The November 15th patch of Overwatch has brought with it a large number of balance changes, as well as the latest hero Sombra. Changes of this magnitude are always likely to have an effect on competitive play - whether you prefer to group up with friends, compete in 6v6 teams or go it alone on the ladder. Today I'm going to go over the hero balance tweaks that are most likely to have a notable effect on the competitive metagame going forward, particularly in the mid to high ELOs - keep in mind I'm not going over every hero change in the patch here, just the ones that are likely to have an effect on the metagame.

Ultimate Changes

The first big change likely to break open the previous meta is actually a general change - the global increase of hero ultimate ability costs. Raising charge times by 25% across the board might just sound like it will make ultimate abilities less of a deciding factor in competitive play, but it’s also likely to affect general hero selection in game. Raising ultimate charge costs makes relying on ultimate combos a more dangerous endeavor - it’s still a powerful way to swing a fight, but the setup will take more time and failure will be far more punishing. We could see less of a dependence on the combination of powerful ‘wombo combo’ ultimates, such as the Ana/Reaper beyblade or Zarya team wipes, in favor of heroes with more reliable teamfighting ability and ultimates which are better used on demand - such as Soldier 76's Tactical Visor.

The Rise of Soldier

Soldier 76 himself received a change that is extremely likely to result in him seeing competitive play - an increase to the damage he deals with each round of his Pulse Rifle. Soldier is now back on top as one of the most reliable DPS heroes in the game, although it’s not likely he will replace McCree entirely since the flashbang is an important tool for dealing with flankers. Soldier did also receive a nerf, increasing his max spread when fully auto - but as a Soldier 76 player you will usually be burst firing anyway, so it’s unlikely to offset the power he has gained from the damage increase. Soldier shines across every ELO, his forgiving nature enables solid damage output to less experienced players, while also enabling devastatingly fast kills via headshots in the higher ranks. If you're a DPS player looking for your staple in the Sombra patch, or a team looking for a strong foundation for your team composition, Soldier 76 is your perfect starting point.

Ana - Still Golden?

Ana has been a staple of competitive play since the buffs she received after her release, predominantly down to her powerful burst healing and the combo potential of her Nano Boost. She has been hit with a nerf on the new patch, losing the movement speed buff portion of her Ultimate. This change makes combos require more setup, since boosted targets will need to be in position before the boost lands, rather than using the speed up to get into range. This will make the Beyblade strategy require a little more coordination, and although 6v6 teams can time Lucio’s speed up with the Nano Boost to push a Reaper into range, it may mean that Reaper/Ana will be less potent in Solo Queue. Still, there are plenty of good Nano Boost targets to go around. For example, the new and improved Soldier 76 can make very good use of the extra attack speed and Genji has no problems putting himself into range to initiate the Nanoblade combo.

D.Va vs Zarya

With Soldier 76 on the rise, players may be wondering where they should turn to counter the growing menace. After receiving a number of buffs, it seems the answer to that question will be D.Va. Her movement speed while firing has been increased by 25%, making it easier for her to stay mobile, and her mech has been granted an extra 100 armor, making her a lot tankier in general. These changes could allow her to function like a mini-Reinhardt, alongside her ability to flank or chase down squishy targets. Most importantly, her defense matrix can block an infinite amount of damage while active, making it the perfect solution for dealing with a number of different offensive ultimates - such as Pharah’s Rocket Barrage or Soldier 76’s terrifying Nano Boosted Tactical Visor. D.VA was also granted a 20% cost decrease to her Call Mech ability. This will counter the 25% increase to all Ultimates, resulting in it being a very similar charge time to the previous patch. The other offtank with changes is Zarya, who will be gaining 20% less power from her barriers, so they are capped at a max of 40% rather than the previous 50% max. This won’t really affect her damage output, but it will make reaching and retaining maximum power a more difficult endeavor, so she’ll be less of a staple in the meta and potentially a hero that you can swap out with the newly enhanced D.Va when the situation arises that you need that Defense Matrix.

