After winning his second consecutive Overwatch League championship with the San Francisco Shock, the ever-opinionated Matthew ‘Super’ DeLisi revealed what he’s hoping for in Overwatch 2 during an episode of the Plat Chat podcast.
[jwplayer 91I9RIGm]
Ranked in the top 10 of the North American ladder and fresh off yet another infallible OWL campaign, Super isn’t the world’s greatest main tank but he is one of its premier Overwatch players. While he wasn’t a yearlong starter for the Shock, his game sense and mechanics span a preferred Reinhardt role all the way to his infamous Genji play.
As such, his perspective is intriguing with regards to 2, a title that millions have been eagerly, sometimes confusedly anticipating for a couple years now. After Blizzard Entertainment gave the world a major tease of OW2 during 2019’s BlizzCon, little has been revealed about the sequel’s progress and eventual release date.
With many hoping that more news about the title will come during February 2021’s virtual BlizzCon, the Plat Chat boys got together with Super and, at one point, discussed their wishlists for the game. Easily the most talented player of the group, DeLisi’s perspective on the campaign and hero additions runs strikingly similar to casual hopes. Conversely, his thoughts on shields and modes bear some interesting contrasts.
Plat Chat typically boasts a stacked cast of Overwatch aficionados, featuring four of the OWL’s casters and analysts: Matt ‘Mr.X’ Morello, Joshua ‘Sideshow’ Wilkinson, Jonathan ‘Reinforce’ Larsson, and Brennon ‘Bren’ Hook. But for this episode, they replaced their former OWL player, Reinforce, with a current champion in Super. Then, they asked what he cares most about for OW2.
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“I know this is kind of funny because I’m a pro player, so I’m supposed to think the opposite. But, dude … give me a fully fleshed out story.” From high-quality cinematics to a campaign that lasts over 20 hours, Super’s main hope for OW2 is an all-encompassing PVE story mode.
Further, in another note that professionals and casuals will agree upon, he mentioned that he is desperate for as many as “three new heroes per role.”
Later, Super was asked about core mechanics of the game that he might want to see changed. When asked about the new mode, Push, DeLisi likened it to Team Fortress 2’s Payload Race mode and suggested that it was intriguing, but does deserve concern about snowballing.
In a stark departure from most players’ sentiments, he expanded that 2CP (or Assault) is, in fact, not the worst mode in Overwatch. Instead, he believes that Control maps are “busted” and deserve some rethinking.
Super’s last point regarding mechanics touches on a hotly contested subject: shields. While developers have echoed fans’ concerns with shields in the game, Super professes that it’s not the shields that are the problem, instead the problem is when “the game revolves around the shield.”
Comparing Reinhardt’s comfortable place within a game to Orisa’s oppressive gameplay, DeLisi explains that shields can work well in Overwatch. But when a hero is too dependent on their shield and their team is forced into stagnantly working around said shield, that’s when the game suffers.
So, a fat, fully fledged campaign, new heroes, some map rethinking, and some shield reworking are all on Super’s wishlist for one of the gaming community’s most highly anticipated sequels.
