Educational Unranked To GM Wrecking Ball

It's not your teammates fault you are not winning. join Rank Up Academy:
rankupacademy.gg
Ball is a very engaging and dynamic hero to play. Some might mistakenly play him like a traditional tank, and I am here to show you how the hero can win by applying simple but not easy fundamentals.
📺 2nd Channel - ‪@Awkward3‬
💜 Twitch - / awkward
🐦 Twitter - / awkwardow
📷 Instagram - / danynovak1
👾 Discord - / discord
🎵 TikTok - / awkwardtwitch
💼 Business inquiries - [e-mail]
Editor: ‪@projectzeeno‬
Thumbnail: NineA
0:00 - Unranked
1:11:49 - Platinum
3:41:45 - Diamond
6:41:48 - Masters
9:51:39 - GM

[@internationalpapi4816]

And just like that, you'll begin to see more Wrecking Ball picks in your games.

[@PureSinaatraa]

Ngl I started playing ball and I’m having so much fun

[@justdyverse]

I'm new-ish to OW2 and my first game on ball I went 22 - 2 we pretty proud of myself

[@toonin4gaming783]

Please god no

[@Jewishmanthegoat]

I just got the game and I’m maining him 😭

[@mitsurirl]

i actually came to this video because i started maining wrecking ball

[@wusaint]

Almost everyone's mistake with Ball is getting greedy and over commiting. You can tell Awkward doesn't play Ball all the time BUT he's playing textbook Ball. Distracting, waiting for a mistake, and then picking off the low hanging fruit. No insane rollouts. No crazy Ball techs. Just fundamental play into the strengths of the hero. Kudos.

[@MegaScytheman]

Can confirm, I tried ball after playing a ton of DPS recently and would always overcommit and then blame the lack of success on my aim. I got a lot better when I recognized the value of preserving my HP and finding out of position enemies

[@KolonE]

you know this man speaks facts when he gets gm on any hero he wants to

[@takumifujiwara9181]

There are others who go unranked to top 500.

[@kiddscoop9755]

@@takumifujiwara9181 not on the variety of heroes awkward does. Plus, he's done unraked to top500 before.

[@takumifujiwara9181]

@@kiddscoop9755 uhh Dafran is literally doing a series where he takes every single hero from unranked to top 500 sometimes top 100.

[@skinscalp222]

​@@takumifujiwara9181 Not "doing" anymore. Lazy bastid quit after getting beaucoup money from Kick.

[@jyrlan2596]

​@takumifujiwara9181 my guy just said Dafran in the same convo as Awkward 💀

[@georgioszampoukis1966]

I have been playing for 7 years, always around high plat - low diamond. I discovered Awkward about a month ago, I am now low - mid Masters. After 7 years. He really changed my view on how the game should be played. Huge respects Awkward, keep up the good work!

[@Jigen_Isshiki]

This is exactly the same with me. I was high plat before watching Awkward, I've just now hit Master 4 on tank. I'm diamond 1 on support and diamond 4 on DPS. I went from plat 4 to master's 4 on a crazy win streak, maybe 25-1 yesterday?

[@I_LuvMyChoppa]

Big W 🔥

[@Exterminator19861]

Wth is this ? Are your comment up thare cause of paid 100 d? If yes than youtube starting to become antisocial platform seems .... Thay could atleast hide the fact you paid . Not only everyone get censored by wokism - now you can buy out best places in comment sections .What a joke

[@joshuataylor5080]

24:37 That was the most vile, evil, vindictive thing I've ever seen a Ball do to a Mei. I need to remember that one next time I see a Mei 🤣

[@xJaZ3]

ball main here hardstuck in masters. i never thought this video would come out since ball is such a niche character. awkward you are the 🐐 content creator

[@averyr9317]

I only started playing OW in May of this year after years of pressure from my friends I’m still terrible (silver tank, bronze dps, and gold support) but you not only taught me how to play certain characters but also how to improve from any level. Thank you for not only grinding for hours to give us FREE educational content but also for teaching me how to play OW!

[@Voixxy]

I started playing in January as my first fp shooter on keyboard and mouse and so far i’m plat dps and másters support. it’s tough bro and i absolutely agree with what you said about Awkward. We shall push together !

