It's Week 11 of the Overwatch League, and we've got two significant changes coming up. Perhaps most importantly, the hero pools system has been changed -- now all of competitive and casual Overwatch will share the same pools, with data being drawn from an internal algorithm that follows all competitive matches. For this week, teams will have to make do without Widowmaker, McCree, Reinhardt, or Brigitte. Second, games will be stretched across four days this week instead of just the weekend, starting with Atlantic and Pacific games on Thursday and Friday evening.

How will these changes and more affect the Overwatch League in Week 11? Our writers have some thoughts.

Hero pools are now unified across all of Overwatch and draw data from high-level competitive play, not just OWL. Good idea, or bad idea?

Emily Rand: Hero pools should have been unified across all competition -- professional, amateur, and the ladder -- from the beginning. I forget the reason why they weren't (if there was one) but the fact that it took this long for them to be the same across the board is silly.

It's the "across all high-level competitive play" that's a bit worrying. Although GOATs unified heroes at most levels for the majority of last year, there were still outliers (Stormquake quad DPS anyone?) in Chinese and Korean Contenders leagues. In a world where the meta has a more diversified hero selection, not less, it will be interesting to see how much this affects hero pools overall. I'm still not the biggest fan of hero pools to begin with, and maintain that they've still seen too much change over too-short time periods.

Tyler Erzberger: If we're going to have hero pools, then this is the way it needs to go: everyone synchronized with one another. Overall, though, this just leads me to asking: When will the changes stop? We thought 2-2-2 would be the fix that the Overwatch League needed to have everything figured out, and then we had hero pools brought into our lives at the beginning of the 2020 season. Now, we're even tinkering with hero pools and realigning them with ladder play

At a time when scheduling is all over the place due to the coronavirus pandemic, I just want some consistency and stability when it comes to the Overwatch League. I don't want to see any more changes or adaptations to the rules until 2021 at the earliest. We obviously need balance changes and small tweaks, but no more curveballs, please, even though I've enjoyed watching the 2020 season despite all the delays and workarounds.

Jacob Wolf: Neither? Still not a fan of hero pools in general, but I'm mostly concerned because I'm not sure at what level the cutoff will be for game data. That said, universally, at higher levels, the strongest characters are prioritized, so I could see this going OK. Don't know. I want to see where we go from here before I make a true determination.

Arda Ocal: I'd love to know more detail -- whether there are weights according to each tier, whether OWL influences it more than other tiers or it's equal across the board -- but the thing is, those players in high-level competitive play are also for the most part gunning for OWL jobs, so I don't mind it so much. There are many examples in sports where rule changes are tested in other leagues or lower levels before being brought up to the major leagues. This is no different. I think the fact that the hero pools were different was a bigger concern to me, because then OWL players couldn't play as much as they wanted in some circumstances on certain heroes that might have been banned in lower competitive tiers but not OWL. I'm glad that has been adjusted.

Weekday games: plus or minus?

Rand: Plus! I can actually watch the weekday matches live as opposed to VODs, which is what I have to do for most weekend matches. Just last week, the LoL Pro League, Call of Duty League, League of Legends European Championship, and League of Legends Championship Series all aired during Overwatch League matches. It will be nice to watch a few live.

Erzberger: It's a big plus. While I'm sure the hardcore Overwatch League fans love watching six matches in a day, spreading them out over four or five days is a much better option, especially when we have weekend tournaments from numerous other game titles occurring at the same time. During a time when a lot of people are stuck indoors, having matches throughout the week is a good way to get some new viewers on the product.

Ocal: Big plus, especially if you're a head coach. More time to prep, more time to gameplan. I like it. I would be more inclined to watch a couple games over a few days than several games over one day. From a media perspective, it also makes the days shorter and you can get more done. On homestand weekends previously, it's a 12- to 16-hour day. I doubt this stands when we are back to normal, but it's nice for now.

Wolf: Plus, for sure. There's not a ton of esports programming content outside of Counter-Strike on the weekdays, so I think Overwatch can fit a nice niche here. If they were on Twitch still, I'd say even larger plus, given how many people literally use the directory as a TV Guide equivalent. But still a plus overall.

Who's worse: Uprising, or Justice?

Washington Justice fans haven't had a lot to celebrate this season ... but neither have Uprising fans. Photo by Tasos Katopodis/Provided by Blizzard Entertainment

Rand: With apologies to the Boston Uprising, I didn't have many expectations for them going into this season. The Washington Justice were a bit higher in my estimation due to their surprisingly strong performances in Stage 4 last year when the meta opened up to be more DPS-friendly. This allowed the team to make the most of Corey "Corey" Nigra and Ethan "Stratus" Yankel as a one-two DPS punch that took many teams by surprise, especially the ones that had looked stronger in a GOATs setup. Yet this year, in hero pools, the Justice have fallen flat and are currently 19th to Boston's 20th-place position. I don't think the Justice are objectively worse than Boston, but they're more disappointing.

Erzberger: I don't even know if we can consider the Uprising a team anymore. They're more of a husk, kinda living out their days in purgatory, just hoping one of their diamonds in the rough starts to shine even a little bit so they can transfer him to a better-funded team for a nice cash-out. Do they even have enough players on the active roster to field for a match if one of the players gets sick or can't play for whatever reason? It's the Uprising and it's not even close.

