Overwatch 2 ranks: SR, skill tiers, rewards, more

❘ Published: 2024-01-18T10:10:23

Blizzard Entertainment

Overwatch 2 is a competitive shooter and millions of players dive into the game to climb the rank ladder. The ranking system is a bit different than its prequel, so if you’re wondering what are all the ranks in Overwatch 2, here’s all you need to know about the SR, various rank tiers, and more.

Overwatch 2 is among the biggest FPS titles, with Blizzard consistently pumping new content for millions of players to enjoy. While Season 8 is approaching its final few weeks, it brought a new Tank, Mauga, along with several balance changes and Winter Wonderland to celebrate the festive season.

Of course, the Competitive mode is largely the same, although it has quite a few changes if you compare it to the previous title. One of the biggest changes was to the ranking system in Overwatch 2, which introduced tiers for every skill division and different ranks for each role.

Whether you’re returning to the franchise after a long period or simply curious to learn about the ranks in Overwatch 2, here’s all you need to know about the Skill Ratings, tiers, rewards, and much more.

Overwatch 2 rank system explained
How to unlock Competitive Play in Overwatch 2
How is Overwatch 2 SR set: Is it hard to rank up in OW2?
All Overwatch 2 ranks for Competitive Play
Overwatch 2 Competitive Points & rewards
What rank is average Overwatch 2 player?
What ranks can you queue with in Overwatch 2?

Overwatch 2 rank system explained

Overwatch 2 ranking system is similar to that in the first title.

The ranking system in Overwatch is very close to what Blizzard had in the prequel. Your rank is determined by your SR, which is short for Skill Rating. As the name suggests, it’s just like the MMR in various major titles, and it’s a rating that determines how good you are in the ranked mode of the game.

Naturally, the higher your SR, the better your rank in Overwatch 2. There are several factors that might affect your rank but eventually, it all boils down to increasing your SR through winning matches, if you wish to climb up the ranks.

How to unlock Competitive Play in Overwatch 2

You need to complete the First-Time User Experience and win 50 Quick Play matches to start playing ranked or Competitive in Overwatch 2.

Unless you played Competitive in the original game, you can’t simply jump straight into Competitive mode in Overwatch 2 the first time you log in.

If you were a Competitive player in the original Overwatch, then as long as you’re on the same account, you’ll be able to jump into Competitive straight away. That said, you may not be able to play with your friends if they are just getting started, as your rank will be too high for them.

Blizzard explained that the incentive is to give “new players time to prepare for the higher expectations that come with Competitive,” without discouraging veteran players by giving them teammates who have less experience.

How is Overwatch 2 SR set: Is it hard to rank up in OW2?

In Overwatch 2, you’ll be given a rank after five wins or 15 losses. Your rank is different for each role in both Role and Open Queues, as opposed to the same rank for all the roles in the original Overwatch.

While many in the community speculate that your individual performance in Overwatch 2 matters a lot during the placement matches, focusing on the objective and teamplay is significantly more important. This will yield a higher chance of you winning the match and pocketing the SR.

If you focus on the objectives and supporting your team, or simply playing around your team if you’re rocking a DPS, you’ll find it easy to rank up in OW2.

All Overwatch 2 ranks for Competitive Play

Overwatch 2 has an interesting rank progression system in Competitive.

Overwatch 2 has ranks ranging from Bronze to Grandmaster, similar to the prequel, but each rank has five tiers as well. Additionally, while on the Competitive Play section, you can see the Top 500 Leaderboard in each season and region.

Here’s a breakdown of Overwatch 2’s ranks and tiers:

Bronze: 5 to 1
Silver: 5 to 1
Gold: 5 to 1
Platinum: 5 to 1
Diamond: 5 to 1
Master: 5 to 1
Grandmaster: 5 to 1
Top 500: Top 500 players in your region (Asia, Europe, Americas)

The Top 500 Leaderboard is separated by input pool, a concept that should be similar to anyone who played Modern Warfare 2 Ranked Play or Apex Legends with its Predator rank.

You’ll need to “complete 25 games for any given role in Role Queue or 50 games in Open Queue” to qualify, and cross-platform players can see the leaderboards separated by input.

With your ranks being different for each role, you can be Diamond while playing DPS but can be a lower rank like Silver or Bronze when playing Tanks.

Overwatch 2 Competitive Points & rewards

You can earn various rewards for playing Competitive.

Overwatch 2 players can earn rewards to show off their Competitive prowess, but these have changed since the original game.

With commemorative sprays and icons removed, Overwatch 2 players will be earning “limited Competitive titles for your name card.” You’ll receive the new title at the end of the Competitive season, and they can only be used in the following season until they’re replaced again.

You’ll also earn Competitive Points (CP) at the end of the season for wins, draws, and the highest Skill Tier you reach. But these are capped to the highest skill tier you reach in any of your roles, so if you reach Master with Support but Diamond with Tank, you’ll only get the CP for reaching Master.

You can also unlock the Gold Weapon skin for any hero using 3,000 CP.

Here’s a breakdown of the CP you’ll earn when playing Overwatch Competitive:

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

What rank is the average Overwatch 2 player?

The average Overwatch 2 player has a Gold rank. You can check the rank distribution in Overwatch 2 if you’re curious to know more about the ranks of the playerbase.

What ranks can you queue with in Overwatch 2?

If you’re a higher rank than your friends in Overwatch 2, you might find that you’re unable to queue for Competitive. Bronze, Silver, Gold, Platinum, and Diamond players can queue with a lobby of up to five, as long as everyone is within two skill tiers.

So, if you’re Silver 3, you can play with Silver 1 or 5, but if you’re Bronze, you can’t queue with higher ranks like Gold in Overwatch 2.

However, Grandmaster players can only party up with one player who’s within three skill tier divisions. Finally, the Top 500 players can queue with one player as well, but the player needs to be in that region’s Leaderboard or Top 500.

So there you have it! That’s all you need to know about the ranking system and ranks in Overwatch 2. For more content on the game, be sure to give these a look: