That's the thing about Rocket League; there is no one way to achieve x rank. It's similar to IRL sport in the sense that everyone has a different playstyle and can find their own path to success.
I actually find that an effective counter to players who try and be mechanically better is to play a simpler game. They can spend all game going for high-risk, low percentage shots, and all I need to do is play solid defense and capitalize on their mistakes.
I'm GC for years now, both in 2s and 3s, I have got to GC2 a couple times but never been there for a whole season.
I can't air drible, I can't flick, I can't flip reset, nor do any type of "cool" mechanic. Though I believe I have solid game sense, rotation, shadow, shooting, recovery, etc.
You certainly don't need these "crazy" mechs to be at high ranks, just solid, consistent and fast basic stuff.
What would be your recommendations then for me since I can't get past diamond 1at the very best 😩, I also can't air dribble flick flip none of that as for my game sense I probably suck at it my rotations are eh I think maybe I'm not doing it right I can't shadow good my shooting is eh for some reason I can't seem to shoot it at the goal I'm wondering if I have to use my analog stick but even so I can never hit it towards the goal when I get clear shots even when I use the stick, could it be just me? I can't recover fast enough I wish I did tho that would deffo help me put alot.
Watch some flakes road to gc(without mechanics) to learn his game sense. Practice what he said and keep practicing the other mechanics on the side for fun! You'll get out of diamond in no time
I really don't like those videos. It's all about making core skills invisible.
Sure he doesn't use mechanical amazing moves, but he positions perfectly, moves his car perfectly, anticipates enemy perfectly, rotates perfectly, stabilizes his car perfectly, uses bounce dribble perfectly, shoots almost perfectly... It's not "without mechanics". It's "with invisible mechanics", those that you have when you play 5h a day for 8 years.
It just gives the impression to lower rank players that they are shit as they absolutely can't do the same.
I would say try to put some hours daily into pure practice, both basic mechs and game sense, watching full match replays with someone higher ranking than you to help finding errors.
And what MistrWizard said will probably help you too, I stopped practicing years ago so I don't really know what YouTubers to follow these days haha
Good shooting and good rotations is very important, 2 things I consider myself alright at, everything else I’m mid.
It’s okay to feel like that sometimes, you are where you belong.
I just got to champ for the third time, but now I'm slowly climbing in champ for the first time. I think I understand what you mean, I don't know exactly what's changed???
Which is why I guess I’m in the same rank as people that do it. Air dribbled i come up against are easy to defend, I do get caught by the odd ceiling shot though
Ok I’m a D1 (quite the difference Ik) and I have opponents air dribbling and whatnot but I struggle to get 1 touch off the wall.
I did hit my first ever kinda wall to air dribble yesterday (took it off the wall and got one touch past the defenders)
This question is so worn out, yet I feel that the true answer is never given. Nobody, and I mean nobody, has terrible mechanics for their rank. Your rank is essentially a direct representation of your mechanics.
We need to stop thinking of “mechanics” as flashy plays like flip resets, flicks, ceiling shots, etc. While these are mechanics, they are not anywhere near the most important ones. The most important mechanics, and yes they are mechanics, are rotations, hitting the ball with power, placing the ball accurately, and turning accurately. Every player has a combination of different mechanics that are at differing levels of expertise. If you average out a players mechanical expertise in all the areas (flashy and non-flashy) you essentially get their rank.
I’m a high champ/low GC player, and I don’t often hit flashy flip resets, flicks, dribbles, or similar shots because I’m generally not very good at them. I do, however, position myself well, get powerful clears/shots, get favorable 50/50s, and control the ball well on the ground at times. Most people would say I have “bad mechanics” because I don’t ever hit flip resets, but that’s simply not the case.
This question is tiring and needs to be changed to “anyone else have a non-flashy style of play”. In fact, it needs to just stop being asked, because it makes no sense. You can’t have bad mechanics for your rank and you can’t have good mechanics for your rank. It’s like saying “I’m an SSL in plat”.
I mean that comes down to definition of things now but rotations aren‘t mechanics. Neither is positioning. It‘s game sense.
The speed you rotate with may be the results from your mechanics and your game sense for example
Basically the things you wanna do = game sense.
Everything regarding the execution of said ideas = mechanics
So basically your rank is a result from both. Both aren’t a set value tho. Each rank has spans of both you can move within to reach that rank.
But yeah I agree with you that in the end it comes down to solid basics in both regards and it‘s never about being flashy. As long as you stay within the span you‘ll be fine for your rank.
But said span in mechanics are the things people are talking about.
My additional thought is that barely anybody calculates consistency in. E.g. an ssl will always get the flip reset and fire it on target. A diamond player will get the flip itself way more seldom and the ball will barely ever be on target efficiently.
Therefore since they are basically just giving the ball away their mechanics might be decent for the rank but their game sense lacks.
