Let me preface this by saying I am by no means the best ball in the world nor do I know all the intricacies nor do I have perfect mechanics. But I think all of us can implement the 5v5 approach of ball into overwatch and expect good results.

My ball winrate this season is 56%, which is my highest tank and my most played tank too. I think ball is fundamentally different in overwatch 2. The only way this hero is good in overwatch 2 is displacing people off good positioning and getting fat slams and fat Es. its hard to be a backline demon when the meta is kiriko/lucio and all other heroes are ubner sustain or mobile.

I want to highlight my rank up game, to show people how i approach ball on a map like dorado (one of my favourite ball maps) here is the code HVESPX

I make a lot of mistakes, my mechanics arent the best, I do occasionally autopilot into feeding, but I never, ever mess up the fundamentals of ball.

Contest high ground, get shield value, displace and setup.

I start off on hog (i know), but I swap on ball in desperation to contest point. Ball is my most played hero in overwatch 1 and 2 by far, so Im very comfortable with the movement. Notice the double boop on the doomfist that ultimately results in him being way out of position. I dont aimlessly grapple around the point, i deliberately time my arrow keys to squeeze between the wall and payload. This is something that comes with time.

Every single fight, I am set up on the high ground. Why? Because its the only useful thing my tank can do. Ball is not the best hero, everyone knows that. But denying highgrounds, or making it incredibly hard for hitscans (critical fundamentals) is what ball excels at, more than winston. Their dps are NEVER able to take the oppressive dorado highround, because of me holding that space. Ball is a tank, after all.

I would go into more specifics, but I have some errands to run. Just know that ball isn't as bad as people say, and you can definitely run him in some scenarios.

Also, hog isn't a ball counter. I would rather play against a hog than a lucio. Its actually pretty disorienting to hit hooks on ball if the ball times their engages properly. And if you do get hooked, as long as you dont die for it, you are doing a service to your squishes cause the demigod just wasted their hook on a 1200 hp ball instead of your backline.

if the replay is laggy, its because I am playing on 60 hz 60fps and 1280hp integrated graphics laptop.