Before I start, let me clarify that yes, I am a Hammond main. Been playing the game since Beta, took a big break and came back around season 14. I placed Bronze and I finally hit Masters a season or two ago. The Hammond nerf just straight up ruins the character and his role as a tank by fundamentally reducing his niche playmaking potential. Before even talking about the nerf itself, let me address the very reason why Ball was meta in the first place. Essentially, Ball was only viable because he was the only tank left that didn’t get instantly blown up by the ridiculous damage in the game. Instead of nerfing tanks to the brink of uselessness, can we not buff the incredibly poor tanks to be at least somewhat decent instead? Tank players have gotten the short end of the stick ever since GOATS was killed with 2-2-2 and it’s no surprise that it is by far the least enjoyed and most oppressive role to play in the game. By nerfing such a fundamental part of one of the most unique and mechanically demanding characters in the entire game, Blizzard is only actively alienating tank players more. Ball was never broken or overtuned, he’s been pretty much the same as he was when he came out save for some minor quality of life changes. Only when he is the only tank left that doesn’t get utterly bullied, suddenly he’s broken? No, the only thing that’s broken is this current balancing philosophy.
Now, as for the nerf itself. Think of it like this: From a Ball player’s point of view, basically every character has Steadfast now, except Reinhardt, who has double Steadfast. Getting meaningful knockbacks is his most important play and this is going to severely hurt that. It’s already very hard to knock people back when they run in the opposite direction as is! I often hear people saying things akin to: “It’s easy to just roll it down mid and hit the entire team.” Which is just a non statemement because if you do that in this day and age, you just get chain-stunned into oblivion and you die.
What people often forget about Ball’s knockback is that it can’t really be aimed very reliably since you’re tied to the anchor point. Furthermore, it’s purely horizontal! So even the slightest ledge or slope nearly completely denies any knockback. This is exactly why booping people on Lijang Tower’s Garden is not necessarily easy and very inconsistent. They say they want to bring it in line with other low cooldown knockbacks, but things like Brig’s whipshot and Lucio’s boop can all be aimed and they can apply vertical distance while being on a shorter cooldown. Hell, with these two particular knockbacks you can send people flying absolute MILES away! One thing I just considered as well, these two knockbacks have RANGE. You can send people flying without even truly being in danger when Ball literally has to roll through them to connect. One stun and he’s dead. Even Doomfist has some pretty gnarly knockback, and his punch is a stun as well!
The shield nerf I agreed with, that was justified and didn’t break his playstyle. This proposed nerf makes his kit very inconsistent and arguably only forces him to be a duelist since much of the set-up potential is taken away with his knockback, making him less like a tank and more like fat Doomfist, just with a worse knockback. Indeed, this nerf fundamentally takes away from his role and duties as a tank. He is a disruptor, making space for his team through the chaos he creates while displacing enemy anchor points and setting up for his team. Nerfing the grappling claw, the primary tool in his kit, is a very harsh blow to his utility, especially given he has no real defensive capability other than the displacement he can create. Displacing Reinhardt with his stupid Steadfast is literally impossible now. Finally, I’m pretty sure this makes it so Ball can’t deny Mercy resurrect anymore.