[@ecciq]

support is ALLLLLWAYS 2 ranks higher than the persons skill level, its almost like supports are overtuned or somethinf 😮

[@El_Piloto_de_Leche]

​@ecciq my support is my worst one and it's what i main. I know its sad but true 😆

[@lavenderlilacs]

support has moira and mercy. v easy to get value from​@@ecciq

[@pedrot8227]

@@ecciq It is dps actually, never climbed so fast when i decided to go dps, easiest role, no doubt

[@zerokid2007]

Always a fan of how it's not about mastering tricky techs, just applying solid fundamentals consistently.

[@Hylian_Hero]

@1:25:43 pinned, shattered, slept, hindered 😂

[@cottoneye]

Imagine you're a gold player with awkward in the enemy team and thinking you're losing because your Zen is throwing (29:43)

[@bm4604]

Actually beta behavior

[@cgyphan3uf]

Also the guy who said that was 4-12 and doing the worst by far

[@AniKhang]

Awkward, I took the advice of engaging from off-angles, picking out isolated targets and using the gun more to heart and it really honestly worked out. I’m really bad at grapple movement and knowing where the health megas are, but even trying out the stuff you talked about gave me some Ws I was proud of. Thanks for the sick vid, you’re a great teacher 🙏

[@nadarmt7069]

the Mei at 29:40 I can't lol "my zen is throwing" (totally not having less dmg than Zen and double Death counts)

[@nickmoran8801]

I mean he’s getting killed by a top 500 it’s pretty overwhelming seeing ur team die every fight

[@RiderZer0]

Would love to see a Lucio unranked to GM. I’d be curious about how awkward approaches it. Would be a fun series!

[@twocheezitz9182]

I'm willing to bet my entire life savings he says "go to the off angle, gotta do damage. Damage damage damage"

[@bleye02]

Saw this live, rewatching it to understand the fundamentals further. Absolute insanely solid advice, it really changed me from someone that have absolute no idea what Im doing with the hero, to actually having huge impact and carrying games.

[@Coppercalb]

I love reading that chat in low elo games everyone saying "report genji" or "report zen" cos they think they were the problem not the fact awkward is demolishing them lol

[@Warpgate8]

Godly, I'm gm1 all roles, but this man still impressed me.

[@oogiewilliamson1179]

bro had to flex a little 😭

[@BenjaJohnsonIII]

That’s pretty bad

[@Warpgate8]

@BenjaJohnsonIII what's pretty bad saying a fellow good player impressed me when he's off role-playing tank?

[@lowveil]

@@Warpgate8he just wants to be different

[@samsbookbook3425]

i think (0 disrespect) gm1 is insane, but somehow i feel top 500 is still another league.

[@zombomb4825]

Yet again Awkward releases another insanely informative video. For FREE! Thank you for continuously making such incredibly useful videos for the OW community.

[@CallMeKeGaming]

love how awkward makes everything so simple but is able to apply those basics to every sit he’s in

[@zye8140]

Impressive unranked to gm, this hero is hard to play

[@noahpoobbailey]

I’d argue ball has the hardest skill floor and ceiling of all heroes in OW2. So many insane mechanics that are impossible to master

[@ishowspeedplug2845]

@@noahpoobbailey this character is just the worst this season aswell

[@zye8140]

​@@noahpoobbailey either him or doomfist

[@hambster9759]

​@@ishowspeedplug2845nah, he might not be good but he has been in way worse

[@BLOCKKADE]

@@noahpoobbaileynot even that, just his damage output in his guns bro, they’re terrible😭😭

[@tenternis5660]

Ive never understood why people doubt his methods, it clearly works very well for him

[@bhouri]

3:45:53 was such a cool gamer moment. Loved the look of satisfaction from a well executed surprised plan on the widow

[@loadedtatertots]

The mercy asking him not to run away from heals like he's not on zero deaths

[@vraden_vones]

I NEED a GENJI unranked to GM

[@joncross8483]

Hey Awkward, thanks for your videos. I 100% believe the reason keep losing on OW is because I am doing a bad job applying your principles, but I keep trying and don't know what I'm doing wrong, do you have any advice on how to study your own play to find your mistakes?

[@Awkward2]

A good start would asking yourself "Why did I die?" and follow it up with "Where could have I been to not die and provide value?"

