Recently the Chinese Overwatch team, Miraculous Youngster, have created quite the buzz with their interesting take on dealing with the dreaded dive composition. Not only have they adopted the style and have started using it in their play, but the concept has traveled as far as South Korea as well. With all the buzz around the “anti-dive” composition that features the likes of Reaper, Reinhardt, Zarya, and Junkrat, of all characters.

Let’s take a look at 14 light, topical, and conversational thoughts and questions that surround the use and application of the strategy and its pieces.

- Was this “anti-dive” composition created in preparation for the new patch, or was this always something Miraculous Youngster and other teams were working on? With the new patch hitting live servers, Zarya received huge buffs to her Gravitation Surge. That being said, will she alone be enough to push this composition into the limelight? One of the key components to the composition is the Zarya player and really deflecting and slowing down the dive, while also building charge and Graviton Surge. If this turns out to be something Miraculous Youngster has been preparing for months now, we’re in for a treat.

- Recently, Miraculous Youngster took home 1st place at the Nexus Cup 2017 Summer. Towering over the competition with a match record of 10-0, they did not drop a single game throughout their run to the finals. With their dominant performance in the Nexus Cup, Miraculous Youngster has shown that their 6th place finish in the Overwatch Premier Series could have been circumstantial. Runaway’s captain, Yoon "Runner" Dae Hoon spoke on his stream recently about the Chinese team and said that they were “the best team in China.”

- All of the members of Miraculous Youngster could have been part of the Chinese Overwatch World Cup team, but they left the selection process to focus on their own play for the Overwatch Premier Series. One standout player from this incredibly talented team is Huang "leave" Xin, the teams Flex DPS player.

- How much will this impact the APEX Season 3 Finals or will it have little to no impact? It would be interesting to see if either KongDoo Panthera or Lunatic-Hai was to pepper in a little “counter-dive” shenanigans to throw the other team off kilter. My bet would be on Lunatic-Hai using this, if either one was to use it. They usually have better preparation when it comes to specific matches.

- How dependant is this composition on the map and game type? From a glance the composition seems strong on maps with tight choke points and weak flanking routes. King’s Row, Horizon: Lunar Colony, and Sanctum (Nepal) all have been used as good candidates. Will this composition be restricted to certain maps or will it slowly meld into its own metagame?

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- Is this a “solution/counter” for dive? We’ve only really seen it tested against lower tier teams and there are few cases to point to as evidence on how successful it is against strong dive teams like KongDoo Panthera or Afreeca Freecs Blue. The only other similar iteration was used in a show match between the South Korean Overwatch World Cup team and KongDoo Uncia.

- As of the 27th of July, Doomfist will be available for play on the live servers. This begs the question; where does a Doomfist fit into this composition, if at all? Many teams have been using him in scrims. This is even more present in a few show matches from Meta Athena and the Misfits scrim footage.

- A recent post by Principal Designer, Geoff Goodman, talked about adding a 50% damage reduction to Roadhog’s “Take a Breather” ability. Not only might it add a bit more durability to the character, but he may also be able to move at full speed as he is using the ability. With the proposed changes to Roadhog, is he someone who can fit back into the metagame?

- Is Sombra a worry for this composition at all? Tanks do seem to do too well against her. Does she pose a threat to the future of the slow and steady, tank focused comp? She has see a surge in popularity as of late, but where she fits into a team is based seemingly around what the team needs or can play. Will she fall to the way side with some of the new changes coming and with Doomfist on the horizon?

- Is it more that the “anti dive” strategy is more novelty or does it actually hold merit? What worries me about this is the perception that the dark age of dive is somehow over. What if these teams have just had a rough time dealing with a new strategy that has popped up? I, for one enjoy the shift, but to sing the death of dive is a bit premature. We’ve seen teams like Runaway, Miraculous Youngster, and the South Korean Overwatch World Cup team use slower tank focused lineups. Are they succeeding based on the novelty and creativity or will this strategy start to creep into the metagame?

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- Geoff Goodman commented on a Battle.net forum recently to talk about changes to Junkrat. He mentioned that Junkrat could see changes coming to the PTR that could include a buff to the health of his Rip Tire and an extra charge to his Concussion Mine. With these proposed changes, we could see Junkrat start to come into favor a bit more.

- Only a few months ago Reinhardt was seeing play in the midst of the dive metagame. He was used as a finisher for maps like Numbani and King’s Row. If this was the case, was the metagame that stuck in the mud or was it more that players could not experiment to the fullest extent?

- Another interesting tid bit is how does this new comp fit into the next stage of the Overwatch World Cup? We know that Katowice will house the South Korean National team for a weekend on the town, but will they break out the pocket aces up their sleeve? Or, better yet, will anyone else dare to grab hold of the strategy and use it against them?

- What is also worth noting is that Miraculous Youngster isn’t some “one-trick” team. They do have the capability to use the anti-dive comp, but they also have a surgical dive set up and have used it to great success. Their run through the Nexus Cup has dive and anti-dive mixed together. This lethal dose of macro strategy keeps their opponents on their toes and their minds alert, and if they slip up than they might find themselves sleeping with the fish.

- All of that being said, I leave you with this; dive has been fun, but to see it’s chapter end or, at the least, be contested would be entertaining. Innovation and experimentation is something that personally, as a viewer, enjoy immensely. As for the future, I almost expect Miraculous Youngster to use this composition to its fullest in the upcoming Overwatch Premier Series 2017 Summer. Not only do they throw off the competition, but they challenge their opponents to look at the game with a more critical eye. Keep your eye on them this fall as the APAC Premier Series rounds the corner.

Joseph “Volamel” Franco has followed esports since the MLG’s of 2006. He started out primarily following Starcraft 2, Halo 3, and Super Smash Bros. Melee. He has transitioned from viewer to journalist and writes freelance primarily about Overwatch and League of Legends. If you would like to know more or follow his thoughts on esports you can follow him at @Volamel.

Images courtesy of Blizzard Entertainment.