HEY CHAT LONG TIME NO SEE!!!!

For the ones that don't know me, a quick TL;dr-- I've been the highest ranked Sombra across all leaderboards for every single season since all the way from OW2 till this current season with 3 or 4 seasons here and there as exceptions to that for stuff like subathons or being on break in general. I'm loud, obnoxious, and have an interest in solely Sombra well beyond what would be deemed healthy.

As of a couple weeks ago, I've been working on making a Sombra Guide series that starts at the absolute start-- to build a complete foundation that I'd then be stacking lessons after lessons ontop of. Currently estimating 5-8 lessons in total, each one diving deeper into more convoluted topics and consistently tying things together into a nice, complicated web on how to play Sombra properly. The first TWO episodes are out, the first one being a complete, comprehensive run-down of her entire kit ability by ability. I snuck in some genuinely helpful stuff in there for those that already know her kit to some extent-- but hope to guarantee you there'll be stuff in there for all levels of experience. The second one, approaching a topic that'll be referenced essentially every subsequent lesson video as a pivot-point with all the more in-depth topics using that as a framework.

The full playlist is here: Sombra Guide Series [ PLAYLIST ]
(I'm putting this here in case this post is like weeks old, you can check if there's been new additions via this :D)

Lesson 0: LESSON 0: HER KIT
Lesson 0 is to establish a baseline to assume everyone's on the same page from the get-go. its very noob-friendly and meant to be watchable to people who would have less than even a day's worth of experience playing Overwatch at all. I mention the concept of "when things get scary, dont slow down-- speed UP". Mentioning stuff like how optimization is the most important part of her kit, and playing with the intent to "not lose" as a habit would almost directly result in extremely limited levels of improvement, as well as participate in the reason you would lose (due to lack of accumulated impact).

Lesson 1: Lesson 1: Engage with hack, or Virus?
This lesson was actually a real struggle to put together because it's both the most important concept to build off of-- the basic foundation of how Sombra "makes water ripple" is the most core-concept Sombra and requires you to think differently than on other heroes. My plan is to essentially re-iterate this base concept nearly every subsequent level and show how every new addition of information in those future lessons effectively mold the concept like clay in your brain. It can be very convoluted.

I'm not a teacher, I have no legitimate educational background-- I've always strayed far away from the idea of "telling people what to do" and opted to play the angle of "this is what I do and it works, you can copy me if you want". This series is definitely made with a stronger emphasis on the first stance in mind. But that's why I'm making this post! I actually really need feedback on specifically lesson 1, and what the struggle-points are for the anyone wanting to learn and pick up Sombra in the big 2026. I would really appreciate genuine critique on if I'm on the right track and maybe even what topics would be cool to bridge towards for future videos. I plan to record the next lesson upcoming Tuesday to let people comment n stuff before I feel confident about whatever I be doin' next.

I don't plan to make a new post every single time a new lesson comes out (so far the tempo is once a week consistently), but if I think it has individual merit I might! Idk how the rules on spam n stuff work surrounding something like this.

Quick FAQ I know I'll needing to answer with this post and series--
-> Why now?

Initially I actually wanted to do this series right before hero bans dropped, that's when I made my "one sombra tip against every hero" video. Hero bans launching the way it did and with the complete lack of Blizzard involvement on the consequences of it towards Sombra meant 2 things--

1. My "audience" got rugpulled and any interest in Sombra and learning Sombra was essentially 'punished' because anything you'd learn or want to put into practice would be held at the door unless its in quickplay.
2. Every single mention of Sombra online in any capacity always resulted in at some point turning the conversation about some meta-conversation surrounding her place in the game, what to change about her, why people ban her, why blizzard isnt doing anything. and to be so for real fr right now-- that is EXHAUSTING. I like her kit, I like her playstyle. I didn't sign up to be the guy people siphon a hot take off of and then leave. I want people to be able to play her and have as much fun as I do when they do.

BUT! As of the big removal of the 2 in Overwatch, there's been a steady resurgence (albeit very small) of people wanting to learn Sombra and that sparked my interest in maybe trying this out one more time. So please, try to not turn this series, this post, or if you join my streams, into an opportunity to detract from the character itself.

-> But the Sombra rework is right around the corner! (Why now part 2)

A big contributing factor to Sombra's current reputation stems from people's incorrect preconceived hunches of what her kit is 'supposed' to do. The way that the majority of players seemed to have been playing her, and the reason why my rank and prestige's stand out so far above the crowd like a sore thumb has nothing to do with me being some kind of prodigy. I'm not. I'm 100% sure that if someone else takes my foundation and just executes it better, that I'll easily be dethroned. But things like how the stealth minor perk was constantly shoved to the forefront as the "better" perk by the community at large, despite me constantly re-iterating that this is incorrect, lead me to believe that if we just have someone lay it all out with no room for error-- that WHATEVER the rework may be, my "hot takes" wouldn't really be all that hot of the takes when it comes time to have them.
Currently, any discussion id have as "the sombra guy" turns into me needing to exhaustingly deconstruct the entire hero and how she's supposed to be played and then meticulously re-construct brick by brick to be able to dissuade 'uninformed opinions' (i'm not sure how to phrase this in a way that doesnt come across as a little snobby, I'm sorry) before a more future-proof conversation can actually take place.

In all likelyhood, I can totally just run it back when the rework drops though. But being able to have a central repository to be on the same page and not just "throw mud at a wall and see what sticks"-ify all conversations surrounding her and her future iterations would be nice I think.

But realistically, it's either this or i sorta just don't make videos at all teehee.

-> Why are you so LOUD???
Because at the end of the day, this is a videogame. I enjoy having fun. I want my brand or identity to radiate a surplus of joy and fun. I really just am like this when I get to talk about and do what I enjoy. It's infectious if you let it be! :D