Japanese Overwatch team becomes fan-favorite by one-tricking off-meta heroes to victory
@h_wallacepires/TwitterThe Overwatch Championship Series is in full force with some intense matches, but one team pulled out exclusively off-meta heroes to climb their way to victory.
The Overwatch meta is often rigid, with most teams playing the same heroes with a few variations. Characters like Hazard, Ana, and Sojourn reigned supreme as dive remains one of the strongest strategies in the game.
But one Japanese team, aptly named “Please Not Hero Ban,” defied all expectations by one-tricking off-meta heroes and actually coming out with a win for their stage.
Japanese pro OW2 team plays off-meta
Please Not Hero Ban (PNHB) pulled off a convincing victory against the team Aplomb Tiger during OWCS Japan’s first stage. With a score of 3-1, PNHB managed to best Aplomb Tiger with heroes such as Symmetra, Torbjorn, Wrecking Ball, and Illari who were picked nearly every match.
It’s an off-color strategy, especially as Pharah and Sojourn should have a strong match-up into PNHB’s hero picks. However, PNHB took advantage of numerous gadgets in the game to defend themselves against dives from characters like Hazard and D.va while Wrecking Ball disrupted the backline.
(match begins at 44:05)
Having to deal with Torbjorn’s turret, Symmetra’s teleporters, and Illari’s healing pylon while a Wrecking Ball is wreaking havoc on your supports might sound like something that works best in an uncoordinated setting, but Aplomb Tiger wasn’t able to break through PNHB’s unique poke comp.
Fans noticed PNHB’s unique strategy, and the team quickly became a fan-favorite amongst the community.
“I haven’t had so much fun watching OWCS in a while,” wrote one viewer. “Laughed so much.”
PNHB’s dominance even led to some amusing bans. Illari’s sole ban, for example, resulted from a target ban against Suraimu1, who played Illari almost exclusively and is an Illari one-trick.
“The sheer terror stricken across all other Japan teams’ faces on realizing they can only contain RLG’s sheer power on Torb for [one] map,” joked one viewer.
“And RLG got a hammer kill too,” pointed out another fan.
PHNB’s strategy against other teams have yet to be tested, as they’ve only played one match so far. But we can only hope that PNHB manages to make to the end, laughing with their Torb and Sym turrets along the way.