Last night, Overwatch drew its Hero Bans for the upcoming week and Week 11 of the Overwatch League (OWL). The bans are Reinhardt, McCree, Widowmaker, and Brigitte. Echo releases this week, but she won’t be legal in Week 11 of the OWL either.
These bans follow the most recent update on Hero Pools. One tank, one healer, and two damage heroes will be banned, and the bans will be the same in the OWL as in Overwatch competitive play. Here’s how these bans might impact the upcoming week.
Reinhardt
This is easily the most impactful ban this week. Reinhardt is a top pick across the board, both in competitive Overwatch and the OWL. Without Reinhardt on the table, we can expect to see a lot more Winston and Orisa. Winston is popular with D.Va and Wrecking Ball in dive compositions, and Orisa functions well as a Shield tank.
McCree
This isn’t the first time McCree has joined the ban list of the Hero Pool. The first time McCree was off the list, Soldier: 76 became the top hitscan hero. Mei, Reaper, and Doomfist are all available during this time as well, and they have all seen a solid amount of play in the OWL.
Widowmaker
With Widowmaker and McCree out of the Hero Pool, players will have more opportunities to play Ashe and Pharah. Both of these Heroes recently got buffs to their kits, so maybe this will be their time to shine. At the very least, they will probably see some more play outside of the OWL.
Brigitte
Without Brigitte, OWL players will simply play Lucio as an off-healer instead. Both Heroes offer AOE heals with a defensive ultimate and a knock-back ability. In competitive Overwatch, this will help damage players who want to play flank heroes like Tracer or Genji.
Jae-hyeok “Carpe” Lee and other hitscan players probably won’t love the Hero Bans this week, but this should give players like him a chance to shine on other Heroes. It looks like it should be a fun week with some of the top Heroes out of the pool.
Published: Apr 13, 2020 12:49 pm