[@Emil-sh6sq]

When something happens, like you die or you get a kill, try to find out why that happened. Was it because of positioning? Awareness? Mechanics? A little bit of everything? If you can find out why something happened, you can keep that in mind for the next games. This helped me at least. (Aaaand Awkward answered much more concisely while I wrote this)

[@sshkrlv9061]

i personally rewatch my games (especially defeated) and frequently think about why did i die. it is more helpful to focus on one concept at a time, for example, off-angling or never stand in the open spaces or rotation or etc. it helped me a lot

[@joncross8483]

@@Awkward2 thanks man, appreciate it, and I'm in awe of the destruction you wreak on other teams as ball

[@yoku_UwU]

A good tip I've heard from other educational content is to focus on one thing to improve on at a time too so you can improve faster and stay focused.

[@vizo309]

I like watching these videos simply because of how well he understands this game. He makes it look easy. Just dominating.

[@hawwndawg]

Babe wake up, a new Awkward unranked to GM just dropped ‼️

[@P-39_Airacobra]

I thought I was already pretty good at ball, but this video brought me to the next level in just about an hour of implementing these tips into my playstyle. Thanks for the great educational content :)

[@bryankopkin6869]

I really enjoy the longer unranked to gm videos bc I get to see so many more maps. Can’t wait for more! Awesome uploads as usual :)

[@oreo-sr2pq]

I always look forward to your unranked to GM videos. It’s like a little treat for me when I watch it and helps a whole lot. I watch other videos and they don’t hit the same like yours. Keep it up Awkward and stay safe

[@9_to_5_gaming65]

Thank you for making this vid. Super educational and very well done. The way you approach the game is foundational and its made myself a much better player.

[@infantileinnocence]

Gotta say, watching ball gameplay is entertaining af. I hate playing tank but playing ball is never unfun. Love the educational walkthrough. Thanks for this honor 😀

[@user-fl1nf9pu1p]

I’m simply not good enough yet since I can’t get out of Masters, BUT I take comfort in knowing that those that blame their teammates every game will never get out. Own your mistakes and listen to this guy and you’ll climb.

[@nickmoran8801]

What if ur 19-2 and ur other dps is 2-10 who’s fault is it then

[@nickmoran8801]

Sorry my bad I should have grabbed homies sticks and played the game for him

[@ZoRoWasTaken]

When I start playing a game I do love to understand every aspect/tip/trick and I can say that after 4 months since started playing OW & on my first season going for comp I did reach Master Thanks to your educational videos and hope to improve even more and get to GM soon Ty awkward for providing a good educational content 🙏🏻.

[@lcwangee]

Just finished the video for the 2nd time. It was so poetic that you won a 4v5 to get to GM. Thank you so much for making it. The best educational KZbinr by far.

[@lcwangee]

I'm a long time Ball main who gave up on him two seasons ago. I was so sad that I could just switch Zarya who I don't even play, and win a bunch of games I was losing on Ball. I blamed it on the Ball's hero strength. Thank you for opening my eyes with your playstyle and giving me the courage to go back to Ball. I have and will be watching this 10 hours video so many times.

[@waitingforcivictyper]

Bro made to GM playing the worst hero in the game rn. There is no reason why you can’t climb on meta heroes like Ana

[@NutACTIVATED]

Yo awkward, I want to let you know that I appreciate you making these videos. My support roles been going crazy when it comes to climbing ranks, thank you bro

[@gluuon]

hopefully he makes one on mauga when hes available in ranked, i’ve reached gm in every role in only a couple months since finding your content awkward. keep it up

[@s3acow]

I've never tried this character before but after watching this I might have to, looks like a blast from the way you play him

[@GIEGERJUNKER]

The fake leaving the mei alone at 3:23:07 was such quick thinking

[@JonathanPaul77]

Lucio unranked to GM next?

[@melaninking2787]

I’m PRAYING for it

[@noobcola]

I’ll tip $50 for a Lucio u2gm

[@Awkward2]

Save the 50 and treat your mother to a nice lunch, I will get to Lucio eventually.

[@noobcola]

@@Awkward2will do! Looking forward to the next u2gm regardless of what hero you pick!

[@upwardvertigo6415]

what i like about awkward is that he elaborates on what he is doing after fights always commentating while other stuff is going on and then talks about what he just did

[@sausagesausagesausage]

30:20 "zen refuses to switch even when he dies nonstop" he had the least amount of deaths lol

[@lcwangee]

Looking forward to you making more ur2gm with tanks, such as Doom, Dva etc. Your tactical approach really shines through when you teach tank.

