How have Pros used Lifeweaver in Overwatch League?

Overwatch is at its best when experimenting with its newest heroes and Lifeweaver has not disappointed. Hero 37 entered the game's cast with polarising interest and the Overwatch League has dabbled with bringing him into the fold. Where, if at all, does Lifeweaver fit in the Spring Stage metagame and how has Overwatch League utilised him thus far?

Lifeweaver's primary use now is to boost their attacking Widowmaker with Petal Platform on Hybrid and Escort maps. This gives the attacking team a way to not only scout what the opponent is running and where they are defending, but this tactic could net an early kill. Even if it ends up with nothing in the net, the attacking team can quickly scuttle back into the spawn room and simply change into another hero.

A great example of this quick shot came by way of the Houston Outlaws' match against the Los Angeles Valiant. Knowing this early peek can come through from the attacking team does one of two things. 

If the defending team wants to contest that initial high ground, the defending team has to find a way to protect the other support. Having a barrier like Winston's bubble or Brigitte's shield does the trick but it also means you have to invest even more into that specific position. 

Even the DPS have to position with the peak in mind which means that attempting to match with your own mid-to-long range hitscan could be dangerous.

This has left teams opting to play further back on the control point, position to deny any sight lines to the attacking team. 99% of the time the attacking team doesn't find too much value, but that isn't the point. Knowing that this opening is possible means the defending team has to respect and prepare for it. 

This style of opening was used on maps like Blizzard World and Hollywood by many teams throughout the league. However, this quick gimmick wasn't the only way Lifeweaver was used.

First up is Brice "FDGod" Monsçavoir, support ace for the Washington Justice. With a significant lead on the Las Vegas Eternal, the FDGod broke out Lifeweaver for their initial defence of Rialto. 

While he rarely faces much dive pressure, you can begin to piece together how Lifeweaver might actually fair during a post-dive fight. 

If an ally is ever displaced or mistakes a rotation, Lifeweaver can quickly reposition them. On top of that, targets that are dived by an enemy Winston and Tracer can be quickly lifted up and be given some form of cover with Petal Platform. 

We see this nearly in action during this fight as FDGod tossed a Petal Platform preemptively for Kim "AlphaYi" Jun's Soldier: 76. 

That said, Lifeweaver only lasts for a single team fight before Brigitte is brought in.

Our next few examples stem from Florida Mayhem's win over the Las Vegas Eternal as well. 

Here we see Rupal "Rupal" Zaman using Lifeweaver's Petal Platform to access high ground most support cannot. 

This not only hampers the enemy from engaging on to Lifeweaver but it also gives Mayhem's Mercy another anchor point to fly to with her Guardian Angel, making her a difficult target to attack.

This positional works wonders when paired with a more autonomous DPS like an Echo because of how much vision it grants you. If your ally is in trouble, Lifeweaver can easily Life Grip them back to safety and still maintain high-ground control.

Havana's first point has been dominated by Widowmaker players since its inception into the league. The length of the point coupled with the enclosed high ground allows for the defence to control most of the posturing for the first fight. 

However, with Petal Platform, the attacking Widowmaker can suddenly take angles seemingly from anywhere and more importantly rival the height the defence controls. 

We see that instantly materialise for the Mayhem on their first fight with Choi "MER1T" Tae-min finding an early pick. 

And it's not just Havana's first point that seems like a possible Lifeweaver stopping ground. If we recall Havana's final stretch, it consists of a single-entrance bridge leading into this massive beachfront fort. Needless to say; it's difficult for the attacking team to breach this. 

But, what would happen if we could "scale" the walls on attack and contest the enemy's high-ground presence? 

The Mayhem actually experiment with that here. Rupal uses his Petal Platform to give his Genji and Sigma a sight light that would have been difficult to achieve otherwise. 

And when Vegas attempt to swat at the hands of the Mayhem?

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Rupal just dashes across the gap and Life Grips his Sigma to safety.

These examples underline the strength of Lifeweaver; breaking the maps. 

If given map control, an attacking team with Lifeweaver can easily contest a number of defensive high-ground positions that were traditionally difficult to traverse through. How many he can quickly circumvent and break seems to still be under discussion but the potential is very real for Lifeweaver to alter how we simply move on any given map.

The community has been rather mixed otherwise when reviewing Overwatch's newest hero. While the scrimbux stock exchange ruled Lifweaver as unfit for play due to his rather large hitbox and low healing throughput, many experts earlier in the offseason were more optimistic and were open to experimentation. 

Funnily enough, one coach seems to think Lifeweaver isn't too far off. 

During Florida Mayhem's post-game interview, head coach Jordan "Gunba" Graham weighed in on the efficacy of the pick. Admitting the Mayhem hadn't practised Lifeweaver but knowing this was their only chance at playing it, he seemed somewhat surprised at how well it played. 

"There were moments where the abilities led to really cool plays, the ultimate is totally useless, but the [Life Grip] is really strong," he said. 

"We felt like the cooldown was way too long, it's like 17 seconds? So every time you pull someone, we have no cooldown for the whole fight basically."

"I don't think [Lifeweaver] is viable, but honestly, it's that far from being viable I think."

Hero 37's supporters should be campaigning for a reduced hitbox, some additional help when it comes to his healing numbers and some reduced cooldowns. 

That way Lifeweaver's sophomore outing, perhaps at the Midseason Madness, could see him establish his own unique metagame. 

This mostly leaves Lifeweaver as a gimmick pick currently with some edge cases given the map and metagame. He offers a creative piece of utility which seem to be causing some shifts in the initial defence on Hybrid and Escort maps, but during prolonged engagements, Lifeweaver just doesn't cut it.