Pokéwatch: Get behind me!

All week I've been analyzing the various heroes of Blizzard's latest game, Overwatch, and assigning them different Pokémon based on their abilities, backstory, and personality.  With the Offense and Defense teams completed, today we'll start taking a look at the Tank class.  Since we're doing 3 heroes per day, today's article will focus on D. Va, Reinhardt, and Roadhog.

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

Part four: Mei, Torbjörn, Widowmaker

D. Va

Picture found at http://cezarbrandao.deviantart.com/art/D-Va-571319680

D. Va is a Korean professional gamer turned Mech pilot, and she's one of the most popular characters in Overwatch.   Her catchphrases and taunts refer to her skill at other Blizzard games like Starcraft, and her description in the game mentions that she likes to livestream battles to the internet as she blazes around the battlefield.  The internet has adapted D. Va into some sort of gremlin child fueled by Mountain Dew and Doritos, with Soldier: 76 acting as her father and Mercy as her mother.  D. Va is probably the least durable character in the Tank class, but she does have the ability to continue battling even after her mech is destroyed.  This gives her the chance to call in a new mech if she survives long enough or manages to get an elimination while outside of it.  Her ultimate ability is Self Destruct, which causes her mech's power source to go critical.  This deals massive damage to anything within the mech's line of sight when it explodes, and usually nets D. Va a couple of eliminations.  It's a great tactic for clearing an embattled point or breaking up an entrenched enemy team, though D. Va has to be careful not to get caught in her own blast.   

Lead Pokémon: Furret (#162)

Type: Normal 

Reason:  D. Va's passive ability lets her bail out of her mech once it's beyond repair, giving her the chance to live to fight another day.  Sentret's ability is Run Away- not much use in combat, but it allows discretion to be the better part of valor when fighting in the wild.  Furret was actually the inspiration for this series of articles, when I noticed that the sprite in Pokémon Shuffle...

...has some distinct similarities to D. Va herself.   

Support Pokémon: Azumarill (#184)

Type: Fairy/Water

Reason: D. Va may be a soldier and a skilled pilot, but she's also a teenaged girl, and she appreciates cute stuff.  Her personal symbol is an angry-eyed bunny, and Azumarill looks a lot like it.  Azumarill's type was changed in the sixth generation From Water/Normal to Water/Fairy, so it will now fare much better against the Dragon type.

Finisher: Electrode (#101)

Type: Electric

Reason:  D. Va's ultimate move is an act of sacrifice, destroying her mech in an attempt to take out one or more of the enemy team.  Electrode's signature move, Explosion, does pretty much the same thing.  

Analysis: Although D. Va has a reputation as a pro gamer, she may have some trouble in this Pokémon battle.  None of her creatures are especially strong, though each of them can learn some surprising moves that may be capable of catching the opponent off guard.  Her team doesn't have any shared weaknesses, but it doesn't seem to have any particular focus either.  Maybe it's all the caffiene in that Mountain Dew.

It'll probably happen eventually.  Source: http://65.media.tumblr.com/5f4a9307a72de611a487bc0a5efaf801/tumblr_inline_o8n06x5Otd1r5ight_500.gif

Reinhardt

Source: http://elstrawfedora.deviantart.com/art/Overwatch-Heroes-and-their-Pokemon-Reinhardt-613109986

Reinhardt's main purpose is to carry a hardlight shield that protects others on his team, soaking up enemy bullets and lasers before they can reach his squishier teammates.  He can also use the rocket on his back to charge an enemy team, plowing through them and potentially pinning one to a wall or setting them up for further punishment from his massive jet hammer.  His ultimate ability is Earthshatter, which causes the ground to destabilize in front of him, knocking opponents to the ground for a few seconds and removing their defenses.

Lead Pokémon: Bastiodon (#411)

Type: Steel/Rock

Reason: Reinhardt is fond of saying, "I am your shield" to his teammates, and it's true that his shield is basically a part of him, projected from a gauntlet he wears as part of his heavy, medieval-looking armor.  Bastiodon is one of the resurrected fossil Pokémon from generation 4, and is quite literally a living shield.  With Bastiodon watching his back, Reinhardt could double his defenses. 

Support Pokémon: Pyroar (#668)

Type: Normal, Fire

Reason: The shield projector on Reinhardt's gauntlet resembles a lion, which makes sense for a character who's basically a knight born 1,200 years too late.  In the heraldry of his native Germany, lions represent strength, nobility, bravery, and valor, all qualities Reinhardt himself tries to live up to by protecting his friends.  It may also remind him of the flames he uses to add extra power to his rocket charge and jet hammer.  Although Solgaleo, the cover model for Pokémon Sun also fits this description, it isn't available yet, so Reinhardt will have to make do with Pyroar.

Finisher: Mega Aggron (#306)

Type: Rock/Steel (normal) Steel (Mega evolution)

Reason: Reinhardt dresses, acts and speaks like a medieval knight, so it's little wonder that he'd choose a Pokémon that shares his prediliction for cast-iron underwear.  Mega Aggron is one of the strongest defenders in Pokémon's metagame, dropping the Rock type to become pure Steel and gaining Filter, which reduces the damage dealt by super effective moves by 50%.  Reinhardt's ultimate just knocks people down, but it's rare to see an Aggron that isn't packing Earthquake or Earth Power, each of which can shake up an enemy team in more ways than one.

