Learn Overwatch by Watching Streams

So you want to get better at Overwatch?

 

Understandable. Overwatch has become massive over the few years since it’s release. Played and watched by hundreds of thousands of people all over the world, Overwatch has ascended to the peak of the Esports mountain. 

 

It should go without saying, but the best thing you can do to improve your Overwatch gameplay is practice. 

 

Primarily, your skill at the game comes down to two main factors, your game knowledge, and your gun skill.

 

Both of these aspects are responsible for different factors to themselves, but they are the big two. Get them right, and the rest will fall into place. 

 

Gun skill comes with time. The more you play with certain heroes, the more you get a feel for their movement and weapon / abilities. So, unfortunately, the only way to make progress on that front is just to play the game more. 

 

Game knowledge is a little more open to interpretation. 

 

Game knowledge encapsulates everything from your know-how of how to traverse maps to how specific abilities interact with each other. It is an amalgamation of all the various bits of information you pick up over time. 

 

Game knowledge is vital because it is what determines your decision-making ability. It allows you to quickly process the various bits of information at any given time and, in a split second, use that information to make a choice. 

 

The sum of all choices made by players over the course of the match determines the outcome. So effectively, your game knowledge is directly tied to your ability to win.

 

So yeah, it’s pretty essential. 

 

Just how do you increase your game knowledge?

 

Aside from the aforementioned practice, which by the way, is still the best training for too, you can watch content made on the game. 

 

There is no shortage of Overwatch YouTubers and streamers out the eager to impart their knowledge onto you.

 

From hero guides to map layouts and everything in between, literally studying the game through this medium can be very useful.

 

That being said, watching streamers is also a very useful way to gain some expert insight. 

 

Mainly, pro players and the Overwatch League. Now sorry to say, but this won’t really be a sit back, grab a drink, and relax kind of viewing. Instead, it will be get the notepad and pen, and start clipping. 

 

By watching what the pros are doing, you can emulate and try to understand their decisions for yourself. You need to be an active learner here, look for critical points during matches and try to break them down.

 

Ask yourself why the players had done what and when, and what the result was. Bear in mind their teammates positioning and their knowledge of the enemy team. Are they being pushed? Are their enemies off spawn? These are the kinds of questions to ask. 

 

By doing these, you engage yourself, encouraging your brain to truly understand the motive behind some professional tactics, with the end goal of hopefully being able to implement your own tactics in your own games.