Zen and Healers: Mercy

With the week closing, as well as League beginning on Valentine's Day, I think it's time to talk about how Zenyatta compares to other Support Heroes. I've already talked a little bit about how a lot of players up to high Gold in ranked don't realise how Zenyatta actually works. He's a secondary healer, which means he can't solo heal in the same way Mercy can. However, Zenyatta deals a lot of damage. His discord orbs increase the amount of damage an enemy takes by 50%. That's a lot of damage. For this reason, I want to talk about how Zenyatta, as a healer, is treated differently.

SaltyMcCree: why you play zen all your ultis fail play mercty

Zenyeeta: gg

SaltyMcCree: omg u suck a dick so hard

Actual dialogue that occurred between myself and a teammate. I don't like to name who I play with, so all you need to know is that he played McCree.

Thank you, Salty McCree, because I will start of this comparative series starting with Mercy!

Ease of Use

From someone who plays a lot of Mercy and Zenyatta, it's going to be quite rewarding to be able to compare the two side by side.

Mercy

Zenyatta

Mercy is pretty much the standard Support character. That's not a bad thing; it just means that she's where a lot of people who main Mercy or another Support character likely begin. She's easy to use, which makes her very flexible and can also be very handy for balancing a team's healing requirements. She works with pretty much every other Hero, which means that she's very versatile and can create good combinations with characters such as Pharah and Reaper.

Zenyatta is less easy to use. He's classified as a hard character, which is kinda true. You have to balance how you use your healing orbs, but also how you use the discord ones. Sometimes, it's easier to play Zenyatta in a team where you can verbally communicate with, just to tell them which player on the enemy team is orbed. Essentially, your team needs to be able to cooperate with you. The more they do, the easier it is to play him. You also have to be a bit more picky, depending on the other Support characters. It's hard to make a good combo with just Zen and Lucio, or Brigitte, whereas Mercy, Moira and someone who's good at playing Ana tends to be far more compatible.

Abilities

In this sense, Mercy has a little more abilities than Zenyatta does. Her increased motion over Zenyatta really makes a difference, since a lot of the time, Zen's slow speed lets him down and makes him extremely vulnerable. Mercy's ability to fly is just something that I find super helpful, particularly helpful.

Left-Click Heal VS Healing Orb

Mercy heals more than Zen. That's no brainer, even though she has received a lot of nerfs in the past. That's old news, though. We're here to talk about the present Mercy. In a Competitive match, I can get an overall of 23k healing on Mercy. I've done it before and, by God, I try to do it again from time to time. On the other hand, with Zen, 10k-12k tends to be a Comp average for me. In terms of range, Zen probably has the upper hand. Whilst Mercy can heal people at a safe distance, Zen can get the heights that she struggles to, which means he can be at the centre of the team and be able to reach everyone.

Right-Click Damage Boost VS Discord Orb

I've recently discovered a great love for Mercy's damage boost. It's proven really handy for when there's a Reaper on the team, especially given his recent buff. But nothing beats the Discord orb. 50% damage is just something I can't pass up on.

Resurrection VS Damage

One of the big perks of Mercy is her ability to bring players back to life. It can change the outcome of a match, even if it's no longer her ultimate. I know it's something that majorly appeals to a lot of people, even if she made no appearance in the first two rounds between Fusion and Spitfire on Thursday. You just have to be... so careful when you revive someone. Where did they die? Is there a safe spot to stand? Are the enemy all dead? Two people are dead in the same spot: do you prioritise Tank or DPS? It all really depends, and the strategic plays of a Mercy can really impact on how she's played and how effective she can be.

Zen deals more damage than he heals, and his attacks are generally just a bit more powerful compared to Mercy's pistol. She's the equivalent of baby D.Va, whereas Zen can have some really good timed shots with his 5 orb attack. It's more of a case on whether you want to kill more of the enemy team, or bring back more of your team.

Ultimates: Valkyrie VS Transcendance

I'm sure a lot of people missed being able to res you're entire team as Mercy, but I never played Overwatch whilst she still had that ability. The only Mercy I've known is the one who has Valkyrie, so I've learnt how to just adapt to her from there. I love the movement that Valkyrie gives Mercy, although it's still very easy to kill her, and her res time isn't any different whilst ulting. Zen, however, is invincible whilst using Transcendence, unless knocked off the cliff. His healing whilst ulting is so strong, too, which has helped me pull a point back or hold a payload on so many occasions. Having seen Boombox do the same play in the Hollywood round VS Spitfire just made me feel so great, because it's a reminder of how awesome Zenyatta truly can be.

