I Became a Member of My Favorite Group! - Chapter 105
Overwatch Winter Tournament Finals - 2The modified 3-3 composition with Sombra.
There are several reasons why this composition was considered a counter to the 3-3, but the most representative reason can be summed up in one point.
For the team using the 3-3 composition, there’s virtually no way to effectively deal with Sombra.
Her overwhelming survivability, allowing her to teleport back to a saved location at any time, combined with her stealth ability, which lets her safely infiltrate the enemy backline unnoticed, makes her a nightmare for the 3-3 composition.
By staying in positions where the 3-3 can’t easily reach her, she can quickly charge her ultimate and use it to dictate the pace of the game, stealing the tempo from the enemy team.
Additionally…
Beep beep beep—
[Hacked!]
『Hey, hey, I’m hacked again! I can’t use Defense Matrix!』
『We need to take care of their D.Va! They might focus her!』
『I’ll put up the barrier, let’s just fall back for now!』
Sombra’s hack, an overpowered basic ability, renders the target unable to use any abilities for a whopping 6 seconds.
Even if just one of the three tanks gets hacked, it makes frontlining extremely difficult and cumbersome.
In the 3-3 composition, D.Va is the only character who can somewhat deal with Sombra’s harassment from the backline.
But if D.Va gets hacked, she can’t use Defense Matrix, allowing the enemy Sombra to freely charge her ultimate by picking off targets from behind.
This makes Sombra incredibly annoying to deal with.
『Unnies! My EMP is ready! If I use it, I can take out their Zenyatta immediately! Let’s push together!』
『Okay! Let’s go in right now!』
As if to prove this point, Da-jeong, who had charged her ultimate faster than anyone else on the team, briefed her teammates and flanked around to the enemy backline.
Seeing the enemy team grouped up tightly and the enemy Zenyatta right in front of her, she pressed Q to unleash her ultimate.
[Apagando las luces!]
【EMP! It hit all six of them!!!!】
【Team Blue LUV is activating Lucio’s speed boost and diving in! They’re saying, “Do you have any way to resist this?!”】
As Sombra spread her arms wide, a purple electric field enveloped a large area, and the message “Hacked!” appeared above all the enemies caught in the radius.
The commentators erupted in awe.
This was Sombra’s ultimate, EMP.
In simple terms, it’s a wide-area version of her hack ability.
If it hits all six enemies, it renders them unable to use abilities for 6 seconds, making it an absurdly overpowered skill.
But EMP has one more hidden feature.
Crackle—
BlueLUVLulu > NotCatMom
『Huh?! Hey, hey…! I’m dead!』
『Looks like they planned to take out Zenyatta from the start.』
EMP also deletes all shields, represented by the blue portion of the health bar.
For example, Zenyatta, who has 200 total health with 150 of it being shields, would be left with just 50 health if hit by EMP, effectively turning him into a squishy target.
As Da-jeong unleashed her ultimate right next to the enemy Zenyatta and sprayed bullets, the enemy Zenyatta realized he was dead the moment he got hit.
It’s an almost unavoidable assassination method.
【Wow, Team Blue LUV! Are they pulling out their dirty tricks again?! They created the 3-3 composition, but now that the enemy is using it, they’re like, “Nah, we’re not using that,” and brought out a counter composition instead?!】
【That’s right! Since there’s virtually no way to deal with Sombra, Nyangtamon’s team is being completely overwhelmed! No one expected them to bring out Sombra!】
- Dirty tricks lolololololololol
- It’s you guys again…
- Lulu-chan is poisoning the tournament again…
- I’d be so tilted if I were on the opposing team lolololololol
With Sombra’s tempo-stealing playstyle, Team Blue LUV easily captured the first point in under a minute against the seemingly invincible 3-3 composition, and praise for the new strategy poured in.
『They ended up using it right from the first match.』
『Yeah.』
『This is going to be a problem when we’re on defense.』
But Team Blue LUV wasn’t exactly in a celebratory mood.
Especially since Da-jeong, the team’s strategist, was the one who came up with both the 3-3 composition and this modified 3-3 with Sombra.
She knew the strengths and weaknesses of both compositions.
In that sense, this modified 3-3 isn’t invincible.
No, if anything, the original 3-3 is closer to being invincible.
So she knew it wasn’t time to let their guard down yet.
『Unnies, let’s move quickly!』
『Yeah, my ultimate is almost ready. Let’s combo it with the hack.』
『Okay! Let’s go in right now.』
As everyone was thinking the same thing, the gates to the second point opened, and Team Blue LUV dove in as if they had been waiting for this moment.
Beep beep beep—
Once again, a purple aura emanated from Sombra’s hand, wrapping around the enemy Reinhardt.
As his barrier dropped due to the hack, Ra-hee’s Reinhardt, boosted by Lucio’s speed, charged forward and unleashed a fiery hammer swing.
[Hammer down!]
Boom!
