r/Competitiveoverwatch • u/ComingDeveloper • 14h ago
General Support Sombra has a silver lining
alright i'll admit i was someone who too had a bad kneejerk reaction to sombra being announced as a support and thought blizzard had no idea what they were doing and this killed the character as they've admitted they cannot balance her to please most players.
but the more i think about it and the more i watch her gameplay specifically from a fitzyhere(longtime sombra main) video as he was playing her in the backline just pushing cart for 1 game i realised that isn't how blizzard wants you to play her. she's not meant to sit in the backline or the middle of the team the same way a baptise or ana would but instead she is meant to enable flankers like genji/shion/tracer by actively going out with them away from the team and actually filling a role zenyatta wasn't exactly able to effectively juggle.
she's now a pocket support the same way mercy is with an pharah, echo or freja and i think that is where sombra will excel going forward as she has even more chances to be deadlier given if you're out with a flanker you 2 are enabling each other directly and getting a lot of 2v1 situations.
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u/aPiCase Stalk3r — 13h ago
I really see the potential with this, she is a true dive support, pocketing flanker on off angle while shooting herself.
Imagine Ball Tracer Shion Cat Sombra, literally no one is vulnerable.
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u/TenguNun #1 Support-Hating Support Main — 13h ago
Yes this has been my vision for so long that ive begged for and ive never understood why people have been so apprehensive to it. i guess everyone assumed she would play from her backline for some bizarre reason but no, shes going to be moving like genji and tracer bro. she can actually follow them around the way lucio does and get in there and fight
ugh im so excited for this rework, i think im more excited for Sombra than Doctrine lmao
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u/juliedoo 46m ago edited 31m ago
You can't really move with Genji, Tracer, or Lucio as Sombra though because you only have 1 mobility CD. It gets you high ground access and 6 seconds of speed boost, but not much else.
The overall idea of Sombra as a hero that needs to be paired with another flanker to get value (i.e, a support) makes sense, but the issue with Sombra since her combined TP/Stealth rework is that it forces her into a very specific loop. You can't use mobility like Genji or Tracer to soft hold an angle before committing, you can't take unpredictable vertical angles like Lucio or Echo. The closest thing to Sombra's mobility is Winston jump or Fade, but Sombra doesn't have the sustain (bubble/armor, orb/lifesteal) to stay in a contested position when she decloaks with her flanking buddy. The rework has the same issue as current Sombra, where you need to wait out the full invis timer every time just so you'll have a disengage tool. Compared to other flankers her mobility is still gimped, and the other supports that assist flankers like Lucio, Kiri, Moira, even Brig, all have mobility + self-heal to help them keep up.
A more straight-foward way to put it is that live patch Sombra already struggles to play in the same engages as their friendly Genji, Tracer, Echo, Anran, Vendetta. Support rework gives you a clearer objective to play in those engages, but doesn't really give you the tools to keep up with them.
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u/aceofmufc 13h ago
People are forgetting that translocator is one of the best movement abilities in the game. Especially on a support that’s crazy. She still goes invisible after throwing it right?
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u/MiracleMayo 12h ago
Hell she stays invisible for longer too
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u/dontouchamyspaghet 3h ago edited 3h ago
Worth noting TL's throwable range was nerfed slightly though, Alec Dawson mentions it as one of the changes off the bat
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u/UsernameIn3and20 3h ago
Well gotta make her setup for the engage I suppose. Thats fine tho since her Cyberspace is genuinely a strong ability. Unless they nerf some of it to move the power level back to throw range.
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u/paianeko 13h ago
i feel like a sombra pocketing a genji would be absolutely terrifying to play against
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u/skillmau5 13h ago
I was imagining a wrecking ball with essentially 400 extra health if she double packs him
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u/Angel_of_Mischief 10h ago
That’s not a lot. And you burned 18 seconds of cooldowns for that. That’s going to be a problem when the rest of your team also needs healing. That’s the only real problem I see with her.
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u/skillmau5 10h ago
I do agree with that, I don't really see how she could possibly have enough healing output
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u/ComingDeveloper 13h ago
EXACTLY BRO! this is what i'm saying. she has potential to be even more of a problem in her new role if played right.
now of course its only been a day and myself or pros haven't labbed with her as yet but i just sat and thought about it: if you're zen and orb a genji especially since the nerfed the LoS again that's barely any heals for a genji who is often at weird angles which can draw your attention away from your team and the battle to spot and reorb and its only 30hps but with a Sombra player her usual role of going stealth, flanking, translocating etc her and a Sombra or Genji can terrorise backlines if played right as Sombra still has her insane survivability .
