Hey champions, Librarian Husky here — your trusty guide through the chaos of meta madness! Today we’re diving headfirst into the storm that is Freya. She’s not just strong — she’s warping the entire game around her. So buckle up, because I’m breaking it all down, skill by skill, stat by stat.

Freya’s Impact on Competitive Play

Freya’s dominance in the pro meta has raised questions about her current state. Despite being labeled as “broken,” her prowess in competitive play remains unparalleled.

Role as the Lone Wolf

The first thing to understand is Freya’s role in a comp. We’ve seen Freya been played with Luciri and a multitude of backlines in general, but in almost all instances, Freya is kind of playing as the lone wolf. In other words, she’s taking her own angle.

Analysis of Updraft’s Gameplay

Updraft allows that because she can see everything. Her dash gives her good escape options and she’s not limited by range. In the Lucio Kiri comp, you can see how she’s playing alone to the left with the Kiri Mala down main and the Lucio Tracer to the right. Notice how she’s not completely isolated from Akiri, which is important, but she’s taking a different angle and abusing her spam from distance. If we take a look at Korea again, you can see the three-pronged setup.

Positioning and Coordination

Updraft’s positioning is crucial in maximizing her effectiveness. By strategically placing herself on the battlefield, she gains a tactical advantage. In the Lucio Kiri comp, her coordination with teammates ensures that she remains connected to the team’s overall strategy. This synergy allows her to exploit her long-range capabilities while staying connected to her allies.

Team Strategy and Adaptation

The team’s strategy revolves around creating a cohesive unit where each member plays a specific role. Updraft’s adaptability shines as she adjusts her gameplay to fit the team’s needs. Her ability to maintain spatial awareness and communicate effectively with her teammates ensures a synchronized approach to engagements.

Gameplay Analysis

Winston Honor to the left, the Freyer playing by the elephant, and the Tracer Kiri flanking all the way around. Things aren’t as clean when playing with the Brig, but again, you’re seeing how Proud can actually take his own angle with relative safety. Now, this is all well and dandy, but it’s not fully answering why Freya is so good. One of the reasons has to be the onetwo punch combo. And just like the combo itself, Tree not only did this once, but twice to Seek last weekend.

Strategic Depth

Winston Honor to the left, the Freyer playing by the elephant, and the Tracer Kiri flanking all the way around. Things aren’t as clean when playing with the Brig, but again, you’re seeing how Proud can actually take his own angle with relative safety. Now, this is all well and dandy, but it’s not fully answering why Freya is so good. One of the reasons has to be the onetwo punch combo. And just like the combo itself, Tree not only did this once, but twice to Seek last weekend.

The Advantage of Freya’s Rail Gun

Now, you might wonder how this is any better to Sojun. In a single shot, rail gun just does more damage plus it’s hitscan. Well, you’re forgetting that while Sojun only has one opportunity to hit that rail gun, Freya can get two, three, even four bolts, giving her way more leeway to burst down a target. Obviously, this relies on your dashes because your dash resets your bolts, giving you more damage. But I just said that your dash can also be a great escape tool against dive heroes.

Understanding the Golden Rule of Freya

How do you know when to do which? Thankfully, I’ve devised this golden rule of Freya that, as far as I know, isn’t public at all. It’s actually quite simple. You want to generally use that first dash for damage, then your second dash to escape, or you want to have at least one dash to escape. This applies to most Freya duels or when you’re taking a risky angle.

The Overwatch Player’s Strategic Dash Decisions

This is also one of the big reasons as to why Seeker, a professional Overwatch player, got hard dipped by tree. Focus on his dashes here. His first dash is to get another bolt, so for damage. His second dash is again used for damage. Then his third dash is also used for damage because he’s trying to get a better angle for his bolts.

The Importance of Positioning in Gameplay

This means that even though Tree is underneath Seeker, Seeker can’t escape or dash out from that second bolt. You might think I’m cherry-picking, but this isn’t the only time. In this example from Tre’s POV, it looks like he’s got god tier reaction speed, and you’re not wrong. But again, why is Seeker using his only remaining dash to gain extra damage when he’s half HP? Just play by the car.

Freya Players and Damage

That simple. In fact, so many Freya players are so obsessed with doing damage that they end up falling off the map. Bros falling off harder than Marvel rivals. Thankfully, in this fight, Shockwave makes up for it. His first dash is used for damage.

Strategic Gameplay in Action

Then, when he realizes he’s about to get cooked, he dashes back to the corner, which allows him to just about dodge that second follow-up arrow.

Understanding In-Game Perks

But what about the major perk? Firstly, I have to say just avoid the relentless barrage perk. Getting more rapid-fire shots just isn’t very useful. Comparatively, the extra dash on updraft mostly gives you free damage.

Analysis of Gameplay Highlights

Here, Shockwave updrafts and uses that extra free dash for more damage. He uses yet another dash for the exact same reason, but this time Zidra lands a bolt onto Shockwave. Now, you would expect Shockwave to dash back to safety, but unfortunately, he just never got to use it, dying with a free dash.

Underrated Warhack Perk

Speaking of perks, we need to talk about how underrated that Warhack perk is. Spend enough time in replays and you’ll see how it directly leads to kills sometimes.

Exceptions to the Rule

Now, there are obviously times where you can ignore the golden rule. This will be in situations where you just can’t get punished if you use all your dashes for damage. Maybe you’re playing very far away, so you’re hard to reach or you’re just unscouted.

