Just like any competitive game, the meta for Overwatch is ever evolving. The ability to hero switch on the fly and a myriad of different maps makes the meta incredibly diverse, so much so that shifts may occur during a single map. With so much happening at once, it can be hard to keep track of. With this series, I aim to show what the meta as a whole looks like. Every week I manually record all the hero picks from that weekend’s tournaments and compile them into a by-the-numbers look at the current state of the meta, including a tier list, summary of the week’s strategies, a look at each hero’s place in the meta, and more!
This week all the data was gathered from GosuGamer's own tournament, Overkill.gg! The tournament has been super exciting so far and it's been awesome to see teams give it their all to try and win and be crowned king of the beta.
Highlights of this week’s meta
Zenyatta at rock bottom
Last week I talked about how Zenyatta had slowly been falling in pickrate since his nerf and the majority of you said that would continue in the poll. This week Zenyatta absolutely plummeted, dropping down to be the lowest picked hero over the last seven days. It would seem now that the nerf to Zenyatta was too much, and he is almost entirely unplayable because of it.
The main reason why Zenyatta is so unpopular is that Mercy outclasses him in many ways now. To leave Harmony Orb on people Zenyatta must now follow them around, but if a team wants a support that has to follow people around they might as well pick up a Mercy who heals faster and can also provide consistent damage boost, something that Zenyatta cannot do due to how easy it is to remove Discord Orb.
Even as far as ultimates go Mercy’s can be far better than Zenyatta’s in a lot of situations. It’s possible for some abilities to kill through Zenyatta’s mass healing, whereas with Mercy she can just wait to resurrect someone. Zenyatta currently is not in a very good place and Mercy performs far better in the majority of cases. Whether or not the recent Zenyatta buff will be enough or if he will require more will take time to tell.
The same at the top
For the past few weeks the top of the meta has been dominated by the same heroes, and this week was no different. This immense popularity grew even more this week, and the effects it had on every other hero on the roster has been just as significant as the popularity of the strategy. These top heroes have held the same position for a long time now, and it will be interesting to see if this trend continues when the game is released.
This is just the beginning of the trends of this week. The popularity of these top heroes has had profound effects on the rest of the heroes. To see the complete summary, including the full tier list and in-depth analysis of each hero’s place in the meta, watch the full video:
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