NiP stylizing the tank-heavy approach

Something we've been seeing on the up is use of variations to the 2/2/2 meta since the introduction of and subsequent buff to Ana and the nerf to discord, amongst a few others. The combination has given rise to the idea that certain tank heroes can flourish in more situations than before, especially when stacking them together as it not only increases the time required for opponents to get burst kills, but also punishes them for doing chip damage too often, building up the ultimates of their opposing supports more rapidly.

One team in particular that is making an interesting venture into this space is Ninjas in Pyjamas, who this week made use of not only a 3 tank + 2 support + 1 DPS composition, but at times even a 4 tank + 2 support one. Perhaps the most notable use of this was on Hollywood against Luminosity Gaming in the Lenovo Cup. Below we unpack some of the details of their compositions and why it proved to be so difficult to deal with, including the video time for you to reference against.

Part 1: NiP defend on Hollywood

Opening composition from NiP (defending)

Opening composition from LG (attacking)

VOD section

To give some context to the opening pick of Roadhog on attack, NiP picked a Roadhog and Hanzo combination in the preceding map, Gibraltar, with great success. While the Hanzo was much more relevant in needing to spot the positions of the defence and make otherwise difficult picks up on the high ground, it has remained a popular pick through a variety of maps.

Note, despite the Roadhog going down early from an aggressive position in LG's first push [16:35], how NiP is able to buy time until Ana's ultimate. They keep on retreating further whilst maintaining constant heals on the Reinhardt, and once the Ana ultimate is deployed it becomes a fairly easy hold as their opponents are quicker targets to burst down, having been drawn in closer. [16:45] During the second push, the Roadhog hook is used to pull the opposing Roadhog out of position during his nanoboost timer [17:13], and given the slight CC duration at the end of the hook this sets up nicely for an Ana sleep dart. So not only are we seeing an effective way to counter the opposition's damage output through burst heal and nanoboosting, but also an effective way to control high priority, "in your face" targets to buy enough time to repeat your own nanoboost counterattack. NiP is eventually outnumbered on the third push after losing two heroes to the Hanzo, but also note here how the Ana ultimate was up at the end [18:30], suggesting how the fight may have been turned around were it to have lasted slightly longer.

The streets phase is then determined by a number of similar attacks, all of which possess one defining setup technique. Due to the ability of NiP's tanks to be aggressive given their combined high HP pool, with Ana burst healing the Reinhardt and the Hog/Zarya able to sustain themselves in parts of the fight, their ultimates are readily available and aren't often overlapped. The frequency of these tank ultimates, which all possess some variety of crowd control, allows NiP to control and set the tempo in many team engagements. [19:10 & 19:30 & 20:10]

Were it not for Hymzi's Roadhog disconnecting, the map may have ended at a much shallower payload position for LG.

What could LG have done better?

From an outside perspective it is always going to be easier to call for adjustments than it is in the midst of the fight, however there are a few things that can be pointed out as fairly simple things to try. The Hanzo was not necessarily a bad pick but he lacked the addition of a DPS buddy to really apply enough pressure. It would have perhaps been nice to see how a Reaper faired in the attack of point 1, especially considering how much ground NiP was giving up to make their strategy work, which would have allowed the Reaper to get into advantageous positions around the payload.

For point 2, a Hanzo/Reaper combination would also mean that high-ground control would be instantly locked in. A Pharah would also be a great option, potentially in combination with a Mercy rather than the Ana, giving long range attacking ability which would have been difficult for NiP to respond to. This would then require NiP to either rely on Ana shooting a discorded target, which is not a very effective solution, especially when their core strategy revolved around Ana healing instead, or relying on hooks which could be avoided by range. NiP with their composition did not have any form of high-ground control either, meaning all of the rooftops would be safe staging areas for a DPS/Mercy play.

Part 2: NiP attack on Hollywood

Opening composition from NiP (attacking)

Opening composition from LG (defending)

VOD section

Interestingly NiP opted for the same attacking composition as LG made use of, but executed it much more cleanly. Perhaps the most relevant difference is to point out that LG made use of a Winston on defence which essentially handed NiP easy healing for Ana. As hinted at earlier, the NiP strategy punishes chip damage that isn't converted into kills, and we see this clearly in NiP's first push as the Winston hands the Ana roughly 50% ultimate charge for no significant gain to LG. [27:40] Subsequent to that, almost a single fire strike from the Reinhardt is enough to secure the NiP nanoboost, and in turn a quick take of the objective.