Analysis: Like their master, Reinhardt's team is mainly clad in Steel, and so they'll have to watch out for Steel's weaknesses, Fire and Ground.  Bastiodon and Aggron both take quadruple damage from Ground and Fighting moves, though Aggron wil take 3/4 less damage from them once it Mega evolves.  All three of Reinhardt's team take extra damage from Ground types, which is ironic since striking the earth is one of his most powerful abilities.  Pyroar is a good choice to switch in against other Fire types, but all three of his creatures also take extra damage from Water types as well.  Unsurprisingly, Reinhardt's team excels at defense, so he'd do well to look into moves that cause damage over time like Will'o'wisp and Sandstorm. 

Roadhog

Source: http://elstrawfedora.deviantart.com/art/Overwatch-Heroes-and-Their-Pokemon-Roadhog-615211292

Roadhog is hard to pin down.  He's a psychopath, but seems reasonably jolly.  He yoinks people in with a meathook on a chain to better blast them up close, but he excels at absorbing damage that was meant for somebody else on his team.  He's basically a horror movie villian with his dehumanizing gas mask and homemade weaponry.  But he has a sense of humor about his own bulk, making use of his outie belly button to add a 3D effect to his tattoos.  It's incongruous, sort of like if the Disney corporation got it in their heads to remake The Texas Chainsaw Massacre.

Lead Pokémon: Emboar (#500)

Type: Fire/Fighting

Reason: Roadhog has embraced his body type, and comments about his appearance don't seem to bother him. Most of his sprays and comments acknowledge his porcine visage, and he even has a prominent belly tattoo with his belly button forming the snout of a pig.  It seems fitting that his entire team would be made up of different species of swine. 

Support Pokémon: Grumpig (#326)

 Type: Psychic

Reason: Roadhog isn't shy about his own body, and Grumpig takes that idea even further, using it to its advantage.  Grumpig can make use of the Thick Fat ability to halve the damage it takes from incoming Fire and Ice type moves. 

Finisher: Mamoswine (#473)

Type: Ground/Ice

Reason: Roadhog's ultimate, Whole Hog, briefly changes his shotgun into a rapid fire spread gun that deals increased damage and also has a powerful knockback effect.  This can be used to eliminate enemies or just fling them away from a point, giving Roadhog a lot of versatility.  Mamoswine's dual Ice and Ground types similarly give it a lot of options, letting it attack an opponent's weakness in almost any situation.  Not only that, it can have the Thick Fat ability just like Grumpig to reduce incoming damage.

Analysis: With five attack types to choose from between his three Pokémon, Roadhog's team can handle nearly any situation.  None of his creatures have any double weaknesses, and in fact each of them can cover for the others pretty well.  Emboar and Mamoswine share a weakness to Rock attacks, but their secondary types both deal double damage to Rock types.  Opponents will have to be careful and hope that Roadhog makes a mistake in order to get through his team.

We'll finish up the Tank class and start on the Supports next time.  In the meantime, both the Offense and Defense teams have finished their preliminaries, so they can now face off against each other.  

Genji Vs. Hanzo

At some level, the brothers Shimada always knew it would come to this, and both have prepared for years in advance of their meeting.  Though Rayquaza's dragon type deals double damage to 2/3 of Hanzo's team, that weakness works both ways, and Rayquaza falls to Zekrom after bashing through Dragonair's augmented defenses.  After that, Genji is in serious trouble since both Greninja and Ninjask take double damage from Zekrom's Electric attacks. Hanzo moves on to the next round after defeating his brother once again.

Winner: Hanzo

Pharah Vs. Junkrat

Pharah has an advantage over Junkrat in Overwatch since many of his attacks require the opponent to be on the ground.  That doesn't prove to be the case here.  Each of their teams has immunities and weakness to the other, so this battle involves a lot of jockeying for position, feints, and head games.  Eventually, Junkrat begins his Rollout combo with Donphan, taking out Pharah's Skarmory and threatening her Charizard, but she manages to stop it with Cofagrigus and its status attacks. Junkrat remembers taking out Froslass with Raticate's Crunch move and switches it in, only to get hit by Will'o'wisp which reduces its attack and renders its Focus Sash useless. It comes down to the last Pokémon for both teams, but Pharah's Mega Charizard mops up Mega Mawile pretty handily once Donphan is out of the way.  

Winner: Pharah

Tracer Vs. Torbjörn

Even though Tracer's team includes two legendaries, Torbjörn has an answer for everything she can throw at him.  His Zweilous is immune to Deoxys' psychic attacks, and both of Tracer's other Pokémon take serious damage from Mega Camerupt's powered up Earthquakes.  Deoxys can hit fast but not especially hard, having given up power for mobility.  And while Dialga's Roar of Time is an incredibly powerful move, Camerupt has the bulk to take the hit and return the favor, especially since Dialga is immobilized on its next turn.  Tracer manages to remove Torbjörn's Camerupt, but it costs both her legendaries to do it, and Pikachu can't stand up to Torbjörn's Klinklang even though it resists Steel attacks.  Torbjörn advances to the next round after an appropriately brief battle.

That's all for today.  We'll finish up next week with the rest of the Tank team and the Supports starting on Monday.  As always, thanks to Pokestadium for the Pokémon sprites, and also to Pokecharms for their trainer card macro.  Thanks also to Curvedlines, who posted all the sprite sprays for the Overwatch heroes.

LOOK WHO CAME:

Kevin McClusky   

Marcel Hoang   31

Agent9   19

Occams   5

MeanderBot   5

Retrofraction   4

Batthink   2

Luckrequired   1

C-bastion   1

bluepotatosack   1