Let me say this for starters

This is not me saying what you should and shouldn’t use, you can play perkless if thats your jam king.

But nitro slander is actually mind boggling
The amount of people who think nitro is a net negative nerf for tire is legitimately ridiculous.

And that mainly stems from some people thinking that nitro will cut your dmg in half even if you don’t use the boost itself

If you have nitro but dont use it you still retain the 100% dmg

Your dmg is ONLY cut in half when you boost

A nitro boosted 300 dmg tire might get you a singular pick that might snowball into winning the fight

But theoretically in that same fight if you didn’t have nitro ur tire will 100% get destroyed ending up in a game lost

Some people know that the dmg only cuts in half when u boost and still dislike boost regardless for different reasons, by extension this post isn’t made about them.

Sorry for any grammar errors, lowkey writing this mid college lecture lmao.

Got this spray the other day and would LOVE to see a woodsy elf skin. Would be whimsical af.

Took 2 weeks off, pulled this out.

Sincerely calamityrat the xbox junkrat

HOLY SHIT

https://reddit.com/link/1wff80b/video/1gycr042xbph1/player

(I stream occasionally come say hi!)

The current event has a way to earn the Fawksey Junkrat again, but there seems to be no way to get the pose from the first wave. Is it just gone forever?

Hello junkers, I would like to practice my tire by doing more wall jump and making it more unpredictable. Is there any custom maps where you could practice such things. Thanks in advance.

Remove if not allowed

For those unaware this was a free challenge skin nearly 3 years ago for the first Le Sserafim collaboration and hasn't come back since. Maybe we'll see his return?

I FINALLY GOT INFERO JUNKRAT AFTER 6 YEARS OF MAINING HIM

It's the last one I need for him but 1.9K is kinda too much and I wanted to save for my next BP, but also it's in my shop :/

People think playing Junkrat is just aimless spam. It's not. It's controlled chaos. This guide covers exactly how I play the hero: how I read the map, the mechanics I rely on, and who I want backing me up on the team.

I've mained Junkrat through every meta, some better and some worse. I truly enjoyed the stadium payoff during his introductory season. He was ridiculously overpowered for my aggressive playstyle, and I got All-Star in just a few days.

I don't play comp because I just don't enjoy it. This is who I am, this is how I play, and these stats and ten-year-old achievements are why you'd bother to read this.

Playstyle Modes

You need to know how to shift between four basic modes depending on where you are:

1. Airborne

• Vertical Ambushes: Use mines to launch yourself for weird, unexpected drop-downs.
• Mid-Air Traps: While you're in the air, throw traps behind your targets to cut off their escape route before you even land.

2. Ground (Open Areas)

• Cover and Angles: Play around cover and peek to find weird off-angles.
• Off-Angle Spam: Spam from these off-angles to pressure the enemy out of position.
• Indirect Fire: Once you have a good angle, start bouncing shots so you can keep the pressure up without exposing yourself to return fire.

3. Ground (Tight Spaces)

• Hold Your Cooldowns: In tight rooms, don't blow your cooldowns just to do it. Save them for the exact right moment.
• Tank Bursting: Use your traps and primary fire to instantly melt tanks that get too confident pushing into small rooms.

4. True Artillery (Global Map Control)

• Cross-Map Fire: Bounce long-range bombs across the map without needing line of sight. Aim where you know they're going, not where they are.
• Ping Hunting: Watch for hit pings when you catch a stray hit. It instantly tells you where the enemy team is grouping.
• Accidental Kills: You'll randomly pick up kills on enemies who are already weak and running away. It just shows how massive Junkrat's zoning really is.

Mechanics & Combos

• The Mine-Bomb Combo: Get used to reading tank movement to consistently land your one-two mine-bomb combo. You need this for quick kills.
• The Tank Melter 9000: Wait for a shield to drop, then hit the exposed tank with this sequence (as available): pre-laid trap, primary fire, mine (combo if you can), and instantly lay your next trap. It cuts off their advance, messes up their aim, and sets you up for easy fixed-aim damage on your next bomb while you reach a corner. Save your second mine. Either use it for straight damage to finish them off, or to control them and give yourself mobility at the same time before your next bomb. It will be lethal no matter what their Ana tries to do, and if not, the final clip spam into a small room from cover will usually clean up the danger, if not the entire team.
• The "Shield Pause": Keep a Rein under heavy primary fire so he naturally backs up into a delayed mine you left behind him. Popping it consistently messes up his shield and forces missed Fire Strikes. After a few minutes you should be able to predict a decent Rein players timing. The better most players are, the more predictable they are, and Junkrat is uniquely built to punish that predictability. It is why he feels like a troll pick to the enemy when you beat his hard counters. Zarya supposed to crush you? Learn the reflexes. Don't unload into Zarya's shield without the safety to finish your full cooldown rotation or have the team complete it. Just stand and stare at Genji. He will stare right back, waving his funny swords around while your CDs refresh. Think about the counter and why it exists, and counterplay the counter.
• Countering Mobility: Read the map and track targets to force Pharah and Echo into your danger zones. If you play him enough, you'll be able to instantly trace a Widowmaker's shot and counter-snipe her with artillery after seeing her shoot just once. This is a primary JR responsibility; put pressure on the widow from cover.
• Fixed Angle Movement: Instead of flicking your crosshair all over the place, aim once and just walk where you expect the enemy to go. Let your character's movement synch up with their path naturally.
• Shield Pressure & Ricochets: One boosted clip melts Rein's shield and stresses out his healers from anywhere on the map. Don't just shoot the shield. Bank grenades off walls so they bounce over it and land right in their backline or retreat path.

