Overwatch 2: Stadium Mode, new heroine and ban system mark Season 16

One of the biggest additions in Overwatch 2 history, Stadium mode promises to revolutionize the gameplay by introducing tactical matters, such as exclusive abilities and items, to build your character in the best way possible. We've already played it, and we can say that Stadium delivered everything players expected out of it, even though it only has 17 playable heroes for this first moment, each of them brings a wide range of skills that change your priorities and gameplay style, in addition to the player being able to buy and sell items freely to increase their status.

The mode works in a 3rd person view, which leads to an even greater feeling of innovation,on top of being able to - finally - enjoy more of our heroes' favorite skins.

Matches are divided into small rounds in a best-of-seven format - whoever wins four rounds first wins. After the end of each one, you’ll get credits, based on your performance, to spend on whatever you think it’s best: healing items, ability power, attack speed, damage. An efficient combination of effects will be essential to triumph!

Stadium’s own competitive system and rewards

Stadium received a ranking system that’s independent of the traditional one, with new leagues which become increasingly difficult as you progress and exclusive rewards. Each Season, players who reach the Elite tier will get an Epic Skin.

During the first Stadium Season, you’ll also be able to get the new All-Stars Juno Skin by earning a spot in the All-Star League.

Free Skin Event

Blizzard has launched an event called Initiation. You’ll have the entire Season to complete missions related to the Stadium and, with that, get unique cosmetics. Including an Epic Skin for Soldier: 76 and two Loot Boxes - one legendary and one epic!

It's a fact that hero skins and loot boxes will always be the most sought after rewards in events like this, but it's impossible to ignore the great "Stadium Trophy" keychain unlocked after completing one of the tasks.

In addition to the trophy being incredible, the globe is consistent with the real planet Earth, allowing you to see entire continents, such as America, and parts of Europe, Africa and Asia.

Competitive matches now feature a new system, four heroes will be banned per match.

Before we actually go to the hero selection, a new screen appears for us to pre-select our character and prevent our team from banning it.

After that, you can freely vote for three heroes, and the two most chosen from each team will be out of the match! Just one note: It’s not possible to ban three or more characters from the same role.

The rules are clear, and the new interface is well organized, the community loved this new addition. Obviously, many people were unhappy with how many years it took to finally get this system, but better late than never.

The new Battle Pass is based on two main themes, some cosmetics have a more devilish tone, while others bring a charming and cute “Dokiwatch” style. As expected, two hero skins are free, you can unlock Hero of Heart, for Tracer, and Hollow Heart, for Moira, by reaching levels 40 and 70, respectively.

To reach your own verdict and see if it's worth buying the Battle Pass, check out all the possible rewards:

The Premium versions of a Battle Pass track usually give us 80 Mythic Prisms, which is enough to buy a Mythic Skin and evolve it to level 4. Each Season brings a different look of this rarity, and this time Juno players will be the lucky ones. One of the newest Supports in the entire roster and highly acclaimed by the community, she’s finally received her well-deserved Mythic Skin called Heart of Hope.

The style follows the same as the other “Dokiwatch” themed skins, where the heroines become “heroines at heart”. The character’s clothing and hair options for customization are great, I imagine it’ll be one of the best-selling Mythics of the year.

Finally, her weapon and abilities live up to their rarity, with exclusive sound and visual effects, setting them apart from the character’s standards. You can see them in the video below:

Fans of this theme can celebrate! Dokiwatch isn’t only present in the Battle Pass and Mythic Shop, other heroines of heart have joined forces to create a limited-time cosmetic bundle.

The Dokiwatch Mega Bundle offers five Legendary Skins along with other cosmetics and is being sold for 5900 Overwatch Coins. You can also choose to purchase a single skin for 1900 coins.

Check out all the items below:

Season 16 is yet another one of Blizzard's recent great successes, they’d already innovated at the beginning of the year by introducing Perks, and now they’ve added more changes to the game with Stadium mode and ban rules.

The latest hero releases have also been highly praised, and Freja continues to keep the high level of the cast. Finally, the new cosmetics bring quality and will certainly be a success in the community.

I hope this article has helped you understand more about Overwatch 2 Season 16. I’m available if you have any questions or comments.