Overwatch – Overanalyzed – Shotcalling and Targeting

Overwatch – Overanalyzed – Shotcalling and Targeting

Overwatch – Overanalyzed – Shotcalling and Targeting

Created by Professor Michael Van Etten, Professor of World Languages at Finger Lakes Community College (FLCC). Director of eSports. Member of FLCC Athletics.

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A Shotcaller may guide and direct overall strategies and focus targets, but only does so with the input and feedback of their team members. A team needs to trust the Shotcaller to move the team in the right direction, and the Shotcaller needs to trust the team to execute the plan as it unfolds.

A Coordinator keeps the plan intact if a Shotcaller falls in the field. Both the Shotcaller and Coordinator need to watch over the team fight as a whole in order to push the attack or call a retreat. If a retreat is called, the team must react quickly and efficiently in order to reset as soon as possible. Otherwise, lost team fights just feed the enemy team.

There are a variety of different callouts. Positions informs the team about flankers, flyers, divers, and the backline status. Status tells the team that an opponent is incapacitated and is an easy target. The team needs to capitalize on these effects as soon as possible. Team Ultimates lets your team know that you’re ready to engage your ultimate ability, and coordinate combo attacks. Enemy Ultimates lets your team know that you’re expecting an enemy ultimate or counter to your own attack, and adapt accordingly.

Support members can handle widely-distributed and slow burning damage. However, few supports have consistent output options when fast burst-damage is applied. Four to Five team members can burn down heroes, and therefore entire teams in seconds. In addition, spreading out damage, and not eliminating single targets only feed enemy support ultimates. The best way to win a team fight is to focus fire, effectively and rapidly.

Threat assessment is a pattern that is constantly engaged in a Shotcaller’s mind during every individual teamfight. Shotcallers need to identify what heroes oppose them. Assess the greatest threat to the team every second. Organize a strategy to neutralize that threat. Engage that plan, while keeping their own team members alive. Eliminate the threat. Move to the next logical target and repeat.

Identifying the opposing team’s composition is paramount to building a plan to counter their strengths. A Shotcaller will need to be able to assess a target’s role, health status, position and vector, buffs/debuffs, counter the enemy’s defenses, and remember enemy ability cooldowns.

This is a standard working model, which does not account for many unknown variables. Nevertheless, it’s a backbone on which to build.