What are Overwatch 2 ranks? SR, tiers, & rewards explained

The Overwatch 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 all competitive ranks, their tiers, and all ranked rewards.

Season 11 of Overwatch 2 is here, and players are starting to get their grind back on to climb the ranked ladder. We’re a couple of seasons out from the comprehensive overhauls to Competitive that came in Season 9, and everyone’s MMR has started to settle once again.

Unlike Quick Play or Arcade, the Competitive mode in Overwatch 2 is all about playing your best and leaving it all on the field. It’s where players come to test their mettle against other players of their skill level and, ultimately try to climb higher. 

In Season 9’s Overwatch had a soft MMR reset that crunched everyone’s skill levels closer to each other as somewhat of a clean slate. It also brought all kinds of quality of life things, such as players finally being able to see their exact rank and level at all times.

If you are wondering what the ranks in Overwatch 2 are, here’s everything you need to know about ranking up, SR, and more.

The ranking system in Overwatch 2 is almost similar to that of the original shooter in Overwatch 1. However, with Season 9’s Competitive overhaul, things have drastically changed. 

As we mentioned, 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.

SR, technically isn’t used anymore in Overwatch 2 as it is a relic of Overwatch 1, especially now in 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.

During Season 9’s Competitive overhaul, every player was hit with a rank reset. However, the next one shouldn’t hit for another couple of seasons, so for the time being, you don’t need to do placements at the beginning of Season 11.

However, if you’ve not played since Season 9, you will have to place. Your placement match across your Role and Open Queues will determine your rank after your first 10 games. Your performance in the first 10 games will determine your rank placements.

Thanks to changes in Season 9, your rank now updates after every single match, with a Competitive progress bar to help players track how far they are to ranking up, or ranking down. As of Season 11, you can also check your percentage through a rank by going into Competitive and hitting Competitive Progress.

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. However, there are also other modifiers that 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 punished harshly if you are on win or loss streaks.

Overwatch 2 players will be placed in any rank from Bronze to Master after their placement matches are done. Each rank operates as a different tier. If you get enough SR, you advance to the next rank. If you lose too much, you risk being demoted down.

The full breakdown of each Overwatch 2 competitive rank is as follows:

To avoid confusion, Top 500 doesn’t really work like a traditional rank. It is more of a title bestowed to the best player in a role. As the name suggests, these are the top 500 players in a region, on a role, on that 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, especially around a rank reset.

The vast majority of Overwatch players end up in Silver, Gold, and Platinum though. So, if you don’t make it into Diamond or Master right after placements, don’t worry – most of us haven’t either.

Season 9’s Competitive overhaul also 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.

To 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.

At the start of Season 9, everybody’s existing Competitive Points from Season 8 and before were automatically converted.

To get Jade Guns, you will need 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:

Jade weapons aren’t the only reward on the table though. There are also titles that are awarded to players at the end of the season to commemorate their peak that season. As of Season 11, these titles are now broken up by Role. You will receive these at the end of a season based upon your peak. It’s worth noting, these titles are only for the ranks of Gold and up. Here are all the titles you can get

Every player who completes a total of 250, 750, and 1750 competitive games get special titles called Adept Competitor, Seasoned Competitor, and Expert Competitor, respectively.

The sequel also brings a new tier of skins called “Mythic Skins” into the game. Here’s our guide on how to unlock Mythic Skins in Overwatch 2.

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.

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 complete strangers on the internet, and that’s completely understandable. So, how do you deal with this? Take a look at our next tip.

If 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.

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.

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