Competitive Play is the ranked Play Mode of Overwatch. In this mode, players stay on the same team for a full attack/defense rotation. Players are unable to join another game if they leave their original match before it ends. In addition, continued leaving may result in being restricted from Competitive Play. Departed players are not backfilled.
Players must achieve level 25 before this mode is unlocked.
Scoring
- On Escort maps, the attacking team which escorts the payload the farthest wins. If neither team manages to move the payload at all, the match ends in a draw. If both teams reach their destination, a new rotation is played using the time bank rules.
- On Assault maps, the attacking team which captures the most control points and/or makes the most progress on capturing a control point wins. If the first attacking team does not capture a given control point but makes at least 33.3% capture progress (equivalent to the first "tick" on the capture meter), then the second attacking team must exceed the first team's capture percentage; otherwise, the second attacking team must reach at least 33.3% progress on that control point. If neither team reaches at least 33.3% capture progress on the same control point, the match ends in a draw. If both teams capture both control points, time bank rules are used.
- On Hybrid maps, the attacking team which achieves the most capture progress on the control point and/or escorts the payload the farthest wins. If neither team reaches at least 33.3% capture progress on the control point, or both teams capture the control point but then fail to move the payload at all, the match ends in a draw. If both teams escort the payload to its destination, time bank rules are used.
- Control maps are a best-of-five.
Time Bank
If a match is tied after both teams have played on attack and defense, a new attack/defend rotation will start, using the time bank system.
Escort Rules
If both teams have escorted the payload to the final objective, the game examines their remaining time:
- If both Team A and Team B have at least 60 seconds of time remaining, then a new rotation begins with both teams playing a round on attack with their remaining time.
- If either or both teams have less than 60 seconds remaining, then the team with the least remaining time is granted additional time to bring their new total to 60 seconds. The other team receives the same amount of added time. A new rotation then begins with both teams playing a round on attack with their remaining time.
Whenever a new map rotation starts, the team with the least time remaining starts the next rotation on attack.
For all time banked rotations, no bonus time is added when the payload reaches a checkpoint.
Assault and Hybrid Rules
If a match is tied after both teams have played on attack and defense, the game examines their remaining time:
- If both Team A and Team B have 0 remaining times, then the match results in a tie.
- If both Team A and Team B have at least 60 seconds of time remaining, then a new rotation begins with both teams playing a round on attack with their remaining time.
- If Team A has less than 60 seconds of time but greater than 0 seconds, and Team B has at least 60 seconds of time, then a new rotation begins. Team A is granted additional time to increase their remaining time to 60 seconds, and Team B is also granted the same amount of additional time to their bank.
- If Team A has 0 remaining time, and team B has at least 60 seconds of time, then team B plays a final round on attack with their remaining time. If Team B reaches at least 33.3% progress on the first map objective during their remaining time, they win. If they do not, the match results in a DRAW.
- If both Team A and Team B have less than 60 seconds of time remaining, then a new rotation begins, but it is the final rotation for both teams—even in the rare case, a team could take both map objectives in less than a minute. The team with the smallest amount of remaining time is granted additional time to increase their remaining time to 60 seconds, and the other team is also granted the same amount of additional time.
Whenever a new map rotation starts and both teams are going to play, then the team with the least time remaining starts the next rotation on attack.
Pure Assault: For all time banked rotations, when an attacking team takes the first map objective, they receive an additional 30 seconds.
Hybrid (Assault/Escort): For all time banked rotations, no bonus time is added when a team takes the control point or the payload reaches a checkpoint.
Ranking
A player must complete ten placement matches to receive their rank each season. The player's ranking is represented as a Skill Rating (SR) between 1 and 5000, with a higher number representing a higher level of skill. After each match, players will gain or lose a certain amount of SR. The amount gained or lost depends on several factors, including the difference between each team's average SR, the win rates of heroes on a given map, and individual performance. Players do not gain or lose any SR when a match ends in a draw.
Alongside the 1-5000 scale, players are assigned tiers depending on their SR which is publicly displayed on their portrait.
