In order to achieve success in “Overwatch,” players need to understand the importance of team play. This includes adjusting to a character that fits well to the team’s success rate in a match. This is where team composition (or comp in the game’s jargon) plays an important role.
One of the most popular team comp in “Overwatch” is called Death Ball. This might be the most effective and longstanding comp in the history of the game. As a matter of fact, this has already existed even during the beta days and, of course, in other titles of the same genre.
So what is Death Ball?
First and foremost, Death Ball is a kind of approach used by players or teams in fighting. This can be applied to two scenarios: composition and tactics. For this comp, players make use of AoE damage dealers such as Pharah and Junkrat. These two characters have proven themselves to be capable of exploiting this approach in-game. But of course, the roster does not stop there.
Over the course of time, the aforementioned “Overwatch” composition became a staple for Reinhardt. Here, players take advantage of his shield. His existence in the match generally dictates the flow of the game. So as long as he stays alive, the comp can work for as long as possible. The idea behind a Reinhardt-focused Death Ball comp is pushing together.
Nobody in the team dashes without the others backing up. More importantly, the comp does force players to win the match as quickly as possible. In addition, this one here works wonder if there are enough shield-capable characters such as Zarya and the most recent Orisa.
The cons of using it
While the benefits Death Ball offers to an “Overwatch” team are quite impressive, it also has its own downfall.
Since the comp does not rely on a run-and-gun play, a good amount of time is being accumulated. This leads to the actual pushing becoming too hard to accomplish later on in the game. Once this happens, it is almost impossible for a team to regain their composure and fight back. More often than not, a player breaks the cycle and resort to his own tactics.
He now becomes a liability, which leaves the team open to any counter-attacks.
The beauty about “Overwatch,” though, is its continuous change. Blizzard keeps on finding ways to balance and/or improve the game. As a result, players are forced to adjust, which also means adjusting their composition in a match. So regardless of how effective a certain comp could be, it would always have its own counter.
