Overwatch’s Competitive system can be a wild place to begin with, but going up against a Top 500 player while ranked Platinum just seems unfair. However, it isn’t quite the lopsided matchup it seems.
The Overwatch Competitive ladder is a brutal environment, where dreams of Diamond and Masters go to die in Silver and Gold. Platinum, really, is the middle of the road as far as rankings are concerned.
Queueing up against Gold or Diamond ranks isn’t unheard of in Plat at all, but seeing a Top 500 player on the opposing team is certainly jarring, to say the least, which is just the situation player u/Ximply found themselves in during an Open Queue match.
Not to mention the Top 500 player, but you’ve also got a couple of golds thrown in there as well, so what the heck is really going on here?
The answer, is actually as simple as the game mode this player was in when it happened: Open Queue. The fact is there are fewer people playing this mode than Competitive Role Lock, so getting the Top 500 Icon is much, much easier.
Subscribe to our newsletter for the latest updates on Esports, Gaming and more.
Top 500 isn’t a rank itself, it just indicates the Top 500 players of a season, and since the player pool for Open Queue is relatively small, you could be a Diamond or high Plat and still make the cut.
If you’ve ever wanted to get the exclusive Top 500 season icon or spray, giving Open Queue a try instead of banging your head repeatedly against the wall in the vastly more populated Role Queue option.
So, while they did technically have a Top 500 player in their match, it was Open Queue, so chances are, looking at the rest of the ranks, this player’s actual SR wouldn’t have been too much higher than their own.