Are those even his eyes?

Conclusion

I love playing both Mercy and Zen, but there's definitely a satisfaction I get from playing Zen that Mercy just can't fulfill. There's something cathartic about being able to fling orbs of death at people's heads despite being a monk.

Zenyatta in the Competitive Field

It's my first official post and what better topic to start with other than the current Competitive season, 14. I'm fairly sure that most people who play Overwatch are familiar with Competitive, and I'm also sure that, if you're reading this blog, you probably play Overwatch. For that reason, I'm going to assume that everyone who reads this has played Comp or has at least a vague understanding of what it is.

Quick Play and Comp: Is There a Difference?

The Iris is telling me that a few of you just wrinkled your noses at that sub-heading. You might be saying something along the lines of: "Of course there's a difference, Zenyeeta. QP is QP whereas Comp is far more important." Listen to me. Unless you're earning dollar from your rank, or have a reputation to uphold in either Master or Grandmaster, is it really that different? Sure, each successful match brings you five purple points closer to those golden Zenyatta orbs you've been eyeing up for a while now, but is there really much more to Comp compared to how hyped up it is?

Hero Combinations

Pharah-Mercy, Pirate Ship. It all comes to mind when I talk about which Heroes work well together. The enemy Reinhardt has his pocket Ana hidden safely behind his shield, carefully nursing her Nano Boost, whereas you've somehow ended up with that one Brigitte who hasn't worked out that she can heal yet and Winston can't time his shields for shit (to give him credit, though, he did attempt to pick a shield tank). Hero combinations seem to gain significant amounts of importance when playing Comp, whereas in QP, it's free for all! There will be some matches where, for some reason, your team expects you to solo heal (so you reluctantly switch to Mercy or Moira) and, in the end, the 4 dps players flame at you and that poor Reinhardt who honestly tried his best.

Other times, you get a team that understands what they're doing. They're not a four-stack or anything, they just get it, you know? They want to go GOATS, because they've read up on the meta, and since Lúcio is extremely fun to play, you can't say no. Besides, GOATS is good. You win the game and it's no surprise. Up goes your rank, you pocket the points. You don't get a lot of GOATS, if any, in QP. Never do the Genji Brothers™ (it's always one of them) on your QP team want to give up on their PoTG opportunities to be sidelined by some D.Va with an impressively thrown bomb. These meta combinations are taken far more seriously in Comp, and probably for good reason, as they guarantee higher success rates.

Organisation and Battle Strategies

This leads on from the previous point, but GOATS is the current favoured strategy, particularly in higher levels. Pharah's a good counter, but snowballing your way through the team can effectively win you the match within a matter of minutes. In general, though, players will make a conscious effort to group up (but they only begin to do this at Gold level). You'll have some guy talking through the white noise of his crappy mic, giving orders to go left, or right, or whichever way is best suited for the map. There's an effort for improvement. Alongside you, everyone is trying to get a better rank, so of course there's going to be more thought into how you play the game.

Players may also change heroes mid-game in order to counter the enemy team. Is there an annoying Tracer or Genji irritating you by constantly flanking? Tell the tanks and suddenly a Winston will be on them like nobody's business. It's seriously awesome, until the Winston is on the enemy team.

But Is It Really "Different"?

To the very core, Comp is basically QP, except you get graded. The main differences would be for those who get paid or are part of the League tables but, other than that, whether you're silver or gold doesn't necessarily rank you as a player. Some people use Comp as a form of expressing self-improvement, so you are going to get some salty comments along the way when they get butthurt that a team didn't perform to their expected standards.

A wild Widowmaker being slated by her raging teammate.

Personally, I've played some really intense games where all players have been highly strung, only to lose, as well as relaxed games where the entire team decides to meme, playing 5 dps and Lúcio, and still managing to win! With Comp, your personal abilities aren't necessarily weighed up correctly. It all depends on what team you work with, as you'll still lose points even if you are hard carrying your team.

Playing Support in Comp

Now that we've established the atmosphere in most Competitive games, you can probably imagine how hard it is to play a Support hero in a field where players expect over 15k healing per match from the primary healer alone. Now, I can average a range of 13k-16k healing on Mercy in a single Attack or Defence match, but not everyone can. 10k healing is sufficient, so long as your secondary healer is reaching a 5/6k mark to support you. However, it does all ride on you. If you die, your team will likely perish soon after.

