Sure, here’s a reworked version in a more casual, stream-of-consciousness style:
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So, Blizzard did a thing back in April with Overwatch 2—decided to throw in hero bans. If you’ve dived into competitive mode in season 16, you might’ve caught onto this weird trend. It’s like Sombra, Zarya, Symmetra, Ana, Mercy—these heroes are the favorites for getting the boot. I found myself kind of chuckling at this. Anyway, there’s fresh data from Blizzard saying, yup, that’s totally happening. And it seems like, surprise surprise, this might lead to some shake-ups. Maybe those heroes get reworked? Or not? Who knows, right?
Surprisingly, Sombra’s kinda infamous right now, especially on PC—85% ban rate! I read that and thought, “Whoa, that’s a lot.” Zarya follows along at 59%, and Doomfist’s hanging at 43%. But check this out—on consoles, Sombra’s ban rate jumps to 93%. It’s wild. Then Zarya is 57%, and Symmetra, kinda surprisingly, is at 23%. Are folks just really tired of facing them? Guess so.
Gavin Winter, one of the senior systems designers at Blizzard, mentioned that the ban data from last month is like a guiding light for balancing stuff in Overwatch 2. Heroes that always get banned where they excel maybe need a glow-up? Or a tone-down? Heroes that never get picked might need a bit of love, too. But there’s no definite tweak lined up just because of this data. Kinda makes me wonder why I bothered reading the stats!
So, if you’re a Zarya or Symmetra main, you might be scratching your head. For Sombra fans, it’s a biggie—85% of the time you can’t even play her. What’s the point of maining someone if they’re locked out of most games? Seems like a major bummer.
Despite some quirks in how they decide which hero gets benched, Blizzard’s overall pretty chill with the system. Winter said something about the hero ban system meeting a lot of its goals, and there’s more data to come on win rates and pick rates. Color me intrigued. But also, maybe a bit skeptical.
Oh, and heads up! Players are getting more say in matches in season 17—there’s a map-voting system in the works, launching in late June. That might be cool or maybe a whole new can of worms. Guess we’ll see!
