It’s not about her being OP and it never was. I made a similar thread about Hammer and I never called her OP, just problematic.
The thing about hammer is that although she isn’t overpowered, she does have the highest impact on the game out of any hero on the roster. The only hero that comes close to having as much of an impact on the game as she does is Cho’gall.
The moment Hammer is picked in draft, all the ally picks are aimed at protecting her, and all the enemy picks are aimed at countering her. She needs a very specific comp to work well with and the enemy needs a very specific comp to do well against her.
It’s essentially like Hammer IS the objective of most maps. On Cursed Hollow or Infernal Shrines, Hammer is the objective and after defeating her, the punisher is just a bonus reward.
Games with Hammer in it revolve completely around her. Games turn from “Who can contest the objective and maintain an experience lead better” to “Who can deal with hammer the best”.
Hammer is essentially a mobile fort/keep with less health but can also be healed. The amount of effort required to keep her under wraps is insane.
That’s essentially my entire point here. Hammer is counterable but the amount of effort required to counter her is insane. In lane, she is even more of a threat if left unattended.
Fun fact, after Sylvanas’ rework, Hammer is now the ONLY hero in the entire game who can take a fort with towers from 100 to 0 without backing off or needing minions. This is entirely due to her being able to outrange the towers and keep.
There are other heroes who are good at taking forts like Naz or Gazlowe, but they require occasional backing off, wave clearing, and ally minion wave support.
Hammer’s range is so long, she can anchor in a bush, completely ignoring minion aggro range, and assault a fort outside of cannon range. No other hero can do this. She doesn’t even need to clear the minions. She can just park in a bush and take a fort unless you send someone to counter her.