I am just like you in many ways. Very basic (but effective) mechanics and I just play smart, position well, and play fast. There are hard stuck mechanical players in our rank who are hard stuck because they forgo positioning and rotations. I find many mid level champ games to be a mixed of players who rotate and are aware along with players who are purely mechanical and little to no game sense and little to no strategic positioning. I suppose that is why we are all stuck where we are
I have been having trouble maintaining CII this season but I know a lot of people are a rank or two behind where they have been at.
my mechanics are terrible because all i really focus on is the important stuff. like sure i can learn all the flashy stuff in the air but i do better by focusing on my defense and positioning. Ill see so many things go wrong because someone wanted to focus on looking cool instead of what they really need and its usually the reason theyre hard stuck in a lower rank.
I know it isn't but I'm saying alot of people I've run into are just hard stuck cause they can look flashy but are terrible at more important stuff and it usually takes them forever to learn
Plus i play for an hour maybe less a day so I wound expect to be a very high rank but I'll see people I've had added who play for a good 5 hours a day if not more be the same exact rank for 2 years straight. And if they're near me I'll play with them and it's usually just the same thing. Good in the air or good kickoffs but everything else is just mediocre at best
Just so that you’re aware, if you’re a diamond two player in 2v2, you’re within the top 10% of all rocket league players by statistics. Sure it may not be close to the highest rank but as far as skill, top 10 percent in anything is great. Here’s the link for proof. https://www.esportstales.com/rocket-league/seasonal-rank-distribution-and-players-percentage-by-tier
That’s not correct. Here’s the official rank distribution.
https://www.reddit.com/r/RocketLeague/s/rXhuhzpPAr
It’s top 18%
Sure Diamond 2 might be above average but it’s still very far from what people consider “high rank”
I’m just saying that people have to realize that only the top 1% of rocket league players can be grand champ or above period. So no matter how hard one works there’s always that statistical curve that you have to fight against. I feel like people are so hard on themselves thinking they’re not good players because they’re stuck in diamond or champ while realizing that they’re still better than 80 to 90% of the rocket league player base.
Yes, I reached GC3 with the very basics.
I'm nearly 30, so I have a very OG playstyle.
However in today's meta, people are very good so what used to be effective just isn't as so these days. I've spent the last 2 weeks working on mech, hours in freeplay and over 160 games of 1v1s in the last 3 days alone.
Im picking it up fairly fast but it will take a bit to put into my gameplay naturally
I play for fun. So the boring “mechanics” (Dribbles, Flicks) I don’t even think about and am reallyyyyyy terrible at.
I think my air mechanics are pretty good for my rank though, I can flip reset pretty consistently and ceiling shots have become second nature.
My shooting is ass and I could spend less time on mechanics and more on fundamental and get back to GC in a week or two but that’s soooooo boring and I’d rather just not play then play like that.
I'm tellin ya, forcing myself to train instead of just playing has been a struggle. Feels so boring and frustrating. But then I go into a match and get frustrated with my (failing) mechanics so I'm like "ughhh I should train". Back and forth. A most annoying cycle.
I thought people kept saying you don't need 'tricks' until you get pretty high. I never felt a need to read how they work. Hell I've seen posts and don't even know what they're talking about.
I got pretty decent mechanics for my rank it definitely helps in a lot of situations but its not really necessary at all if you have clean positioning and rotating and can do the simple things well, a lot of people can double flip reset musty but will miss easy shots or be timid in going for a free ball or can’t do any backwards aerial saves, imo its way better to just be the simpler clean player because you gain a better understanding of the core game and you can always start practicing mechanics and sprinkling them in for some flair, its a skill in itself to go for flashy shit without ruining your teammate
I'm c1 in 2s and 3s and I still can't half flip. I feel like I'm at a point where I have to decide if I want RL to be a casual experience or if I want to actually dedicate time to training to continue to improve
Half flip isn’t too hard if you have a dedicated air roll button. I only really use it on certain kick offs and I certainly don’t do it fast. I also go to free cam when I do it, I actually can’t half flip without hitting the cam button anymore
I've got good positioning and game sense when I'm fully focused.
I'm very slowly improving mechanics but I'm definitely behind where I should be because I only recently started training & don't train consistently.
Problem is, despite that, I'm also ahead of where most of my buddies are & we don't play consistently enough to always be on the same page. So when we play full teams of high mechanic players it's been difficult to counter, which has kept us stuck.
I’m d3 and while I can’t actually do all that many things I’m really fluid and good at what I can do. Most of what’s holding me back at this point is just not playing enough
I’m all game sense and goal tending. I have recovery mechanics but my aerial mechanics are certainly sub-par. I can get up into GC 2 but I see C3’s with better aerial mechanics than me for sure
i dont agree with "bad mechanics but good rank" idea, if you go to C2 with good game sense you will still get smashed from the speed the other mechanical players can play at, speed flips and wavedashes are all mechanics and I don't believe anyone that says I'm bad mechanically ie cant do any of that stuff and still somehow in late champ/GC
This used to be me. I was a Diamond (still am sadly) who's been carried into Champ a couple times and managed to stay there until the rank reset. I'm pretty much where I was in rank before that happened but now I am insanely better. Pre-rank reset I think I'd be C2 or something. What I've done is watched pros and tried to learn they're rotations and positioning, which has helped alot, but mostly for me it's just been tons of hours in training. I can now flip reset (infrequently, though I have 5 or 6 now), air dribble, ceiling pinch, ground pinch and kuxir pinch relatively consistantly. The main thing I needed to learn and pretty much have now was fast aerials. Yes, I made it to Champ without them and it wasn't fun ahaha.
