Pokéwatch: Defend the Objective

All this week, I've been taking a look at the various heroes from Overwatch and assigning them a team of three Pokémon based on their personality and moves in their own game.  Since both games have such a colorful, diverse cast of characters, it's been a fun challenge trying to determine the most appropriate critters for each hero.  We're crossing the halfway point today, finishing up the Defense team with Mei, Torbjorn, and Widowmaker.

 If you've missed any of the other installments, you can check those out right here.

Part one: Genji, McCree, Pharah

Part two: Reaper, Soldier: 76, Tracer

Part three: Bastion, Hanzo, Junkrat

Once were done with today's heroes, the Defense team will start their battles, and the winners will go on to battle the Offense heroes who won in part two.  Let's get started.

Mei

Mei is a Chinese climatologist and cryogeneticist, and she's one of the more unique characters in Overwatch.  She doesn't do a lot of damage, but her endothermic blaster lets her slow and eventually freeze enemies in place, making them much easier to hit.  Her alternate fire shoots a razor sharp icicle at the opponent, which can do critical damage when aimed at the target's head.  This is much easier to do when they're already frozen in place, naturally.  She can also instantly create massive walls or pillars of ice, which can be used to boost friendly players to positions they wouldn't normally be able to reach or simply impede an enemy team's progress.  She tends to be vulnerable at medium and long range, so she also has the ability to freeze herself in an impenetrable block of ice.  This protects her from all harm for a few seconds, but during that time she is completely immobile.

Lead Pokémon: Froslass (#478)

Type: Ghost/Ice

Reason: As you might expect, Mei's team all share the Ice type.  Ice type Pokémon can benefit from weather control, since they gain some benefit from the Hail weather condition.  Hail causes most non-Ice type Pokémon to take damage every round that the Hail persists, and it also increases Blizzard's accuracy so that it can't miss.  Froslass gets an further benefit from Hail since it can have the Snow Cloak ability, which raises its evasion in icy weather.  Mei herself could be considered a Frost Lass, but I have to go smack myself in the head now for actually writing that down. 

Support Pokémon:  Glaceon (#471)

Type: Ice

Reason: Due to her proximity to her own cold-creating technology, Mei must constantly wear an overcoat on the battlefield, even in warmer climates like Ilios and Dorado.  Mei's home territory of China borders Nepal, where Sherpas developed the warm winter hats they wear to protect their ears from frostbite in the high Himalaya mountains.  Glaceon, a later evolution of Eevee, is Mei's tribute to those hardy Sherpas, and its Ice Body ability helps it heal from damage caused by opponents as long as it's snowing.  It doesn't hurt that it's a cute Ice type... not a bad description of Mei herself.

Finisher: Regice (#378)

Type: Ice

Reason:  As previously mentioned, Mei's Cryo Freeze ability lets her ignore all damage temporarily, completely surrounding her body with an invulnerable block of ice.  It's a great tool for avoiding enemy ultimate abilities or buying yourself some time to allow the rest of your team to move in and help you out.  It also closely resembles Mei's third and final choice, Regice, whose Clear Body ability prevents its stats from being lowered.  The in game Pokédex says that Regice is so cold that it can reduce the surrounding air to absolute zero, the point where molecules stop moving because all the energy has been drained from them.  This sounds a lot like the effect of Mei's ultimate ability Blizzard, which applies the effect of her endothermic blaster to a wide area, freezing solid and damaging any enemy characters unlucky enough to be in the area. 

Analysis: Mei's team lacks diversity, so it's all going to have the same strengths and weaknesses.  Ice types work great against Dragons, Flying, Grass, and Ground types, but take double damage from Fire, Fighting, Rock, and Steel moves.  Choosing 3 of the same type of Pokémon is a gamble, but if she can manage to quickly take out whatever her opponent intends to use against Ice types, they may not have a way to recover.  Weather control will give her a distinct advantage in a prolonged battle since her team all gains power in a snowstorm, while the cold saps the energy of the opposing team.

Torbjörn

Torbjörn is the umlauted techno viking of Overwatch, a bearded Swedish engineer who specializes in building autonomous turrets and providing armor to the rest of his team.  He's taken out a Titan class robot all by himself, and his turrets tend to make quick work of inexperienced players.  His ultimate ability, Molten Core, taps the geothermal energy of the earth's center itself, vastly increasing both his own damage and that of his turret.  Despite all of his accomplishments however, he finds it hard to gain the respect of his peers, who constantly try to sit on him.  

Lead Pokémon: Klinklang (#601)

Type: Steel

Reason: Though it's a little hard to see in his portrait, Torbjörn has a tattoo of interlocked gears on his right bicep, a symbol of his belief that technology can be used to improve people's lives.  His in-game character model also has a constantly spinning clockwork contraption on his back that looks very similar to Klinklang.  

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Support Pokémon:  Zweilous (#634)

Type: Dark/Dragon

Reason: One of Torbjörn's greatest strengths is his ability to effectively attack from two angles at once, thanks to his turrets.  Zweilous shares that ability thanks to its twin heads, though the Pokémon games say that the two heads don't really get along very well.

Finisher: Mega Camerupt (#323)

Type: Ground/Fire

Reason: When Torbjörn triggers his Molten Core ability, flames shoot out the back of his twin exhaust pipes, and both he and his turret become considerably more powerful for the duration.  Camerupt has twin volcanoes on its back which react in much the same way.  When it Mega evolves, Camerupt's volcanoes merge together, and it gains the Sheer Force ability, increasing the damage but removing the added effects of any moves it uses. 

