[2019] Welcome to Season 16 of Competitive Play

Hey everyone,

Season 16 of Competitive Play is here!

Unlocked at level 25, Competitive Play is designed for those players who want to put their skills to the test, and offers a more serious experience than our Quick Play or Arcade Modes.

To begin your competitive journey this season, click on the “Play” button, select “Competitive Play” from the submenu, and you’re ready to enter a match. You can join on your own or in a group, and Overwatch’s matchmaking system will automatically find the best game possible for your skill level.

GETTING STARTED

Before you can kick off your competitive career, every player must first complete 10 placement matches to obtain their initial skill rating. This rating will be a number between 1 and 5000, with higher values indicating a greater skill level. Players will also be assigned a tier based on their rating—Bronze, Silver, Gold, Platinum, Diamond, Master, or Grandmaster—and climbing into the next tier is possible as you improve.

Skill ratings and tier icons will be visible at the beginning of every match. As you compete, your rating will increase or decrease with each win or loss based on a number of factors, including your own performance and the skill of the other players in the match.

A detailed breakdown of the skill tiers, along with icons and information about the corresponding skill ratings can be found by pressing the “Information” button under the Competitive Play menu.

COMPETITIVE REWARDS

In addition to experiencing the thrill of victory, players can also unlock unique rewards through Competitive Play. Anyone who completes their placement matches during a season will receive a special spray and player icon. If you are placed within the Top 500 players on your platform (and in your region) at the end of the season, you’ll receive an extra player icon and animated spray.

On top of that, as you complete competitive matches, you’ll earn a currency called Competitive Points. When the season concludes, you’ll also receive a number of those points (based on your overall performance) to spend on golden versions of your favorite heroes’ weapons.

Here’s the Skill Rating (SR) to Competitive Point (CP) breakdown for Season 16:

SR 1-1499 (Bronze): 65 CP
SR 1500-1999 (Silver): 125 CP
SR 2000-2499 (Gold): 250 CP
SR 2500-2999 (Platinum): 500 CP
SR 3000-3499 (Diamond): 750 CP
SR 3500-3999 (Master): 1200 CP
SR 4000-5000 (Grandmaster): 1750 CP

WHAT’S NEW

• Starting with Season 16 of Competitive Play, Grandmaster players (players with SR >4000) will no longer be able to queue for competitive matches in a party size larger than two. Read here.

• Reminder: You may have noticed there is no Competitive Play off-season break! Going forward when a Competitive Play season ends a new one will immediately begin.

Season 16 is live RIGHT NOW on PC, PlayStation 4, and Xbox One, so power up your favorite gaming machine and join the fight. We’ll see you on the battlefield!

Wish me luck everyone! I am off to get my placement matches done right now! Last season I had positive win rates with Pharah and Tracer and I hope to continue that trend this season and actually solidify myself in Platinum.

Everyone, what are each of your goals this season?

Update: Sadly not off the best of starts. 3 wins, 7 losses for placements; 7 wins 13 losses overall after a 20 game session. The match quality started to improve after I got through placements, however quickly turned into pure chaos in the late hours of the night. Its not terrible and I will get back the SR from where I ended last season with over time, but its going to be a bit of a grind again.

Too many players (myself included) want to play the damage role. I tried to play other roles but I am seeing too much feeding by teammates to justify playing tank or support.