Does shot-calling in overwatch league teams normally fall on just one player's shoulders or is it more of a team effort?
Does anyone know who is the "main" caller for each team?
Just something I'm interested in
The nature of Overwatch being so complex with different abilities/ults for each hero and varied comps, it would be hard for one person to keep tabs on everything going on and relay the information to his team.
I have never personally been in a professional setting so this is my take on how the general calling structure would be.
First would be ult checking (allies) and tracking (enemies), which historically would fall under the main support role (so the Lucio, and recently Mercy player). Calling for an ult check helps everyone in the team know where they stand in ult economy, preparing for combos, getting position if need be.
Tracking enemies ults allows for better preparation going into fights, expecting combos and getting ready for a team wipe (if dry fight) or a disengage+reengage (Fusion and XL are very good at this) for example. This is a very tricky one and in my opinion makes or breaks a main support at a professional level.
Second is scouting. In most cases made by the Tracer player. This is for getting a better image of the enemy's position before engaging. The better you are prepared for a fight, the better are your chances at winning it.
I'd imagine Sombra players would easily be able to do this as well, but she's not as omnipresent as Tracer has been in the game. Also high ground allows for Genji, Widow, Winston and Dva to do the same in specific situations (Volskaya, Anubis, Hanamura 2nd, King's Row 3rd etc).
Then is target dive/focus. This is Winston's job in the dive meta. Where to go and who to go on. Bubble is a great ability to spread a team apart and for the DPS and Dva to deal damage 'safely' for a short amount of time. There is also the issue of Winston not having any range so you need him to be the one making the call. Seeing the good leap, bubble usage and decision making are massive parts of Winston's no brain no aim job.
Also keep in mind that calling affects mechanical play as it takes focus away, which is why DPS players don't call as much in general.
So all in all, I'd say everyone is involved in calls. Some less than others depending on the team's calling structure.
Also be aware that lots of teams have developed structures where multiple people are making calls, and theres not a devoted shotcaller. When I did my interview with Jake, he told me that main shotcalling on the Outlaws, while Rawkus leads a lot, will also sometimes come from Jake or Matt, just based on the scenario. It’s a lot less formal than you might think.