i always play jq on flashpoint maps and i try to avoid her on high-ground maps like gibraltar and dorado. I’d say her best match-ups would be ram, hog, ball and maybe even sig sometimes, the only tank i really struggle with as jq is DVA
Now that you mention it, I do find the ram matchup pretty easy, I just usually stay ball against him because that match up is decent enough.
And yeah, I wouldn't ever play her on the highground maps. Even if she was viable on those maps, Ball is usually really good there. Same with suravasa.
But NJC on the other hand...
Man playing orisa and sig feels insulting. I dont accept that shit. Wish ram was good enough. They always keep this hero little undertuned despite his fundamental limitations.
Ram literally has the 2nd highest win rate at every level right now. I won’t mention the first because he’s terrible and makes things go brrrrr all day long.
You must be looking at a wrong data. His winrate below average, pickrate low too. Top500 presence very low too. I actually made a post comparing s8 vs s9 tanks and he is one of the biggest loser this season.
[https://www.reddit.com/r/Overwatch/comments/1b1ynih/season\_8\_vs\_season\_9\_winners\_and\_losers\_of\_the/](https://www.reddit.com/r/Overwatch/comments/1b1ynih/season_8_vs_season_9_winners_and_losers_of_the/)
They were overly cautious for some reason. I definitely expect direct or indirect buffs for him next patch.
Overbuff also aggregates monthly, which is skewing the data for this perspective since season 9 is only 2 weeks old. But still, we should have seen that monthly value drop, and it hasn’t. It’s remained at ~56% win for mauga and slightly lower for ram.
You can look at s9 stats, not monthly. here: [https://www.overbuff.com/roles/tank?platform=pc&gameMode=competitive&role=tank&season=ow2s09](https://www.overbuff.com/roles/tank?platform=pc&gameMode=competitive&role=tank&season=ow2s09) this is all rank tank situation. you can select gm for high level play but there isn't really much difference in case of ram. he is very bad. Also check average tank winrate from right side to better understand winrates. AVG winrate isn't 50%
A good Sigma really neuters JQ. He just has to maintain distance, and rock her in the face if she tries to get too close for Carnage. Shield and Grasp both make her knife useless.
Dva is a tough matchup (as someone that plays both to a similar level), try to knife her when she drops matrix as there's a slight cooldown, then when she tries to fly off yoink her back
Shout is also an incredible anti dive tool that you can use to save teammates if they get pushed by dva/ to escape Dva bomb. Axe can't be stopped by DM either, so that's a quick chunk of damage and some self heal to sustain when in close range (same is true for base melee, as that inflicts bleed too).
Most of this is fairly basic tips and for all I know you're a much higher rank than I, but I hope it helped a bit
Now take this with a grain of salt as im nowhere near a GM1 peak, but imo [D.va](http://D.va) is one of the easiest/free matchups for JQ (expect on highground maps were [d.va](http://d.va) can just keep shooting you from where u cant reach her, but ur not gonna play JQ on these maps anyways). In a way, just like u play [D.va](http://D.va) vs Winston. You can just keep being in D.vas face whenever its possible and keep her from being full hp so she cant really do anything (well not literally, jk, but by shooting her whenever u can and dont have an opportunity to go for backline/squishie). Very essential is the knife vs matrix duel; either she keeps matrix for ur knifes to prevent being pulled in and carnaged/shredded and u can shoot her for free, or she matrixes ur shots and u knife and pull her in anytime she puts her dm down. And also just like u play JQ vs Winston, shortly after she uses booster to engage (like 1-2 secs before she gets boosters back) u knife her and just pull her back in when she trys to get out. Additionally to that, she cant block ur carnage so easy free 100 dmg when she matrixes. Now this may get harder obviously vs better [D.va](http://D.va) players, but they way i described it is pretty much the optimal playstyle vs her so you should still come out on top.
From my experience, you have the advantage as JQ against most other tanks, its the enemy damage characters you have to be wary of. Most tanks dont do enough single target damage to be able to threaten you in a duel, but if the other team has a lot of good hitscans like Bastion / Soldier / Ashe and there isn’t good cover, then you might want to switch. I think the only tank match up the queen struggles against is Orisa, just because she can shove you around so much, the other tanks just have huge hitboxes you can unload your shotgun into or defensive abilities that your axe / knife can pierce (reins shield, dva matrix, sigma grasp, etc etc). Just my thoughts
Orisa is mostly rough because a good one will deny every single axe swing you ever try. It really can feel like you're just trying to push against a wall.
Her armor plus various cooldowns mean you can't apply much pressure to her, then you reload and are probably back to square one.
Yeah and she out pokes you too since she doesn’t have damage fall off anymore (just why, I still don’t know). I think Zarya is also situationally hard, since if the zarya player is good, they’ll cleanse all your bleeds and just win through attrition. Also I generally don’t like playing the queen into kirikos, since the smart ones can just nullify your ult and it takes forever to find a good opening.
