If you've ever noticed that, on most maps, the Attacking team breezes through the first half of the map but can have the match "turned around" on them in the latter half, have faith - you're absolutely right. Blizzard designed most maps so that the Attacking team has a shorter path to the first contested point (whether it's Point A on a Capture or Hybrid, or the first checkpoint on a Payload map), and a longer one for the final contested point.

To prove this, I played a Custom Game playlist, doing mirror matches of every Capture, Payload and Hybrid map*, and timed myself moving from spawn room to the first point, and the final spawn room to the final point, on both Attack and Defense. I tested this using both Reinhardt and Tracer, only running (no skills) using what I believe to be the fastest routes from spawn to point. The results are:

^{* I forgot to do King's Row for some reason, but I'm tired and can't be bothered to do it now. But it definitely falls in line with the general trend.}

I noted three discrepancies from the normal trend - Numbani, Dorado, and Route 66's first contested points. While it's entirely possible that I missed a shorter path for the Attacking team on these maps (at least for Numbani), I'm not entirely sure. Regardless, the general trend is obvious:

• The Attacking team generally has a 3-5 second shorter run to the first contested point
• The Defending team generally has a run time that is twice as quick to the final contested point

This map balance allows an Attacking team to gain and build momentum leading into and through the first contested point of a map, but not too heavily - the run time difference is short enough that the Defenders won't be overrun, and the map designs also balance this discrepancy in distance usually with a choke point for the Defending team to force the Attackers through (the stone bridge in Route 66, the gate into Hanamura and Hollywood, etc.).

But the final point... well, that turns everything on its head.

In all of these maps, the Defending team has a significant advantage in the final area of the map - especially the final point itself - thanks to the shorter travel time back to the objective from spawn. This allows Defending players to not only arrive back to the battle sooner than Attacking players after death, but also allows the Defending team to alter their team composition faster than the Attacking team. On top of all this, being pushed into a corner generally makes players - who would have previously run away from a losing engagement - more willing to stay on or near the objective.

That leads to three distinct changes in gameplay from earlier in a match that Attacking teams need to not only be aware of, but strategize a way to combat before they hit that "stall wall". They are:

1. A Defending player will be able to reinforce his team twice as quickly as an Attacking player after death, meaning an even kill trade in the final area of a map will favor the Defenders more often than not.
2. Defending players can react to changes in game state and Attacking team composition much more quickly than the reverse, pushing the tug-of-war over team comp strengths/weaknesses/counters in favor of the Defenders.
3. Both sides' players are more likely to play aggressively in the "final push" area of the map, leading to more low-health situations for players on both sides.

Knowing this, Attacking teams approaching the final area of a map need to adjust their gameplay accordingly. Taking even trades, in an ideal match against perfectly matched teams of equal skill, will almost always favor the Defending team. Similarly, damage exchanges between Attacking and Defending players will favor the latter because of the faster respawns, and also a close, unlimited heal from the spawn doors. And Defending teams have the advantage in adjusting their team composition to hold off the Attackers, reducing the potency of trying to counter the Defenders' team comp with pocket picks.

I'm not going to say anything about team comps or individual map play advice, because that's not my strength. Feel free to discuss what compositions and playstyles work best for Attacking teams trying to overcome these odds, I'm interested to hear what everyone else thinks.