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Blizzards newest game, Overwatch, officially launched last month already had seven million players within a week of release. Whats more, this is a game that went the traditional sales route rather than the increasingly common free-to-play one, meaning that all those players plopped down a minimum of $40 to play Blizzards newest IP.Even before launch, there were a healthy number of professional Overwatch tournaments, populated by some of the biggest teams in esports. With Overwatchs audience growing and Blizzards focus on increasing the competitiveness of the game -- as seen by the games just-released Competitive Mode -- theres an opportunity for Overwatch to flourish as an esport.Any spectator sport, whether its hitting a ball with a large stick or dispensing an animated fighter with a Shoryuken, quickly develops its own internal strategies and trends as the players become more experienced and the sport becomes more refined. In gaming, we refer to this as the meta, an endlessly evolving state that forms the backbone of tactics employed in the game.With 21 heroes, theres a lot for a new viewer or player to grasp. To help potential Overwatch enthusiasts, last week we started our introduction to the heroes and their strategies. This is not a list of their various skills, but a basic overview of how each hero fits into the competitive framework based on where the game stands right now. We started off with the offensive heroes. Next up: the tanks.The concept of a tank in gaming goes far beyond the first-person shooter. From a team FPS to multiplayer online battle arenas (MOBAs) to role-playing games (and so on), the essential job of a tank is to absorb damage in some way. Typically, the strong defensive skills of the tank are balanced by weakness in another area, whether that be reduced offensive power, reduced range and/or mobility, or some other drawback. Overwatch has five tanks that fulfill this role, but they all do it in very different ways.ReinhardtGigantic, clad in heavy armor and wielding a massive warhammer, one look at Reinhardt should dispel any notion that this character is a healer or a squishy sniper. Reinhardts game is the most straightforward of any tank in Overwatch: absorb a ridiculous amount of damage and smash anything that comes in range of the hammer.Reinhardts shield, the best single defensive tool in the game, does have a major drawback in that it only appears in a small arc thats directly in front of him. This makes Reinhardt a valuable character when it comes to protecting a particular hero -- when Bastion is played, youll tend to see a Reinhardt nearby -- or a particular space. It also makes Reinhardt vulnerable in more wide-open, dynamic situations.When a payload is involved -- a very linear mode where you escort an object to a destination -- or a specific point needs to be defended, Reinhardts a top tank. In a King of the Hill match, in which the action is more difficult to channel in a single direction, Reinhardt becomes a more challenging choice. In terms of matchups, while McCree finds it hard to deal with Reinhardt one-on-one, Pharahs rockets and Reapers ability to choose the angle of short-range engagement are problematic for Reinhardt. Both of those characters are very popular.Best Maps: Kings Row, DoradoWinstonLike Reinhardt, Winston is a tank with a short-range attack and a shield that can protect multiple team members. Thats where the similarities end. Winstons Jump Pack gives him a significant measure of mobility, giving Winston a great degree of flexibility in how you use him; to compensate, his shield cant absorb as much damage as Reinhardts. Both the Jump Pack and the Tesla Cannon give Winston more effective crowd-control abilities than the other tanks, expanding Winstons role significantly beyond turtling.Thats what makes Winston more popular than other tanks in those King of the Hill maps. Dynamic situations are where Winston fits best, as his bubble-shaped shield covers a full 360 degrees and his Tesla Cannon is effective against the quicker attackers (Tracer and Genji most notably). Need your tank to jump across the map and annoy the other teams back line? Looking to cause a bit of chaos? Winstons your choice. Sometimes, on Route 66, youll see multiple Winstons.Best Maps: Watchpoint: Gibraltar, Route 66RoadhogRoadhog describes himself in-game as a one-man apocalypse, and that about sums up his role.Sheltering weaker support characters isnt Roadhogs function, as he has no damage-mitigation abilities. The way a Roadhog defends a team is indirectly; its not by protecting his teammates from damage with some kind of shield, but by simply being a large target and keeping the other team at a distance. His ability to heal himself means that he can soak up a lot of damage, and the Chain Hook, which drags an opponent into close range, is devastating on a single target. In addition, the Chain Hook can interrupt a number of ultimates (Reaper, McCree, Pharah and other Roadhogs).The downside is that hes the least-mobile tank, as even Reinhardt technically can charge in a straight line fairly quickly. Characters like Soldier: 76 and Junkrat are able to damage Roadhog at will without being in any danger from the Chain Hook or either of his Scrap Guns firing modes. His lack of mobility and need for straight sightlines keep Roadhog, even as an offensive-minded tank, from having a role in many of the King of the Hill maps.Best Maps: Kings Row, NumbaniZaryaZarya is unusual in that, unlike the other tanks, you usually see her on offense at high levels of competitive play and not defense. While Zaryas personal shield and the one that she can project onto a teammate are powerful, they also only last for two seconds. To successfully use her damage mitigation, you need to be choosing when to engage rather than having the enemy come to you.The short shield window makes Zarya good for coordinated attacks on choke points or for a general assault on an opposing teams position. Damage absorbed by her barriers in these attacks also serves to increase her damage output significantly, which is another factor that makes her ideal for offense. The Graviton Surge ultimate also comes with team-wipe potential given a bit of coordination, something all top teams have in ample supply.Best Maps: Kings