#team composition

[neruteru]

Has anyone tried to do a Fischl - Chongyun team? 

I think it would work if I main Fischl since I could maximize the superconduct effect. Need to farm better artifacts to try this though. 

I’ve been using Fischl as support with Chongyun and her Lightning Smite talent hurts a lot. But I think I could do more damage if I make her main DPS.

[tricks-of-the-squid]

Tip #46: Switching Between Roles (Flexing)

At this point I’ve combed over how I see team comps/units and how they function and perform. In the realm of Solo Queue though things won’t be pretty most of the time as sometimes you’ll end up that room where the weapon balance is a little thrown off. Maybe you ended up in a room where there’s too many brushes or too many chargers and so you may need to instead be ready to take up more than one role in case you run into an awkward comp or your team is kinda playing in wifi warrior mode where they’re either gone off the deep end trying to rack up a huge kill streak or they’re trying to do everything by themselves. As long as you can flex between roles and patch the holes in your team’s play, your team should be set to put up a good fight.

Here are some tips for flexing between roles:

1) Weapon/Kit choice matters

When picking a weapon, you don’t want to choose a weapon that is too specialized since you flexibility is king when it comes to taking on multiple roles. That means weapons like chargers and the Sploosh series should be avoided unless you’re absolutely confident that you will be able to perform well despite your weapon’s specialization. A safe bet to choose would be a weapon that would be able to fulfill the frontline or the support role since their roles are well defined and the weapons that can fulfill said role are quite flexible themselves. Also pay attention to the kit as a whole. You want a flexible sub and maybe a versatile special so you have a lot of opportunities. Splat bombs/Suction bombs and specials like the Booyah Bomb and Tenta Missiles are good specials to have due to being quick to deploy and can put good damage output/pressure on your opponent.

2) Take into note what the map/mode combo is

Game knowledge and knowledge of the meta will get you the upper hand in combat since you can kinda predict what weapons and strategies people might gravitate toward. For example in Tower Control chargers and blasters tend to flood the rooms due to their kill potential. Splat Zones might have that rogue Aerospray that focuses on claiming turf until they sneak they way into the zone and claim it in second, otherwise it’s booyah bomb central or weapons that paint well dominate the scene. Take note of patterns like this when you play as you can use that to get a leg up even before the battle starts. You’d much rather play knowing what to expect than having to learn on the fly, especially when games can be shut out in mere seconds like in Rainmaker.

3) Making reads is the key to victory

Since you’re trying to fill in for a few roles you must be able to read what your opponent and friends might do and fulfill the according role to succeed. If your opponent is looking to charge the front play to that accordingly and maybe Flank your opponent to put a stop to their push. If you’re the longest ranged unit in your team and they're looking to push then maybe playing Support/Anchor would be the best call at that moment. If your team’s flank(s) are busy distracting the opponent then take up the Frontline position and push the objective. These are just some examples of the multitude of reads you’ll have to do within seconds while the battlefield is constantly changing. The best way to go about this task is to let your subconscious handle it and remember to handle each push/skirmish/defense one at a time. Overextending and overexerting yourself will only lead to your demise.

That’s it from me. Playing multiple roles on the fly is extremely tough since sometimes you have to stretch yourself thin to cover the weaknesses in your team’s composition. Learning how to flex though is a huge asset to have in your arsenal in this game as once you have this down, you will have a much better time adjusting to the random twists and turns of online play.

[antigoneprogone]

Me: *Sees that the team comp is currently a McCree, Doomfist, Pharah, Zenyatta, and Reaper*

Me, just a real fucker: I think this team needs... a Genji.

[strawberry-jamelie]

When Lucio says “Look at this team; we’re gonna do great” and you’ve got 2 snipers and 3 attackers

[nichtschaden]

If I queue into 

ONE MORE TEAM 

OF FIVE DPS HEROES

SOMEONE WILL DIE

[tricks-of-the-squid]

Tip #45: Team Comp Positions - Anchor

Reference to the original overarching post here: https://tricks-of-the-squid.tumblr.com/post/182816049007/tip-38-team-comps-various-rolescomps-you

Before I go into today’s post, I didn’t have anything for Fashion Tuesday this week so I took this week off so I can make some content for upcoming weeks.

Having a lifeline can mean the difference between winning or losing a game. The Anchor lives and breathes in the back, usually sporting the longest range out of all their allies. Even though they share a lot of positioning and attack strategies as a support unit their primary job is to live and learn so they can pick off any advancing foes and lend a hand from afar. A big difference between supporting and anchoring is that if you get jumped by the enemy, your main instinct should be to run and back off to create as much distance as possible since the anchor has little to no counter combat against frontliners. The long-range Chargers and Splatlings are most notable for taking up this role since they sport the longest ranges out of the many weapons in the game.