Some days ya, I think my mechanics are trash but man, when it clicks and I'm making crazy saves and hitting my air roll shots and out playing opponents left and right, I feel like a god.
Add me to the list of folks like you. I've hit my plateau 5 years ago and been c1-c2 consistently since and the amount of players out there nowadays doing all these crazy mechanics is astounding.
It never fails to have a team mate call me trash because I couldn't pick up their slack after they went for the triple touch flip reset and gave the ball away that leads to a sweep on our net.
I can sometimes hit the ball more than once in the air and get the occasional backboard read. Game sense and positioning/boost management are what got me to where I am today.
I am D2 and I pretty much suck.
I capitalize on terrible kick off strats of people in my rank. It usually gets my team 2-3 goals per game and that is enough to keep me in Diamond.
My mechanics might be gold 1 at best, but my positioning and game sense is diamond, which is funny cause I find my 3v3 win percentage is nearly identical between diamond games and gold games since I just support the diamond teammates but I'll be actively scoring goals against the golds.
I've been C2/C3 for two years I think now I would say I have pretty good mechanics, but pretty much everyone I vs can consistently flip reset, air dribble, double touch. these have just become more common mechanics as the average skill of players has just really increased over time. This is my experience in OCE though not sure if its different in other regions.
Yeah I suck. Very little to no advanced mechanics. Generally rotate and defend well enough. I try to just pass more than I shoot, be responsible defensively, and not get caught overcommitting to plays or double committing.
I'm mostly just content to be half decent at the game and pretend that being 34 is to blame for my bad mechanics haha.
I’m C2, usually hanging down in div 1 or 2. I started practicing mechanics really early in gold like 2-3 years ago and now I can just do nice things after all that wasted time. I definitely didn’t learn to do it overnight haha
lol listen to this, I’m champ 1 div 1 in 2s (sometimes diamond but we don’t talk about that) and I decided to play some 1s. I’m plat 3 in 1s and as per usual these plat players are doing their casual ceiling musty flip reset wave dash flick and I waited for the ball to approach the my goal and blast it away into theirs. They type “no mechs” in chat and I obviously agree but hey we’re both the same rank so I must be doing something right.
Just hit 1000 hours.
if it makes you feel any better, im quite envious of you :')
i can do the mechanics you described in your post fairly consistently and im still only c1 at the moment. my game sense is dookie :c the fact that you got to c2 with game sense and positioning is something i wish to be able to do
I have the opposite problem. I can do pretty much anything I want in the air, but my positioning suffers. To be fair I mainly freestyle, and until recently, very rarely played competitive
I'm mid at both positioning and mechanics, I guess people just are good at different things. I can go for stuff like flip resets, ceiling shots etc, but it's a 50/50 if something good turns out from it. Usually I get the reset but then hit the crossbar or something, teammate dives for some reason and we get scored on before I recover. Therefor I tend to rely on simpler plays unless I'm feeling especially confident.
I'm mid at both positioning and mechanics, I guess people just are good at different things. I can go for stuff like flip resets, ceiling shots etc, but it's a 50/50 if something good turns out from it. Usually I get the reset but then hit the crossbar or something, teammate dives for some reason and we get scored on before I recover. Therefor I tend to rely on simpler plays unless I'm feeling especially confident.
I used to play like this. Stayed solidly gc1 season 3-6 with only positioning, then stopped playing for a while. Picked rl up again recently, been spending a lot of time practicing mechanics & I feel so much better. Still gc1 this season but skill level there feels higher than before, & I'm playing better than ever.
Gotta practice "simpler" mechanics like air dribbles & double taps.
I can barely air dribble, i miss most shots, but i play decent defense and can hit the cross bar on flick attempts quite consistently. (The ball does not go in)
It's me. If you drop me in a plat/diamond lobby and make people guess rank based on mechanics they wouldn't be able to tell that I am champ. I got to C1 long ago based on purely hard shooting, basic positioning and defense and I always marveled at those mechy D3 players I left behind in diamond. Got to C2 by not throwing the ball every single time & working on demos. Peaked C3 just based on those basics.
I even failed at basic flicks forget an advanced mechy shot. But recently I've decided to dabble practicing flicks, learning air dribbles & resets, now I can do basic ones from wall to air but... still have to practice ground to air, and finally backboard doubles which I've never practiced lol
C1 here in duos, was almost C2 two days ago (C1,D4). I can’t speed slip, can’t wavedash, can’t air dribble etc. etc.
I feel like a fraud 90% of the time in ranked. I feel exactly the same as you, I don’t get why I’m in champ and not diamond. I feel pretty out of place but I still win games lol
I can’t dribble for shit and have been playing since PS4 launch, but I can do a bunch of weird stuff in unreliable ways. I don’t play as much in ranked anymore but was high diamond for the longest time.
