What are Overwatch 2 ranks? Competitive mode, tiers & rewards explained
Blizzard EntertainmentOverwatch 2 Competitive Mode gives players a reason to keep coming back to the iconic Hero shooter. For a quick round-up of the systems in the mode, we’ve compiled a list of every competitive rank, their tiers, and all ranked rewards.
Season 13 of Overwatch 2 is here, so you might be returning to the game and wondering how to reach the top of the ranked ladder. But following the reset back in Season 12 , this process is drastically different, so here’s everything you need to know.
Competitive explained
Overwatch 2’s ranks work just like any other competitive shooter’s ranked mode. Players will be placed into a rank group after several placement matches, as you win more matches you rise through the ranks, but keep losing and you’ll fall through it.
However, things have changed since Season 9’s Competitive overhaul. Now instead of your rank updating every 5 wins or 15 loses, it updates after every game, with a progress bar showing how far you are away from each rank up or demotion.
What determines how much SR you get per game is based on the ranked modifiers, which are directly related to your performance in a match.
What is SR in Overwatch 2 ranked?
SR stands for “Skill Rating” and every single player gets one after they complete their Placement Matches.
You’ll get a different SR for each role – DPS, Support, and Tank – so if you’re a great tank but terrible DPS, that will be reflected. You will also have a separate rank if you plan to brave Open Queue, which is a separate queue where you can flex between roles.
Dexerto / BlizzardSR technically isn’t used anymore in Overwatch 2 as it is a relic of Overwatch 1, especially after Season 9’s Competitive overhaul.
However, SR is still used as a colloquial term among Overwatch players to talk about where a player is placed in the ranked ladder. The higher your SR, the higher your rank. In Overwatch 1, you might say, “I’m 2750”, but in Overwatch 2, you would just say, “I’m in Platinum 3”.
After completing a series of preliminary games, the system will assign you a rank based on those placement games (as well as data from Quick Play). In your initial placement matches, the game will tell you your projected rank, so you can get an early sense of where you’ve placed.
How is Rank determined?
Upon a rank reset, which last occurred in Season 12, or if you haven’t played Competitive in a while, you’ll be made to play 10 matches to determine your rank.
You’ll be put through various ranked games to see where you place, so if you want to start off as high as possible, aim to win as many games as you can during the placements.
Dexerto / BlizzardAs you play each match in your placements, the system will tell you what rank you will place in.
With every win or loss, it will update your expected rank. Once you’ve gotten your rank, you’ll need to keep playing games to climb up the ladder.
Wins will increase your bar through a rank, and losses will decrease it. Draws do not affect it and you won’t gain any progression on their own. But, keep in mind modifiers might affect how much you gain or lose, such as ‘expected’ or ‘uphill battle’ wins against teams with higher or lower ranks. You also will get boosts or be punished harshly if you are on win or loss streaks.
All OW2 Ranks
The full breakdown of each Overwatch 2 competitive rank is as follows:
| Rank | Lowest | Highest |
|---|---|---|
| Bronze | 5 | 1 |
| Silver | 5 | 1 |
| Gold | 5 | 1 |
| Platinum | 5 | 1 |
| Diamond | 5 | 1 |
| Master | 5 | 1 |
| Grandmaster | 5 | 1 |
| Champion | 5 | 1 |
| Top 500 | – | – |
To avoid confusion, the Top 500 doesn’t really work like a traditional rank. It’s more of a title bestowed to the best players in a role. As the name suggests, these are the top 500 players in a region, on a role, on a specific platform, and you can see them by looking at the leaderboards in the Competitive tab.
These Top 500 players could be spread throughout Champion and even dip down into Grandmasters as well. Masters top 500s, while rare, aren’t unheard of either.
Dexerto / BlizzardThe vast majority of Overwatch players end up in Silver, Gold, and Platinum. So, if you don’t make it into Diamond or Master right after placements, don’t worry – most of us haven’t either.
Rank modifiers
As you play Overwatch 2 Competitive, you may notice as you win and lose games, your progress is determined based on many modifiers, these are:
- Winning Trend (Positive): Bonus for high win rate
- Losing Trend (Negative): Penalty for high loss rate
- Consolation (Positive): You weren’t favored and you lost
- Reversal (Negative): You were favored but you lost
- Uphill Battle (Positive): You weren’t favored but you won
- Expected (Negative): You were favored and you won
- Calibration (Positive and Negative): Your rank is uncertain
- Demotion (Negative): You lost a match while in Demotion Protection
- Demotion Protection: If you lose again you will rank down
- Wide (Positive and Negative): Your group is wide so you gained or lost less rank
- Pressure (Positive and Negative): You were pushing toward average at a high or low rank
Because of the modifiers, it essentially guarantees that every single match will give you a different amount of rank progress. It should be noted that not every single positive and negative modifier is associated with a win or loss.
