“Get on the payload, please,” suggests a focused Zenyatta, the sole pilot of a sluggish payload that has yet to breach the gates of point B on Dorado. There is no response from his eager teammates engaged in a fight around the corner. “Guys…” he pleads, just as the unmistakable triple thwip of Genji’s shurikens put him on alert.

Overwatch has gone through a rapid series of meta shifts since the end of last year. Tanks had their time in the spotlight, followed by a more balanced 2/2/2 era, and now we’re starting to see the vast majority of pro teams overload on DPS. Thinking about what that could mean for your average ladder squad might make you cringe, but it shouldn’t.

Hundreds of the best Street Fighter V players in the world gathered at the Austin Convention Center in Austin, Texas to take part in DreamHack 2017, the third North American premier event on the Capcom Pro Tour. Saturday was the first day of the tournament, and it featured the opening pools phase up to the top eight.

Overwatch esports has been electric over the last few months now that the meta is more focused on DPS. Though triple tanking is still a thing, many teams have spun that around and opted for triple DPS variants that have yielded a tremendous amount of success. Rogue, one of the best teams in 2016, came back with a new roster this year that has been dominating other North American teams.

When it comes to well-rounded heroes, Ana is at the top of many people’s lists. Even though we’ve seen some tweaks and nerfs, everyone’s favorite sniping grandma still reigns supreme in most compositions. Why shouldn’t she? Ana can single handedly make or break a push, shut down ultimates and keep everyone alive in the process.

South Korea’s RunAway had a series of unbelievable performances at Apex over the last few weeks, pulling off upsets against many fan-favorite teams in their push to be crowned season 2 champions. Their most notable victory came against Lunatic-Hai in the quarter finals, as they were able to hand Miro and company their first loss in a tournament where they hadn’t dropped more than a map prior to that engagement.

Sometimes it’s easy to get caught up with duels and poking in Overwatch. Apart from “everyone go right,” there often isn’t too much team cohesion on the ladder. Having a plan of attack beyond the initial spawn is crucial to your team’s success and your precious SR. Map knowledge feels like an afterthought a lot of the time, with players not thinking about how group composition and positioning might change from one map to the next.

Whether you’re planning on how to avoid SR decay or trying to be the first Orisa specialist, Overwatch’s new tank is hitting the competitive ladder this week. Transitional periods around new characters are always fun, but they can also be difficult and challenging for a variety of reasons. Don’t get discouraged by toxic teammates!

Tanking in Overwatch is often a thankless job. People expect you to just exist and stand in the way of damage, never appreciating how difficult good positioning and survivability are to maintain. As if that wasn’t bad enough, a good number of your teammates may start barking nonsense like, “No Winston.

Last week was rather eventful for Overwatch. The ‘Bastion Patch’ went live, and a lot of people were quite loud in their disapproval. Facebook and Reddit pages were full of angry fans who were adamant that the changes to Bastion were too much. Kaplan sort of agreed, and the new Ironclad ability was toned down within a couple of days.

For the better part of the last year, EnVyUs has been one of the best Western teams in Overwatch eSports. With specialists like Taimou, Harryhook and Mickie leading the charge, they’ve taken down talent from around the world, and have several major tournament victories under their belt including Apex Season 1 and MLG Las Vegas.

Over the last few weeks we’ve discussed how the current Overwatch meta has been on the fast and furious side, along with some ways of defending against it. Today we’ll lace up our boots and look at how to pick apart enemy flanks. Flanking can be an exhilarating affair, but it’s not for the slow-witted.

As February comes to an end, so too does round one of group play at Apex Season 2. Teams have performed as expected for the most part, with KongDoo Pathera, KongDoo Uncia, Lunatic-Hai and Meta Athena leading their respective groups. Foreign invitees have had a tougher go of it, though returning Apex champions EnVyUs are doing well thus far.

The last couple of months have been very exciting for the Overwatch community. There have been enormous meta shifts, a new map, the addition of Sombra, and several action-packed eSports tournaments. What’s even better is that it all happened within the parameters of Overwatch’s third ladder season, giving players a substantial amount of content to study and tinker with on their journey to Grand Master.

Control maps tend to have some of the most exciting fights and interesting compositions you’ll see at all levels of competitive Overwatch. Since they’re designed to have teams trade off as offense and defense throughout the match, the significance of each play becomes magnified, often resulting in clutch holds and heroic ultimates.

Tracer and Genji have been tearing it up at the pro level after the last patch, with teams using them on almost every map. This goes double when maps like Oasis are drawn, since they have plenty of obstacles to dart around and climb on. Both of these characters can be annoying in the hands of a capable ladder warrior, so it’s important to make some adjustments to your composition if they’re keeping your team scattered.