LG then attempts a similarly aggressive attack to what NiP pulled off at the start of their street-phase defence, but does not do it with the same punch as the Genji and Tracer cannot chip away at the health pool of NiP's tanks fast enough without their own ultimates to work with. [28:55]

From there on out, LG struggles to find the right sort of answers and perhaps we could have seen the true value of NiP's tanky line-up were the hero swaps more effective on LG's part.

What could LG have done better?

Again it felt like as much of the fault lay with LG for picking poorly as it did with NiP playing their composition smartly. The first point 'desperation' picks out of LG (when they were losing the point and opted for mobile heroes) had to be held through to the streets phase where they proved highly ineffective. Reaper and Pharah were still solid picks in this scenario, or even a McCree if pairing up some of these DPS heroes with a discord or Pharah damage boost addition.

In theory their composition may have been able to pull off a few support kills if they worked well together, but their risk-to-reward ratio was much higher than that of NiP's to execute. Overall, when their execution was not as on point as NiP's, the safer choice would have been to opt to make use of a range advantage more.

Final words

Whilst it would have been ideal to see a higher ranked team face this sort of composition from NiP, I have no doubt we will see more of this going forward and it is certainly something to watch for as a potential composition to shake up what had been somewhat of a stagnating meta (increased Mercy and Mei picks aside).

Let me know what you think and whether you like this sort of perspective behind new team compositions.

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Full VOD: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=avc074x-cRk

Overwatch World Cup: Short and sweet for Team South Africa; Some reflections

As a wrap-up to our experience through the Overwatch World Cup group stage, I'll be briefly outlining some of the take-homes from competing in a tournament such as this. Once we had initially learnt of who would be in our team, we began practicing immediately and almost every day in the run-up to the matches on the Friday and Sunday gone by. 

A broad outline of the outcome

We went in hopeful, but realistically knowing that even a top 2 finish would be a serious challenge given the presence of Germany and CIS as teams with considerable talent from established professional rosters. However what we didn't know is that we would be pushed to the limit against the two comparably weaker sides as well, Ireland and Poland. Not only did all four teams in the group display good individual skill, but also a level of teamwork which we had not been able to achieve in the allotted time.

Losing the first match to Ireland was thus somewhat surprising, and also a blow to our chances at qualifying, having needed to finish top 2 to do so. We were slightly disappointed at the fact that maps were preselected and that a quick map ban process was not on the cards, as our least practiced maps tended to show up over and over and quickly put an end to our idealistic view of how to approach team fights. From there on things did not get easier, and we struggled at times to match the synergies of the opposing teams, leading to a few very quick defeats. In the end, we came out at a bit of an ego-dampening 0-4.

Nevertheless, it was a fun experience playing against such a diversity of players. There were also a number of cool plays to go down, including a few of my favourites against an unsuspecting CIS/Baltic team:

For myself having competed in Battlefield Nations Cups previously, I was not new to the concept of playing with mixed teams on short notice against other nations, but it did serve as a reminder that in order for a country like ours to be competitive on a national scale that we need to put full rosters forward. Of course other nations were competing with mixed teams too, but given our ping disadvantage and comparably less exposure to competitive FPS in general prior to Overwatch, we need all the help we can get.

Looking ahead

This brings me to my point around South African teams competing globally in Overwatch. Teams that really want to improve should not fall into the trap of assuming it's not possible/optimal compete vs. European teams based on our legacy of being unable to do so in other competitive esports titles. There is a ping disadvantage but it will not stop you from learning and improving as your mechanics will remain constant for the most part anyway. There are tons of scrims to be had in various competitive discord channels, and many concurrent open cups and tournaments running. Even if your end goal is to compete against South Africans only, it is a way to diversify your experience against more rounded teams. The other aspects of improving I touched on in an earlier article on this blog, but this is certainly the beginning step.

As for what happens next to the team, it's now on the shoulders of the guys who continue playing. I myself will certainly remain active in the competitive mode, but less so in terms of actual matches/tournaments as I have some exciting things lined up on the analysis front. 

Thanks as always for reading.