Row, HollywoodD.VaOf the five heroes classified as tanks, D.Va is the only one that has yet to find a real role in competitive play outside of tactical moments when her mechs vertical mobility comes in handy. If you play mostly pub games and havent watched much competitive Overwatch, this might come as a surprise.D.Vas ability to act as a shock trooper, charging in quickly where most heroes cant, can easily cause disarray in the enemy line in lower level play. Against a pro, however, this tactic is harder to pull off and youre not going to successfully cap points by sending a couple D.Vas to skip through the battle. Even the Self-Destruct ultimate is only really going to clear a room temporarily rather than actually kill anybody; while that move has a tempo value -- forcing opponents to move behind obstructions rather than doing something useful for several seconds -- thats really not enough.D.Va does a lot of things well, but theres no real set role in which shes amazing. Until she can fill a more specialized task, shes a pub hero and a comp zero.Best Maps: Dorado, Hanamura Custom Flyers T-shirts . Houston won 3-0 to advance to face New York in the Eastern Conference semifinals. Last in the game, Di Vaio and Romero got into a shoving match with several Houston players. Romero appeared to elbow and kick Houston defender Kofi Sarkodie. Custom Bernie Parent Jersey .Y. - Jerome Samson scored once in regulation and again in the shootout as the St. http://www.customflyersjersey.com/custom-bernie-parent-jersey-large-71e.html .com) - Richie Incognito has reportedly been admitted to a psychiatric care unit in Arizona. Wholesale Custom Flyers Shirts .S. Open champion Justin Rose birdied the first hole with a blind shot he hit to a foot of the pin, and he stayed in front Tuesday until he completed a 4-under 67 for a two-shot lead over Jason Dufner in PGA Grand Slam of Golf. Flyers Jerseys China . The 18th player to shoot 60 on the tour, Jamieson settled for par on the final hole when his 15-foot birdie chip grazed the edge of the hole and stayed out. After opening with rounds of 66 and 73 to make the cut by a stroke, he had 11 birdies in the bogey-free round. New Zealand coach Mike Hesson has lauded captain Kane Williamsons demeanour and work ethic for the teams seamless transition from the Brendon McCullum era. Hesson also felt McCullum and Williamson brought a largely similar approach to their leadership styles.Kane captained, I think, 36 games before he took over full-time. Even during the time that Brendon was captain, for a number of tours or part of the tours, Kane came in and it was a very seamless change, Hesson told reporters after New Zealand arrived in New Delhi.I think the key to any captain-coach relationship is to making sure that we use each others strengths. Kane is very thoughtful, methodical, [as a] player likes to plan well, but also likes his own time.Brendon wasnt hugely dissimilar to that; he prepared really well. He was probably a little bit more of a high profile, sort of out there character, especially in New Zealand. As you see, Kane is probably slightly more of a backseat [type] but within the team they operate in a very similar fashion.Williamson, for his part, is well aware of the importance of compartmentalising his twin roles as leader and premier batsman. Although he comes on the back of a good run of scores - Williamson finished as the teams second-highest run-getter in New Zealands recent tours of Zimbabwe and South Africa - he recognises the need to pull his weight as one of the teams better players of spin bowling.I suppose you take that [captaincy] hat off and you are very much a batsman and you have a role to play in the team. I see them as slightly different things, so that to me is the focus, Williamson said.India is a tough place to play, particularly, in more recent years where the pitches have been very tricky. I guess [when] you throw in world-class spinners, the challenges are very tough but at the same time we see it as a very exciting opportunity. [The] previous series here, certainly spin played a huge part, and at times batting was difficult.Hesson said playing on the dry pitches of Bulawayo during the Zimbabwe tour was a useful preparatory exercise ahead of the India series. Both he and Williamson agreed their players had to draaw upon whatever past experiences they had of playing in India - either during the IPL or in past tournaments like the World T20.ddddddddddddThat [Zimbabwe tour] was very much a spin-dominant series and conditions, he said. Although it didnt spin as much, it certainly was slower and probably similar pace that we are going to face in India. The week between the series has been about rest really and recovery, and obviously the next week-to-ten days is going to be critical to be really specific around individual game plans.Hesson was upbeat about New Zealands gifted spin trio - Mitchell Santner, Ish Sodhi and the returning Mark Craig - making a mark despite their relative inexperience: they have a combined tally of 98 wickets from 34 Tests.In the last couple of years, a number of overseas spinners have done well, so we certainly back our spinning group [which is] young and inexperienced but gifted, Hesson said. The challenge for us is firstly in adjusting to the different ball - the SG Test is going to be completely different to what we have been operating with the Kookaburra. So, there is a little bit of change there, a little bit of changing around seam angles, which are different over here than they are in different parts of the world.Even though we are not going to bowl like sub-continental bowlers, we do have to make sure that we find a way to create opportunities. All those three are keen learners of the game and certainly we are going to put a lot of faith in them over the coming weeks.Hesson also believed that the seamers, Trent Boult, Tim Southee and Neil Wagner, would put to good use the time they spent working on reverse swing in Zimbabwe. It is a huge component of playing cricket overseas, he said. We have obviously spent a lot of time in Zimbabwe where we got the ball to reverse, and on surfaces that arent responsive in terms of seam movement.There are many different methods [of getting the ball to reverse] and we certainly are going to have to be working on that over the coming days. ' ' '