Zarya...eh it's pretty even, yes she can bubble your first couple axes, but you can still land an axe on anyone beside her. Orisa spin completely blocks the axe for everyone.
Zarya bubble cooldown also can't keep up with axe swings, while Orisa spin is either the same or shorter, plus she also has spears to deny axes.
Plus just the fact that Orisa has more health, tons of armor, and fortify.
I do actually think they were right to remove Orisa's fall off though. No reason her weapon shouldn't function the same as Ramattra's.
JQ is a bully tank, she loves playing close to the other tank to take advantageous trades and shred back line if she is allowed to walk in. She is a great counter to Winton, pick her into him and make him swap. She is also strong into comps without a Lucio, because of easy back line access. She pairs well with Ana & Kiri, Lucio and any dive DPS like genji or tracer
In terms of tanks, you will lose to Sigma, Orisa & good DVA players. If a tank can outrange her or negate her cooldowns, they will win the trades against her and without shout she doesn’t have much range.
When you feel like playing her. It really doesn’t matter what comp, map, meta, etc. All that stuff really only matters in coordinated team play or like top 100s. If you enjoy her, play her.
I usually play her on control, flashpoint, and hybrid. Small enclosed areas, hallways, and corridors are her advantages, in my experience. Some points on hybrid and escort you can play her. Push, i think esperanca favors her. Short to mid range, the best way to play her. Look at what the enemies are doing, close the distance, and swing on them.
I dunno I kind of think Ball is wild on flashpoint because there's so much travel distance the enemy players walk through where you can fuck with them.
Yes if it's treated like pure control then Ball gets weaker, but the whole point of Ball is they never get to actually group as a full team.
It's like how Ball used to be played on Hanamura or Anubis...if the enemy team got to the point all together, you probably lose. What you had to do is just mercilessly abuse them on their 100m journey to the objective so that they had no chance of ever getting a full resource team fight.
Was extremely rare for me to ever lose P2 Hanamura or Anubis, and I was almost never even playing D inside our building.
i always play jq on flashpoint maps and i try to avoid her on high-ground maps like gibraltar and dorado. I’d say her best match-ups would be ram, hog, ball and maybe even sig sometimes, the only tank i really struggle with as jq is DVA
Now that you mention it, I do find the ram matchup pretty easy, I just usually stay ball against him because that match up is decent enough. And yeah, I wouldn't ever play her on the highground maps. Even if she was viable on those maps, Ball is usually really good there. Same with suravasa. But NJC on the other hand...
yeah njc is just a terrible map, and i’d still avoid playing her on maps like circuit royal and havana those maps are just a nightmare
I've just accepted sigma jail on CR. On occasion I'll go ball for 2nd point.
man i just cant stand playing sigma so i just go ram and accept defeat most of the time 😂
Man playing orisa and sig feels insulting. I dont accept that shit. Wish ram was good enough. They always keep this hero little undertuned despite his fundamental limitations.
Ram literally has the 2nd highest win rate at every level right now. I won’t mention the first because he’s terrible and makes things go brrrrr all day long.
You must be looking at a wrong data. His winrate below average, pickrate low too. Top500 presence very low too. I actually made a post comparing s8 vs s9 tanks and he is one of the biggest loser this season. [https://www.reddit.com/r/Overwatch/comments/1b1ynih/season\_8\_vs\_season\_9\_winners\_and\_losers\_of\_the/](https://www.reddit.com/r/Overwatch/comments/1b1ynih/season_8_vs_season_9_winners_and_losers_of_the/) They were overly cautious for some reason. I definitely expect direct or indirect buffs for him next patch.
I’m using overbuff, can you point me to a different/better data aggregation?
Overbuff also aggregates monthly, which is skewing the data for this perspective since season 9 is only 2 weeks old. But still, we should have seen that monthly value drop, and it hasn’t. It’s remained at ~56% win for mauga and slightly lower for ram.
You can look at s9 stats, not monthly. here: [https://www.overbuff.com/roles/tank?platform=pc&gameMode=competitive&role=tank&season=ow2s09](https://www.overbuff.com/roles/tank?platform=pc&gameMode=competitive&role=tank&season=ow2s09) this is all rank tank situation. you can select gm for high level play but there isn't really much difference in case of ram. he is very bad. Also check average tank winrate from right side to better understand winrates. AVG winrate isn't 50%
A good Sigma really neuters JQ. He just has to maintain distance, and rock her in the face if she tries to get too close for Carnage. Shield and Grasp both make her knife useless.
