Blizzard to trial Overwatch competitive hero bans, but with a twist

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Overwatch is a game that’s constantly been evolving since its 2016 debut, with Blizzard making changes both big and small. The next big shake up for competitive play, they hope, is a system called Hero Pools, a unique take on the hero bans found in other competitive games.

Hero Pools will be in place for the next competitive season, Season 21, which will start in March, and will either be a one-off or could become something more permanent, depending on feedback from players.

Note that this change is exclusively for the game’s competitive multiplayer, and so won’t come to affect the Quick Play or Arcade modes.

Where other games that feature hero bans integrate this into the pre-match preparation stage, allowing opposing teams to protect and exclude specific characters, or weapons and abilities no a match-by-match basis, narrowing the tactical options, Overwatch Hero Pools don’t put this in the players’ hands. Instead Blizzard will be outright disabling certain heroes each week.