For most of the 3rd and 4th seasons, I sat just bellow Silver (900 – 1300 SR). Of course I think I should be higher, but that's a fair place for me to be, and I enjoy playing at that level.
Over the last few nights I had a very long loss streak and am now around 700 SR. At this level I've had multiple games where Mercys refuse to heal and just shoot, you can win a game with 6 attack heros, and people are so toxic that I often remove myself from voice chat. I play tanks and healers, and so I enjoy the game most when my team is playing together. Right now, my enjoyment of the game is shot.
I'm worried that I now have a terribly low MMR and will continue to place at this level next season.
Question: Given the way the SR / MMR system works, what things can I do to increase my chances of placing higher next season?
Like, for example, would it help if I stuck to Quick Play for a while to up my MMR before doing the Season 5 Qualifying Matches? Should I create a new account to get a clean MMR?
I'm aware that long term, I should probably go to Looking-For-Group sites and find a community, but at the moment "700 SR healer/tank" won't get any clicks.
Note that I am not looking for gameplay tips, I'm specifically asking about "resetting" my SR / MMR.
Best Answer
Ranked and quick play MMR is separate. The only way to truly reset your MMR is to buy the game again on a new account, which will set your MMR to be whatever the average rank is.
However, I strongly advise against doing this. If you dropped down to 700 SR, chances are you probably belong somewhere around that level, plus or minus a couple hundred SR. (Not trying to be rude, just stating how the system is supposed to work.) It might be tough, but if your actual skill level is higher than that, you should eventually climb out on your own. Buying a new account risks you paying extra money just to go through the exact same frustration when you drop lower again.
At the start of every new season, there is a soft-reset of all player's ranks (normalized to the average player rank, which I think is somewhere in silver or gold). I don't know if this also affects MMR, but it should give you a chance to place higher than you might have gotten in the previous season.
Loss streaks happen, and the matchmaking system realizes this. Chances are your MMR is probably not all that heavily affected. You're probably still playing with people of a similar skill level as before, but because your visible rank is lower, you focus more on how "bad" your teammates are now as opposed to how they played before the loss streak.
Even if your MMR is lower now... that's how it's supposed to work. The matchmaking system tries to even everyone out to an approximately 50% win/loss ratio. Trying to get around this system is just asking for frustration.