If you’ve been following the trials and tribulations of the Overwatch League for the past couple of years, than you likely already understand what Chris ‘Dream’ Myrick is exploding about in regards to hero pools.
Overwatch, or perhaps it’s more accurate to say Blizzard, came out with Hero Pools in an attempt to balance the game for both casual players and the Overwatch League. It came about, many ascertain, due to Blizzards’ inability to properly balance the heroes which led to consistently poor-quality metas being far too strong for anything to counter them.
From the year and a half of GOATs that many suffered through that saw tanks hitting each other in the face while healers sat in the backline and, well, healed, to the Mercy meta that made kills in fights inconsequential, there have been relatively few moments of harmony in Blizzards team-based shooter.
So Blizzard began banning heroes every week based on playtime, random draws, and a mix of them in an effort to bring about fun new gameplay moments that aren’t entirely dominated by a few over-tuned heroes.
On the side of the fans, it’s been a massive success. Star players are once again on their signature heroes (occasionally), every single fight doesn’t play out the same way, and there’s some dynamic nature that has encapsulated what could be a very repetitive league.
Chris Myrick, however, is offering a counter to what many Overwatch League fans have appreciated. Teams have no time to practice any strategies that let them get ahead of other teams, resulting in a devil-may-care free-for-all every week.
Ive never been more frustrated with the community and their separation from the competitive scene than when I read the reddit thread about how hero pools are great
Hero pools are the worst thing ever to happen to OW. Everyone I've talked to hates them, they make our lives hell
— Dream (@Dream_val) May 12, 2020
We would link additional tweets within the chain, however, there is some naughty language being used; you can click the tweet to get directed to the entirety of the rant.
2-2-2 and hero pools are crutches to fix the fact that blizzard can't balance the game
we were told there would be faster balancing but Mei didnt get hard nerfed until april 15 shes been OP since December
she isnt even that bad post-nerf, we need more aggressive changes
— Dream (@Dream_val) May 12, 2020
All in all, Chris Myrick brings up multiple solid points in regards to the Hero Pools that it is overall detrimental to the entirety of the Overwatch League.
Frankly speaking, however, Blizzard cannot balance Overwatch. They’ve had years to nail down some form of balance between the widely diverse cast, and they have shown time and again to struggle in finding the balance. New heroes come out that are over-tuned and become must-picks, certain heroes are frankly essential or you’re throwing matches, and everyone gets a nice sour experience until it’s time to wait for another queue.
Without solving the essential crisis, which, to be clear, is hero balancing, hero pools are simply the best solution for the time being. While many fans are watching Valorant getting radical shifts in terms of economy and weaponry behavior, Blizzard can no longer afford to gently iterate on a hero and hope for the best. Radical changes would be better suited to come sooner, rather than whenever Overwatch 2 comes out.
