Sombra's change to Support is the right move, but I fear some Overwatch players may take time to adjust

No one knows how to haunt the narrative quite like Overwatch's two misfits, Roadhog and Sombra. When these heroes are strong the game sucks for everyone else, but when they're nerfed for the sake of everyone else there's almost no reason to play them. This has meant that both characters are in a perpetual state of buff/nerf; it's tough out here to be a hog.

So it comes as absolutely no surprise that the two characters picked to undergo yet another redesign over at Blizzcon were the dynamic duo Hog and Sombra. But it wouldn't be an Overwatch balance change without at least a little bit of upset.

Hog's new look seems sound enough—especially with the much-needed addition of Trash Compactor which works as a de facto shield. But Sombra's change to the Support role has players up in arms.

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Much of Sombra's previous kit has stayed the same, with her primary fire, EMP ult, and translocator ability all left intact. But she also has two new abilities and passives:

• Hotfix heals an alley for a set amount of health over time and lets her freely hack health packs.
• Cyberspace is just a biotic grenade mimic.
• The Conspirator passive means that Sombra can now see whenever enemy ultimates are fully-charged.
• The Tactician support subrole means she can store excess ult charge and beef it up.

Change can be difficult, but I actually like this new look.

Sure it's annoying that Sombra can't hack heroes out of their ult, but she still has EMP for that. And it'll be frustrating for flanker DPS mains that they now have one less hero to use against Widowmaker, but Tracer can get that job done. If used correctly, I think this can turn Sombra from an outlier to a standard pick.

There's only one issue: Overwatch players are stubborn as all hell.. First up, Overwatch players don't like playing against Sombra, and her ban rates in competitive are ingrained into the psyche of some players, so I don't think this restyle will help change her public image all that much at first.

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(Image credit: Blizzard)

Then there's the fact that in all likelihood a great deal of players will play Sombra in her old fashion as a flanker, instead of a support who's new role is to stick with her team and tank. If there's one thing that pisses me off it's support players who justify DPS joyrides as another way to support their team.

If you're not in Masters or above then that just isn't true. While healing isn't the whole role of a support, there's facilitating engagement and boosting ally's kill-potential, the main goal of a support should always be self and team sustain. So having one support off on the other side of the map spawn camping the enemy team's Mercy will probably be a commonly frustrating experience.

But these issues are just growing pains. I'm sure overtime Sombra's new role will settle itself into the muscle memory of players. I have a feeling she'll become a valued member of her new role much like Doomfist and Symmetra.