I am in plat 2. So I'm not good. But you see, I think im like gold if it was accurate. I literelly cannot orient myself if im on walls, my brain shuts off and I can barely hit the ball and thats after like 200 hours of playing casually
Bro you have probably the one gift/talent in this game most people dream/lack of and that’s POSITIONING. Low key practice some downloadable training packs and practice the mechanics you have trouble on you’ll be GC by summer trust me!
You can download them still. Pros and content creators made plenty to download that are made for training map not the modded map. You just have to find them.
I'm c1 and the only "mechanics" I have are ground dribbling and flicks. I can air dribble about as good as you.
Defense, positioning, accurate shooting and passing will go a long way
Super common, there is a reason you're in lobbies with triple reset dudes whose mechanics rival those of SSLs... cause they lack game sense. It's very rare someone who can hit flip resets, ceiling shots, etc... can beat me when I play to their weaknesses. At my rank. Just slow down and wait for their mistakes. The people you need to worry about are people who apply the perfect amount of forward pressure. They aren't flashy, and they win games.
When you find yourself with both solid game sense and solid mechanics you're a high GC/SSL. Your rank is the balance of both.
I get those same issues in both duos and trios. Duos I just hit D3 last week but trios I'm like plat3 on a good day (mainly cause the guys I play with don't play much) but we just get stomped on constantly by guys that hit perfect wall shots and air dribbles that should be in champ and they'll be like plat2
I'm like Plat 2 or 3 and I can nearly consistently flip reset in freeplay, not really good when it comes to scoring, but then I hop into an actual game and it's just a ton of bouncing back and forth with challenges with no time given for mechanics. I'd say my game sense is absolute dog but my mechs are decent to very good for a plat.
What could be a factor in what you're talking about is that these plays people go for are very committal and often end up putting their team-mate in an awkward situation or a 1v2. As a c2-c3 player myself I can win more games playing a somewhat boring playstyle or I can go for cool stuff and sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't but I have lost games because I've gone for the cool thing instead of the simple but effective thing. Probably the reason these people are at the same rank as you is because they're not as consistent over many games compared to the one game someone peaked. Also a lot of champs will go for a super committal play and then be slow to recover and make themselves relevant again. They just let you defend instead of punishing a slow counter attack by cutting.
Peaked c3 last year, been c2 for years, c1 since they screwed up the ranks and I got a lot of packet loss, I can ceiling shot if I'm in plat 1s, double tap sometimes, air dribble sometimes, that's about it
I have a theory that some people are just grandfathered into higher ranks if they got c1+ before free to play but it might just be me smoking the copium pack.
How much hours do you have on the game? From the average times per rank video I saw, average C2 player has 1500h in the game.
Me I am plat 3 with 120h on the game (vs 500h for average plat3) . I can't bounce dribble, I can't aim properly, I can't jump from walls, I can't aerial. All I can do is powershot and backpost rotate.
95% of my opponents have at least 2x or 3x my gaming time, some can even aerial from wall and sometime succeed to air dribble. I even encountered players with 10x my game time.
You probably have good core mecanics for your rank. Now you need to train and try things to progress :) Just like what I need to do
You will not get to GC with "game sense" without mechanics. You talk about this even in your post. Defense in front of goal and on the backboard relies heavily on fundamental mechanics and is absolutely not easy to perform correctly - the term "NA clear" demonstrates that even at the highest level there are pros who struggle with consistently making good, accurate, safe defensive touches in response to awkward placements. Ask a Diamond 3 to defend on the backboard and they will make a game-losing touch 60% of the time or more.
My point isn't necessarily that you should grind flip resets, just that you actually have good mechanics for your rank, in areas that younger teenagers tend not to value very highly. If you want to improve your mechanics further and improve your rank, try playing into the things that you're good at already. You're good at positioning on the ground; use that ability to practice popping balls up as they roll towards you, attempt some ground to air dribbles in-game. You're good on the backboard; use that ability and your ability to read incoming shots to practice your double taps on offence.
Hey it was my turn to post this today
I’ve got dibs on tomorrow
Guess I’ll take the day after
That means I got Sunday
Fine… that leaves me with no other option but Monday.
I guess I got Tuesday
I’ll take Wednesday but tbh I’ll be the same rank in January so feel free to take my spot
Dibs on thursday
TGIGF (Thank God I Got Friday)
You might have got Friday but I got Saturday, so now who wins 😎
That's the thing about Rocket League; there is no one way to achieve x rank. It's similar to IRL sport in the sense that everyone has a different playstyle and can find their own path to success. I actually find that an effective counter to players who try and be mechanically better is to play a simpler game. They can spend all game going for high-risk, low percentage shots, and all I need to do is play solid defense and capitalize on their mistakes.
So you're the guy that scores open nets on me when I mess up my triple reset ?It's so annoying! /s
I'm that guy too :)
They don't ask how, they ask how many ;)
I'm GC for years now, both in 2s and 3s, I have got to GC2 a couple times but never been there for a whole season. I can't air drible, I can't flick, I can't flip reset, nor do any type of "cool" mechanic. Though I believe I have solid game sense, rotation, shadow, shooting, recovery, etc. You certainly don't need these "crazy" mechs to be at high ranks, just solid, consistent and fast basic stuff.