Analysis: Torbjörn has a very diverse set of creatures, and much like his turret, his team has a lot of potential.  Klinklang's pure steel type leaves it vulnerable to Fighting and Fire moves, but both Camerupt and Zweilous have resistance to Fire, Camerupt in particular having a 4x resistance to fire moves.  That resistance comes at a cost however, as Camerupt will take quadruple damage from Water-type moves.  This can be mitigated somewhat by making sure that the Sunny Day weather stays in effect, since this cuts Water type moves' power by 50% and increases Fire type moves the same amount.  Meanwhile, Zweilous resists both Water and Fire due to its Dragon type, so it would be a good idea to load it with some moves that hurt Water types.  It would also benefit from the Eviolite hold item, which would boost both of its defensive stats by 50%.  Both Klinklang and Zweilous take double damage from Fighting moves, so Torbjörn will have to be very careful if he faces a Fighting type creature.  That said, his Camerupt is a beast, its Fire and Ground types capable of doing super effective damage to fully half of the elemental types.  Once it Mega evolves, most teams will have a hard time taking it out unless they have a dedicated Water type and can hit it while Sunny Day isn't in effect.

Widowmaker

Assassin, mercenary, and professional hitwoman, Widowmaker is a beautiful, deadly femme fatale who prefers to dispatch her enemies from as far away as possible.  Her weapon, the Widow's Kiss, can shift between a long range sniper rifle and a medium range machine gun, giving her versatility for those times when she can't avoid fighting up close and personal.  She can deploy sticky venom mines that will damage and poison unwary foes, and has access to positions most heroes don't thanks to her grappling hook.  Her ultimate ability, Infra Sight, allows her to see targets through walls and obstacles, and is shared with her entire team.  While depicted as a villian, Widow seems not to worry too much about morality and will simply fight for the side with the largest checkbook.

Lead Pokémon: Ariados (#168)

Type: Bug/Poison

Reason: Though Black Widow spiders aren't necessarily native to her home country of France, Widow has taken the deadly Latrodectus spider as her personal symbol.  The closest thing to a Black widow in the Pokémon universe is probably Ariados, a Poison type that conveniently can also have the Sniper ability.  It's pretty clear that Ariados isn't a true spider however, since it lacks the requisite number of legs.  

Support Pokémon:  Purrloin (#509)

Picture of Purrloin as Widowmaker by MAGZ, found at https://k60.kn3.net/taringa/5/8/9/6/1/9/4/123nicolas/75C.jpg

Type: Dark

Reason: When Widowmaker isn't killing people for money, she seems to take heist jobs as well.  Purrloin is a play on purloin, another word for steal.  It also shares her color scheme, and let's be honest, I just couldn't pass that picture up.

Finisher: Galvantula (#596)

Type: Bug/Electric

Reason: Introduced in Generation 5, Galvantula comes with the Compound Eyes ability, boosting the accuracy of its moves by 30%.  This ability translates well to Widowmaker's ultimate, which shows her entire team where they need to put steel on target.  

Analysis: Bug types and their trainers are kind of a joke in Pokémon since they evolve quickly, but max out in power just as fast.  It's gotten better in recent years since bugs are now super effective against Grass, Dark and Psychic, but Bug type moves are resisted by seven other elemental types, more than any other.  Fortunately, both of Widow's spiders have a second type to back them up, and Electric and Poison gives her a fair amount of coverage.  Unfortunately, both of these nullify bug's resistance to Ground type moves, meaning they'll take normal damage from common moves like Earthquake.  Her Purrloin will have difficulty in a straight fight, so she should take advantage of moves that boost its evasion and lower the opponent's attack value.  Using moves that deal damage over time like Toxic is an option for her, but she'll need to be able to buy some time while the poison does its work, and nothing on her team is very good at tanking.  Widow faces an uphill climb, and it'll be surprising if she makes it to the second round.

With the defense teams set, it's time to start the second round of battles.  

Bastion Vs. Hanzo

This is a very close fight; Bastion's legends don't have any particular weakness against Hanzo's Dragons, and Hanzo manages to switch in Zekrom before the Electric Techno Blast that was intended for Gyarados lands. This match is a slugfest but in the end Hanzo ekes out a win because his weakest link, Dragonair, far outclasses Bastion's weakest link, Pidgey.  Poor little bird never stood a chance.  Not unlike an immobile Bastion in the path of Hanzo's ultimate, Hanzo is the victor.

Winner: Hanzo

Junkrat Vs. Mei

Mei's lack of diversity quite literally bites her in the ass as she doesn't have an answer for Mega Mawile and its powerful Steel type moves.  Her frantic switching gives Junkrat's Donphan enough time to get a Rock type Rollout started, doubling its already hard-hitting power every turn.  Even Mei's defensive Regice gets mowed over by the unstoppable force. There's a bright spot when her Froslass' Snow cloak causes Rollout to miss, but Raticate is still fresh and can take it out with Crunch, ignoring its Ghost type moves.  Although her team would do well in an extended encounter, Junkrat doesn't give her the option and she can't slow him down enough to make any headway.  Junkrat celebrates by licking the defeated Regice.  His tongue immediately gets stuck, and the other heroes share a good laugh at his attempts to free himself.  Eventually Mercy takes pity on him and helps him loose.

Winner: Junkrat

Torbjörn vs Widowmaker

 Widowmaker's team puts up a reasonable effort, but she doesn't have an answer for Mega Camerupt. Her team gets swept before she can use any of her combat tricks.  Torbjörn tells her Good Game after the battle, but both he and his turrets have taken enough W-engraved bullets to the face over the years that you can tell he doesn't really mean it.

Winner: Torbjörn

And that's it for today.  Check in tomorrow as we begin the Tank class, and pit the winners from the Offense team against today's champions. Again, thanks to Pokestadium where the Pokémon sprites came from, and also to Pokecharms for their trainer card macro.  And a big thanks to Curvedlines, who posted all the sprite sprays for the Overwatch heroes.

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