Here are some tips to help you learn how to anchor your team:

1) Check your peripheral vision

One of the worst things to happen while being an anchor is to get general tunnel vision on the objective or an enemy that’s approaching the premise. Learn how to watch your peripheral vision while focusing on whatever you need to focus on since being able to track multiple things at once is crucial to staying alive. The idea behind here is that you want to be ready to respond to as many things as possible since you don’t want to be blindsided, especially if you’re playing a charger with a scope which can make tunnel vision even more prevalent. Learning how to watch the whole screen can help you catch potential ambushes that could happen in the near future and you’ll be prepared to snuff out those threats from afar. For an additional bonus, learn how to use sound as well to your advantage. If you can hear someone approaching and you can respond to that, then you have an additional layer of protection at your disposal to set up for future threats.

2) Move with the team, but don’t overextend if you’re having doubts

Yes you still have to move with your team. If you’re too far from your team, not only are you too far to influence the gamestate nor are your allies close enough to reliably save you if you’re under attack you essentially become dead weight on the team. Move with the team since you have the range most of the time to suppress enemy advances but remember that your priority is to stay alive. It can be tempting to go for the most optimal perch or to get the best view of the enemy, but if you think that you might be overextending then it’s okay to pull back just a little bit so that if your doubt was right and the enemy drops a heavy counterattack then you have more room to pull back and get your team to regroup before reviving any pushes.

3) Look for areas to support your team

With the longest range you’re gonna be in spots where you can see a huge chunk of the battlefield most of the time. This is where the support role and the anchor role merge as they both can loan their range to their allies by making 1 v 1′s into 2 v 1′s thanks to being able to support/attack from afar. Also you can anticipate potential enemy reinforcements and take them out/pressure them to prevent battles from turning to the enemy’s favor. In general if your allies are in need of ink/more manpower then the anchor can assist from afar. Be careful not to compromise your position on the battlefield though since you don’t want to take up a not optimal position to pursue a kill or assist an ally.

That’s it from me. Being the anchor is all about keeping the backline alive. The frontline can keep respawning and returning all they like since they’re responsible for being the offense of the team but maintaining the backline and making sure it doesn’t fall is just as crucial, if not even more since your team needs a backbone to even push in the first place. 

[tricks-of-the-squid]

Tip #38: Team Comps - Various Roles/Comps You Might See

In ranked and competitive play team comps give the team a framework to start strategizing on an individual level and a team level. Depending on your team’s choice of weapons you can figure out how to work with your teammates and also see where you can hit the enemy team the hardest.

I’m gonna write this a little differently to go over various team roles and some example comps you might see in Ranked (based on roles with example weapons. Trying to list actual comps is way too specific if you’re playing Ranked):

Roles: Usually I see players fall into some form of these five prominent roles when playing Ranked. From my experience this is what each role usually pertains to:

- Frontline: Usually the Slayer/Objective oriented players take up the frontlines. They’re the ones moving the objective or holding primary control over the stage. A lot of weapons can fall into this category except the specialized ones.

- Flank: Another Slayer-like role that emphasizes KO’s and disruption on the enemy team so everyone else can focus on the objective. Weapons with shorter range and better KO potential like O-Matic’s, Dapple Dualies, and Rollers usually fall into this category.

- Support: Players playing weapons that can take to the frontlines but prefer to hang back are usually the support. In my experience, weapons like the Splattershot Pro series, Squelchers, Sloshing Machine/Explosher, Mini Splatling and others can fulfill this role due to having good mobility to thrive in combat but their weapon’s attack patterns prefer they hang back.

- Flex: Units that can flex between roles (hence the name Flex) can switch up their roles on the fly depending on the situation. As like the Frontliners, a lot of weapons can fall into this category as well depending on their playstyle.

- Anchor: Units that live in the backlines. Long range weapons like Chargers and Splatlings focus on holding down the fort and double up as a living squid beacon for their allies if the comp doesn’t have beacons on hand.

And for some team comps you might see, I’m gonna list out some power-hitting comps (with weapon examples) that Ranked might put you in/match you against so you have a better idea about these comps:

- Frontline (ex: Tentatek Splattershot), Flex (ex: Blaster), Support (ex: Kensa Sloshing Machine), Anchor (ex: Splat Charger)

Pros: Usually one of the best comps in terms of balance and team/individual strategy. Easy to coordinate in and houses a lot of power if this team’s momentum starts snowballing.

Cons: Since everything is so defined, you can easily identify who’s playing what role and can pick off whatever role is being annoying. Can be tough to crack, but it’s definitely possible to cut off vital roles here and there depending on where you are.

- Flank (ex: Dapple Dualies), Flex (ex: Clash Blaster Neo), Support (ex: Rapid Blaster Pro), Anchor (ex: Hero Charger Replica)

Pros: More focused around getting the kills to put pressure through the enemy having lower numbers most of the time. In modes like Tower Control and Rainmaker this comp can be the win-it-all due to having an extremely good affinity for putting enemies down and escorting the objective effectively.