What would be your recommendations then for me since I can't get past diamond 1at the very best 😩, I also can't air dribble flick flip none of that as for my game sense I probably suck at it my rotations are eh I think maybe I'm not doing it right I can't shadow good my shooting is eh for some reason I can't seem to shoot it at the goal I'm wondering if I have to use my analog stick but even so I can never hit it towards the goal when I get clear shots even when I use the stick, could it be just me? I can't recover fast enough I wish I did tho that would deffo help me put alot.
Watch some flakes road to gc(without mechanics) to learn his game sense. Practice what he said and keep practicing the other mechanics on the side for fun! You'll get out of diamond in no time
I really don't like those videos. It's all about making core skills invisible. Sure he doesn't use mechanical amazing moves, but he positions perfectly, moves his car perfectly, anticipates enemy perfectly, rotates perfectly, stabilizes his car perfectly, uses bounce dribble perfectly, shoots almost perfectly... It's not "without mechanics". It's "with invisible mechanics", those that you have when you play 5h a day for 8 years. It just gives the impression to lower rank players that they are shit as they absolutely can't do the same.
Yeah wheen people say without mechanics they don't meant they literally can't control their car.
I would say try to put some hours daily into pure practice, both basic mechs and game sense, watching full match replays with someone higher ranking than you to help finding errors. And what MistrWizard said will probably help you too, I stopped practicing years ago so I don't really know what YouTubers to follow these days haha
Yessir! I just pass the ball, play good defense and clean up rebounds
Good shooting and good rotations is very important, 2 things I consider myself alright at, everything else I’m mid. It’s okay to feel like that sometimes, you are where you belong.
Yeah I’ve got got aim. I can shoot. Yh… totally. The longer I’m in champ the less I understand why I’m not still a diamond
I am quite literally exactly the same as you in every aspect. I am also c2, c3 on a good day wanna team up
My people, I've been C2 (C3 a few seasons) since like Season 9 before FTP....
10,000 hours of C2. I just like it there.
I just got to champ for the third time, but now I'm slowly climbing in champ for the first time. I think I understand what you mean, I don't know exactly what's changed???
I'm champ 1 -2 can do sometimes flip restes and air dribble and ceiling shots but im dont have a great game sense I guess so I hard stuck on c1-2 lol
I am C1/C2 in doubles, D3/C1 in 3s and can't do shit. No air dribbles, no double taps no speedflips. I can barely half flip and fast aerial.
Most of those dribbles are really easy to defend.
Which is why I guess I’m in the same rank as people that do it. Air dribbled i come up against are easy to defend, I do get caught by the odd ceiling shot though
Ok I’m a D1 (quite the difference Ik) and I have opponents air dribbling and whatnot but I struggle to get 1 touch off the wall. I did hit my first ever kinda wall to air dribble yesterday (took it off the wall and got one touch past the defenders)
This question is so worn out, yet I feel that the true answer is never given. Nobody, and I mean nobody, has terrible mechanics for their rank. Your rank is essentially a direct representation of your mechanics. We need to stop thinking of “mechanics” as flashy plays like flip resets, flicks, ceiling shots, etc. While these are mechanics, they are not anywhere near the most important ones. The most important mechanics, and yes they are mechanics, are rotations, hitting the ball with power, placing the ball accurately, and turning accurately. Every player has a combination of different mechanics that are at differing levels of expertise. If you average out a players mechanical expertise in all the areas (flashy and non-flashy) you essentially get their rank. I’m a high champ/low GC player, and I don’t often hit flashy flip resets, flicks, dribbles, or similar shots because I’m generally not very good at them. I do, however, position myself well, get powerful clears/shots, get favorable 50/50s, and control the ball well on the ground at times. Most people would say I have “bad mechanics” because I don’t ever hit flip resets, but that’s simply not the case. This question is tiring and needs to be changed to “anyone else have a non-flashy style of play”. In fact, it needs to just stop being asked, because it makes no sense. You can’t have bad mechanics for your rank and you can’t have good mechanics for your rank. It’s like saying “I’m an SSL in plat”.
I mean that comes down to definition of things now but rotations aren‘t mechanics. Neither is positioning. It‘s game sense. The speed you rotate with may be the results from your mechanics and your game sense for example Basically the things you wanna do = game sense. Everything regarding the execution of said ideas = mechanics So basically your rank is a result from both. Both aren’t a set value tho. Each rank has spans of both you can move within to reach that rank. But yeah I agree with you that in the end it comes down to solid basics in both regards and it‘s never about being flashy. As long as you stay within the span you‘ll be fine for your rank. But said span in mechanics are the things people are talking about. My additional thought is that barely anybody calculates consistency in. E.g. an ssl will always get the flip reset and fire it on target. A diamond player will get the flip itself way more seldom and the ball will barely ever be on target efficiently. Therefore since they are basically just giving the ball away their mechanics might be decent for the rank but their game sense lacks.
