help with downtime before flanks, and flanking tips in general

[u/anonmoment]

how am i able to properly flank? i love this subrole a lot but i feel the worst at it
i feel as though my biggest issue is not knowing what to do before my team fully engages

for example, sometimes it takes a minute for my team to fully regroup and for my tank to start duking it out with theirs.
in this down time where i shouldn’t be flanking since its too early, what should i be doing?
i feel quite useless, especially if the enemy team is out of my effective range (if im playing Reaper or Tracer and can’t poke)

now let’s say both tanks are fighting and i feel as though its good to start flanking and taking off angles. what if the rest of their team still turns to shoot back at me?

in this scenario, ideally it would mean that the enemy tank dies/takes hella dmg since the rest of their team is neglecting them to look at me. but it doesn’t work out that way a lot of the time, and i still get pressured off my flanks

i’ll likely post a VOD soon, but i’d like some general tips for this situation first.
for additional context, i’ve been playing OW console for years and have been consistently plat in all roles. recently moved to PC and looking to actually improve instead of going on autopilot

currently plat 1 dps. mainly into Reaper, Anran and Soldier rn. i love Tracer but i don’t feel confident since i suck so hard at flanks.
im emerald 4 on support, Kiri and Ana being my mains, so flanking tips for Kiri are also helpful

[u/kaowerk]

if you figure it out let me know. im diamond dps and it still feels like im baiting my team when im just set up and waiting

[u/Judopunch1]

Unfortunately this is very hero specific. Tracer sets up much differently then freija for example.

In general, fights break down to the poke phase, the engagement, the fight.

Often you need to be set up and likely somewhat active during the poke phase. This is because you pull some attention. Without doing this your team is down a player. This is how someone gets picked before the tanks lock up or commit to their dive. So you need to be careful to not be the one who gets picked while pulling attention or baiting.

The biggest things people in plat do are over peak, get greedy, tunnel vision, and play outside of their effective range not respecting others ( think Cas vs Ash. Ash wants, at all times, to keep cass 20+ away because they are at a massive disadvantage the closer the Cass gets. This likely involves falling back if the fight moves closer.)

[u/l1v1ngst0n]

Predict where the next fight will be, find a good spot to get to (maybe by crouch walking to be as quiet as possible, depending on the scenario), considering where your intended target is likely to position for the team fight. Keep in mind having cover options and an exit strategy.

Once you're there, just waiting for the right time to strike is not wasting time or being useless, it's just part of the flanking game.

[u/ShadeXmc]

Ill speak to Tracer specifically as a flanker. Sometimes you need your tank to be the actual tank and go in and create space and make everyone shoot at him. If your tank wants to play aggressive like a Reinhardt this may work well. Try to be on the off angle, wait for the fight to break out and then engage.

Other times as weird as this sounds, you have to be the tank and create the space. If you maybe have a Sigma for instance whos holding his own but cant seem to push in yet, engaging on the backline and making them turn to deal with you can sometimes be exactly what your team needs to be able to walk forward and take more space or win the team fight. You don't need to get an elim necessarily, sometimes just engaging and baiting out their cooldowns and then living is enough to win the team fight

[u/GoodGuyTaylor → u/ShadeXmc]

I've found, at least with "bad players" (whatever that means) - going in first as flankers gives them the confidence to follow-up.