EDIT: keeping this up, but yeah i shouldve known better than to knee jerk post after a day of playing. turns out i just forgot how to play tank and after playing some games on my best tank (dva) i remembered how things go again especially with the buffed dmg passive. things are chill again, im winning some games on hazard, mostly on brawl maps. hes a fun alternative to junker queen when im playing a flat map that doesnt favor dva but there are still some little ledges and high grounds for me to take advantage of. excited again by the skill ceiling of this hero
i know that hazard got a lot of microbuffs with the launch to this season, but ive had five games in a row now where it was an absolute stomp and it felt like it was because i was playing hazard and the enemy team wasnt. hazard didnt feel nearly so bad to play during the test run. i no longer feel tanky enough. i cant ever engage with my leap - if i do, even if i use cover, i get chased down and never catch up in heals. i dont even feel like my cd cycle is horrible - ill see a squishy, leap, use my wall for cover, block, and ill still die before i get my leap back. or i leap out but it doesnt get me far enough - i still die. dps just run me over. other tanks have better pressure and survivability. i dont know. this is early to say, but i really am not optimistic about the dmg passive buff. when it was first introduced with the array of changes in season 9, i stopped playing tank completely for several seasons. i was excited to get back into with hazard because his kit was so fun - id been playing more tank last season in preparation. but now im wondering if i should just stop playing tank again.
Part of the reason is that during the playtest, you might have been fighting mirror match-ups. Everyone was trying to play the hero in high concentrations. Now that he’s released. The hype has died down. Mirrors aren’t happening as much. People know how to counter him from the playtest.
Personally, I thought he was a little underwhelming, but part of it I think is due to the fact that he’s a hard hero to use.
absolute part of it is that there arent as many mirror match ups. i feel like there may be more than that though, because there are times i didnt play mirror match ups in the playtest, and those didnt feel quite so bad as they do now. mostly just a waiting game to see for sure
Might be because of the recent patch notes. That or people have figured out all the hard counters in every role.
I honestly don’t see how he could become weaker with the buffs he received, especially with how tanky he was during the limited test. I will test him out in a bit and hopefully remember to write a follow up post on my thoughts.
Not my experience at all so far. I’ve just been in QP, but I’ve been dominating today. I should get some replays together so you can see what’s going on over here; it could just be my ELO, who knows
thats encouraging to hear! it’s actually nice to see that other people are having a better time with him - makes me want to keep trying. i dont play brawl tanks as much, so i shouldve realized id have a sharper learning curve with him
Definitely keep at it if you’re interested in playing him. ^^ I think it takes quite a bit of discipline and care to play him right, so it might take some time to figure out his rhythm. Also, getting more experience with his matchups and such
In my experience, I think he’s actually more dive-leaning than brawl-leaning, even though his jump is relatively short. I’ve been going crazy, playing flanks and tearing up backlines and whatnot. He’s able to set up in interesting spots to attack from thanks to his abilities. Even his placeable wall could be used to give yourself a boost up. That has some interesting potential uses, like being able to reach higher ledges without burning the jump cooldown (so it and the slash can be used offensively right away)
I’ve got some replays to share. Forgive any clumsiness, since like the rest of us I’m still getting my bearings too–
CMNBQV (Colosseo, went up against an Orisa here and she switched)
VN1GK6 (Antarctic Peninsula. I got a little adventurous with the jumps in round 2, with the best moment near the very end)
A1MSBA (New Junk City. I was going on all kinds of adventures terrorizing squishies here)
None of those three are mirrors; I made sure to showcase matches where I was up against other tanks. However, I still want to share this last one that is a mirror because I was just so vicious in it: QCNA45
oh thank you for sharing the replays!! i slept on it and when i tried some games today he definitely felt better - i think i just needed to get back into the groove of playing tank, especially with dmg passive buffs. happy playing!
Nobody is playing him in my games. I get 5+ games in a row with no Hazard then he might be in part of the next game but swaps usually then 5+ games of no Hazard.
I thought the queue times for tank had gone up because everyone was queuing for Hazard, but I guess people have just gone to try out Rivals instead.
