Hey, everyone,

I see this problem in too many games, & the title means exactly what it says, but I'll go in-depth to explain it further. I'm sure a lot of you can relate to this.

You're defending first on Volskaya. It goes really badly. The enemy team takes both points with over 4 minutes to spare. Someone starts thinking to themselves: "They're too good, we can't win this", "Our coordination is horrible, we can't ever kill them", "How will we ever win this? We can't, they have too much damage".

Off they go to second round, & they get Fullheld. The team just kept trickling in, they couldn't kill anyone & the enemy was just too good & had way too much damage. There was nothing they could do.

At least, that's what THEY thought...

Do you see the problem here? The player is mentally defeated halfway through the game! They have basically turned the game into a loss long before the game had even finished! They have stopped trying because THEY saw no point in trying to win a game where they still had ONE FULL ROUND to play!

They stop thinking about the game & start autopiloting. They stop being mindful of their positioning, stop watching out for flankers, stop forming a plan for every teamfight, stop trying to track Ultimates & start blaming their teammates & demoralize everyone on the team, just because things weren't going their way.

They effectively make it a 5v7 in favor of the enemy, because they are contributing little to nothing in terms of damage, protection, information, etc. They subconsciously think about finishing the game as quickly as possible, so they play suboptimally - They have given up! NOW they start to lose the game, because the fights are practically not even a proper 6v6!

But this outcome could also have been completely different. How? This is one of many ways:

Instead of: "They're too good, my team sucks, we have no damage", they could have thought about it this way: "We lost pretty badly on the first round. That Zarya melted us, that NanoBlade demolished our team, & that Rein was really, really aggressive & it paid off. We need to find a way to stop this."

Then, they think about it. Now, if the person is:

Tank: "Because that Rein is really aggressive, he may be easier to punish, & I can get more swings in as Rein, allowing for quicker Earthshatters. I could also dive the now vulnerable backline as D.Va/Winston & force the Rein to make a difficult choice."

DPS: "That aggressive Rein, I can wall him off as Mei, allowing for an easy kill, & tearing the Zarya apart now that she's without her Rein. I could go Tracer & flank that backline. They're gonna pay the price for their very aggressive Tank duo. Pharah could work well, because they have a comp where they are clustered together, allowing for free & easy damage, & an early Barrage. I could also spam their backline to death because of their aggressive tanks."

Support: "We can punish their aggression with Discord. It will help melt targets, so Zen could be a solid choice. Baptiste's Immortality field could also tip the scales in our favor, preventing the enemy from wiping us out & baiting out some important Abilities & Ultimates. Ana would be an amazing choice, as her nade can cause serious problems & easily punish anyone affected by it, & Sleep Dart is extremely useful."

They form a plan & it works out really well, giving them Point A relatively easily. Then, they do end up losing a few teamfights, but they keep their heads, & always think ahead. Instead of dwelling over the previously lost fight, their eyes are still on the prize. They're already thinking of ways to dismantle the enemy's formation & clean them up one after the other. The Rein gets a huge shatter, & they are sure to follow up, because they had it planned. They make sure to not let their guard down until they finally take Point B. They only have a minute & 30 seconds, but they now have a fighting chance, because the game is a proper 6v6.

Their Attack goes so well that they cap both points because the team now had even more belief & morale. They didn't give up. They did their best, & it showed. They didn't want to lose this game. They were always one step ahead of the opponent because they put their skills to good use. Now THEY have the upper hand. The enemy gets the first point after a brief struggle, but the defence holds strong on Point B & manages to keep the enemies at bay with well-planned attacks & secure a pretty convincing win. GGs all around, & MAN does the person feel good about themselves!

I was the guy in this situation, more than once, & I'm proud of what I've done, especially for someone who used to have terrible confidence issues.

This is only one example. I'm aware that Rein/Zarya is not the only comp people will be running, but my point stands: Think. Try to form a plan for each teamfight, & don't give up just because one half of the game didn't go well. Don't stop trying. The game is too unpredictable to not try. Even a seemingly easy game can swing back in the opponent's favor if you make just one mistake, & vice versa.

And guess what?

Getting Fullheld, getting stomped & not being able to do much about it happens even to the Overwatch Pros & Streamers. Even a team with an OWL player can get Fullheld, & it has happened multiple times to them. It still happens to them. "But they're PROS! They should never get Fullheld, right?" Yeah...no. Things don't always work out even for the best of the best. What they do though, is think about how to counter the enemy team & form plans. They don't stop communicating, because they know how crucial it is. They don't just give up.

I was watching a NoobHunter video, & one of the clips shows Surefour, an OWL player for Toronto Defiant getting a sick 3K as Echo. Seems normal for a channel posting best & funniest moments, right? It is. But when I looked at the score, it showed 0 - 0. They got Fullheld, & the enemy only needed a tick.

Did they give up? Not at all. The 3K he got happened to be with 40 seconds to spare. Unfortunately, because it was just a brief clip, I don't know if he drew or lost the game, but holding for over 3 minutes considering the circumstances is pretty impressive. Had they given up & not fought for the draw, they would have lost the point pretty quickly for sure.

This clip, as well as many others, caused me to think about this issue & relate it to some of my games, & I'm hoping I can bring light to this issue many people face, & have people see things from a more positive perspective. It's not uncommon for me, so it's really annoying when it happens, because it feels like the team has no will & no energy.

Of course, being positive & fighting like crazy doesn't always yield fairytale results (A.K.A winning), but it sure does increase your odds considerably. Even if you lose, look for the good things you did. Held them on Point A on 2 CP until the very last minute? Yes, it sucks to lose it at the very end, but holding it even for that long was impressive. You must have been doing something right. So, the next time you feel like giving up, remember that comebacks exist. You only get better by proving that you can win even the hardest games. Believe :)