High Stakes

As a Healer, I do get shouted at a lot from other players, especially in the lower tiered ranks. A lot of them don't understand how Zenyatta actually works. If I discord an enemy Reaper, silver ranks aren't always going to target him, and it can get very frustrating. Zenyatta's healing orb is less efficient compared to other healers techniques, but he makes up for it in damage. Lower ranked players, who struggle to maintain HP for elongated amounts of time, do tend to rely on mass heals, which Zenyatta can't provide and, if the Primary healer is constantly being targeted, it's not enough.

Actual footage of me when someone on my team so much as looks at me aggressively.

Since dropping to Silver, I've found it difficult to play Zenyatta and get the support needed from the rest of my team. Players at this rank don't quite coin on that Genji and Tracer are my literal worst enemies. For that reason, I might switch to Brigitte on some occasions, just so I can defend myself or, if no one else wants to go Primary Healer, I'll pick the Moira or Mercy option, depending on the situation.

Toxicity

Ultimately, when the team loses, the healers are always blamed. It doesn't matter how much healing you've done, or how useful to the team you've been, the stick will always land on you, and an overflowing wall of orange and blue text telling you to "kys" and "uninstall Overwatch" has become numbingly common. And people wonder why no one wants to play Support...?

Zenyatta, in the Scale of Things

So, how does my boy fit in with Competitive mode? He's slow, but can pack a punch, which has actually made him very popular amongst the Top Ten Most Used Overwatch Heroes in each of the Competitive ranks. He was considered a very meta character, given his ability to increase his team's damage by placing discord orbs on the enemy team. It wasn't until Season 12, when the GOATS tactic came into public play, that Zenyatta began to drop down the list in a sad state of decline that every child star reaches in their career at some point. Zenyatta didn't fit into the GOATS equation, with Support characters Lúcio, Moira and Brigitte overtaking him in popularity.

I'll still remain faithful with my favourite healer, though. I just can't resist the damage he can inflict on his enemies! Seeing each Bastion and Wrecking Ball quake with fear before they inevitably explode beneath the wrath of my discord orb is just too much. I strongly believe that Zenyatta is a character people always come back to. He's always making appearances in League, and playing this character inspires me to do better than how I normally would on a day to day basis!

Also, if a Hanzo ever tells you that he's meta ever, remind him that Hanzo hasn't been considered or used as meta for quite a few Seasons now. Some people really need to be humbled.

The beautiful community of Overwatch in action.

That's all from me for today! May the Iris be with you,

From a Tired Zenyatta Main

From Ten to Zen

You're in game, be it Quick Play or Competitive. You're putting discord orbs on that highly buffed Reaper in a desperate attempt to save the Reinhardt who is striding towards him without his shield up, whilst your team's Widowmaker is getting twenty shots, one kill and Genji is overextending so much he blends in with the enemy team whilst Mercy is crying in a corner, and you can't help but think:

TiredZenyattaMain: "Why the fuck am I still here?"
AnnoyingGenji: "zero heals mercy and zen kys"
EnemyReaper: "I'm wrestling with some insecurity issues in my life but thank you all for playing with me."
EnemyReaper: lol gg e z

Hi, and welcome to The Life of a Zenyatta Main, a blog I've started whilst running on three and a half hours of sleep, because why not? If that first paragraph describes you, or someone you know, then you or that person are most likely a very frustrated Support main in the popular game, Overwatch. Unfortunately, the more I've been playing Overwatch, the more the above scenario is happening.

In no way do I profess do be an expert player. The highest ranking I've ever achieved in Competitive is 2453, which 30% of the Overwatch population is, and it's pretty much been downhill since then. But that's the point. A gold rank in Competitive is average, and I'm in the high tier of average. Or, I was. Until crappy team, after crappy team led to a sickeningly sad silver rank dwindling in the 1600s. Honestly? I lost count, because I've become so disheartened. All I know is, if you've ever played with a Zenyatta called 'Plania', and you are guilty of overextending, not dealing with the flankers, or insisting on being one of the Genji Brothers™ despite everyone on the enemy team hard countering you, congratulations! You're invited to my funeral, alongside the rest of those fuckers, just so you can all let me down one last time.

The Life of a Zenyatta Main is a blog to detail my rise in my early days, only to have my continuously bad teammates throw me into the pits like Scar did Mufasa, but also the hopeful improvements I myself will receive, so that I can be the kind of Zenyatta who can carry a team of 5 dps (if things should ever sink that low). This is an opportunity for me to share my experiences, be they salty or sweet (although I suspect most will be salty).

I look forward to seeing who gets on board with me,

From a Tired Zenyatta Main