Overwatch World Cup: D-Day for group stages

The day has arrived for the start of the group stages to the Overwatch World Cup. It's been just a little over a week since the country teams were announced and so in this space of time our team has been trying our best to get as prepared as possible. We've practiced every day since the team announcement, excluding Saturday, primarily playing scrims against European teams. This is the quickest way to get into shape as a mix team, as simulating actual match conditions quickly exposes your flaws and allows for readjustment.

Playing as a 4-2 split of EDEN/SSG members in the side, the tempo naturally tends toward EDEN's original style of play with myself and Dup falling in as best we can. My objective has been to play fairly safe to let the DPS players continue playing in their normal way. It hasn't been easy - we've won our fair share of games but have also faced some strong opposition which has called into question our gameplay and hero picks at times. We've shuffled between roles, varied our pace of aggression and tried some new interesting picks which all in all has helped build some confidence across the board. I've settled into mostly playing Zenyatta, at times surprising teams with a heavy right-click charge to take out a support or DPS player before the fight starts, so hopefully I get to show you guys more of this.

All the players in our side have their own areas of strength within the game and the key to unlocking the potential will come down to how calm and collected we are on each day, as any game without calm reflection and quick reaction to the state of play can result in control rapidly slipping from you, and emotions taking over. As such it's certainly going to prove to be an interesting experience as we kick things off.

Our group consists of Germany, CIS/Baltic Area, Ireland and Poland. There's a clear split in how stacked the teams are (in terms of player strength) - Germany and CIS possessing a number of star pro players from renowned teams such as EnvyUs, Reunited, Misfits and Dignitas. The matches against Ireland and Poland are therefore must wins, as only the first two teams qualify for the playoffs and we need to find a way to create an edge over either Germany or CIS.

The first match is scheduled for 9pm South African time today (Friday) against Ireland. This should be a good litmus test for the kind of game we're bringing as we get warmed up for the remaining games on Sunday. I've set up my stream to showcase the matches as it seems doubtful any other streams will be covering it - details are below.

POV Stream: http://www.twitch.tv/suumpmolk

I'll also post any updates to the match times and results on Twitter: https://twitter.com/scoperzor

Looking forward to the games and all the support we receive.

The fundamental shortfalls faced by mid-tier teams

Having been a part of a mid-tier team myself, I have come to appreciate the hard work that many of the top teams need to put in to make it on an international level. I use the phrase 'make it' loosely in terms of a team's ability to at least compete with the top 10, 20, 30 ranked international teams rather than getting completely run over. For a newcomer to the game, or even a semi-competitive player who has experienced ranked play, the importance of teamwork can often be underestimated based on how chaotic and sometimes unpredictable the game can seem to be.

Despite not having much personal experience with talking to the top teams, I can say with fair certainty that synergizing team play is no easy task and requires a great deal of patience. Many teams theorize how to play as a team but often this idealistic scenario is overcome by a few key shortfalls during the game. I'm going to summarize what I think some of these may be, and potentially shed some light on the skill gap that has naturally arisen as a result.

1) Having the right mix of shot calling

There's a fine line here between a slick machine and an overcrowded, confused set of individuals. 

There absolutely needs to be a shot caller in the team. Without someone to quickly brush over ultimate charges and make the decision of whether the time is right to engage or disengage, and which ultimates to make use of in the coming fight, control can rapidly be snatched from you, leaving your team scrambling to survive. This transcends the need for intra-team synergies, such as the two supports making a decision together on who should use their ultimate first. A shot caller should not need to micro-manage individual ultimate uses during a fight, but rather give an overview of which offensive ultimates to use beforehand. I refer to offensive ultimates as they of course establish lock-down and damage output, whereas support ultimates tend to be reactive in nature, with exception of a premature support ultimate to breach an area.

This 'overseer' job is not an easy one. Make no mistake it requires significant competitive experience to pull off well, but equally this experience cannot be attained unless this sort of mindset is adopted early on and worked on. The shot caller needs to be able to formulate and adjust methods of attack on the fly, and this does not only apply to offensive postures but defensive ones too. Often the feeling of being overrun can be attributed to a team that does not possess a shot caller with the capability of rallying his teammates away from certain death before the necessary tools are in place, individual skill gaps notwithstanding.

