There has been hint after hint that something big is coming in the next few weeks to Overwatch, specifically on the high end of competitive play. For a while now, there have been big rumors that Season 3 is “going to be the make or brake season”. And one of the highest complaints is the mirror matches.
It seems like Blizzard (as always) has been spreading big news and inside info to OWL players and streamers, just like they did with 2-2-2. Remember when that happened, then OWL players started leaking role queue? And now, there’s leaks popping up that hero bans are coming for the OWL, just like 2-2-2 did. Thoughts?
EDIT: Remember guys, 1.44 just hit live, meaning nothing is on the PTR currently. So this new big feature is very likely to come on the next PTR Patch - 1.45. It could literally be as soon as this week or next.
Honestly hope hero bans don’t come because there’s a 9/10 chance they’ll be used to just further reinforce strict hero metas which would just make the balancing issues even more noticeable.
I don’t understand how hero bans would address mirror matches. They might change what compositions are being mirrored, but the only way to reduce mirror rate is to balance the game well enough that teams can play multiple different compositions without one being at an obvious advantage.
If hero bans come to OWL, I’ll probably be interested enough to watch it again. Stopped watching last time because I was getting sick of mirror matches.
I was never been a supporter of 2-2-2, but I have always been a supporter of hero bans. I would gladly trade 2-2-2 for it, but I’m also fine with having both.
I think the pros need a taste of real life and they’re all Blizzard cares about. The meta makes me sick, it’s absolutely rigid and enforced and if you dare to pick anything (even a support or tank) that isn’t confined in the cement walls, you’re threatened, abused and even reported.
On one side; it’ll remove the heroes that are notoriously hated from a vast number of games. IE Doomfist, Mei, Hanzo and Widow. Which, has its perks, considering the devs can track which heroes are banned the most and perhaps their reasons why.
Just to add to that, the argument that “it reinforces a stagnant meta” could go either way. It could be seen as banning key heroes to MAKE metas change… however if there are enough heroes balanced the same way, then the banned hero could be swapped with another and vice versa. For example: Winston could get banned, but Hammond could work with D.Va still.
Furthermore; it’s sort of a neutral point but, well known one tricks would be completely removed from some matches. For example: Fuey500, a torb main, could have torb BANNED in most games as players think “oh it’s fuey.” Won’t happen at all in lower ranks, but it’s entirely possible further up.
Negative points? I guess the mindset behind it. We do HAVE enough heroes to allow for hero bans (2-2-2 has allowed for a forced VARIETY of heroes, instead of stuff like GOATS), but the general consensus is “this is bad for the game.” And to that I agree.
Hero bans suggests that the devs see certain heroes as being meta defining (Bap’s 15% pick rate and 54% winrate for example) no matter what state they’re in. So allowing people to ban these heroes could allow for diversity? But what would we play instead? Ana?
It’s a damaging change to a game that desperately needs fluidity in its competitive scene.
