We are all aware that D.Va has had some serious changes lately and that the intention from Blizzard was that it would convert her status from an "off-tank" to a true alternative to the more standard choices of Reinhardt or Roadhog for that role. Since those changes have hit the live servers it seems that every match you play has a D.Va on each team, is she really necessary for success? You'd be forgiven for thinking so given the number of times you'll see her at the moment and the number of times you'll hear her ultimate from an opposing team.

Image courtesy of Drake (Winston) Tsui at Artstation.com

Due to the 15% cost decrease in her ultimate charge D.Va gets her game on much more quickly these days and is fast becoming a map changing hero in a similar style to Hanzo. Correctly timing use of her ultimate can turn the tide of a game and is particularly effective in "king of the hill"or control maps such as Hanmura. With D.Va's ability to "throw" her exploding mech at a point in the distance as well as the explosion no longer killing her the flexibility in how she can use her ultimate has increased dramatically.

That said there are still quite punishing weaknesses to D.Va, her defense matrix (bound to RMB or console equivalent by default) only lasts for up to 4 seconds which in comparison to Reinhardt's Shield still feels very papery. Whenever you use her Fusion Cannons (bound to LMB or console equivalent by default) her movement speed is practically nil, as a result even allowing for her Boosters (L Shift or console equivalent by default) her maneuverability can be very limited in comparison to other tanks such as Reinhardt or Winston which, even with her the recent increase to her health pool can lead to her feeling distinctly like a glass cannon rather than a true tank hero.

Image courtesy of Jonathan Hamilton at Artstation.com

In most situations D.Va still seems to excel as an off tank or as part of a dual tank set-up. Double D.Va is still valid in quick play and in competitive mode she synergises very well with both Reinhardt and Winston but if you're playing D.Va as a single tank it requires your team to understand the limitations of what she is capable of in order to ensure success. Expecting D.Va to handle the same level of incoming damage as another tank without a primary healer is unreasonable, her abilities tend not to lend themselves to that sort of gameplay and whilst there are ways around it they require the tank to stop blocking for amounts of time to recharge abilities which may not be ideal (particularly if you are running with a healer like Zenyatta who has a low healthpool and slow movement speed).

So has D.Va become a solo tank as intended by Blizzard? Well, honestly, I'd have to say no, she's still not really great for that on most maps unless supported by heroes such as Mei who do a lot of additional blocking and I think she works best when working as in a multiple tank set up which allows her to really shine. She still struggles with high levels of incoming damage and that can be a serious problem if you are attacking and the opposing team have a good defensive set up.

Dare I say I think her ultimate charges just a little bit too quickly? (yes, you can all hate on me if you wish!) I'm wondering if it only really needed a 10% decrease in the time it takes to charge as I've noticed in quick play with an opposing team that had more than one D.Va it became one "Nerf This!" after another to the point of parody. Whilst of course this isn't going to be an issue in competitive play it does indicate that this buff to D.Va may have been slightly too generous.

There's still a lot of people wanting to practice with D.Va's modified keybinds (honestly I was pressing 'E' for some time on PTR!), making sure they understand how to utilise the way her ultimate works to best advantage and sometimes just try out something random that occurred to them. Honestly I think the shiny new toy syndrome of a D.Va in every match will probably also wear off a little bit in the same way as we are seeing a die off of the Ana in every match that happened just after the introduction of her as a new hero.