【Hammer down! It landed perfectly!】
【The combo with the hack was so clean! Nyangtamon’s team has no way to counter this!】
While the enemy Zenyatta and D.Va on the high ground survived, the other four enemies were knocked to the ground, and Team Blue LUV mercilessly cleaned them up, securing the second point with ease.
This is the biggest advantage of the modified 3-3 with Sombra.
The synergy between hack and ultimates is incredibly smooth.
Of course, it’s also possible to combo with Brigitte’s Shield Bash stun, but that requires precise timing within a 0.9-second window and excellent teamwork.
In contrast, Sombra can force the enemy barrier down for 6 seconds from a safe distance, making the combo much easier to execute.
While the Sombra-based modified 3-3 composition seems perfect at first glance, no composition is without its weaknesses.
And its weakness is…
『Ah, we can’t let them steal the tempo… Should we just use Zarya’s ultimate first?』
『Yeah, since they don’t have a D.Va to eat it, it should be fine.』
『Both teams only have Lucio’s ultimate left, so it’s doable. Let’s go for it.』
The absence of D.Va means the enemy Zarya can freely use her ultimate without worrying about it being absorbed.
【Oh, Nyangtamon’s team is rushing out as soon as they respawn!】
【Yes! They’re forcing the enemy Lucio to use his ultimate early while saving theirs to win the team fight later! They’re going all-in here to avoid having their tempo stolen by Sombra! It’s a good choice!】
- The ultimate difference is going to make this tough.
- If they had EMP, it might be different, but their ultimates are still charging…
- If they get stopped here, it’s going to be rough.
Nyangtamon’s team successfully identified this weakness, and as soon as they saw the enemy approaching the third point, they quickly rushed out and unleashed Zarya’s ultimate.
[Fire at will!]
A dark orb shot out and engulfed Team Blue LUV, perfectly landing in the middle of their frontline and backline.
Everyone except Sombra was caught in the Graviton Surge.
[Feel the beat!]
At that moment, as expected, Jia’s Lucio activated his ultimate, creating a massive shield to save the team.
But the enemy team had anticipated this.
『Hey, hey, their beat dropped! Let’s use ours and push!』
『Go, go, go!』
As Team Blue LUV’s shields disappeared, leaving only Lucio’s ultimate on their side, the enemy team used their own ultimate to gain a health advantage and win the team fight.
In terms of decision-making, it wasn’t a bad choice.
No, it was actually a perfect choice.
If they had hesitated and tried to save their ultimate, it was obvious that the enemy Sombra, who could freely deal damage and charge her ultimate quickly, would steal the tempo.
Moreover, if they could somehow win this team fight the nature of the third point, which is favorable for setting up defensive positions, meant they could potentially stall and barely hold off the third point.
[Feel the beat…!]
Having quickly made this judgment, Nyangtamon’s team’s Lucio wall-rided to regroup with his team as fast as possible.
Just as he was about to slam his hand on the ground, and the ultimate voice line was about to play across the map—
Beep beep beep—
[Hacked!]
『…Huh?!』
Suddenly, a sound resembling a keyboard being pressed echoed, and a message appeared in front of Lucio, who was about to use his ultimate.
His ultimate was interrupted, and he fell helplessly to the ground.
That’s right.
Sombra’s hack has a hidden effect: if the enemy is in the middle of casting an ultimate with a delay, hacking them at the right moment can cancel the ultimate entirely.
In fact, Lucio’s ultimate doesn’t have a particularly long cast time, so this situation rarely occurs.
However, since Lucio’s ultimate activates when he slams his hand on the ground, if he’s wall-riding and not touching the ground, or if he’s jumping down from a high place to cast his ultimate, the delay increases significantly.
Da-jeong didn’t miss this opportunity.
She had been waiting near Lucio, planning to cancel his ultimate.
【Aaaaaah! The beat got canceled!!!!】
【Lulu! Did you foresee this too?! Canceling the beat like that!】
【It seems so! That wasn’t even a spot where Sombra would normally hide! Even if she couldn’t cancel the beat, she was definitely trying to delay it with the hack!】
- Holy sh*t lololololololololol
- She canceled it lolololololol
- Honestly, that was on the Lucio.
- Wall-riding backfired big time
With their last hope, the healer’s ultimate, disappearing into thin air, Team Blue LUV’s Graviton Surge came back much faster than Nyangtamon’s team’s, who had just used theirs.
『My ultimate is ready first! Let’s go in right now!』
『Yeah! I’ll hack their D.Va!』
[Hacked!]
Seizing the opportunity, Da-jeong quickly hacked the enemy D.Va, preventing her from eating the Graviton Surge.
[Fire at will!]
This time, a dark orb shot out from Yuna’s Zarya, engulfing the enemy team.
With no defensive tools left, Nyangtamon’s team had no choice but to give up the third point.
In the second round, after the roles switched, they put up a fierce fight but ultimately stopped at two points.
And so, the first set ended with Team Blue LUV’s victory.