McCree, to be frank, requires good aiming and tracking skills to be effective. Tracking skill is important for all other DPS heroes but not as impactful as McCree’s. Unlike other easier DPS heroes like Reaper, as a McCree, you will need absolute accuracy to actually hit the target. Tracking skill is not the only factor to determine how good you are as a McCree; Positioning, target priorities, Flashbang’s and Deadeye’s timing are all as important to be a good McCree player.
Positioning
In most cases, you should be behind your tank’s shields while dealing damages to the enemy team. Depending on your team’s plan, if your team is looking to break shields and have a shield fight, you will have to be with your team and behind your tanks while pushing the enemy team or picking kills.
If the enemy team has a flanker or dive such as Genji or Tracer, you should be with your support. When a flanker attempt to engage one of your supports, use your Flashbang + Headshot combo to kill the flanker.
It’s not recommended to go too far away from your team to flank your enemy team as a McCree because McCree doesn’t have any escape ability to exit a fight. You will most likely die trying to trade, if not dying for nothing. You can, however, sometimes flank with a support if the enemy team has an obvious weak spot at their back line.
Some McCree will attempt to go very far away from their teams to attempt a super Deadeye from behind the enemy team. This is not the right way to play McCree even if you help winning the fight. Not only that you risk your life doing so, your team will lack a DPS while you are wasting time trying to get to a place where you shouldn’t be. No McCree in higher ranked games will ever attempt to do that.
Target Priorities
Always prioritize enemy team’s supports first, then DPS and lastly tanks. In a shield fight, try to pick enemy who are outside of their shields. At any other time, follow the target callouts by your teammate over the voice chat or call out a target if no one does so.
If your support is flanked by an enemy player, prioritize killing the flanker first over anything else. If the flanker successfully pick your support and escape the fight, your team will most likely lose the entire team fight by then.
If there is a Pharah and Mercy combo (Phamercy) in the enemy team, target the Mercy first if you have sight on her, otherwise target Pharah at all cost.
Your favorable targets are Tracer, Pharah, Doomfist, Genji, Sombra, Reaper and some others who like to flank. You are the counter to these heroes. So, keep your eyes on these heroes if any exists in the enemy team.
How to use Flashbang effectively
Other than using McCree’s Flashbang to confirm a close-range kill, below are a few tips on how to further utilize his flashbang to launch surprise stuns.
You can use your flashbang to stun Reinhardt while he has his shield up by jumping and throwing your flashbang right above his shield. This allows your team to quickly fire him down.
When a Genji is deflecting or that you feel he wants to deflect soon, throw your flashbang to his left or right of where he stands. He can still be stunned this way because the flashbang is outside of his deflect hit-box. Alternatively, you can try to throw above his head if he’s not jumping around.
You can also use your flashbang to stun a charging Rein, a rocket punching Doomfist, or to stop a channeling ult such as Reaper’s Death Blossom, Roadhog’s whole hog, etc.
When do I use Deadeye?
Using Deadeye can be sometimes risky as you would be exposing yourself as a super-slow, if not non-moving target, if you are not behind a shield. You should only be using your deadeye with the help of at least a tank’s shield and when there are multiple enemies within your sight.
You can also use Deadeye to quickly double-kill the Phamercy combo on the sky as they will usually be on the sky rather than behind a shield.
If a Genji dives in with his Dragonblade, you can threaten him with your Deadeye to force him to use his deflect than trying to pick your teammates.
Summary
Every hero requires certain amount of play time before you actually get used to it, not to mention hundreds or hours playing it if you want to master the hero. The same applies to McCree. You will have to just keep playing him to improve your tracking or flicking skills if you truly want to climb the competitive ladder with him.
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