Overwatch’s new tank hero, Wrecking Ball, will be unlocked in Competitive Play today.
The hamster hero joined Overwatch on July 24, two weeks ago. He entered into Overwatch’s Quick Play, Arcade, and custom game modes, but was unavailable in Competitive Play to give folks a chance to get used to him. Starting today, he’ll start showing up in competitive Overwatch matches.
Related: Wrecking Ball is live in Overwatch for PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and PC players
Wrecking Ball is a disruptor. He’s got serious movement advantages, allowing him to dive in-and-out of battle quickly. It’s a mixture of Grappling Claw and Roll that make him so powerful in this way. Should Overwatch players take to Wrecking Ball, the meta is sure to be changed. He’s going to bulldoze right through it.
The genetically-modified hamster’s added to Overwatch’s lore, too. Hammond once lived on the moon with Winston, but no one expected him to be a hamster. We learned in the lead-up to Hammond’s release that he wasn’t actually a monkey, and that he hitched a ride with Winston to earth. His pod broke off from the main ship, however. That’s how he landed over in Junkertown.
While in Junkertown, Hammond created his alter-ego, Wrecking Ball. From the pod he escaped on, Hammond created a spherical mech that aided him in becoming the Scrapyard champion—all while hiding that he’s a hamster.
All of this is how Wrecking Ball landed in Overwatch, but we’ve yet to learn how he’ll impact the game’s lore-at-large. For now, we’ll just have to see how he changes Overwatch’s competitive queue.