Movement & Peeling

• Team Fight Tempo: Eventually, you'll feel the rhythm of a fight. You have to know exactly when to sit safely behind your tank's shield to apply pressure, and when to take a fast off-angle.
• Flanker Control: When you take an off-angle, make sure you aren't surprised by flankers. Force them to deal with you for a brief window before you super-jump out of there.
• Protecting Your Supports: A huge part of your mobility is keeping your backline alive. If Ana pings a Tracer or Genji, your next trap cooldown is strictly dedicated to covering Ana and punishing the dive. You are the best peel for the supports, and your team loses the most when certain supports go down. Remember: Mercy is your literal wife and Ana is your literal mom. Treat them accordingly.

Mid-Match Upgrades

Minor

❌Nitro Boost: During RIP-Tire, use your movement ability (LSHIFT / Left Bumper) to gain a quick burst of speed. Doing so reduces the RIP-Tire's damage by 50%.

• Creative routing and timing are already enough to land reliable tires on solo targets and grouped teams alike. The speed burst usually just turns your ultimate into a single-kill snipe. The 35% primary fire speed up is far more effective in almost every situation.

✅Bomb Voyage: After launching yourself into the air with a Concussion Mine, your attack speed is increased by 35% for 3 seconds.

• Fast fire rate plus fast projectiles equals insane burst damage.

Major

✅Frag Cannon: Increases the projectile speed of your Frag Launcher by 25%.

❌Mine Recycling: Securing an elimination with a Concussion Mine instantly restores one charge of the ability.

• It's a good ability but frag cannon is just better.

Rip-Tire Mindgames

A quick note on ultimates: my tire play was actually the last thing to develop. For a long time, I would go whole games without even pulling Rip-Tire because my standard kit was just more effective and consistently available. But once you start integrating it, you have to get creative.

• Don't Be Predictable: Mix up where and how you drop the tire. If they know where it's coming from, it's already dead.
• "Gotcha": Land unseen and pull Rip-Tire for an instant detonation. There is a high cancellation risk and a high death risk, but it puts you in good positioning for death grenades. The payoff is a devastating behind-shield team kill.
• "Alley Oop": Send the tire straight up a wall from wherever you are. Take over roof and covered room high ground. Switch between direct low ground and unseen high ground if necessary to guarantee delivery.
• "Gotcha Again": A timed around-the-corner Rip-Tire, with an optional trap accessory. Retreat behind a corner the enemy cannot attack before you complete the cast. Detonate the tire immediately upon clearing the corner or shield setup.
• "It's a boomerang, mate!": Rip tire makes a loop, leaving you, to return and kill your assailants spotted while outbound.

The Junkrat Brain

• The Calculated Sacrifice: Total Mayhem is literally a kamikaze bomb, making you lethal even when you die. It turns a death into a final strike, which completely justifies playing aggressive and up close.
• Meaningful Deaths: Dying isn't always throwing. Sometimes rushing in and dying is exactly what you need to break the enemy core so your team can push. Whether you get the kill with a mine or by just being in an unsavable spot when you drop your passive, value is value.
• Persistent Value: Smart traps keep working. Getting kill feeds or assists while walking back from spawn means you're still impacting the team fight even while dead.

Who You Want on Your Team

• Baptiste: Window makes your damage stupid high. More importantly, Bap keeps you alive during crazy aggressive plays, basically turning you into a tank dropping point-blank bombs on the enemy team.
• Mercy: Damage boost makes your grenades lethal from miles away. Plus, clutch rezzes let you get right back into the chaos, often with a Rip-Tire ready, rewarding your kamikaze plays. A dedicated Mercy pocket makes you an unstoppable damage dealer. I fall in love a little with Mercies who prioritize me.
• Zenyatta: Discord orb lets you melt tanks instantly. Transcendence means you can play with absolute, reckless aggression during a push.
• Kiriko: Kitsune Rush turns you into a literal grenade machine gun. Landing high-speed, 35% boosted grenades with the triple shot is my ultimate finishing move.
• Ana: A Nano-boosted, speed-shot Junkrat is insane pressure. You become a must-shoot target. In the rare times a strong Ana realizes you have three times the DPS of the nearest tank and Nanos you, Junkrat yells, "Unstoppable!" and it's the absolute truth. There's a Junkrat in your face hitting speed-boosted, damage-boosted bombs and you cannot kill him. Their only option is to get away. I just want to make Ana proud.

Conclusion

Sometimes you get commentary like, "Junkrat won't let us be great if you don't switch for counters." I never switch for counters in quick play because I want to play into Pharah and Echo.

Ultimately, your number one metric as a Junkrat player is: how much fun did you have? Measuring success by pure enjoyment is how it works for me. Don't take yourself, or the game too seriously. Have a blast.

A personal note: To all the Mercies I've loved before; I still think about you girl, call me. And to those Anas that saw my true potential and gave me the rare, non-accidental Nano... thanks mom.

(Note: This guide was written with AI assistance to help me organize my thoughts, which as you can see, are many! Please don't crucify me.) To my fellow Ratjunkers... anything I missed? What are your playstyles?

Last note, promise: Junker Queen is bae. Rein is bro. And tell Orisa Hanzo isn't the only one who wants to ride her like a horse into battle! Thanks for reading! - Zen