Wrecking Ball/Hammond is released today. On top of that, Blizzard has announced a Free Weekend on PC from July 26th - 30th.  That means you are likely to see Hammond played in every Quick Play match for the next few days.   And while there will be a one-week buffer before Hammond's release in Competitive, Top 500 player J3sus is convinced he will be meta on arrival.  So while we have some time, it's best to get a refresher on Hammond before the floodgates are opened.

I was able to speak briefly with Guru from Skyfoxes and ask a few questions about Hammond.

What are your initial thoughts with Hammond?

I think the character will be insanely strong at low ranks. A good player can literally 1v6. At high ranks it will be difficult because he is easily countered, and is rather fragile.

How do you feel about the impact of Hammond's ult?

Hammond's ult does a lot of damage. It can completely control a small area for a decent amount of time. It's pretty good, in my opinion.

*Depending on the hero, ultimates can be used to clear Hammond's mines, such as Reinhardt's Earthshatter at 1:46 in this video.*

Who are Hammond's biggest counters?

Anything that can stop mobility. Mei, Mccree, Brig for sure. Reaper can bust him hard as well.

Do you think the viral clip of your 4k "HAM SLAM" can be a legitimate strat? Or is it more of a cheeky play?

The Orisa pull + Piledriver can definitely be a legit strat.  It would be hard to run the comp we were running at a high level though.

Are there immediate concerns you see for McCree and S76 in regards to dealing with Hammond?

*I recalled a tweet from Surefour when Hammond was released on PTR.  Since he never elaborated further, I wanted to know if Guru had a follow-up.*

I think that its already difficult to run McCree and Soldier. If you run those characters you have to build the whole comp around it. Pocket McCree with everything you have. That can definitely work against Hammond, because like I said, the character is rather fragile if he gets caught. Soldier is going to have a difficult time going against Hammond regardless. This is all speculation right now. I have not played Hammond at a high level yet.