What initially struck me as overpowered abilities got me thinking about how Overwatch encourages you to spread out, flank, and not cluster together.

Several of Overwatch's ultimate abilities can kill every enemy in a large radius: Mei's Blizzard, Junkrat's RIP-Tire, and Hanzo's Dragonstrike can slaughter everyone clustered around a payload in a matter of seconds. At first, I thought these abilities were overpowered. Then I realized you reach maximum Payload Speed / Capture Rate with just 3 out of 6 people on a point. Blizzard made their AoE ultimates powerful on purpose to encourage players to spread out & flank. They serve a similar role to Unreal Tournament's Redeemer: a limited-use weapon that occasionally reminds players they shouldn't group so close together.

At first, you just spread out, staying a distance away from the control point so you won't get caught in any AoE Ultimates (and thus have a chance to retaliate), but once you start looking for alternate routes, you find them. Nearly every map in Overwatch is linear, but nearly every part of that path has 3-4 different routes you can take: a wide-open central route flanked by up to 2 side routes that offer height advantages, interior cover, or both. A long underground tunnel can let you flank their Bastion turret and kill it before it realizes you're there. A catwalk gives some characters a much-needed height advantage. I naturally began covering the payload from the side, clearing enemies out of the side tunnels and using my location to punish foes who ran towards us to ult. I wouldn't have begun doing this if Overwatch didn't discourage clustering together so much.

@mikelemmer: You hit the nail on the head. For payload offense, the optimal strategy seems to be having a tank buffed by a nearby healer moving the payload while the rest of the team picks off threats from a flanking position.

Then you get a player like Lucio with abilities that depend on clustering for maximum effectiveness...

Watching Pharahs, Genjis and Reapers consistently attacking on the mainline route of the payload hurts my soul. That being said I'll say some of the maps just seem so chokepoint heavy that splitting up and flanking is borderline impossible. The last point in Kings Row for example is just awful there's only a couple flank points the attackers can push through but both of them can be covered from the exact same positions that the mainline payload is covered from. I find most of the maps that end in interiors (except Dorado) are pretty counter-intuitive to what you're describing.

Numbani is the best map, that is all.

I wouldn't say that was a universal rule in Overwatch. Shit is situational. Some characters do better out flanking on their own while others do better teaming up. You have to look at the objective, the map, the make up of your team and your opponent's and decide the best strategy from there.

@hippie_genocide I would say that if your team is clustered with all 6 in an area, you are doomed eventually. Maybe you can win one control point (the pagoda thing in Nepal comes to mind), but you can't stack everyone behind a Reinhardt and just set up shop. I feel that using at least 2 flankers or long-range people is more optimal than having six on the point. I agree there are characters who can synthesize really well, but not all 6.

@damnboyadvance said:

...Who usually counters AoE heroes like Pharah & Junkrat, but can also be countered by their ults (if players don't know how to react to them). It was a bit of a breakthrough when I realized Mercy counters focus-fire & snipers, while Lucio counters AoE damage.

Positioning is so key. A lesson I learned fairly early playing support healers like lucio and mercy was not to simply trail behind your team. Sure there's a wall of bodies in front of you, but what about behind you and to the sides. Against a good team I am just as exposed being at the very back as at very front, not am I an easy target for flankers, my teammates probably won't notice I'm being hit until it's too late. It's better to position yourself in front of at least one other teammate to ensure that whoever comes for you will have to go through at least one other person, maybe more. Make threats to you visible to your team. Communication helps but it's better to have a set of eyes on you most of the time.