Short Cuts #3: Hanamura

I always considered Hanamura my favorite map. On the attacker side, you start out in the arcade room with plenty of Blizzardized renditions of popular games. On the defender's side, you start off within a Yakuza family base where, if you've seen the Overwatch animated short "Dragons" with Hanzo and Genji, is a hotspot of action both in the short and also in-game at point B inside the castle. There's plenty of spots bringing out the samurai and the ninja in players as well, enforced by the map's soundtrack and level design through a mix of postmodern and traditional architecture.

For those readers starting on this particular Short Cuts article, a shortcut in Overwatch is a method of travel not normally seen or accessible only to a few heroes. Taking advantage of these short cuts gives you an edge against an enemy team, competitive or casual, and often leads to a win for your own team! Each week, an article--along with a video--is supplied covering each map currently released. Let's jump right into the video below!

Fun fact: Shooting the murloc head above the ramen shop generates a funny sound sure to bring some nostalgia to Warcraft players.

Now that you've seen the video, here's a text overview of each path.

Hanamura 1: Wooden Gate

This path is tailored more for attackers, but defenders can sit at the opening and pick off attackers going up the main road through the gate, much like a medieval archer firing through an arrowslit at the sieging army. Unlike an arrowslit, however, the attackers can aim well and easily strike against defenders sitting at the shortcut.

The shortcut provides a flank for attackers if the door opening is heavily covered by the enemy, whether through a Bastion, Symmetra turrets, Torbjorn turrets, or a lot of heroes aiming at the door. Additionally, the path gives you a few avenues to move to; you can do down into the courtyard, through the small building next to point A, or down towards the railing next to the map border.

Hanamura 2: Rooftop

If the enemy isn't heavily centered on the gate opening leading into the courtyard, then this path provides a flank maneuver for both offense and defense. For defense, it's used to get behind the attackers who are about to rush the gate. For attackers, it's better suited against a group of enemies too heavily focused on either the first shortcut opening or the gate opening and not giving complete focus to their surroundings. In terms of stealth, it's a Prius--good for sneakin' up on opponents.

Hanamura 3: Castle Balcony

Even the best castles have an opening and the castle hosting point B is no exception. At the platform, attackers can go up from the stone path onto the wooden platform by climbing, rocket boosting, rocket jumping, sprinting, or jumping through the air like Luke Skywalker over the Sarlacc Pit in Episode VI. Defenders can jump from the wooden platform down onto the stone path to get to point A faster, flank the opponents capturing point A or outside the castle entrance, or perform an Olympic Record long jump. Most heroes using this shortcut can go both ways between wooden and stone sections, but certain heroes like Reinhardt and McCree can only go from the wooden platform down onto the path.

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