Overwatch's Competitive Mode Will Limit Teams to One of Each Character

[Lizzy Finnegan]

Overwatch's Competitive Mode Will Limit Teams to One of Each Character

//cdn.themis-media.com/media/global/images/library/deriv/844/844578.jpg

Upcoming changes mean no more stacking teams with duplicate characters.

Talking to GameSpot [http://www.gamespot.com/articles/overwatch-to-limit-teams-to-one-of-each-character-/1100-6441726/], Blizzard principal designer Scott Mercer confirmed that a one hero per team limit would be coming to Competitive Play. There will be no character limits in Quick Play matches, so if you want to all be Soldiers now, you can do so there.

"The big thing for Competitive Play is we're going to turn on one-hero limit, so players will not be able to stack more than one of the same hero within a Competitive match," Mercer said. "It's not going to effect Quick Play at all, but it is something we're going to turn on for Competitive."

This is interesting, considering the official Overwatch Twitter account recently referred to hero stacking [https://twitter.com/PlayOverwatch/status/745716765750001664] as "a core concept and strategy of Overwatch."

In addition, Mercer confirmed plans to drop Sudden Death once Season 2 of Competitive arrives, in order to make sure players got something, good or bad, for their time.

"We definitely want players to feel like if they had a tie, their time wasn't completely wasted," Mercer said. "So we're trying to find the sweet spot of a lot of players feel like, 'Oh, well, we got something out of it,' but at the same time not create situations where players might collude and create some nasty situations there. We're still discussing that."

In other Overwatch news, Blizzard has confirmed [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/167917-Blizzard-Has-Announced-the-Newest-Overwatch-Hero-Ana] the game's first new character and, as much of the internet predicted, it will be Pharah's mother, Ana, a healer-sniper.

Are you for or against duplicate heroes on Competitive teams? Sound off in the comments!

Permalink

 

[Aeshi]

On a related note, Zenyatta's and D.Va's buffs have been confirmed:

- Zenyatta's going to get his health boosted (presumably up to 200, as we don't have any 175 HP heroes) and a Speed boost whenever he uses his ult.

- D.Va's Defense Matrix will now work like Pharah's jetpack, which is to say it's a constantly replenishing meter you can tap into and out of whenever you want. I believe they're also reducing the fuse on Self-Destruct, along with changing it so that D.Va can't blow herself up with it anymore.

 

[Seraj33]

This is great news! No more 5 stack D.Va stalling, no more doulbe Zarya invincibility, no more double Winston/Tracer/Lucio borefest!
Time for the game to become twice as interesting.

 

[Necrozius]

Reducing the fuse on Dva? To better catch the enemy, sure, but that means less time to get out of the way and not to kill yourself. Ugh. I've died hiding behind a wall or building, so I'm not too happy...

Edit: clarifications have been revealed, making this post irrelevant.

 

[Redryhno]

This is great news! No more 5 stack D.Va stalling, no more doulbe Zarya invincibility, no more double Winston/Tracer/Lucio borefest!
Time for the game to become twice as interesting.

On the other hand, it sorta backs people into the same problem it's got at the moment where those doubling up characters are really only there because of other characters being so far below the others in terms of usefulness.

 

[Tortilla the Hun]

Reducing the fuse on Dva? To better catch the enemy, sure, but that means less time to get out of the way and not to kill yourself. Ugh. I've died hiding behind a wall or building, so I'm not too happy...

As a user above detailed:

D.Va's Defense Matrix will now work like Pharah's jetpack, which is to say it's a constantly replenishing meter you can tap into and out of whenever you want. I believe they're also reducing the fuse on Self-Destruct, along with changing it so that D.Va can't blow herself up with it anymore.

OT: It's certainly welcome news though. Hero stacking has been shown to be a little too effective at times. And I'm looking forward to the Zenyatta buff. He seemed to be constantly 'freeing his mind' from his mortal coil by dying pretty quickly. But maybe that was just me.

 

[Aeshi]

As a user above detailed:

D.Va's Defense Matrix will now work like Pharah's jetpack, which is to say it's a constantly replenishing meter you can tap into and out of whenever you want. I believe they're also reducing the fuse on Self-Destruct, along with changing it so that D.Va can't blow herself up with it anymore.

In his defense, I didn't add that part until after that post.

 

[Seanchaidh]

Ah, the iron fist approach to balance. Well, at least they're up front about their intention to restrict the meta. In SC2, the rigid meta(s) are (have been) supposed not to be intended.

 

[Link XL1]

not sure how i feel about anti-stacking, i mean, its a legitimate strategy and i feel like all you have to is come up with a counter to it. if you got a team full of dva, which to tracer or pharah. on the fill side though, having to counter stack like that does make the game less fun

 

[Rednog]

What I really want to know they're going to determines who gets the hero when 2 people want it. A system of first come first serve would create mountains of salt, especially since people's load in times vary due to multiple factors.