[@antoniotonho9082]

This is really impressive. What really matters in your U2GM is that you can easily carry on popular ranks WITH ANY CHARACTER no matter how bad or forgotten they currently are. Of course even if you are Awkward, you'll still suffer with Ball on Diamond and up, but you can easily get out of plat, gold, or whatever, with any character, which means that if you are stuck in these elos, you just need to look to yourself and become better. That kind of advice isn't particular to OW too. Great stuff.

[@dingzvel524]

Really love your vids Awk! Wrecking Ball is definitely one of my favorite heroes! Also hoping to see your Unranked to GM Doomfist!

[@jolness1]

‘I don’t have a high win rate as tank because I’m not a tank player” - awkward as he has a 12-2 record (85% win rate, which to be fair is lower than his other ur2gm runs but still pretty good)

[@Aderask]

To be fair, your other unranked to GMs are around 1-3 hours whereas this one was 9 hours lmao. I don't think Hammond is a bad tank, but he does require more effort and skill to play. But that is what makes Ball so fun, mastering a "bad hero" is one of the most accomplishing tasks.

[@ramaladingdong4998]

Love your video… every other creator just sit there and pushes sterotypes about the game and making excuses for why a hero is bad or OP you play whatever hero and make it viable and when you die you just say the person was better .. very refreshing to see especially in this community and I just started so this is a new player’s perspective

[@_stfubroskii]

The people that complain about “counters” are the same people who complain about genetics in the gym.

[@jordgubbens4265]

I can’t believe he did wrecking ball

[@AutXRose]

Wrecking Ball is a big undertaking, I am so excited about!! Thank you!!!!

[@ongabonga4378]

Ive been waiting for this for so long 🙏🙏🙏

[@BiscuitMan14]

As a ball main, I've been waiting for this one! Thank you sir

[@XataSpitsFire]

Thanks Akward I’m just now starting to try and learn ball as of recently and then I see this, finna learn the ball fr thanks🐝

[@biglugaming8378]

YESSSSSS THE ONE IVE BEEN WAITING FOR

[@dominikforstner1351]

Man I already watched a bunch of your videos but this shit is hilarious. It's like this tank was designed for you, you had me laughing out loud a cpl of times in this vid :)

[@theoddtaco8047]

I've been waiting for this video forever!

[@TryppiDnB]

Thank you so much for this. You are the goat man

[@kevinyoupunk]

dude your content is fire, not only because I've learned a lot about the game but I love the motivational/mentality part of your videos. You should do a Pharah U2GM next since everyone loves to say "if you're not yznsa, you should swap". Keep up the good work!

[@brandythetenor3888]

Hey Awkward! I've been watching lots of your educational content since getting into OW a few days ago and it has helped me improve immensely. That stupid zigzagging thing is actually extremely effective! I don't know if you do any submitted game review and analysis on stream, but I would be happy to send a game recording (Soldier) that I just played that showcases a lot of the things you mention. I have severe anxiety when it comes to solo queuing competitive games, so it's a just quick play game.

[@sirscooty2330]

This is going to be a good one, I always hear how weak ball is so it will be nice to see how he can be viable.

[@jyrlan2596]

Chazm hit rank 1 on ball. He's just demanding to play and easy to feed if you're bad

[@stixjr1864]

@@jyrlan2596has he done that within the last couple of seasons? I think he plays more Zarya now.

[@upbeathades184]

As someone whose already a high rank DPS and supp I cannot lie almost all of my skills (mechanics, ability tracking target priority etc) have all improved massively from maining ball the last few weeks such a fun char to play if you can figure out how to get consistent value without getting shutdown with cc abilities

[@rottengeorge]

I haven't watched the video yet but I can only assume you finished. Congrats! I will be watching it soon and thanks for doing this. Be safe.

[@Abc86aik]

I love you videos they really are educational, thank you awkward!

[@KonekoYT]

instead of "damage damage damage" now we got "Rolling through"

[@LogicalKip]

I've followed your advice religiously, and its biggest flaw is pretty obvious : You don't get to hear WB's hilarious respawn voicelines

[@evanharjanto2450]

24:41 this was brutal lmao

[@joaorafaeloliveira1781]

I like Wrecking Ball, but never plays with him. But this week our team was getting rolled and to reach the cart before time was over I switched to Ball. The opposing teams didn't know how to deal with me and we held the last point. Next round I switched again for Offense, but really liked those seconds. It made me want to play with him but I think I would mostly throw

[@nova_bruce]

Coming from a ball main it took some time to get good at ball (movement wise) and don't feed and actually provide value. What especially helped me were workshop codes training your grapple / learning to boop people off the map. In just a full day I learnt the advanced mechanics wall jumps double boops etc. He's the only character I can consistently grind to high masters with. Without ball I wouldn't play the game honestly

[@BeatingUr]

30:05 you gotta love how the guy who's 4-12 with 4.8k dmg, complains about his Zen 4-7 with more dmg than the dps player in question, and even more heals than the other supps while also gettin focused by a ball. Great video dude, honestly I often felt that doing the overly flashy stuff will get me killed more often than not, will try a less risky approach with the murder rodent.