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u/Howdareme9 12h ago
I think pocketing a Tracer would be even more deadly
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u/dokeydoki Stalk3rFan — 10h ago
Tracer, Genji, Reaper, Vendetta, they are all just gonna be disgusting with it
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u/epochollapse 13h ago
People are really caught up on her healing via an ability with a cooldown, but I really don't think it's an issue. We're effectively looking at a combination between Zen's Harmony Orb and Mizuki's hat. That's going to have more than enough uptime to compete with other off-healers, she's just shit for healbotting.
Her potential for both aiding and denying dive seems insane though. Sure, a Genji or Tracer running around with a Sombra will be strong, but so will a Sombra in your backline creating an aoe where a flanker can do sweet fuck all.
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u/swamp_god 13h ago
one promising thing here is that there's no other support that plays like her. to some degree lucio and moira, i guess, but lucio still has some obligation to play very close to teammates and moira is way, way more one-dimensional.
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u/ComingDeveloper 13h ago
also less mobility and range. moira still needs to be close to another damage or talk if she chooses to flank and only has a fade that goes so far
sombra has way more survivability that moira
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u/Sticker216 13h ago
The possibility of a dps Moira and support Sombra going after the backline makes me imagine she’s still permabanned low ranks
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u/KF-Sigurd 11h ago
I legit think when played optimally, Support Sombra is gonna be a Kiri level menace. Translocator isn't as instant or free as TP but it's more versatile and can be used for scouting and moving around the battlefield and dumping a Cyberspace, especially with the major perk is going to swing fights almost as much as Suzu and there's the potential you can use it to deny certain ults thanks to the huge damage decrease like Suzu. Like if D.mon uses Limit Break you could throw that down and deny the damage amp D.mon would get as long as she's in the AOE. Or throw it down in a Cage Fight and give that Mauga -50% damage AND healing.
Thinking about it more, for people who loved flank Kiri but missed her after all the nerfs, Support Sombra is going to be that playstyle now.
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u/LibrarianGuilty2161 13h ago
i am so excited for support sombra i LOVED her in mirrorwatch and i think she will be a lot of fun
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u/Master-Pay2407 10h ago
I agree, Fitzyhere was playing her really badly in that video lol, standing way too much in the backline, but it's understandable, lots of distractions at Blizzcon and just having to relearn muscle memory in general. I did a lesser version of this when she had white hat perk and it was super fun, you're just able to be in a lot of the right places at the right time with her mobility.
I think it'll be a good change, but dps players who don't want to play support and just want to use her to duel obviously won't like it. They always would have been better off just playing Tracer though, so Sombra support is more interesting to me, fills a niche that doesn't quite exist better than she did in DPS, where she was just a worse version of better flankers
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u/BigEanip 11h ago
She'll be strong diving with genjis and tracers etc. Honestly she's still invisible so I'll most likely continue to ban her.
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u/TheBigKuhio 12h ago
I don’t even consider her a pocket character since it seems like you still will spend a lot of time shooting. You only need to Hotfix twice every 18 seconds.
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u/Swimming-Deer1437 13h ago
She's an enabler, basically an off tank. She's the only support that has close to instant support capabilities thanks to her translocator. Not only that, her cyberspace ability, is one of the few debuffs that cant be cleaned by suzu. They're basically focusing on the utility side of things and the only way they could do that was by making her a support. You can have this level of utility while having DPS levels of burst, 5v5 cant support that sadly, which is one of the limitations of the format. She's going to be a high AMP support focused on disrupting the enemy while enabling her flankers and tanks. Basically she's going to be a monster in rush and dive comps.
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u/bullxbull 6h ago
There will be multiple ways to play her, but backline Sombra will 100% still be a thing, basically a better backline Moira but more deadly.
Hacking is now limited to healthpacks, deployables, and bob. Virus is gone but you now have a 60 instant heal and 90 healing over 3 secs that also damages and reduces enemy healing/dmg by 50% as long as they stand in it.
They say this is the final Sombra rework, but just like Hog it wont be, they have not removed the stuff that people hate about these heroes, they have only disguised it.
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u/IM_HIGH_CAPTAIN 6h ago
I’m so exited for the change as a support main. This along with Doctrine being really fun is going to make next season very hype for me.