Tips for Playing Zitra on New Junk City

On New Junk City, for example, because Zitra is playing in a position that makes it very hard for the enemy Freya, Orisa, or Genji to actually punish him, he’s able to freely use his dashes aggressively. Not to mention the obvious, but using dash for damage or escapes aren’t mutually exclusive. You can do both. A nice little quirk about Freya as well is that you can also stay in the air for as long as you want by just minmaxing the slow motion. Maybe this will get changed if Freya gets nerfed.

Positioning and Dash Usage

Zitra’s effective positioning on New Junk City allows for aggressive dash plays while minimizing the risk of punishment from opponents like Freya, Orisa, and Genji. It’s essential to utilize dashes both for offensive maneuvers and defensive escapes. Additionally, mastering the art of slow motion can enable extended airtime, providing strategic advantages that may need adjustment if Freya undergoes nerfs.

Mastering Zyra’s Creative Plays in the Game

This allows especially creative players like Zyra to take these very unorthodox angles which end up in him doing that one-two combo to the Juno. Not to mention, he also blows up Fixer with the bolos shot too. And speaking of that one-two combo, Zyra does it yet again onto Shockwave. Honestly, I scripted this section with different things that Shockwave could have done, but the point here is that you can cancel the momentum of your updraft with a dash. Sometimes updraft can just put you in a bad position straight out in the open, which is kind of why pogo jumping on Baptiste is mostly a bad idea.

Analysis of Zyro’s Momentum Cancel and Updraft Strategy

In this example, Zyro does that momentum cancel in response to Shockwave’s bolos shots, quickly getting him out of danger. A key thing with updraft as well is that just because you can stay in the air forever doesn’t mean that you can waste it early.

Execution of Updraft and Bolts by Seeker

Here, Seeker pops the updraft and fires two bolts at the brick. Seconds later, Seeker seemingly gets blown up out of nowhere, and that’s because Chronic has an insane angle above him.

Gameplay Strategies and Comparisons

In other words, seeker should have swung the corner further away. But also, had Seeker used his updraft, he would have been able to see Chronic and dash away in time. Back to that Surgeon comparison, Updraft allows you to take angles that Sojun wishes she could take. For example, on Hollywood Attack, you can’t see nothing even if you’ve got rail gun. Comparatively, on Freya, you can temporarily take an angle high up and do some good damage.

Understanding the Impact of Bolero in Competitive Play

Speaking of doing damage, we need to talk about how secretly broken Bolero is. Go look at any pro game, bookmark by the ultimates, and you can see that most players get around 3 to four ultimates every 10-minute game. But look at the Freya players, and that doubles to around 5 to six ultimates. Tracer is the only DPS hero that can match those numbers. So, how do you actually use your bowler shot?

Optimizing Bolero Usage for Maximum Effectiveness

Speaking of doing damage, we need to talk about how secretly broken Bolero is. Go look at any pro game, bookmark by the ultimates, and you can see that most players get around 3 to four ultimates every 10-minute game. But look at the Freya players, and that doubles to around 5 to six ultimates. Tracer is the only DPS hero that can match those numbers. So, how do you actually use your bowler shot?

Strategies for Effective Damage Dealing in Overwatch

Well, there’s two things. Firstly, look to punish backline heroes that have walked up. Brig is often a good one. Secondly, take wide flanks and use your bowler shots to enhance the damage you’re already doing.

Punishing Backline Heroes

We can see some examples of the first type of bowler shots where because Natsuki is pushed up very aggressively, Shockwave’s able to land the bowler with Resto finishing the kill.

Identifying Team Dynamics

In this scenario, Zyra’s strategic decision to target Fixer showcases the importance of awareness and timing in team fights. Understanding the cues from the front line, like Vlola needing assistance due to low HP, is crucial for making impactful plays and securing kills efficiently.

The Dilemma of Fixer and Vtola

Therefore, Fixer needs to walk to help Vtola. But it’s a catch22. You either walk and get hit by Freya’s bolero shots, or you don’t walk and Freya just blows up your tank.

Zydra’s Flanking Boleros

Anyways, now I have to give credit to Zydra for how good his flanking boleros are. I honestly don’t need to give much analysis here.

Strategic Analysis of Hero Interactions

It’s just a really well-timed flank. Don’t forget that vision perk coming in clutch too. Some of you might be watching this and wondering, how do I deal with this broken hero? Well, to put it short, it’s Sombra.

Understanding Hero Weaknesses

Freya’s low HP in comparison to Sojun or Cassidy paired with no CC makes her very hard to punish Sombra.

Game Analysis: Pelican’s Translocating Strategy

She can also translocate out from the explosion part of your burst shots. There’s no better example than the game from Zeta Division and Falcons, which maybe had more issues than the Sombra. Anyways, you can see Pelican coming out of invis and just burning down Merit and there’s not much he can really do about it. Even when Merritt does actually lift the Sombra in the fight after, Bernard’s able to finish Merritt because the Sombra zoned him off. In fact, Pelican is so comfortable playing into Freya that he commits translocator to force him out at basically no risk to himself.

The Impact of Sombra on Freya

Sombra is such a big issue for Freya that when Freya gets banned, you see no Sombra, implying just how good of a matchup Sombra actually has. Now, I know in ranked Sombra is a very popular ban, but Tracer, to a lesser extent, Genji, and on certain maps, Venture or Reaper are also decent options, too. Just high mobility heroes that can punish Freya at little risk or zone her out entirely.

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