Twitch streamer Brandon ‘Seagull’ Larned has been playing a lot more Overwatch than usual because he believes the game is in the best state it’s ever been.
In a new YouTube video, the former Overwatch League pro delved into why he believes the 2016 title is in such a fantastic state.
“In previous patches or metas or historically with Overwatch, it’s pretty common to go through a long queue time, you load up the game, you hit tab and you take a quick look at your team comp,” the streamer said, describing how a typical match begins.
According to Seagull, in the past, having a team comp that didn’t follow the meta such as running double shield or Brigitte would be an instant loss. However, in the current patch, it’s completely different: “It’s one of the most balanced patches in Overwatch history.”
Larned continued to state that most team comps on the ladder are very map-specific, giving the game a huge sense of variety. The 28-year-old said he’s seen every combo of supports and tanks with everything be viable in some capacity.
Another big benefit is how there’s no hero who is so strong that teams have no choice but to run them if they want to win. While there are some characters who will always be niche such as Bastion, Seagull has seen most heroes getting playtime.
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He believes this is all due to the experimental card, implementing two patches per month as opposed to one, and not being afraid to nerf heroes.
“They cannot be afraid to nerf characters in the future, especially as Overwatch 2 will more than likely launch with a tonne of new characters that will probably be totally crazy,” he added. “Even though we’re going to be bored until Overwatch 2 comes out, at least we aren’t shooting at shields literally all day.”
So far, Blizzard has yet to announce a release date for Overwatch 2, but some new leaks have suggested that we could be getting the sequel as soon as February 2021.
Only time will tell if Blizzard can continue to keep the game balanced leading up to and beyond the next installment’s release.