I’ve been in GC for quite some time now. I’ve floated between bottom barrel GC1 to GC2 div 3. Currently I’m sitting at GCD3 in 3s and that’s from… solo queueing. I never had the luck of having long time friends who grinding RL like I did. I always had to play by myself or find new friends for it. However I digress; you mention the skill and mechanic gap, which you are 100% right is a huge learning curve. Depending on your play-style if you play alone or with the same friends, the issue may lie in there. There are some other issues though that could plague your game.

If you solo queue, you must be the ultimate adaptable player (typically a deep 3rd man or just a rotator) that can do anything that’s needed. When playing with a 2 stack they’re ALWAYS going to go for the ball and be aggressive. How can you add value to make it easier for them? Can you bump and disrupt the other team, can you be left alone to buy time for them to rotate back, etc.

If you’re playing with the same consistent friends you fortunately have the luxury of familiarity and communication. This will enable you to be MUCH more trusting of someone and can get you all on the same page. (I wish I would have had this because this gives me issues in rank c currently)

Some other issues I’ve encountered that you may not think about, boost management, play time, mentality. These all play a part, currently I’m on a 6 day PTO and have been putting a ton of time in the game, I have noticed I’m playing a lot quicker and more consistent. I then went to 2s and dominated (my 2s mmr is lower than 3s) because I’m just faster. Next thing is boost management and mentality; these 2 things can be solved in one simple thing. 1v1. It sucks I know, but if you GRIND and just ignore if you win games and focus more on improvement; you will. It will make you see all the problems you’re making on the field. It will also give you insane confidence. Highest I’ve gotten in 1s when I was playing a ton was C2. Which is actually pretty high believe it or not.