[@omislair]

Hey awkward, was wondering if you're planning to do an unranked to gm genji series anytime soon, much love and solid content as always 💗

[@Papiertourist]

Thanks for all your work and commitment. It would be great, if you would also livestream on KZbin.

[@yunusemrebuyukguler4441]

❌ Studying regression analysis ✔️Watching wrecking ball education

[@Conner06]

More great stuff bro. Only have 20 hours on tank. (60 total hours) but hit Diamond thanks to your videos. 🔥 stay safe brother! 🙏

[@RJRJ]

Ball tip: Learn where every health pack is, they are for you.

[@DNYLNY]

Thank you for this video best friend! ❤

[@superdude292]

I’ve started playing only ball and if I lose I stop and watch awkward play a game and then try again. It’s working really well so far!

[@nacho__063]

Let me guess, Damageee damage damagee

[@handsomesquidward5160]

Off angling, distracting!

[@dylanmcintosh3904]

I can’t believe I missed the push ups live 🤧🤧

[@Whywhohow347]

Would love to see chazm react to this! Thanks again for a great video Awkward! Keep up the good work 💪

[@yungthuoclao4099]

I’ve been playing this game for years and ball is the only hero I don’t know how to play. I’m just watching this video for fun knowing that I will never touch this hero 🤣. Anyway thanks for an informative and entertaining video!

[@jlrav]

this video made me subscribe, ur super good!

[@gidds617]

Akward my new favorite. I love how he doesnt make excuses

[@Kiki-dq7gr]

Hahaha exactly my opinion on people that lock profiles... I was thinking why do people hide their ow profiles, they acting like they have a secret meth lab down there😂 Great video as always🎉 The fact that those videos are free to watch is mindblowing for me, thanks bro.

[@morninggloryow]

My favourite tank!! Thank you Awkward!

[@RobSpeaking]

You always make it seem doable straight away 😂

[@GuardsOfNohr]

Awkward is the biggest chad in Overwatch 2

[@Parcus_]

Very good video, really explanatory 👍

[@debuffxbaby]

I'm sure this will help players understand how to play with ball more than anything

[@matthewabarca8204]

hey awkward, your u2gm videos are not only entertaining and funny, but also very instructive. I’ve applied many of your videos to heros. I’ve really become a well rounded player. Now, I don’t want you to roast me for sounding like an NPC or anything… but I was wondering if you could do a DOOMFIST video for this series. I’m not sure if you have already, because I couldn’t find one on your page. But if you can or did already, it’d be so legendary of you. You’re basically the godfather of OW.

[@adenortegren4153]

Been playing for about a month can barely get out of bronze. Been watching the videos to try to stop being a scrub. Keep up the good work! Coach me please?!

[@monokuma1434]

as a ball mains im truly gratefull for this awkward Hope u have good day

[@GermanYankeeFan1]

I dont care about the awkward haters on reddit your videos are worth gold! realy appreciate your effort :)

[@SnowyhtmL]

Awkward can u do doom or Sombra next? , loveeee your unranked to gms , your videos helped me improve so much on Ana.

[@Hamsamich271]

Even though we are not friends lol good content it was a pleasure to watch live.

[@trevorellenbecker9653]

1:53:44 Moira saying “sweat” 😂 Isn’t that the whole point for comp, the place we’re you’re expected to try to win

[@braydon700T]

i sat in the first stream for 11 hours in a row and the amount of knowledge i gained was insane

[@Therealmudkip]

For the next U2GM I’d love to see you play genji. He’s one of those hero’s that a lot of people play but very few can master. Good Vids as always!

[@shutup11337]

LETS GOOOOO. Time to be a ball main :)

[@Not2sure]

The VERY FIRST rollout “I’m going to set up on a off angle....wooah it’s there spawn” is just THE BEST I’m watching full 10 hours