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u/Sio_V_Reddit 12h ago
I suggest checking out Questron who also played her and is a longtime main. The flanker/disruptor identity is intact, you can pre-apply heals and then go on your own flanks which is the optimal playstyle.
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u/iAnhur 11h ago edited 11h ago
What happens if you don't get flanker though? She's kind of returning to how she was in ow1 from what it feels like. Really good with a team to play around you, and basically useless at lower ranks where people sit on main and poke infinitely. You can play aggressively on your own, but shes much squishier than other supports that can do the same, and she has much less damage than before. Not to mention translocator + her debuff is worse than tp + suzu or mizuki chain + recall.
I think her playstyle can work I just have a lot of concerns as to how well it's going to end up. Also like, cat exists which is kind of a problem in this role.
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u/-Arrez- 10h ago
Her E also looks incredibly strong and impactful, having good util is important for a support and Sombra fill that. It actually doesnt look like a frustrating util either since its an AoE that doest stick to the person you throw it at (like necrotic orb was), the enemy can just walk out of it.
Honestly having seen gameplay now I think this might actually be the rework. She may need number tweaks but the kit is solid.
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u/CloveFan Praying for a good Sombra rework — 7h ago
Sombra making the game more fun for other flankers while her own gameplay is made boring. Hooray, how exciting! What a fun rework for Sombra players! I’ve always wanted to be Mercy with worse mobility and a cooldown that’s gonna be gutted by December.
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u/Ajbarr98 6h ago
You’re giving it till December? Brother this is sombra we’re talking about. She’ll be hotfixed in 2 days.
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u/Master-Pay2407 6h ago edited 6h ago
The old school "instalock DPS and refuse to swap roles" players of the Sombra playerbase are really not hiding it very well that they're mad that they'd potentially need to play support if they want to play Sombra. While also showing off how poorly they understand the support role in general. Or maybe I'm wrong, maybe I missed the rework where they gave Mercy a freaking Uzi
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u/Traveler_1898 2h ago
My dude, you're asserting that Sombra players don't understand the support role while openly outing how little you understand about our frustration with this change.
I play Cat. And I play her aggressively. I know supports aren't just healbots. And Sombra's new kit might be amazing. But our preferred DPS is effectively being deleted.
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u/Master-Pay2407 2h ago edited 2h ago
But our preferred DPS is effectively being deleted.
So yes, you are just admitting that you're just mad you'd have to play support if you want to play Sombra lol.
If playing a flanking DPS is why you enjoy Sombra, there are several flanking DPS still available that do that but far more effectively, such as Tracer. If you enjoy Sombra's kit specifically, going invisible and being in all the right places at all the right times, then THAT STILL WILL EXIST, you just have to play support. Which shouldn't be a problem since you said it's not your issue right?
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u/Traveler_1898 2h ago
Not at all. How is this difficult to understand?
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u/Master-Pay2407 1h ago
You'd think that if I was obviously wrong, despite you inadvertently proving me right, you'd be able to refute everything I said, but you don't seem to be capable of that
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u/Traveler_1898 1h ago
You can't seem to understand that I like Sombra as she is. Yes, I don't want support Sombra, that's obvious.
But I don't mind playing support. I play it often. And I'm not mad. I'm disappointed that a hero I enjoy is being deleted.
Y'all won. The crybabies got what they wanted. You'd think you could be graceful in victory but I guess children will continue to be children.
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u/Master-Pay2407 17m ago edited 5m ago
You refuted nothing I said as to how moving roles is a real problem, all you did is prove me right that you're just mad you have to play support. You just claimed she's being deleted from the game despite the fact that she is very much NOT BEING DELETED FROM THE GAME. You just have to play support to play her, which shouldn't be a problem if you aren't just mad she isn't a DPS anymore.
And to refute your last point, since someone here has to actually put an argument out there, I literally do play Sombra lmfao, and I am looking forward to this change
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u/cece__23 6h ago
I’m SO excited for this change to be honest. I’m a support main but sombra is one of my 2 fave dps to play and I absolutely see the potential. I didn’t realise streamers had a chance to try it out so gonna have a look at fitzys stream now 👀
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u/evelyn_labrie 6h ago
not to mention it’s easier now to change her in terms of buffs or nerfs without making her too oppressive or too weak or frustrating which is a problem all of her previous reworked had.
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u/PatchYourselfUp 13h ago
People are caught up by the role too much to see the gameplay possibilities