Blizzard’s at it again, yeah? They decided to do this hero ban thing in Overwatch 2 around April, right? So, if you’ve been diving into any of those competitive games during, what was it, season 16, you’ve probably noticed some heroes are, like, always on the chopping block. You know the ones—Sombra, Zarya, Symmetra, Ana, Mercy. Feels like they’re always getting sidelined. Blizzard dropped some numbers that back this up—sort of? And apparently, these bans might shake things up. Maybe some heroes get a makeover or something. Because, you see, getting banned all the time might just change everything for these characters.
Here’s the scoop: Sombra’s leading the pack with this massive 85% ban rate on PC. That’s wild! Then you’ve got Zarya at 59%, Doomfist trailing with 43%. On consoles? Even crazier. Sombra’s banned 93% of the time. Insane, right? Zarya hits 57%, and Symmetra at 23%. Blizzard spilled these stats in a blog post, and honestly, it kind of threw me for a loop.
Gavin Winter, one of Blizzard’s big thinkers, not sure if he drinks too much coffee or not enough, says they’re gonna use this hero ban info to maybe tweak things a bit in Overwatch 2. Heroes that are niche or, like, specific to certain maps might have to get more, what’s the word, generalized if they keep getting benched where they should shine. Weird, huh? And if some heroes are just, like, super unpopular, they might get more changes. Though, Winter’s quick to point out they’re not changing stuff purely based on this ban data. It’s like one of those “use it but don’t really use it” kind of things. Funny, right?
Now, what does this even mean for folks like Zarya or Symmetra? Who knows. But Sombra, man, if she’s only playable in, I dunno, like 15% of competitive matches ‘cause everyone hates going up against her, that’s a problem. Seriously, why bother perfecting a hero when you can barely use them? It’s like having a sweet ride but never taking it out of the garage.
Even with some quirks in how they decide the bans, Blizzard says they’re pretty “happy with how it works.” Winter mentions the system’s hitting most of its marks, and they’re pumped to see what Hero Bans become down the line, especially once they spill more beans on win rates and pick rates. Should be a trip.
And oh, heads up—come late June, season 17’s bringing a new map-voting thing. More control over your matches. Kinda cool, if you ask me. Looking forward to seeing that play out!
