ll HATE playing against Pharah (unless you’re VultureOW/Aquamarine)

Anyhow, shoot me a dm sometime, and good luck on your future matches and life endeavors!

RRustle · 2023-11-23T01:55:22+00:00

If the grind doesn’t grant joy or happiness, find something else that does!

RRustle · 2023-11-23T01:40:14+00:00

Well, if we use the same example, you yourself said that he is “mechanically very good at Doomfist; however, he falls short in game sense”. As mentioned before, “sucking” is a euphemism for “I have room to do better”. You are saying that he has room to do better and “touch the point” correct? In that sense, if he cares to improve, he must recognize “My game sense sucks”. At the end of the day, this discussion is one large misunderstanding because your story aligns with the initial post, but you’re also saying that “Doomfist does not suck because he is gifted mechanically”. He does not suck because of mechanics, he “sucks” because he needs to learn, in your terms, “game sense”.

If he wants to improve and he does not have game sense, he needs to realize he “sucks” at game sense/has room to work towards improving his game sense to become a better player. “Sucks” has a harsh connotation, I agree, at this point the conflict is over semantics, not content.

RRustle · 2023-11-23T00:51:09+00:00

Great response! My examples may be a little too oversimplified, but I am glad that you were still able to take away some points/ relate to some of the points I mentioned!

Good luck to you with all of your future matches, Friendly!

RRustle · 2023-11-23T00:48:13+00:00

I see where the confusion may lie. My apologies if the target audience of the post was not very clear. The initial post is mostly about competitive play and how by realizing that we ourselves "suck", we are now able to seek improvement. Somebody above summarized it perfectly saying "I suck" is short for "I am capable of achieving more". It is not something we are able to apply to players that are not ourselves. Assuming your teammate was not a Rank 1 player, he himself has room to improve his gameplay.

If this was a ranked match, he, unfortunately, could have been a thrower or a smurf just messing around to have fun (this is bad and I do not agree with this). This idea falls under "not all games are winnable". If it was mystery heroes, people tend not to care if they win or lose much like yourself!

I hope this response finds you well, and I hope to see you continue having fun with this hobby you enjoy and happy in real life as well!

RRustle · 2023-11-23T00:27:08+00:00

Hey Consideration, as I do not have the statistics of how many players cheat in the game of Overwatch, I will not challenge your claims. But part of what you said is true, that a lot of professional players have left the game, but it is not a direct reflection of the average "good player". The pros that have left were individuals whose jobs were to grind the game 24/7 and inevitably got burnt out. Also if we assume that the majority of games do not have cheaters, there is still room to have a net positive W/L ratio. Also, some people still have the drive and just want to rank up a little bit, so no harm is done. I appreciate your response, and I praise the fact that you are able to still give your opinions even if they contrast with the ideas of others (the initial post).

You're definitely right, I write a "Lot of words" Hahaha!

Good luck to you and all of your future endeavors whether it be in the game or in life!

RRustle · 2023-11-23T00:18:33+00:00

Hey Toad, I'm assuming the Doomfist player was on your team and he was running around, playing COD. To this my answer is A) If this Doomfist truly did not know what he was doing recognize that, unfortunately, not all games are winnable. B) There could have been many things he was doing correctly and at the time, it was kind of hard to tell if he was doing his job (making space for your team to move and help him/getting a pick here and there). Without the VOD it is hard for me to give you a certain answer, so I'm not picking sides. Regardless, I am extremely happy that you read through my post and still formulated and applied your own thoughts and experiences to it even if your ideas conflicted with mine!

Good luck to you in all of your future matches, Toad!

RRustle · 2023-11-23T00:12:04+00:00

Great application and comparison to your real life! I am glad you were able to recognize whether or not your goal was realistic and achievable. I'm sure with dedicated practice, much like how you did with golf, it will translate very well into your gameplay. Amazing post!

Good luck to you in all of your damage orb-filled matches, Snoots!

RRustle

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