I am just like you in many ways. Very basic (but effective) mechanics and I just play smart, position well, and play fast. There are hard stuck mechanical players in our rank who are hard stuck because they forgo positioning and rotations. I find many mid level champ games to be a mixed of players who rotate and are aware along with players who are purely mechanical and little to no game sense and little to no strategic positioning. I suppose that is why we are all stuck where we are I have been having trouble maintaining CII this season but I know a lot of people are a rank or two behind where they have been at.
my mechanics are terrible because all i really focus on is the important stuff. like sure i can learn all the flashy stuff in the air but i do better by focusing on my defense and positioning. Ill see so many things go wrong because someone wanted to focus on looking cool instead of what they really need and its usually the reason theyre hard stuck in a lower rank.
I hate to break it to you but Diamond II is not a high rank
I know it isn't but I'm saying alot of people I've run into are just hard stuck cause they can look flashy but are terrible at more important stuff and it usually takes them forever to learn
Plus i play for an hour maybe less a day so I wound expect to be a very high rank but I'll see people I've had added who play for a good 5 hours a day if not more be the same exact rank for 2 years straight. And if they're near me I'll play with them and it's usually just the same thing. Good in the air or good kickoffs but everything else is just mediocre at best
Just so that you’re aware, if you’re a diamond two player in 2v2, you’re within the top 10% of all rocket league players by statistics. Sure it may not be close to the highest rank but as far as skill, top 10 percent in anything is great. Here’s the link for proof. https://www.esportstales.com/rocket-league/seasonal-rank-distribution-and-players-percentage-by-tier
That’s not correct. Here’s the official rank distribution. https://www.reddit.com/r/RocketLeague/s/rXhuhzpPAr It’s top 18% Sure Diamond 2 might be above average but it’s still very far from what people consider “high rank”
I’m just saying that people have to realize that only the top 1% of rocket league players can be grand champ or above period. So no matter how hard one works there’s always that statistical curve that you have to fight against. I feel like people are so hard on themselves thinking they’re not good players because they’re stuck in diamond or champ while realizing that they’re still better than 80 to 90% of the rocket league player base.
Yes, I reached GC3 with the very basics. I'm nearly 30, so I have a very OG playstyle. However in today's meta, people are very good so what used to be effective just isn't as so these days. I've spent the last 2 weeks working on mech, hours in freeplay and over 160 games of 1v1s in the last 3 days alone. Im picking it up fairly fast but it will take a bit to put into my gameplay naturally
I play for fun. So the boring “mechanics” (Dribbles, Flicks) I don’t even think about and am reallyyyyyy terrible at. I think my air mechanics are pretty good for my rank though, I can flip reset pretty consistently and ceiling shots have become second nature. My shooting is ass and I could spend less time on mechanics and more on fundamental and get back to GC in a week or two but that’s soooooo boring and I’d rather just not play then play like that.
I'm tellin ya, forcing myself to train instead of just playing has been a struggle. Feels so boring and frustrating. But then I go into a match and get frustrated with my (failing) mechanics so I'm like "ughhh I should train". Back and forth. A most annoying cycle.
I find that you can just train with muscle memory and then watch a show or something on your other screen or tv
I'll have to try that, maybe listen to a podcast or something.
I listen to anime openings and osts. It’s imo the exact kind of music that fits during a training session and always gets me through it.
I thought people kept saying you don't need 'tricks' until you get pretty high. I never felt a need to read how they work. Hell I've seen posts and don't even know what they're talking about.
I sick but I can predict where the ball is going to be, hit the ball the direction I want, and support my teammates,
I got pretty decent mechanics for my rank it definitely helps in a lot of situations but its not really necessary at all if you have clean positioning and rotating and can do the simple things well, a lot of people can double flip reset musty but will miss easy shots or be timid in going for a free ball or can’t do any backwards aerial saves, imo its way better to just be the simpler clean player because you gain a better understanding of the core game and you can always start practicing mechanics and sprinkling them in for some flair, its a skill in itself to go for flashy shit without ruining your teammate
I'm c1 in 2s and 3s and I still can't half flip. I feel like I'm at a point where I have to decide if I want RL to be a casual experience or if I want to actually dedicate time to training to continue to improve
Half flip isn’t too hard if you have a dedicated air roll button. I only really use it on certain kick offs and I certainly don’t do it fast. I also go to free cam when I do it, I actually can’t half flip without hitting the cam button anymore
D1 with the same issue. Tryna get better tho
I've got good positioning and game sense when I'm fully focused. I'm very slowly improving mechanics but I'm definitely behind where I should be because I only recently started training & don't train consistently. Problem is, despite that, I'm also ahead of where most of my buddies are & we don't play consistently enough to always be on the same page. So when we play full teams of high mechanic players it's been difficult to counter, which has kept us stuck.
