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What changes can blizzard make to support competitive Overwatch?

by - 8 years ago

The expectation is that competitive Overwatch will be released in June.  What kind of team compositions and game flow can we expect?   What changes should we hope for?

Blizzard has said they want the game to be based not so much on mechanical skill, but on teamwork, team composition and planning.  Based on that design system, I can see initial team composition and in-game team composition changes playing a big role in the upcoming competitive scene.  Here is a list of possible changes that would benefit competitive Overwatch.

 

Add a draft system

It will be interesting to see if Blizzard implements any sort of draft system like in League of Legends.  A draft format would be interesting with heroes locked in for the game for a certain period of time in game.  For instance, once you pick a hero, you must stay on that hero for the first 5 minutes of the game and once you switch to another hero, you cannot change again for 3-5 minutes.  A change like this would allow for a draft system and prevent such problems as a team switching to bastion, Torbjorn and stacking other defensive heroes to hold out the last 2 minutes on a payload defense map.  Changes like these would help to support a competitive system and add an additional layer of strategy to the game.

 

Do not allow duplicate heroes

Another recommended change is not allowing duplicate heroes.  Duplicate heroes have potential to abuse the most powerful and unbalanced hero of the day.  Example, in closed beta some early e-sports compositions were running multi McCree given that Fan the Hammer / Stun Grenade combo was so powerful (and still is actually).  Multi-Heroes could also make closing games next to impossible on the last stretch of payload maps and point defense maps.  Multiple Bastions / Torbjorn combos in the ending minutes of a game could prove incredibly difficult to deal with. Additionally, negating the option of multi-hero games would make spectating more interesting and add more depth to the experience.

 

Add a ban

Although it might not be possible at this time given the small hero pool currently in Overwatch, teams banning one hero each would simplify the need for blizzard to balance maps that may significantly benefit one hero.  Do you believe that Reindhart is far too powerful a champion on Dorado?  Your team can simply ban him.  This also allows for teams to target the opposing team’s best player.  Cloud9 have a ridiculous Widowmaker player?  Ban her and force them to play a better team synergy rather than allow one player to carry.  If a ban phase were to ever enter Overwatch, I think it would be necessary to wait until each role has an additional choice.

 

Conclusion

Ultimately the goal is to have a balanced hero pool where every hero is balanced and playable under multiple conditions.  The more blizzard can do to support that end goal, the better off the competitive scene will be.

What do you think?  Would a hero select system and being locked into a hero for a certain period of time help or hinder the competitive scene?  Should duplicate heroes be banned?

Leave your comments in the section below.


JR Cook

JR has been writing for fan sites since 2000 and has been involved with Blizzard Exclusive fansites since 2003. JR was also a co-host for 6 years on the Hearthstone podcast Well Met! He helped co-found BlizzPro in 2013.


0 responses to “What changes can blizzard make to support competitive Overwatch?”

  1. selebu says:

    Actually, yes why not? Good idea.

  2. Eldorian says:

    The biggest change I think they should make is to increase the tick rate. 20 tick rate for competitive play is seriously ridiculous. Should be at least 60 or more.

  3. Silhan says:

    The biggest change I think they should make is to increase the tick rate. 20 tick rate for competitive play is seriously ridiculous. Should be at least 60 or more.