Sombra's Influence

The introduction of Sombra is likely to have an interesting effect on the playability of Zarya too. She’s on the weaker side compared to other flankers when it comes to killing targets, but she offers superior utility that could prove to be far more dangerous if utilised correctly. The main point of interest for her kit is her Ultimate, EMP. Being able to both take down shields, barriers and prevent enemy abilities is hugely powerful, as it allows Sombra to clear the way for huge team wiping combos. Being hit with an EMP not only deals a flat 200 damage to a full HP Zarya because of her shield, but it also destroys her particle barriers, effectively neutering the Zarya pick. At the same time, EMP works best when using it on a grouped enemy team, and there’s no better way to set up for a good EMP than to use it in conjunction with a friendly Zarya’s Graviton Surge. It’s unlikely Sombra will push Zarya out of the meta - in fact they complement each other quite well. Sombra is similarly effective with all other AoE ultimates, so if the metagame stays focused on combo, she’s is definitely going to show up. Whether it’s disabling movement abilities to allow Mei to freeze a team in place, or taking down shields for D.VAs mech to cause some damage - every combo just looks better with Sombra joining in on the fun. That being said, Ultimate charge increases across the board might make the focus on wombo combo team comps more of a risk, so the question is really whether the addition of Sombra is enough to negate that risk.

Defensive Countermeasures

Mei has been a powerful defensive pick for a long time, and the buff to her Ultimate radius in a previous patch made her the queen of stalling points. An Ultimate that powerful needs limitations though, so Blizzard handed her an extra 15% cost, and that’s on top of the 25% cost increase across the board. Mei’s ultimate has always been relatively fast charging due to her Icicle spam, so these changes are aimed to make attacking into a Mei a less daunting prospect, especially on maps such as Temple of Anubis where a good Mei player could often have an Ultimate for every single push attempt on the final point. Still, Mei is devastating because of her ability to cut a team in half and turn a 6v6 into a 3v6, so it’s unlikely she’ll drop out of the meta any time soon.

Another niche defense hero that might officially break into the meta is Torbjorn! Making Torbjorn work is no small task, he requires meticulous turret positioning to be effective, but keeping your supports armored up is massively beneficial in buying time to defend them from flankers. Torbjorn doesn’t gain as much scrap from fallen enemies this patch, but he does passively generate scrap, meaning he can start building armor packs without having to venture out into the fray. His turret will also upgrade faster, so repositioning is less of an issue if you lose your turret too quickly into a round. Either way, the enemy team can’t just ignore a Level 2 turret because it puts out a lot of damage, and Torbjorn himself is definitely a threat thanks to his great damage from the Rivet Gun’s primary and secondary fire. Torbjorn will be more effective than he was previously on maps with choke points or high ground, but his power wanes after the first point is taken so it’s still not going to be ideal to play him for an entire round.

Is Pharmercy Back?

One of the more controversial changes has been to Pharah - her minimum explosion knockback has been decreased, but the minimum explosion damage has been increased. That means her splash damage hits will be more powerful, but it’ll be harder to bounce a target, so she'll have difficulty throwing off an enemy’s aim. Her kill potential will probably be higher as a result, but she’ll also be easier to take down by a competent hitscan player. Pharah’s Jump Jets also received a buff, giving her 35% increased lift, allowing her to stay in the air and remain far more maneuverable while hovering. The buffs will overall increase Pharah’s play in the lower ELOs, but as you climb up the ladder, the accuracy of hitscan players will keep her out of the skies unless her team is constantly pressuring the enemy hitscan.

The last buff that is likely to revamp the meta is to Mercy - Blizzard have opted to have her passive health regeneration kick in after one second of not taking damage, down from the previous 3 seconds. The change will make it easier to stay alive if Mercy can avoid taking damage, meaning she can be more confident when damage boosting allies, such as the powerful new Soldier 76, or pocket healing Pharah in the air. Mercy will always be a risk on defense as enemy flanker heroes will make a beeline to her position to avoid dealing with her Resurrect, but Mercy may actually start to shine as the support of choice while Attacking, at least for the first point. Flanking heroes are less effective while playing defense, so Mercy can happily heal and damage boost from the backline, outside of harm’s way. For the duo queue players, this could well mean that the 'Pharmercy' combination is back, an ideal partnership for disrupting the set pieces that teams use while playing defensively. Either way, she'll be able to charge up her Ultimate and sit tight while encouraging her team to push and die on the point, allowing her to swoop in for a large Resurrect that will be very hard to beat for most teams.

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