Tracer is an extremely strong hero with a high skill cap rating (3/3 stars). As such, she requires more advanced multitasking and thinking when playing her. And she's funny! "Tip top!" Now heroes, let's get started and "Don't forget to stretch!"

The Pro Scene:

With the rise of the Overwatch Pro Scene, we get to see events such as the ESL Atlantic Showdown. It is in events such as this that we really get to see a hero shine. Tracer is a very high skill cap hero, and with a pro at the mouse, we get to witness her value first hand in various important matches.

Mitch 'UberShouts' Leslie, an ESL commentator and host, notes the value of Tracer with his commentary from a match between NIP and Melty eSports, which took place during the ESL Atlantic Showdown. Loosely paraphrased, he notes that Tracer players should be confident. A good Tracer can really shake up the game (in a good way), but a lot of teams get stuck in the Genji/McCree meta. In other words, don't be afraid to give Tracer a spin! Leslie's later comments about the match further promoted Tracer,

"It's a good game to take that away from as Melty chose to flex their Offtank player to Tracer, so they at least had one. A good example of a team that recognizes her value... a fairly unique example of this, but still a strong statement in favor of Tracer, especially on King of the Hill maps."

Tracer is an integral part of play making and winning those precious Overwatch matches for Pros. Let's make her an important part of everyone's arsenal and see what we can do to learn a little bit more about her. Don't miss out on this hero friends!

Purpose:

- Assassinating other squishies. Picking off Supports in the back line, creating an instantaneous team fight advantage for you and your team.

- Distracting opponents from their objective (i.e. capturing your point, pushing the payload, etc.).





Map Awareness:

- You should know the health pack locations for every map. Knowing health pack locations allows you to operate separately from your Support, and gives you the opportunity to beat low health opponents to nearby health packs and finish them off.

- Tracer flanks well, so know your maps. Knowing a map's entry and exit points can determine life, death, and PotG.

- Know your maps for health and flanking opportunities, but also for shortcuts, like blinking over building gaps or base jumping. For example, on attack on Volskaya Industries, you can blink around the left side of the map to reach the capture point rather than pushing through the main choke point. This is also helpful when trying to take down an enemy sniper. There are building tops Tracer can blink across to reach areas that are only otherwise accessible by heroes with teleports or dashing abilities.

- Know where your team is and how they are doing. This illustrates the pace of the game, and thus how much freedom you have to flank your opponent's backline. For example, if your team is losing, you must use game sense to decide whether it is better to group, or flank your opponents backline for a possible game changing play.

- You're great on Capture maps such as Lijiang Tower/Nepal and Payload maps like Route 66; when the clock is ticking, she's a quick, maneuverable hero that can contest and flank on a map with lots of entry and exit points.





Synergies and Counters:

- Zarya: Projected Barrier provides you with the freedom to roam and make plays.

- Zenyatta: Orb of Harmony also provides you with the freedom to roam.

- Mei: Tracer excels against Mei; she can escape Endothermic Blaster and outplay Cryo-Freeze with Pulse Bomb. Just stick her right before ice block ends.

- Reinhardt: Tracer can out play and kill tanks, but be careful not to corner yourself against heroes like Reinhardt. Use your Blinks wisely.

- Winston: Kite him. Blink away (towards teammates if possible) and once he uses his jump, which is on a lengthy cooldown, pepper him with bullets.

- Tracer: She is often the best answer to an enemy doppelgänger.

- Roadhog: Be especially cautious of Roadhog, as a hook means insta-death. Use Blink and the map environment to outplay him.

- Reaper and Zenyatta: Close range shot guns and Discord Orb make quick work of Tracer's 150 point health pool.

- Genji: Tracer can out play popular attack heroes like Genji with Recall, so use it wisely.

- Pharah and Lucio: she is good against heroes that have the ability to execute environmental kills. Simply use Recall to get back onto solid ground.

- Ana: Watch out for Ana's Sleep Dart, it's basically insta-death if any opponents react to it.





Pulse Bomb Tips:

- Use Pulse Bomb often, as it is one of the faster charging Ults in the game.

- Pairs well with Zarya Ult for some sick multi-kills.

- Watch for opponents to group up. A bunch of opponents is a great opportunity for your Ult.

- Play risker with Ult up, even if you die, you can make the other team pay for it by dropping Pulse Bomb since you're a close range hero anyway, but watch the clock and overtime when doing so.

General Tips:

- Watch your Blinks and Recall CDs: they are good for making up for mistakes and your limited health pool.

- Play her in QP before Competitive. Practice sticking enemies and saving Recall to pair with your Ult.

- Always headshot. She is Reaper-like, so staying close range and bullets to the head are the best option.

- It's all about Blink management.

- Pay attention to Tracer's voice lines and reaction noises/sound cues. These are key indicators that she needs health or is in danger. I often notice the sound cues regarding her health before the visual cues, because you're often so focused on eliminating opponents. With the lowest amount of health in the game, you need to pay attention to her health more so than other heroes.

- Don't be afraid to make mistakes. She's a high skill cap hero and requires practice for optimal use.

- Duo queue. Play with someone you know, this way you know you have back up when you're in the middle of the enemy team. This will let you play more aggressively as well. For example, playing with your own personal Reaper lets you both wreak havoc on your opponents, you'll know there's someone there to watch your back and clean up any survivors.

Next time you log into Overwatch heroes, jump on those voice comms and yell, "Cheers, love! The cavalry's here!"

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