The first-ever MVP from Overwatch League illustrates its support problem

NYXL support player Sung-hyeon "JJonak" Bang is a monster. He came out of nowhere during the inaugural season of Overwatch League and on his own redefined the way people perceive the Zenyatta peaceful monk-monk, turning it into a murderous lightning machine. The league has just awarded him the title of "MVP," but what is odd is that we have not seen him play as much as many other players.

Game images from JJonak's point of view are more broadcast than other support players in the league. But it is an extremely low bar to brighten, since media like Zenyatta and Mercy rarely have a lot of antenna time. JJonak stands out because he is the rare medium that can double in DPS, and the characters that inflict damage tend to be much showcased during broadcasts.

Unlike most other support players, JJonak, more eliminations than his teammates. When he bursts and orb everyone, he is adapted to the camera. In some cases, however, we do not see JJonak just jump when it happens. Broadcasters do not keep the camera on it as often as with DPS players, but if commentators see a spike in JJonak's activity in the killfeed, they will switch to a replay of his point of view.

I love watching JJonak separate the enemy team with well placed orbs. Maybe he could have been a major league pitcher in another life. Yet, focusing on these flashy killstreaks deprives viewers of the broader context. Sometimes, commentators briefly explain how JJonak or his teammates set up his big moments, but we rarely see this setup. We are often left wondering how he did all this. What was his positioning and meter management, leading to this wild flank? How did he avoid dying? How did the dang Heck do with Zenyatta, all the characters?

It is absurd that such questions surround Overwatch undisputed king-king Zenyatta of the League. One could argue that this restraint allows JJonak and other supporters to appear all the more mysterious, but at the same time, it minimizes the value of what support players can do. Other healers who play defensively rather than aggressively are much less exposed. The commentators of the league and the film crew are very aware of JJonak's reputation, so he gets more love than most. Meanwhile, other high-level Zenyattas like Unkoe and Bdosin languish off the screen, their views being relegated almost exclusively to replays in some matches. Not to mention the Mercy players, whose views we hardly ever see, unless they make an absolutely crucial play or bad their pistol and demolish a Pharah.

This is an understandable dilemma. The spies must be watchable, and DPS players are doing flashy performances, hacking the enemy's back lines with phosphorescent cyber-swords and slamming heads with superhuman precision. A character pulling a long killstreak is also something that tends to be easy to badyze visually, even for newcomers. Media, on the other hand, spend a lot of time caring for injured allies and repositioning themselves to help set up great games. They do not really look at the speed of the sea.

But among all the chaos of Overwatch the supports are the glue that holds the teams together. They are also playing at incredibly high levels, and the league needs to find a better way to show that – and not just when Zenyatta players decide to briefly turn into golden gods of war DPS. Some fans have suggested player-specific camera options, controlled by the viewer, that would allow the audience, for example, to focus on the POVs of the media. Fans thought that they would get this option as part of Twitch's $ 30 All-Access Pbad, but instead, the pbad gives you just two team-centric views instead of ############################################################################## 39; a. Bummer.

Even though the swinging POVs of players become an option, this will not solve the problem of media that are underestimated in the League Overwatch . It's up to broadcasters and commentators to highlight and better explain how complex and tactical support decision-making processes can be. It's also about the developers of Overwatch to create support capabilities that encourage irresistible tactical play and that are flashy apart – rather than attaching support capabilities to kits where DPS capabilities dominate (see: (19659004) I'm glad that JJonak is the first OWL MVP, and it's in the league's honor that fans seem to be in agreement almost unanimous on the fact that he deserves it.But the league could do a much better job of showcasing support overall, and hope that it will focus on the resolution of this problem in the future.