A pick and ban phase is something that has featured in competitive shooters for a long time. Overwatch 2 is the latest game to roll out a full Hero Bans system.
According to Blizzard, “the system is designed to give players strategic agency without, punching down at weaker niche picks.” In other words, you’re encouraged to ban characters that you believe are too strong, rather than what the enemy likes to play.
Reframe the game
Before you vote for your Hero Bans, you will select your Preferred Hero. Selecting a Preferred Hero does not protect it from being banned, nor does it lock the Hero in. Instead, it’s just a way to let your team know you’d like to play this Hero. You will not be able to see the enemy team during the Ban Phase. Match text chat, which communicates to the whole lobby, will be disabled, but team text and voice chat will remain enabled.
You’ll choose which Heroes to ban simultaneously, with two bans per team going ahead. Each player will choose three characters to ban. The first Choice carries the most weight, while the second and third choices carry less. The first Choice is worth seven votes, the second is worth five, and the third is worth three.
The team with the most votes for one Hero are considered the “first” team, and their most voted Hero will be banned. If both teams are tied for the most votes for a single Hero, the first team is decided randomly. Naturally, the other side becomes the “second” team and both of their bans happen next. If the Heroes they voted to ban were not the first team’s most voted Hero, then their most and second most voted Heroes will be banned.
Notably, no more than two Heroes tied to each role can be banned. If two Heroes in the same role have already been banned and a team’s next most voted Hero is in the same role, those votes are ignored and this team’s next most voted Hero in a different role is banned instead.
Don’t want to participate in the Ban Phase? Simply hit the Ready button and leave the decisions up to your team.
Hero Bans will be available in Overwatch 2 Competitive Play when Season 16 launches on April 22.
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