 

[ObsidianJones_v1legacy]

I don't like the idea that D.Va can't blow herself up with her Mech any more, and she's one of my mains.

As a D.Va, I had to think about the situation every time I used the Nuke. When do I jump out, will I be trapped, etc.

Now, a D.Va can use the nuke with less cost to her, meaning they'll be all over the place. Not a good balance.

.... Give Lucio damage, already. Or at least make the soundblast either cost ammo or not cost ammo and keep the cool down... or make the sound blast a second stun like McCree's flashbomb so it will aid survivability.

 

[SlumlordThanatos]

not sure how i feel about anti-stacking, i mean, its a legitimate strategy and i feel like all you have to is come up with a counter to it. if you got a team full of dva, which to tracer or pharah. on the fill side though, having to counter stack like that does make the game less fun

I think restrictions would've been better than banning it outright.

Make a 2-1-1-1-1 comp allowed, where you are allowed no more than two copies of a hero, and you can only run duplicates of one hero at a time. If you want to start with double Tracer, but want double Winston for dealing with that pesky sniper, you can't have both; one of the Tracers has to swap away.

But it's a welcome change, to be sure. No hero limits was warping the meta towards favoring KotH maps and a double Tracer, double Winston and double Lucio on every team. It was retarded, to say the least.

 

[Drejer43]

as someone who is tired of seeing 2 unkillable soldiers hitting everything in their sights behind a Reinhardt shield i welcome this change. Maybe i just suck, but to me soldier just seems so damn effective why wouldn't you have him at least twice in payload and capture maps. Who counters soldier?

 

[RJ 17]

For those wanting official notes on the D.Va changes, this is from the PTR patch notes:

OT: Can't help but feel that removing the stacking option means that once the no-stack meta gets established we're going to be seeing the same set of characters for every game (per game type). >.>

 

[Redryhno]

as someone who is tired of seeing 2 unkillable soldiers hitting everything in their sights behind a Reinhardt shield i welcome this change. Maybe i just suck, but to me soldier just seems so damn effective why wouldn't you have him at least twice in payload and capture maps. Who counters soldier?

Anyone with either mobility or damage he can't survive and heal through, so basically anyone that beats offensive heroes in general, which is like half the roster.

The guy's solid, but he doesn't really have anything he excels in, it's his weakness.

 

[ObsidianJones_v1legacy]

Lucio is actually pretty strong at the minute. He doesn't really need changing. He's relatively tanky, very mobile, and his team buffs are pretty strong. Not to mention that his alternate fire is really useful. His damage is lower than others to compensate for all of this.

And in what way is this a bad change for Dva? Having to run behind a corner every time you use an ult isn't skillful in the slightest. If anything, the ult will have players more active post change.

Pre-change ult:- You use it, then you hide behind an object and wait about 4 seconds for it to explode.

Post-change ult:- You use it, and then you use your pistol to deal damage on enemies as THEY try to hide.

Besides, right now, Dva's ultimate is one of the worst ults in the game. It phases enemies slightly, but every other ultimate does a way better job. Pretty much all her ultimate is good for at the minute is killing teleporters, turrets, and mines.

I never said it was a bad change. It's a great change for D.Va. I just happened to like the skill it took to get Nuke kills while keeping yourself alive. I felt accomplished everytime I got a PoTG while using her nuke and staying alive. That's all.

And for Lucio... eh. He's my main. So these are 'main' complaints. He's balanced. But with some of the characters who are particularly 'blessed' with More Than Fortunate Kit (Mei, Reaper, Bastion... you guys know who you are), I don't feel bad about asking for a damage boost. It's not needed, but I think it would be nice for us Lucio Mains.

 

[major_chaos]

No hero stacking is godsend. Playing against stacks is annoying, and even if you can marshal your team to a counter stack it still creates a boring back and forth. Getting rid of stacks also makes it easier to balance certain heroes who are totaly fine by themselves but interact in awkward ways when multiplied like Zyarya, or Winston and D.va who both got whacked with questionable nerfs in beta purely because they were nightmarish in a five stack with a healer.

As for the balance changes this patch, the Zen buffs sound alright and the D.va changes will make her much more interesting to play if nothing else but I'm not sure buffing matrix and ult will be enough to offset the stupid selfslow on her primary fire or her massive and badly positioned head hitbox.

 

[Necrozius]

As a Dva player who's frequently been killed by my own ult despite diving for cover around a corner or hiding behind Rein's shield, I'm pretty glad. Was cover supposed to help?