random games

Oddly enough, it is. People have been saying this is the most balanced the game has been since GOATs, which makes sense because recent balance patches have basically reverted most of the damage and healing buffs that were made in that era. Lots of heroes feel viable with a fair bit of map dependency, which feels like what the game is supposed to be. It's wild.

There are still some outliers. The counter to a good Widow is still generally another Widow, and Orisa feels pretty weak right now. The saddest thing is that playing Zen is borderline throwing if the enemy team has a single person who realizes you exist. I'm trying to find a way to make him work, but it's tough. Playing support hasn't been very fun lately.

But that's ok because for the first time in my OW life, I've been primarily queuing for Damage. Playing a lot of Reaper, a lot of Hanzo and Ashe, some Mei, some McCree. I'll go Torb or Symm if it's the right spot, and if all else fails, there's Soldier. Playing DPS has been a bit of a revelation for my friends and I because these are the teammates we most often complained about 'cause y'know you get that Shimada who doesn't switch when needed. And for the most part, we actually do switch. So we'll get more wins, and the losses don't feel too bad. Quickplay is still plagued by leavers and smurfs, and I feel like we're inching toward just playing comp. I need to do my DPS placements. I was gold last time, so that should hold steady.

I did Tank placements last season and was still Plat. Zarya feels as good as ever. I'm trying to relearn Sigma with everything that's been changed about him in the past year. And my ongoing side project is learning to play Ball, which is fun even when I fail.

I should say that the "While You Wait" feature they added makes the DPS queue worthwhile. Being able to jump into deathmatch or something wacky in the game browser makes a big difference compared to waiting 5-7 minutes to find a match.