The Consolation modifier may appear after a loss due to a non-favorable matchup. Meanwhile Expected may be granted after a win if you were favored to win the match. Calibration, Wide, and Pressure may appear on both wins and losses.
New rank rewards
Season 9’s Competitive overhaul brought changes to the Competitive rewards systems in the form of Jade Weapons. These somewhat replaced old gold weapons, but those are still technically earnable in-game.
Dexerto / BlizzardTo obtain Golden Guns, you will need to use Legacy Competitive Points. Legacy CP can only be gained by converting your regular CP into Legacy ones, which only happens automatically at the end of every rank year.
To get Jade Guns, you’ll have to use regular Competitive Points. These points still work the same as before. A small amount of CP is awarded after each win, and depending on your rank, you’ll receive a set amount at the end of each Competitive season. Here’s a rundown of CP awarded for each match and rank at the end of a season:
- Win: 15 CP
- Draw: 5 CP
- Bronze: 65 CP
- Silver: 125 CP
- Gold: 250 CP
- Platinum: 500 CP
- Diamond: 750 CP
- Master: 1,200 CP
- Grandmaster: 1,750 CP
- Champion: 1,750 CP
Jade weapons aren’t the only reward on the table though. Some titles are awarded to players at the end of the season to commemorate their peak that season.
You will receive these at the end of a season based on your peak. It’s worth noting, these titles are only for the ranks of Gold and up:
| Tank Titles | Damage Titles | Support Titles | Open Challenger Titles |
|---|---|---|---|
| Tank Titles | Damage Titles | Support Titles | Open Challenger Titles |
| Gold Tank | Gold Damage | Gold Support | Gold Open Challenger |
| Platinum Tank | Platinum Damage | Platinum Support | Platinum Open Challenger |
| Diamond Tank | Diamond Damage | Diamond Support | Diamond Open Challenger |
| Master Tank | Master Damage | Master Support | Master Open Challenger |
| Grandmaster Tank | Grandmaster Damage | Grandmaster Support | Grandmaster Open Challenger |
| Top 500 Tank | Top 500 Damage | Top 500 Support | – |
| Champion Tank | Champion Damage | Champion Support | Champion Open Challenger |
Every player who completes a total of 250, 750, and 1750 competitive games gets special titles called Adept Competitor, Seasoned Competitor, and Expert Competitor, respectively.
Additionally, Season 12 introduced a new event called Competitive Drive in which players can earn rewards and get a Competitive Signature. The new cosmetic will add a visual around your BattleTag and will remain until the next Competitive Drive event.
BlizzardThe Signature you will get will depend on how much Competitive Drive you get during the event, with a higher Drive netting you a more advanced Signature.
How to gain SR & rank up
Now, we’re not going to guarantee that you’ll break into Master or Top 500 by following these tips, just to be clear. But, there are some simple things anyone can do — other than using heroes you actually know how to play — that will legitimately increase your chances of winning.
Play with a mic & USE IT
In a team-based game like Overwatch 2, where everyone is focused on their individual role, communication is key. No one wants to hear your life story during a match, but a mic can do wonders for coordination, ultimate combos, and focusing targets.
As a Support, you can let DPS and Tanks know when you need help or when someone is wrecking your backline. Tanks can let teammates know when a shield is about to break, and DPS can let everyone know where their damage is being sent.
Some people don’t like talking to strangers on the internet, and that’s completely understandable. So, how do you deal with this? Take a look at our next tip.
Play with a group
BlizzardIf using a mic can increase win percentage, playing with a group of familiar players can assist even more. This tip can be a challenge though, especially if you lack friends who play Overwatch 2, but there are options to avoid the dreaded solo queue.
Friends who play are an obvious choice, given they’re the same rank as you. If all else fails, don’t be afraid to whisper or invite teammates following a win, if you think you can make it happen again.
Cut your losses
This one seems obvious, but when you’re deep into an Overwatch 2 Comp grind just walking away can be one of the hardest things to do, especially if you’re down SR.
But think about it this way, what’s better? Continue playing while tilted and potentially throwing more percentage into the trash, and even dropping down a rank, or taking a break, maybe heading over to Quick Play or Arcade for a bit? Maybe even go for a walk to get your mind off of that Lucio who didn’t seem to understand the difference between Speed and Healing boost in your last match.
There’s nothing fun about losing multiple matches in a row, but trust us, what’s even less fun is ending up at Silver when you were almost to Plat the week before.
That’s everything you need to know about ranked play in OW2. For more on the FPS, check out our guides for all Mythic skins, how many people play Overwatch 2, and all Overwatch characters & their abilities.