I Briefly Mained This Overwatch Hero, But I Never Want…

With Overwatch 2 making me fall back in love with the game thanks to Stadium, and Marvel Rivals absolutely nailing consistent content drops and free rewards, I’ve had good reason to split my time between both hero shooters. And by playing both games, it’s easy to see where NetEase took inspiration from the most acclaimed hero shooter of all time. While it does mix and match abilities so that there are no exact copies of an Overwatch hero, plenty of abilities are clearly pulled from Blizzard’s game, whether it be Squirrel Girl’s Junkrat-like attacks, Magneto’s Sigma vibes, Winter Soldier’s Roadhog-esque Hook, or Emma Frost’s Ramattra-like stance change. However, I never want to see anything resembling Sombra in Marvel Rivals, even though I used to play her frequently.

Sombra is an orphaned hacker who joins Talon

To be clear, I’ve hardly touched Sombra in Overwatch 2. Instead, I’ve mainly played Reinhardt in the free-to-play sequel, as I love the feel of landing a risky pin or a big Earthshatter (even if it means stressing out my Support-playing fiancée). Still, there was a time when I really adored playing Sombra in the first game. I had grown tired of Mei freezing and killing me as Reaper and felt like pushing back with a cheesy character of my own, so I did my best to learn the Talon hacker. I got fairly good with her, too, quickly finding satisfaction in “stealing” Play of the Games through her Hacking highlight intro. However, it didn’t take long before wreaking havoc as Sombra felt a bit cheap to me, and I went back to playing the likes of Tracer and Cassidy when I wanted to deal damage. I was well aware of how hated Sombra was becoming, and I didn’t want to be part of the problem. And now, I just hope NetEase doesn’t take inspiration from her kit.

I Desperately Want To See Marvel's Most Hated Character Come to Rivals, and You Should Too

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By Richard Warren

Overwatch’s Sombra Is a Nightmare in the Right Hands, and Rivals Should Keep That in Mind

overwatch 2 sombra changes teased hero bans

The current version of Sombra may be fairly balanced, but she was oppressive for so long (and still can be in the right hands), so she remains a frequent target of Overwatch 2’s hero bans. As for why she’s hated, the following traits come to mind:

Sombra’s ability to troll and trap Supports: Thanks to her stealthiness and ability to move quickly across the battlefield, it’s easy for Sombra to get into a backline, hack a Support, hit them with a virus, and kill them before using her translocator to get away. From there, she can trap her unlucky victim in spawn by waiting by the door.
Sombra’s hack disables abilities: Sombra’s hack ability has been hugely frustrating to deal with for many, as it locks them out of their abilities for 6 seconds, making it difficult for some heroes to escape or fight back. Any CC skill that takes control away from the impacted player tends to be hated, from Mei’s old freeze (my personal least favorite) to Cassidy’s flashbang.
Difficulty countering Sombra - While a Roadhog hook can catch her off guard, and quicker heroes can chase down Sombra, many heroes who lack mobility can struggle to finish Sombra off before she goes invisible and runs off. With her ability to hack health packs in the area, too, she can give herself an edge against anyone who attempts to hunt her down.

Though clear steps have been taken to make Overwatch 2’s Sombra less of a nuisance, many players still find her annoying, and it’s easy to see why. Whether she is trapping unlucky Overwatch 2 Supports in their spawn room, failing to join in on team fights, or not getting enough value to justify the pick, Sombra is a character many players hate fighting alongside and against. More often than not, it can feel like a Sombra is focused more on entertaining herself than winning a match, which is a big no-no for myself and other competitive players.

This is all information that Marvel Rivals can and should take note of when designing its future heroes. No matter how much Blizzard has tried to alter Sombra and make her more fair, she remains hated. Her hacking ability will always be hugely frustrating no matter how it is tweaked, yet removing it would strip her of her identity, as it’s a skill that is vital to her character. With some characters like Ana simply lacking movement abilities, countering Sombra is a nightmare for them, yet her stealth and speed are a big part of why she’s fun to play. Ultimately, Blizzard will forever be stuck between a rock and a hard place with Sombra, as though her fans regularly argue she’s too weak, even in a bad state, many will be quick to ban her.

overwatch 2 quick play hacked kingmaker health bars

As a Mercy Main in Overwatch, I'm Dying For One Hero to Come to Marvel Rivals

While there are plenty of Marvel Rivals Strategists I enjoy, I’m still waiting for someone to fill the Mercy void, which this hero could easily do.

Posts 7

By Richard Warren

Marvel Rivals Has a Few Options For a Sombra-Like Hero, But It Shouldn’t Take Them

Marvel Rivals has a few heroes it could introduce with hacking abilities, a teleporter, and other tech-based abilities, from superpowered individuals to geniuses. Options include, but aren’t limited to:

Vision
Hank Pym Ant-Man
Beast
Forge
Shuri
Ironheart
Kang
Valeria Richards

If Marvel Rivals had a Sombra equivalent, there would be endless debates about whether the game was healthier before or after said hero was introduced. With so many Sombra players finding joy in bullying those that can’t fight back, it’s hard to imagine a Rivals hero who works like her being hated any less, as the same scenarios would likely play out. So while it’s easy to imagine the daughter of Reed Richards and Sue Storm pulling out a gadget to hack health packs or disable the abilities of her opponents, it’s something best left to the imagination. Marvel Rivals has a toxicity problem already, after all, so adding a character resembling Sombra would just be adding fuel to the fire.

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