Ocal: Any team with Corey will always have life, no matter how little at times. So, I'm going Boston here. In a city of rich championship history, the Uprising ... well ... haven't lived up to it thus far. While Washington is a bigger letdown because of the players on the roster, Boston is just .... bad.

Wolf: Boston. I think the Justice have underperformed relative to mine and many others' expectations for them, but they're still the better team between the two.

Will either L.A. team make the playoffs?

Rand: Of the two, I think the Los Angeles Gladiators have a better chance, although it's still really difficult to rank Pacific Division teams right now due to the significantly fewer games they have played compared to their Atlantic Division counterparts. Add the fact that the Seoul Dynasty have played only two matches all year and we really have no idea how the Pacific Division will finish. That being said, I really love this Gladiators lineup, especially their support and tank lines. The Gladiators and Valiant have had relatively similar schedules, but the Gladiators get the nod from me for now. We'll see more once they play each other this weekend.

Erzberger: I think both teams will eventually make it in the end. The Gladiators definitely have a higher ceiling and could possibly forge a deep playoff run if everything comes together with this roster. They have a lot of top-tier talent across the board and when they're all playing their best in a hero meta that fits them, they can do what they did to the Shock by beating them. But, as we saw in their rematch with the same Shock team, when they're dealt a hero pool they're not comfortable with and not playing to their ceilings, they can look like a fringe playoff contender.

Valiant, on the other hand, are the opposite of the Gladiators. Where LAG is all about the glamor and big names, the Valiant are overperforming by what their roster looks like on paper. And as they continue to grow, I think they'll wind up as one of the final teams in the playoffs.

Wolf: The Gladiators have the best shot and I'd bet on them to be able to do it, too. I'm unsure about the Valiant, as I'm still not necessarily sure what this current team's ceiling is. Truthfully, I think they could be higher middle-of-the-pack but they've been really hit-or-miss at this point. At least with the Gladiators I have a better sense of identity and can feel confident in making them one of the lower playoff picks.

Ocal: I'll go the opposite way and say Los Angeles will be shut out of the playoffs. We won't see a photo finish like last season, when the Gladiators stood in the Valiant's way of making the playoffs and the Valiant ended up on the outside looking in, I feel like there are many teams that will battle for playoff contention in the middle of the pack and LAG/LAV will have a tough time. That being said, it's still less than halfway through the season, so still too early to tell.

Can the Fuel put up a fight against a vulnerable Shock squad?

Noh "Gamsu" Yeong-jin and the Fuel have shown flashes of brilliance this season ... but they'll need more than that to stand a chance against the Shock. Tyler Demogenes/Activision-Blizzard Entertainment

Rand: That would require me to bet on the Fuel. As much as I like some of the Fuel's pro players individually, betting on the Fuel has burned me (no pun intended) so many times regardless of roster. This team has the talent to be good, they just ... haven't been good yet.

Erzberger: Although I do believe the Fuel have a strong attacking side, I'm not ready to pick them over the Shock. While the Shock aren't the untouchable monsters they were to end 2019, there are only a select few teams in the league that I think could take them down on an even playing field. The Fuel, as plucky and possibly sneaky good as they are, aren't one of those teams just yet.

Ocal: No. Why are people so quick to write the Shock's eulogy? Pump the brakes fam, they are 3-2 and in seventh place. They aren't winless. They aren't even below .500 right now! Until they have definitely proven that they are a mere shell of their former selves and are hopeless, I'm not betting against them. You can stop asking now.

Wolf: I don't think so. The Fuel have let us down every single time and I think the Shock still got it, just give them time. A lot is up in the air right now but I do think the Shock are the better team.

Thursday

Reign vs. Justice

Arda: Reign 3-0

Emily: Reign 3-1

Jacob: Reign 3-0

Tyler: Reign 3-0

Gladiators vs. Valiant

Arda: Gladiators 3-1

Emily: Gladiators 3-1

Jacob: Gladiators 3-1

Tyler: Gladiators 3-0

Friday

Mayhem vs. Eternal

Arda: Eternal 3-1

Emily: Eternal 3-1

Jacob: Eternal 3-1

Tyler: Eternal 3-0

Uprising vs. Defiant

Arda: Defiant 99 to -1

Emily: Defiant 3-1

Jacob: Defiant 3-0 (actually agree with Arda here, they'd beat them harder if they could)

Tyler: Defiant 3-0

Fuel vs. Shock

Arda:Shock 3-0

Emily: Shock 3-2

Jacob: Shock 3-0

Tyler: Shock 3-0

Saturday

Hunters vs. Charge

Arda: Hunters 3-2

Emily: Charge 3-2

Jacob: Charge 3-1

Tyler: Charge 3-1

Dragons vs. Spark

Arda: Dragons 3-1

Emily: Dragons 3-2

Jacob: Dragons 3-1

Tyler: Dragons 3-0

Sunday

Charge vs. Spark

Arda:Spark 3-1

Emily: Spark 3-2

Jacob: Spark 3-1

Tyler: Charge 3-0

Hunters vs. Dragons

Arda: Dragons 3-1

Emily: Hunters 3-2

Jacob: Hunters 3-1

Tyler: Dragons 3-0