It’s been quite the drought for Overwatch players. Without a meaningful patch since August, the game pretty much has stalled out in terms of shifting metas or redefining strategies. Characters are, for the most part, locked into their roles and their play rates. Players on the ranked ladder are set in their ways as to how to play the game without much going on to force them to adapt.
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Luckily for competitors, there are a few small adjustments on the horizon. The Experimental patch notes from late October contain a couple of changes that could be exciting, albeit not game changing. A Junkrat buff doesn’t appear to be the fix-all for Overwatch, but a small change is all players can ask for in this holding pattern until Overwatch 2.
Courtesy of Blizzard Entertainment
The gang’s all here. Brig, Bap, D.Va, Echo and Tracer are back at it again as some of the top heroes in Overwatch. The consistent dominance of these characters simply boils down to a lethal combination of their flexibility, and their mechanical payoffs. Tracer and Baptiste in particular are pivotal to the success of a team due to their high impact abilities. D.Va provides insane amounts of utility that sometimes it feels like it’s throwing to not pick her. Though many offtank players may still opt for Roadhog in solo-queue, if not just as an ego pick.
Main tank players — avert those eyes. Orisa is the go-to tank once again on even-terrain maps. The durability of Fortify and the displacement from Halt! continue to terrorize opponents in the competitive queue. For the most part, Orisa is always a solid option and players know that when Supercharger comes down, the team fight easily falls in their favor.
There are tons of viable options in the second tier of characters that it almost seems like a cop-out to put this many characters here. The fact of the matter is the game is in a state where each hero is viable given a variety of different scenarios. Yes, there will be some heroes that feel like “must-picks” but ultimately a team can succeed with out tier 1 picks. It is certainly much harder that way, but it can be done.
Hanzo is the big name to sneak up into the second tier. His ability to break shields is incredibly helpful in busting through bunker compositions. Pair him with an Orisa, and now the team has a devastating combination of Halt! and Dragonstrike. In other news, Torb just received a buff in the Experimental patch, so that’s pretty neat.
Courtesy of Blizzard Entertainment
Roadhog has been an offtank staple in ranked these past few weeks. He can threaten the health of shields rather quickly, and serves as a brutal anti-flanker option if he can land his hook. The only problem remains to the main one — he donates ultimate charge to the enemy team. It’s a fine line between smurfing and feeding for Roadhog players, making him a less great option for ranked grinders.
Doomfist and Genji sit in an interesting spot in the meta. Flankers are usually fine in a double-shield environment, and with a recent shuriken buff Genji in particular should be fine. However it’s the supporting cast around Genji that is making thigs difficult for the cyber-ninja. Brig is both a boon and a counter, and Bap is difficult to handle.
Bastion is still bad. Water is still wet.
In a double shield meta, Widowmaker just struggles even worse than normal. Trying to find angles and generate value as a Widowmaker is extremely difficult in any normal ranked match. Sure a pick can happen once in a while, but there is no need to force a sniper when there are several other, far more viable options at the DPS slot to choose from.
Featured image courtesy of Blizzard Entertainment
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