Welcome to season 24 of the Overwatch ranked ladder, where the compositions are made up and none of the cooldowns matter. Shields are obsolete and chaos has ensued in everyone’s ranked matches. Roadhogs have taken to the streets to celebrate their new dominance over the meta, and Orisa and Reinhardt are nowhere to be found. A new tier-list is here to depict the sheer insanity that is the current state of ranked Overwatch, and it is a wild one.
Courtesy of Robert Paul and the Overwatch League
The following tier list exists precisely to help guide players through this more dynamic meta, reflecting how individually well-kitted Overwatch’s 32 heroes are and how well they synergize with other powerful heroes. With each month, there will be a new tier list released to update changes in each hero’s performance from month-to-month so be sure to check back next month to see what changes lie ahead.
[Previous Tier List: August 2020]
In a world without shields, anything is possible. Oddly enough, one of those possibilities is a double off-tank meta in solo-queue. What once was a throw pick, Roadhog and Zarya are dominating each and every ranked match. Shields are simply non-existent as they are instantly deleted by damage-boosted hit-scan damage dealers from far out. Ashe and Widowmaker are policing the streets, and preventing shorter range characters from getting too much value. Dive tanks are having a hard time contesting snipers thanks to the high damage front line of Hog and Zarya. If it wasn’t obvious enough, the OWL playoffs are filled with these compositions as well, making no one safe from the craziness that is the double off-tank meta.
Courtesy of Robert Paul and the Overwatch League
Overall, these characters serve as pretty good options to combat the current state of the meta. Tracer and Soldier can easily build their ultimates quickly thanks to the lack of shields. Sigma is a bit more of a map dependent pick, but certainly can be played along side Zarya if Roadhog seems to not be working. Echo barely hangs on in the second tier thanks to her overall utility and burst potential. With a lot less shields to work through, Echo can easily charge Duplicate and produce a second Roadhog for the team. Keep an eye out for Ashe, as she can leanly one-shot an Echo with a damage boosted headshot.
With how the meta is shaking up currently, most of these picks are even more situational than normal. Typically Pharah would be a knockout character in a world without shields, but Ashe does an amazing job of keeping her in check. Wrecking Ball is another option some would have guessed would thrive in a more Dive-centric meta, but unfortunately Roadhog is a perfect answer. Finding the right balance with the characters in this tier is tricky, but certainly doable. Characters like Mei and Symmetra just need a little more communication and coordination than normal to bring some solid success.
Courtesy of the Overwatch League
The saddest addition to the lowest tier is the main-man himself, Reinhardt. In pro-play, Reinhardt is actually quite the pick when it comes to several brawl maps. However, ranked is certainly not the same thing as OWL, and Reinhardt struggles mightily in this meta. His shield gets instantly blown up, his hammer just can’t reach meaningful targets, and if he gets hooked it’s game over. Sombra should thrive in this environment, but Roadhog poses a serious threat to flankers with his hook, making the chance to charge EMP extremely dangerous.
Featured image courtesy of Riot Games
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