Lucioball has finally made its return to Overwatch via the Summer Games 2017, however, this year developer Blizzard has decided to let users play this brawl in Competitive Mode. Set up like the traditional Competitive Mode, players finish placement matches and then try to work their way up on the leaderboards. If you win a match you’ll earn 4 Competitive Points which can be used to purchase golden weapon skins.
If you are looking to rise through the ranks in Overwatch’s Lucioball, here are 5 tips to help you win your placement matches.
1. Know How to Position Your Team
It can get rather hectic when playing Lucioball as rounds can quickly end before you even know what happened. However, it’s fundamental that you understand smart positioning in Lucioball, especially when you have such a small team to begin with. When the match starts you’ll want to make sure you have someone as a dedicated goalie, someone working the middle of the field, and another right by the opponent’s goal. This allows you to not only have a strong defense but can give you openings to quickly maneuver the ball across the field and into the enemy goal. Here is what each of the three Lucios should focus on:
- Goalie: Protecting your goal from opponents and returning any balls that land near your side. Do not push past the middle unless it’s absolutely necessary.
- Middle: Probably the hardest role, the middle player will need to be both defensive and offensive. If the enemy pushes onto your side, fall back and help the goalie until you get some breathing room. Additionally, you’ll also be setting up the striker to score points by firing the ball near him or by him so he can boop it into the goal. If you sense momentum is on your side, push with the strike and lay on the pressure.
- Striker: This role is primarily focused on getting the ball into the actual net itself. Typically you don’t want to pass the enemy’s side of the field since you’re responsible for following up on any saves of passes that your teammates have made. Ult management is critical here, as you can easily find yourself with all your skills on cooldown and three opponents in your face.
There’s also an unspoken rule of Lucioball that if you spawn in the goal, you play the goalie. While this might not be true of three stacks, it most certainly is if you’re single queuing. Make sure to learn how to play goalie before going into competitive mode.
2. Don’t Always Be Defensive
It can be easy to play defensively when you are up a single point in Lucioball, however, this is not a recommended strategy. Unless you are at least two points up on your opponent, always having to defend your goal can lead to disaster. If the ball is always on your side that means the opponents can always apply pressure, regardless of how many goals you are up on them.
Instead, try to always keep the ball on your opponent’s side of the field, as that will keep them busy and give your goalie a break from always having to make critical saves. If you are up and the match is winding down, consider having at least one more person play on your side of the field to ensure your foes cannot juke you and score. The other player should just be focused on knocking the ball away from enemies and actively trying to stall their time on your side.
3. Stop Wasting Your Speed Boost
A common thing I see players do all the time is constantly using the speed boost even when the ball is nowhere near them. If you want to do well in this mode, managing this critical ability is essential as it not only allows you to cover more ground but add much-needed momentum to your boops. Try to use your speed boosts when you are attempting to catch up to a runaway ball or line yourself up for an interception. Being able to have a burst of speed always on hand can easily mess up your opponent’s strategy.
Remember, people almost always speed boost in the beginning to try and hit the ball first, so make sure to do this as well. The last thing you want is to save it right as the round starts and find the ball already about to be pushed into your goal. Outside of this, speed boosts should always be used more tactically, so think about what benefits a boost would have before using it.
4. Don’t Forget to Melee
While booping the soccer ball is the traditional method to move it across the court, I’ve noticed a lot of players do not melee as often as they should. Your Soundwave has a rather short cooldown, however, sometimes it won’t be up when you need to either block or go for a goal. Remember to melee (which is mapped to your primary fire in this mode) to push the ball forward a short distance. You won’t gain the same range or speed as a Soundwave, but it’s very easy to score a goal by meleeing it in. One of my favorite tricks is to boop the ball against the top of the goal so it bounces back towards me and then punch it into the score area.
5. Learn How to Use and Counter Ultimates
When activated, Lucio’s Sound Barrier will drastically speed up his movements and remove the cooldown for his Soundwave. This means for a short duration you effectively have infinite booping capabilities, which can overwhelm even the best of goalies. Players have a very bad habit of just using this ultimate as soon as their obtain it, which typically ends up with them just running around and contributing nothing. Use the Sound Barrier to either quickly acquire the ball at the start or when the ball is on your opponent’s side of the field. Having unlimited knockbacks allows players to just spam Soundwave and keep forcing it back to their side.
Another trick is to use Sound Barrier right as the match starts so you can rush right to the ball and knock it into your opponent’s goal before they’re ready. Try to not use more than one ultimate a round unless the match is going really long. To counter this ultimate either pop your own to keep up, or have everyone focus on keeping the ball away from them. Sound Barrier doesn’t last long, so you can easily stall out someones by firing the ball against the wall to make them chase it.