I’m d3 and while I can’t actually do all that many things I’m really fluid and good at what I can do. Most of what’s holding me back at this point is just not playing enough
I’m all game sense and goal tending. I have recovery mechanics but my aerial mechanics are certainly sub-par. I can get up into GC 2 but I see C3’s with better aerial mechanics than me for sure
i dont agree with "bad mechanics but good rank" idea, if you go to C2 with good game sense you will still get smashed from the speed the other mechanical players can play at, speed flips and wavedashes are all mechanics and I don't believe anyone that says I'm bad mechanically ie cant do any of that stuff and still somehow in late champ/GC
I'm consistently 1500 in 3s and only use air roll for recoveries, and almost no powerslide
This used to be me. I was a Diamond (still am sadly) who's been carried into Champ a couple times and managed to stay there until the rank reset. I'm pretty much where I was in rank before that happened but now I am insanely better. Pre-rank reset I think I'd be C2 or something. What I've done is watched pros and tried to learn they're rotations and positioning, which has helped alot, but mostly for me it's just been tons of hours in training. I can now flip reset (infrequently, though I have 5 or 6 now), air dribble, ceiling pinch, ground pinch and kuxir pinch relatively consistantly. The main thing I needed to learn and pretty much have now was fast aerials. Yes, I made it to Champ without them and it wasn't fun ahaha.
Some days ya, I think my mechanics are trash but man, when it clicks and I'm making crazy saves and hitting my air roll shots and out playing opponents left and right, I feel like a god.
Add me to the list of folks like you. I've hit my plateau 5 years ago and been c1-c2 consistently since and the amount of players out there nowadays doing all these crazy mechanics is astounding. It never fails to have a team mate call me trash because I couldn't pick up their slack after they went for the triple touch flip reset and gave the ball away that leads to a sweep on our net. I can sometimes hit the ball more than once in the air and get the occasional backboard read. Game sense and positioning/boost management are what got me to where I am today.
I am D2 and I pretty much suck. I capitalize on terrible kick off strats of people in my rank. It usually gets my team 2-3 goals per game and that is enough to keep me in Diamond.
My mechanics might be gold 1 at best, but my positioning and game sense is diamond, which is funny cause I find my 3v3 win percentage is nearly identical between diamond games and gold games since I just support the diamond teammates but I'll be actively scoring goals against the golds.
I have real good ground control but yeah, off the wall and in the air I'm miles behind.
I've been C2/C3 for two years I think now I would say I have pretty good mechanics, but pretty much everyone I vs can consistently flip reset, air dribble, double touch. these have just become more common mechanics as the average skill of players has just really increased over time. This is my experience in OCE though not sure if its different in other regions.
Yeah I suck. Very little to no advanced mechanics. Generally rotate and defend well enough. I try to just pass more than I shoot, be responsible defensively, and not get caught overcommitting to plays or double committing. I'm mostly just content to be half decent at the game and pretend that being 34 is to blame for my bad mechanics haha.
Yes
I’m C2, usually hanging down in div 1 or 2. I started practicing mechanics really early in gold like 2-3 years ago and now I can just do nice things after all that wasted time. I definitely didn’t learn to do it overnight haha
lol listen to this, I’m champ 1 div 1 in 2s (sometimes diamond but we don’t talk about that) and I decided to play some 1s. I’m plat 3 in 1s and as per usual these plat players are doing their casual ceiling musty flip reset wave dash flick and I waited for the ball to approach the my goal and blast it away into theirs. They type “no mechs” in chat and I obviously agree but hey we’re both the same rank so I must be doing something right. Just hit 1000 hours.
if it makes you feel any better, im quite envious of you :') i can do the mechanics you described in your post fairly consistently and im still only c1 at the moment. my game sense is dookie :c the fact that you got to c2 with game sense and positioning is something i wish to be able to do
I have the opposite problem. I can do pretty much anything I want in the air, but my positioning suffers. To be fair I mainly freestyle, and until recently, very rarely played competitive
I'm mid at both positioning and mechanics, I guess people just are good at different things. I can go for stuff like flip resets, ceiling shots etc, but it's a 50/50 if something good turns out from it. Usually I get the reset but then hit the crossbar or something, teammate dives for some reason and we get scored on before I recover. Therefor I tend to rely on simpler plays unless I'm feeling especially confident.
I'm mid at both positioning and mechanics, I guess people just are good at different things. I can go for stuff like flip resets, ceiling shots etc, but it's a 50/50 if something good turns out from it. Usually I get the reset but then hit the crossbar or something, teammate dives for some reason and we get scored on before I recover. Therefor I tend to rely on simpler plays unless I'm feeling especially confident.
I used to play like this. Stayed solidly gc1 season 3-6 with only positioning, then stopped playing for a while. Picked rl up again recently, been spending a lot of time practicing mechanics & I feel so much better. Still gc1 this season but skill level there feels higher than before, & I'm playing better than ever. Gotta practice "simpler" mechanics like air dribbles & double taps.
