We all know how how impactful metas can be in the Overwatch Community. There are some metas which are very skill based, like Classic Dive. Some are more fun to play, like Pirate Ship. But other metas can get to be very annoying, GOATS is a perfect example. This is the meta that was born during the so called “Stun Season” that was Season 13 of Competitive.
Some more casual fans may be thinking: “But what is meta, and why is it important?”.
Meta is the acronym for Most Effective Tactic Available. It can be explained as the most effective mix of heroes that can give you an advantage over the enemy team. With changes being applied to the game throughout the year, the meta is in a constant evolution and adaptation. Here are the Overwatch League’s Inaugural Season’s metas and what they could mean for the 2019 season.
Courtesy of Blizzard Entertainment
Season 1 was littered with different compositions. Some hero picks were prevalent throughout the year, like D.Va, who even to this day is referred to as a must-pick in most compositions. Yet some patches heavily effected what the coaches thought would be the meta. Dive was the most frequent throughout the season. There were a number of variations of it that were effective at different times, yet the most prevalent is referred to as Classic Dive. It consisted of 2 tanks, 2 DPS and 2 supports. The heroes picked for this were Winston, D.Va, Tracer, Genji, Mercy and Zenyatta.
Although there were various types of dive being used, there was a very specific hero that was present on every single match. Mercy was being picked 96% of the time, hence the reason why it is referred to as the “Mercy Meta”. This is due to the fact that, before her rework she was able to resurrect multiple players instantaneously, which also meant that teams were focusing what firepower they could on her so that they could be the ones with the, technically, multi-player-advantage due to the high speed res.
Courtesy of Blizzard Entertainment
Widowmaker’s ability to quickly shut down enemies made her a force to be reckoned with. This marked the start of the Widowmaker meta. There was a major increase in the use of Junkrat-Widow defense compositions, which also used Orisa, D.Va, Zenyatta and Mercy. Mercy’s use started to decline all the way down to 36% because of her nerf. Her ultimate no longer granted her an extra resurrection and no longer removed it’s cast time as well as reducing her speed by 50%.
Even though Dive and it’s variations were still in use, Widow’s capacity to 1-shot almost everyone apart from the tanks was too strong. Hit-scan players across all teams were required to have big plays in Widowmaker 1v1s. They were the events that decided which team would have the advantage in the ongoing fight. It was seen as a trend that teams would run strategies only to give their hit-scan running Widow easier shots after the other Widowmaker was reckoned with.
Courtesy of Blizzard Entertainment
Was easily what fans refer to as the Tracer Meta. We saw the best Tracer plays of the whole season. Teams with players that preferred the hero, rose above all others. A perfect example for this is the Boston Uprising, who went undefeated in this stage because of NamJu “Striker” Gwon’s masterful plays, and only lost against New York Excelsior on the stage finals against their own Tracer master in Jong-ryeol “Saebyeolbe” Park.
The main difference of this stage compared with the previous one was that Tracer went from a must-pick, to barely-picked. It was on this very stage that the new support hero, Brigitte Lindholm, was introduced into the League. She was designed to bring an end to the Dive meta by being a direct hard counter to heroes like Tracer and Genji. With a correct use of her abilities in the right order, if a Tracer had the bad luck of being within her reach, it was an almost instant kill.
This stage came with what was known as the G.O.A.T.S composition. It is made up differently than others, as it is played with three tanks and three supports. These heroes were: Reinhardt, D.Va, Zarya, Brigitte, Lucio and Moira. It’s name is given by the Overwatch Contenders Trials team that went by the same name. They were the first to use this composition in a match. It has the tendency to be extremely resilient and almost unbeatable in close quarters fights.
This is currently the meta that is ruling the top of the ladder in Overwatch’s Competitive game mode. There has been a public outcry from the fanbase for months now, calling for a patch that make this meta go away as players are tired of it.
There have been many changes to the game since the Inaugural Season came to an end. Brigitte hasn’t had a patch without a nerf, new maps are available to play and Hero 29, Ashe and B.O.B, are already in competitive. G.O.A.T.S is still being played, but according to players, the latest patch could see a decrease in it’s effectiveness.
Courtesy of Blizzard Entertainment
The patch that was introduced to the PTR on January 7th looks like a very heavy nerf to G.O.A.T.S. The armor on a hero’s life-pool now only reduces damage by -3, D.Va’s Defense Matrix’ cooldown was increased from one to two seconds and Brig’s Rally now lasts a maximum of 30 seconds. On another note, Reaper’s reaping ability has been increased to 50% from 30%. What this ability does is heal him a portion of the damage that he inflicts. With the fact that this hero is a direct counter to tanks, it’s clear what this patch intended to do.
While it is not known which compositions will be the meta of Season 2. There is likely no way to completely eradicate G.O.A.T.S before February 14th, so fans must be ready to watch some of it. Ashe and B.O.B haven’t been used by professional OWL teams and what strategies their coaches can come up with remain to be seen. The date to Hero 30’s release date is getting closer as well. Too many factors can affect what we will see, but if you want to know what is going on in the meta when Season 2 starts, you can visit us here to get the latest news!
All stats and percentages courtesy of Winston’s Lab.
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