Bronze - 1-1499 SR
Silver - 1500-1999 SR
Gold - 2000-2499 SR
Platinum - 2500-2999 SR
Diamond - 3000-3499 SR
Master - 3500-3999 SR
Grandmaster - 4000+
File:Badge 8 Top 500.png Top 500 - Among the 500 best players in that region
A Silver, Gold, Platinum or Diamond player will never drop below that tier after they have achieved it, even if their SR falls below the minimum threshold. Players in Master and Grandmaster may lose their tiers if they fall below their tier's minimum. Additionally, players in Diamond, Master, and Grandmaster tiers that have not completed seven matches in a week's time will lose 50 SR every 24 hours, until they reach 3000 SR or complete the requisite number of matches.
The following restrictions apply when entering Competitive as a group:
- The SR of each group member must be within 1000 (positive or negative) of all other group members ranked at Diamond or below, and within 500 of all members ranked at Master or above.
- Players who have not completed their placement matches may not group up with any player at Diamond tier or above.
Top 500
At some point during each season, the Top 500 system starts.[1][2] After that point, if a player manages to attain a Skill Rank in the top 500 of all ranked players within their region (PlayStation 4 and Xbox each count as a region) and has played 50 or more competitive games that season, they will achieve Heroic status (represented by a special icon), as well as a player icon and an animated spray.
Seasons
There are four competitive seasons per year in Overwatch. Seasons last for two-and-a-half months, mirroring Earth's seasons. At the end of every season, rewards are handed out and there is an off-season for behind-the-scenes tweaks. At the beginning of each season, players must play a set of ten placement matches.
| Season | Start Date | End Date | Top 500 Start Date | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Jun-28, 2016[1] | Aug-17, 2016[3] | Jul-26, 2016[2] | Had a 1-100 skill rating scale, no tiers, and a Sudden Death system. During Sudden Death, another abbreviated round was played, with the attacking team chosen by a coin flip. The attackers had to capture or escort the payload to the first point within 1 minute and 45 seconds.[1] |
| 2 | Sep-02, 2016[4] | Nov-24, 2016[5] | Sep-19, 2017[6] | |
| 3 | Dec-01, 2016[5] | Feb-21, 2017[7] | ||
| 4 | Feb-28, 2017[7] | May-28, 2017[7] | ||
| 5 | June-1, 2017 | August-28, 2017 |
Rewards
At the end of each season, all players who have completed the season's ten placement matches receive a season-exclusive player icon and spray. Players who finish a particular season with a Heroic rank also receive an animated version of that season's spray, and a season-exclusive Hero player icon.
Ten Competitive Points are awarded for winning a match in Competitive Play, and three are awarded for tying. Players also receive Competitive Points at the end of each season based on the highest rank they achieved that season.[3] These points can be used to unlock special cosmetic items, such as Golden Weapon skins.
Season 1:
- Skill Rating 0-39: 10 Competitive Points
- Skill Rating 40-45: 20 Competitive Points
- Skill Rating 46-49: 40 Competitive Points
- Skill Rating 50-52: 60 Competitive Points
- Skill Rating 53-55: 80 Competitive Points
- Skill Rating 56-59: 120 Competitive Points
- Skill Rating 60-64: 200 Competitive Points
- Skill Rating 65+: 300 Competitive Points
Season 2, 3, 4, & 5:
Bronze - 100 Competitive Points
Silver - 200 Competitive Points
Gold - 400 Competitive Points
Platinum - 800 Competitive Points
Diamond - 1200 Competitive Points
Master - 2000 Competitive Points
Grandmaster - 3000 Competitive Points
Trivia
- In Season 1, one competitive point was rewarded for each win. With the start of Season 2, all awarded competitive points were multiplied by 10, as well as the prices for Golden Weapons, to allow for partial rewards in the case of ties.
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 Welcome to Competitive Play, Play Overwatch.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2016-07-29, Overwatch Top 500 now live, Overwatch Forums. (Archived using the Wayback Machine.)
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 The First Season of Overwatch Competitive Play Ends Soon, The Escapist.
- ↑ 2016-09-01, Welcome to Season 2 of Competitive Play, Play Overwatch.
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 2016-10-25, Season 3 Competitive Changes on PTR, Battle.net forums.
- ↑ 2016-09-19, Top 500 for Competitive Out, Reddit.
- ↑ 7.0 7.1 7.2 2017-02-21, Season 3 Ending Soon, Battle.net Forums. Accessed on 2017-02-21