There are actually 5 Roles in Overwatch 2 - Role Theory + Team Comps

This is an awesome video! well explained and good info! my only criticism for this is that for the support category, a lot of middle rank players are gonna be confused by Main support and Main healer because they're not the same. I think it would be really cool if you could make a follow up video explaining that difference because even though lucio is a main support, he's actually an off-healer not Main healer. Im sure you know but for anyone else reading the comment: main healer provides the bulk of the heals (think moira bap ana etc) whilst off healers still heal but most of their utility come from other abilities - Lucios speed, mercys damage boost, zen's discord. So if you explain that it would explain why double flex support works but not double main support. ALSO please do a video on tempo and maps it would be really interesting ! p.s mayo sucks, ketchup supremacy!

Despite the importance of Role Theory, unfortunately "optimal gameplay" was lost with the advent of role queue as it was no longer possible to run a team of all torbjorns. PS: Nice vid! XD

Used to be 6 roles in ow1 because of main/off tank. As a person who was played exclusively off-tank (with my main-tank duo) ow2 feels like an extremely different game and I really miss that tank synergy and the feels of comradery. That said, I did reach much higher rank here in ow2 but I enjoyed this game way more with my tank-buddy.

I always get confused between "main support-flex support" and "main healer-flex healer" but thanks to you, I can confidently pick my support to help enabling my teammates better

I would add sombra to the list of exceptions due to the prevalence of ball sombra/tracer comps, since these days you usually want your main DPS on sombra and your flex DPS on tracer if you can help it.

I do wish you’d went into off tanks vs main tanks. I know it’s not relevant to overwatch 2 but for people who don’t know it would be interesting and I think the explanation would help people understand how tanks work like why some tanks are better at peel or defense than tanks who are good at taking space.

Also note that Main/Flex support originally stemmed from Lucio being an absolute must pick. In the early days your main support only played Lucio and your flex picked around what was needed, sometimes even going Mercy and ending up with what now would be a double main support comp. When Mercy/Zen became the main pair due to Moth Meta with 30% discord, your main support players had to pick up Mercy. I remember Custa specifically being a flex support player, but because he had a good Mercy, he had to transition to MS and eventually play Lucio after GOATS became hard meta.

A couple of notes as a top500 support player: Maim support pairs are actually quite effective due to high survivability. A big issue with flex support pairs is vulnerability, it has a high potential of carrying but also a very high potential of getting contested and losing out on the skill matchups. Kiriko is partially OP due to her ability to both frag out mechanically and have guaranteed healing/ high survivability

This made me understand this game on a whole another level.

Sombra and tracer I'd said are the only heros that both hitscan and flex players must know. Widow is almost exclusively learned by hitscan players these days, reaper is sometimes played by both but like reaper doesn't take much to learn and is rarely meta anyway

Interesting, I always would tell my friend about burst dps and consistent dps being important in lower ranks. Essentially having two characters who have burst damage or are focused on getting picks isn't as optimal as one for picks and one for laying down consistent pressure. This isn't exactly the same idea but I'm glad to see a better formulated version of it. I always called them "Daggers and Hammers", you want one of each, precision and persistence.

Wonder if new heroes will change how we define roles again. Old tank roles got really weird after ball, sigma release and hog meta. I hope they do just so the theory crafting stays fresh

I usually differentiate Supports between Healer and Utility. I’m unsure how main and flex supports contribute differently to the team other than personal play style, and i didn’t quite get that from the video. It touched generally on comps but i didn’t feel like it delved much into why. Hope to see that in another video.

I would love a follow up talking about the team comp in relation to all three roles (i.e. pairing which tanks with which combos of supports and dps and such)

Great video. Tracer can almost be in a category all to herself. One of the only heroes where you can be a "one trick" at the pro level and still be incredibly important

Amazing insight, I've always been intrigued by strategy's and you've made it far easier to understand a complicated subject. Fantastic content as always!

This was amazing. would love to see more on this. great stuff Krow

Sym is usually played by the hitscan player in rush comps

Excellent video. There's discussions to be had around how this can actually be translated into the Design Structure of the game as well, with different criteria for designing heroes based on a lot of the same logic. Great breakdowns and explanations, especially in pointing out the value this has for Lower/Broader levels of play in the population (who make up the vast majority) and how it can teach them to play it at a faster and more detailed pace.

If we could get a video on things like tempo it'd be extremely helpful. This was awesome KROW!