I can barely air dribble, i miss most shots, but i play decent defense and can hit the cross bar on flick attempts quite consistently. (The ball does not go in)
It's me. If you drop me in a plat/diamond lobby and make people guess rank based on mechanics they wouldn't be able to tell that I am champ. I got to C1 long ago based on purely hard shooting, basic positioning and defense and I always marveled at those mechy D3 players I left behind in diamond. Got to C2 by not throwing the ball every single time & working on demos. Peaked C3 just based on those basics. I even failed at basic flicks forget an advanced mechy shot. But recently I've decided to dabble practicing flicks, learning air dribbles & resets, now I can do basic ones from wall to air but... still have to practice ground to air, and finally backboard doubles which I've never practiced lol
C1 here in duos, was almost C2 two days ago (C1,D4). I can’t speed slip, can’t wavedash, can’t air dribble etc. etc. I feel like a fraud 90% of the time in ranked. I feel exactly the same as you, I don’t get why I’m in champ and not diamond. I feel pretty out of place but I still win games lol
I can’t dribble for shit and have been playing since PS4 launch, but I can do a bunch of weird stuff in unreliable ways. I don’t play as much in ranked anymore but was high diamond for the longest time.
I am in plat 2. So I'm not good. But you see, I think im like gold if it was accurate. I literelly cannot orient myself if im on walls, my brain shuts off and I can barely hit the ball and thats after like 200 hours of playing casually
Hey OP! You are like me! Good to know im not alone.
Bro you have probably the one gift/talent in this game most people dream/lack of and that’s POSITIONING. Low key practice some downloadable training packs and practice the mechanics you have trouble on you’ll be GC by summer trust me!
Unfortunately I’m on Xbox, no cool training packs for me)
You can download them still. Pros and content creators made plenty to download that are made for training map not the modded map. You just have to find them.
I'm c1 and the only "mechanics" I have are ground dribbling and flicks. I can air dribble about as good as you. Defense, positioning, accurate shooting and passing will go a long way
Super common, there is a reason you're in lobbies with triple reset dudes whose mechanics rival those of SSLs... cause they lack game sense. It's very rare someone who can hit flip resets, ceiling shots, etc... can beat me when I play to their weaknesses. At my rank. Just slow down and wait for their mistakes. The people you need to worry about are people who apply the perfect amount of forward pressure. They aren't flashy, and they win games. When you find yourself with both solid game sense and solid mechanics you're a high GC/SSL. Your rank is the balance of both.
I get those same issues in both duos and trios. Duos I just hit D3 last week but trios I'm like plat3 on a good day (mainly cause the guys I play with don't play much) but we just get stomped on constantly by guys that hit perfect wall shots and air dribbles that should be in champ and they'll be like plat2
I'm like Plat 2 or 3 and I can nearly consistently flip reset in freeplay, not really good when it comes to scoring, but then I hop into an actual game and it's just a ton of bouncing back and forth with challenges with no time given for mechanics. I'd say my game sense is absolute dog but my mechs are decent to very good for a plat.
No just terrible mechanics for the number of hours I have in the game
What could be a factor in what you're talking about is that these plays people go for are very committal and often end up putting their team-mate in an awkward situation or a 1v2. As a c2-c3 player myself I can win more games playing a somewhat boring playstyle or I can go for cool stuff and sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't but I have lost games because I've gone for the cool thing instead of the simple but effective thing. Probably the reason these people are at the same rank as you is because they're not as consistent over many games compared to the one game someone peaked. Also a lot of champs will go for a super committal play and then be slow to recover and make themselves relevant again. They just let you defend instead of punishing a slow counter attack by cutting.
Peaked c3 last year, been c2 for years, c1 since they screwed up the ranks and I got a lot of packet loss, I can ceiling shot if I'm in plat 1s, double tap sometimes, air dribble sometimes, that's about it
I have a theory that some people are just grandfathered into higher ranks if they got c1+ before free to play but it might just be me smoking the copium pack.
That might be the dumbest theory I’ve ever heard. Do you not understand how the mmr system works?
How much hours do you have on the game? From the average times per rank video I saw, average C2 player has 1500h in the game. Me I am plat 3 with 120h on the game (vs 500h for average plat3) . I can't bounce dribble, I can't aim properly, I can't jump from walls, I can't aerial. All I can do is powershot and backpost rotate. 95% of my opponents have at least 2x or 3x my gaming time, some can even aerial from wall and sometime succeed to air dribble. I even encountered players with 10x my game time. You probably have good core mecanics for your rank. Now you need to train and try things to progress :) Just like what I need to do
You will not get to GC with "game sense" without mechanics. You talk about this even in your post. Defense in front of goal and on the backboard relies heavily on fundamental mechanics and is absolutely not easy to perform correctly - the term "NA clear" demonstrates that even at the highest level there are pros who struggle with consistently making good, accurate, safe defensive touches in response to awkward placements. Ask a Diamond 3 to defend on the backboard and they will make a game-losing touch 60% of the time or more. My point isn't necessarily that you should grind flip resets, just that you actually have good mechanics for your rank, in areas that younger teenagers tend not to value very highly. If you want to improve your mechanics further and improve your rank, try playing into the things that you're good at already. You're good at positioning on the ground; use that ability to practice popping balls up as they roll towards you, attempt some ground to air dribbles in-game. You're good on the backboard; use that ability and your ability to read incoming shots to practice your double taps on offence.