At the end of Season 13, I was very frustrated with my progress in OW so I decided to make a commitment to play Competitive as often as I could (I had hundreds of hours logged in QP) and to play with the intention to climb.

I’ve always been a solid gold into platinum player – placing above 2500 SR on my main account but then not really doing much playing beyond placements. Part of the problem was that I was too dependent on wanting ideal circumstances and certain players to get on before I would even consider it, and before long – I simply become a QP Superhero with nothing to show for it in terms of SR climb because I’d only play maybe 4 hours of comp per season.

I changed my approach and my attitude to the game – I was a healer main which evolved to support main. My philosophy on healing, supporting and flexxing changed dramatically and with lots of patience, prayers to everyone’s gods, tiger balm and some help from my friends, I was able to see real change.

Last season (S14) I ended, beating my previous career highs and season highs multiple times, ending around 2800 SR so I knew that Diamond was not unattainable.

I took the commitment seriously so I also doing double time, using my defunct alt account to run solo in an attempt to analyze the gaps in my game, decision making and really got comfortable with getting into voice chat and trying to coordinate with folks who had zero idea what my approach and play-style is like.

Relying on existing chemistry was a huge part of where I was playing myself in OW. I got placed at 2100 on my alt account, it was old but rarely used anymore because it was created to play with stream folks outside of my main account because…well….

2100 was the lowest I’d ever been placed and I’m not going to pretend it didn’t sting but I knew if I could climb solo, there would be nothing getting in my way on my main where I play with my trusty team of 2-3.

So, I put my focus into study not only of amazing players but I became my own biggest critic and coach. Recording and reviewing my losses, rethinking my decisions, being bolder and choosing characters in comp to fill what was needed – even if I felt like I would not be the best at that hero. It was important for me to gain that confidence; to blossom into a flex player. I ended the season on my alt account with my season high in the 2800s.

On my main for S15, even though placements were trash (as always, THANKS JEFF) I placed higher than my previous career high which was 2700+ and was immediately at 2800+ which gave me a great head start into the first step of my goal.

On both accounts, I clocked 50+ hours of competitive time in S14.

I am proud to say this was the first time I got to Diamond but it would not be an Overwatch story if it wasn’t followed my immediate heartbreak – right after the celebration, we went on a losing streak, losing almost 100 SR. If you play OW, you know it’s great at keeping you humble and stoking the fires of wanting to beat yourself – so we got off, got some sleep and promptly got our asses (my amazing duo partner and I) back into Diamond the very next night.

Masters…I’m coming for you next.