Bear in mind it may also be helpful to use one of your support players as the shot caller, rather than a DPS player who is often in the thick of the fight. Supports often have a broader view of the team fight, a good example being Zenyatta who tends to sit behind his team or Lucio who, whilst not positioning as defensively as Zenyatta, can control the timings of the speed boost plays with the strategic calls.

Combining these shot calling abilities from a single person with the more nuanced teamwork between individuals in terms of ultimate timing is a well-rehearsed skill in itself.

2) Playing to the current meta

The issues around this can be divided into two branches. First is a team that does not respect the value of sticking to the meta; second is a team that understands the value of playing to the meta, but incorrectly applies their knowledge of it. 

The former precedes the latter in a team's improvement cycle, and is more easily recognizable/fixable. It's a fairly straightforward case of picking from a small pool of heroes per map at present given the team-fight oriented style of play that the game requires and has leaned towards based on recent balance changes. The issue is easily rectifiable by watching top-tier match VODs and making use of stats websites that give you a sense of the popular picks on each map, a good one being http://overwatch.rivsoft.net/.

The latter is one we need to investigate more carefully. How often do we hear calls in-game to pick certain heroes because they're 'meta', only for a carefully crafted composition to perform very poorly once in action? This is not to say meta heroes should not be picked, but they need to be used in the correct circumstances, and in a way which helps them synergize with the team. The exceptions are the likes of Reinhardt and Zarya, which tend to work well regardless of team synergy on many maps, but heroes like Winston will have a tough time when not grouped with active support in the form of Zarya shields and/or Zenyatta harmony orb. The same can be said for picking a McCree in the hands of a player which is overly aggressive and who is tunnel-visioned into focusing purely killing the opposition in front of him rather than assisting his support players. 

The primary sources of getting picked off before a team fight really sets in are a) players selfishly chasing what they think are easy kills on their own and b) allowing too much room for aggressive postures by enemy heroes to go unpunished. They both boil down to gaps being created between the lines of your team, gaps which lead to a misalignment of target focusing and unnecessary deaths outside of your 6 man safety net. Overcoming these weaknesses requires careful analysis of replays - studying professional player movement and teamwork alongside your own is often an underestimated past time.

3) Unspoken target prioritization

In a perfect world we'd be able to call out every target in every engagement and align both the offensive and defensive objectives of the team amongst every member. However communication can easily become cluttered, and in context of a fast-paced game like Overwatch there often isn't time to even think of communicating in this way. Calling out targets is important at times when the team is not on the same page but ideally a team will need to establish a set of ground rules where target prioritization is agreed upon in principle based on likely heroes to be faced on particular maps. 

Some of this comes with individual experience but if communicated between members of a team can add an extra layer of synergy without the physical need to communicate every target in every fight. If the players have a basic understanding of how to prioritize targets when moving together it can add fluidity to the team's movement and open up room for comms to be used for more strategic purposes, or the intra-team communication mentioned earlier on. An example of some high priority targets: an unsupported/unshielded tank or DPS player that splits up from their team to jump your supports, a support that is not heavily defended, or a non-tank target not sitting behind a shield. Often before choosing to engage the enemy team there will be an idea of their composition and this information can be used to prioritize targets rather than everyone running in and shooting at the first thing they see.

4) Accepting responsibility of making mistakes, but keeping morale up

Although the intention in this article has been to cover some specific shortfalls, once we are able to recognize more of these mistakes there remains an onus not only on the captain but on every player on the team to take responsibility for their own. If an individual is unable to recognize their own weaknesses, too often they will fall into the trap of making the same mistakes in high pressure situations. 

Teams do however need to be careful in calling each other out, and this is best reserved for post-game discussions and in a constructive manner. In-game communication should be reserved for brief, relevant shot calls. Equally, many teams perform better when they can share in the positive moments rather than in the negative during the game. A light-hearted, fun mood in-game should not be mistaken for a team not playing seriously to win, it just needs to be followed up by a critical, constructive environment post-game.

Final words

There are a multitude of topics we can explore when it comes to this subject, but from my own experience those I have covered tend to stand out the most. 'Going pro' is never an easy feat in any spectrum of esports but with focused application the end goal can certainly become more well defined and potentially attainable to those who are dedicated enough. My hope is to provide at least one person with enough to think about to make the decision to begin or continue their journey this way. I have confidence that Overwatch is set to deliver us an exciting time ahead in the esports realm as more teams develop their competitive toolset.