Cons: Depending on weapon selection this comp may flop in modes like Splat Zones and maybe Clam Blitz due to a lack of efficient ink output. You may run into a situation where your kills will matter if your team is getting overwhelmed and cut off due to the enemy putting out more ink and ground control than you can handle.

- Frontline (ex: Splattershot), Flank (ex: Sploosh-o-Matic), Flex (ex: Enperry Splat Dualies), Support (Forge Splattershot Pro)

Pros: Can hit ridiculously hard and is scary to fight against. If you’re in a comp like this your team has many venues of attack and strategies to keep the pressure on the opponent.

Cons: Can be confusing to figure out where you might fall since everyone is playing a weapon that lives on the front/mid-lines. Also team wipes are an apparent threat since your team doesn’t have a dedicated backliner/anchor to try and live as long as possible.

- Frontline (ex: .52 Gal), Frontline (ex: Dark Tetra Dualies), Anchor (ex: Heavy Splatling), Anchor (ex: E-Liter 4K Scope)

Pros: Having a backliner that can flex between Support and Anchor can create an incredible defense when they too are backed by another Anchor. Pushes may be slow, but the two Frontliners having a lot of back support can really emphasize pushes when they count.

Cons: Weapon balance is extremely finicky and this comp can flop with bad weapon balance. Also if someone dies then the team balance can also be completely thrown off.

There are so many more comps I haven't gone into and the strength of these comps can change depending on the specific weapons in said team. At the least I hope that this will give you some insight into strategy development and such when delving into Ranked Battles.

[tricks-of-the-squid]

Tip #44: Team Comp Positions - Support

Reference to the original overarching post here: https://tricks-of-the-squid.tumblr.com/post/182816049007/tip-38-team-comps-various-rolescomps-you

Playing a backline role can be tough since you’re putting faith in your teammates to push the objective but being that support unit to back your team’s pushes can mean so much in keeping a push alive. A support unit usually trails behind the frontlines keeping an eye to support a push, cover potential ambushes the enemy has laid, and is focused on making sure that the other units can do their job. Weapons that can put out good damage output at a decent to long range usually fulfill this role so choices like the Sloshing Machine, Splattershot Pro, Dualie Squelchers, and the Mini Splatling are some examples of weapons that fulfill this role well.

Even though both the Support and Anchor roles both play in the back, the difference between these roles is that the Support’s role is to backup any frontliners and help to hold down the objective. The Anchor is responsible for living as long as possible to keep the team alive.

Anyways, here are some tips to playing Support in your team:

1) Use your range in a multitude of ways

Your range should be one of your biggest assets in supporting your team and your should be looking to utilize that in a multitude of ways. Usually most of the time you’re looking to provide cover fire for your allies as they’re moving in to either get the kill or claim the objective. Otherwise you’re looking to wall the opponent and push them back using your range and impressive damage output. Sometimes you’re looking to get a long-range shot at an enemy or you’re looking to turf a huge patch of space to charge your special to have that at the ready. If your range is not as large as you’d want it to be, look to use your weapon’s properties to your advantage. Bloblobber’s bubbles can put out a ridiculous amount of hitboxes on the field in a short amount of time and the Rapid Blaster can pressure the opponent through large areas of damage.

2) Keep check of where your allies might be heading to cover the enemy’s counters

This is a huge chunk of what to expect when you take on this role. Since your win condition is to make sure that your teammates’ plays go through successfully, you’re looking to shut down the opponent’s counters and making sure to stop their plays as much as possible. Keep analyzing the opponent’s moves through watching them and seeing where they like to go through checking your map. Sub weapons like Ink Mines and Point sensors are great in keeping tabs on the opponent since you can pinpoint them while maintaining focus on doing your job. The trick here is to take in the info on the enemy’s movements on the fly and as the info comes in. Don’t try to take it in all at once since this kind of info can become outdated extremely fast.

3) Try to coordinate your special with team pushes

Since you are pushing to bolster your team, team pushes are going to be one area that you definitely want to make sure that you pitch in your best. One of the best ways to pitch in when making a team push is to have your special ready when your team is pushing the objective. This sounds like a basic thing to know, but it surprises me how often support units just use their gun when clearly they have the opportunity to pop their special and really make a difference in their team’s push. When your team is able to put up an amazing push, especially right after your team gets a triple KO on the enemy’s numbers, right when the enemy is respawning is one of the most optimal times to throw everything you can to keep the opponent from gaining any kind of momentum and potentially being able to close the game out.

That’s it from me. Being a support unit still requires you to get your feet dirty against the enemy but your main job is to make sure that your allies’ win conditions can be met as smoothly as possible. Keep some distance to make use of your weapon’s range and provide the support your team needs to see victory.