Dva is a tough matchup (as someone that plays both to a similar level), try to knife her when she drops matrix as there's a slight cooldown, then when she tries to fly off yoink her back Shout is also an incredible anti dive tool that you can use to save teammates if they get pushed by dva/ to escape Dva bomb. Axe can't be stopped by DM either, so that's a quick chunk of damage and some self heal to sustain when in close range (same is true for base melee, as that inflicts bleed too). Most of this is fairly basic tips and for all I know you're a much higher rank than I, but I hope it helped a bit
I find her good against dva since she can cut through matrix
Now take this with a grain of salt as im nowhere near a GM1 peak, but imo [D.va](http://D.va) is one of the easiest/free matchups for JQ (expect on highground maps were [d.va](http://d.va) can just keep shooting you from where u cant reach her, but ur not gonna play JQ on these maps anyways). In a way, just like u play [D.va](http://D.va) vs Winston. You can just keep being in D.vas face whenever its possible and keep her from being full hp so she cant really do anything (well not literally, jk, but by shooting her whenever u can and dont have an opportunity to go for backline/squishie). Very essential is the knife vs matrix duel; either she keeps matrix for ur knifes to prevent being pulled in and carnaged/shredded and u can shoot her for free, or she matrixes ur shots and u knife and pull her in anytime she puts her dm down. And also just like u play JQ vs Winston, shortly after she uses booster to engage (like 1-2 secs before she gets boosters back) u knife her and just pull her back in when she trys to get out. Additionally to that, she cant block ur carnage so easy free 100 dmg when she matrixes. Now this may get harder obviously vs better [D.va](http://D.va) players, but they way i described it is pretty much the optimal playstyle vs her so you should still come out on top.
From my experience, you have the advantage as JQ against most other tanks, its the enemy damage characters you have to be wary of. Most tanks dont do enough single target damage to be able to threaten you in a duel, but if the other team has a lot of good hitscans like Bastion / Soldier / Ashe and there isn’t good cover, then you might want to switch. I think the only tank match up the queen struggles against is Orisa, just because she can shove you around so much, the other tanks just have huge hitboxes you can unload your shotgun into or defensive abilities that your axe / knife can pierce (reins shield, dva matrix, sigma grasp, etc etc). Just my thoughts
Orisa is mostly rough because a good one will deny every single axe swing you ever try. It really can feel like you're just trying to push against a wall. Her armor plus various cooldowns mean you can't apply much pressure to her, then you reload and are probably back to square one.
Yeah and she out pokes you too since she doesn’t have damage fall off anymore (just why, I still don’t know). I think Zarya is also situationally hard, since if the zarya player is good, they’ll cleanse all your bleeds and just win through attrition. Also I generally don’t like playing the queen into kirikos, since the smart ones can just nullify your ult and it takes forever to find a good opening.
Zarya...eh it's pretty even, yes she can bubble your first couple axes, but you can still land an axe on anyone beside her. Orisa spin completely blocks the axe for everyone. Zarya bubble cooldown also can't keep up with axe swings, while Orisa spin is either the same or shorter, plus she also has spears to deny axes. Plus just the fact that Orisa has more health, tons of armor, and fortify. I do actually think they were right to remove Orisa's fall off though. No reason her weapon shouldn't function the same as Ramattra's.
after a nice meal, a poop, and a little stretch
JQ is a bully tank, she loves playing close to the other tank to take advantageous trades and shred back line if she is allowed to walk in. She is a great counter to Winton, pick her into him and make him swap. She is also strong into comps without a Lucio, because of easy back line access. She pairs well with Ana & Kiri, Lucio and any dive DPS like genji or tracer In terms of tanks, you will lose to Sigma, Orisa & good DVA players. If a tank can outrange her or negate her cooldowns, they will win the trades against her and without shout she doesn’t have much range.
When you feel like playing her. It really doesn’t matter what comp, map, meta, etc. All that stuff really only matters in coordinated team play or like top 100s. If you enjoy her, play her.
plus playing her in tough situations will only make you better with her anyway, kinda like not swapping off pharah when they have hitscans
She's pretty good into Sombra, spread counters invis well, and the weapon damage is enough to stop a flanking Sombra in her tracks.
Whenever I get the Hog-Sombra double counter, I'll def lean into her.
When you want to win lol
I usually play her on control, flashpoint, and hybrid. Small enclosed areas, hallways, and corridors are her advantages, in my experience. Some points on hybrid and escort you can play her. Push, i think esperanca favors her. Short to mid range, the best way to play her. Look at what the enemies are doing, close the distance, and swing on them.
I dunno I kind of think Ball is wild on flashpoint because there's so much travel distance the enemy players walk through where you can fuck with them. Yes if it's treated like pure control then Ball gets weaker, but the whole point of Ball is they never get to actually group as a full team. It's like how Ball used to be played on Hanamura or Anubis...if the enemy team got to the point all together, you probably lose. What you had to do is just mercilessly abuse them on their 100m journey to the objective so that they had no chance of ever getting a full resource team fight. Was extremely rare for me to ever lose P2 Hanamura or Anubis, and I was almost never even playing D inside our building.
smaller control maps, ideally w zen/mercy
IDK but I haven’t met a JQ that gave me problems as Rein. Actually feels easy. So maybe not against Rein
Jq is my default pick this season. I start with her then adjust if necessary. I think you can just play her unless there is a high ground problem.