There is a dedicated group of Overwatch 2 players that love Competitive Play and take their seasonal ranking very seriously. People put a lot of time and effort into climbing the skill rating ladder, so when they get placed lower than expected, they can be quite upset. If you have been placed in Bronze V and feel you are way too low, here is what to do about it.
Related: How does Overwatch 2’s ranking system work? Overwatch 2 ranks, explained
Overwatch 2 Bronze V Competitive rank bug, explained
With the release of Overwatch 2, Blizzard has given the MMR (Matchmaking Rating) and SR (Skill Rating) systems a light reset. These are numbers assigned to your account that help decide who you will play in Overwatch’s matchmaking. SR, you can see, but MMR is an internal hidden number based on your overall performance in each role. This leads to the fact that even if you played Overwatch 1 and placed higher, you will have to climb from a lower placement than you originally had. Luckily, showing that you deserve a higher placement should be pretty easy and fast, although this means you likely will deal with plenty of lower-level teammates and enemies. Just compete as you normally would, and you will rise in rank after seven wins.
The reset on SR and MMR affects everyone in the game but does not completely mean you have to start from scratch to find your place in the matchmaking. It happened because of how many changes were made to the game, for example, Doomfist becoming a Tank and Orisa getting a complete rework. The game can’t really go on how you played as Doomfist in the first game in a 6v6 format and compare that to how playing him now would place you, so you need to climb back up and prove your talent.
If you were a Platinum or Diamond player on Overwatch 1 and have not played in years, you did get quite a bit of a skill decay, so Overwatch 2 will place you even lower because of this. Essentially, you are placed at the bottom of the ladder, but because you have proven in the past that you are a better player, you have a chance to climb the ladder a lot faster than someone playing for the very first time. If you keep performing and winning games, your SR Division will shoot upward after every seven wins.
So there you have it. Being placed so much lower in Overwatch 2 Competitive than you were in Overwatch 1 is not a bug but just a product of the game’s new internal system. Just play like you normally would, and you should be back up to normal in no time.
