Newest Overwatch hero Ashe joined the game on November 13. Now, some two weeks later, she has finally also joined the ranked competitive games. This is pretty normal – new heroes always appear in the competitive section of the game a little later, to give players a chance to get used to the new character in casual and arcade play first.
Gunslinger Ashe was pretty popular from the start, and unlike some other heroes (looking at you, Brigitte!) not too many adjustments had to be made in order to get her competitive ready. With a sniper-like scoped rifle, a shotgun, dynamite and of course, B.O.B., the Wild West villain Ashe really struck gold with players.
Number 29 in the line-up, Ashe requires good aim and a bit of creativity from players. Her shotgun gives her the ability to catapult herself into the air (or away from enemies etc), while her scoped rifle has some pretty good stats too.
Fan-favourite B.O.B. – Ashe’s ulti – acts like a seventh team-mate to the point where people have been asking for him to be added as a hero in his own right – unlikely. The giant robot can contest points, knock down enemies, and hearing the call-out of “Do somethin’, Bob!” in Ashe’s charming accent is definitely a plus too.
Of course, not everybody thinks so – as is to be expected, players started including her in just about every match as soon as she was added to the game, if only for the novelty of it. As a matter of fact, in the first week, it was difficult to get into a game that didn’t feature someone trying out the newest addition to the ranks.
That can get stale pretty quickly, both for players who want to play her and those who don’t want to play with/against her. Still, the hype is going to die down soon enough. For the time being, the main question is how much of a change Ashe will bring to the Overwatch competitive meta.
She is expected to upset things quite a bit, but whether she is strong enough to upset the popular GOATS/MOATS/SNOATS combos remains to be seen. These are all popular team setups. GOATS features three tanks and three supports – usually featuring Reinhardt, Zarya, D.Va, Moira, Lucio, and Brigitte, though variations of it swap out certain heroes.
If Winston is part of the combo, it’s called MOATS for example – the whole strategy is based on the team’s ability to just bulldoze through the other team, enemy by enemy. It’s effective too, to the point where multiple competitive teams use it during their plays.
Ashe is obviously not part of it – as a DPS hero, she doesn’t exactly fit in either – but that doesn’t mean that she might not become part of another popular grouping. Her ulti, as well as the area damage dynamite, can really wreck enemies if they are not careful, and that’s just her alone – in a well-played combo, she might just be able to shake up the competitive Overwatch scene!
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