It's not been long at all, since the new, barrier-killing patch hit the live servers, but in the past few days, I've begun seeing a few meta-based patterns in my Competitive matches, and I thought it'd be fun to share some of those with all of you this Sunday. For those of you who are new to The Plat Player's Perspective, my name is Proilios, and welcome to the game balance section of my blog, AKA The OverThinker.
To give you all an overview, I play in the mid-plat to high diamond Elo, and what I'm about to share is solely based on what I've seen in my own games on the new patch. This is not a tutorial by any means; just a short summary of my observations.
To give you all an overview, I play in the mid-plat to high diamond Elo, and what I'm about to share is solely based on what I've seen in my own games on the new patch. This is not a tutorial by any means; just a short summary of my observations.
1. I've barely seen any Bastion play.
Since barriers were nerfed, it's no surprise that Bastion is seeing less playtime. Even though he's better at getting damage across to his enemies now, he himself has less protection, which is why he's going to have niche uses in the short run according to me. He was frankly a beast while Double Barrier was as dominant as it was, but right now, you'd be better off running a different DPS unless your team is ultra-coordinated.
2. There's a massive rise in Brigitte players.
The armour buff has led to an unnatural rise in popularity for our anti-dive Swedish brawl queen. A lot of people, however, seem to be under the misconception that she is a replacement for Lúcio, preferring to pick her even if the enemy has ultimate combos that can be countered much more easily if Sound Barrier is available on hand. It's a little unfortunate when you're stuck with a Brig against a really good Junkrat player who's getting RIP-tire and shredding your team every other fight, or a Genji-Ana duo that keeps pumping out effective Nanoblades, which could actually be stalled or denied entirely with a good Beat. That's the thing with Overwatch though, isn't it? There's not a lot of places you can learn things like where to pick Lúcio over Brig and vice-versa, or how to counter certain ultimates/combos. You just have to try your best, put your team before yourself, and play the best you can with the knowledge you've got. Everything works if you can make it, but in a place like ranked, where coordination and teamwork isn't available in sufficient quantities, it's almost always ideal to go for surefire solutions to problems rather than experiment and try to force certain strategies/comps to work.
3. Most players still think D.Va is a trash pick.
3. Most players still think D.Va is a trash pick.
D.Va's Matrix cooldown was reduced by half a second in this patch, and it's fairly noticeable for someone with more than 150 hours on the hero like me. I can definitely make her work now in more scenarios than on the last patch, but there's a certain aversion among my teammates whenever I pick her over basically any other tank. I may be completely wrong in thinking that she has her uses now, but from what I've observed, she still works well alongside either Winston, Hammond or Orisa. I've stubbornly run her on a few maps despite my teammates opposing the decision, and I've had mixed results. In summary, she's not a versatile off-tank pick, but you can get value out of her if you understand how she works and where her usefulness lies. D.Va is no longer a hero you can force into your team comp and get good results out of fairly easily. Those days died with the rise of Double Barrier.
4. Orisa is mega strong on an individual level.
I think a lot of us saw this coming. Orisa's Fortify buff is extremely good. She can bail herself out of sticky situations more frequently, and can break barriers more quickly because of the reduction in their average health. I never thought I'd say this, but I sometimes have fun playing Orisa on ladder now. On the last patch, it was a horrendous experience, since I'd just be shooting barriers, but now, despite my own barrier being weaker, I can actually shoot other players, pressure tanks more, and disengage successfully more often even if I'm not getting healed a lot. I'm more of an off-tank player, but filling on Orisa feels less of a punishment now, because I can actually get stuff done myself, and play a little more independently than before.
5. Orisa-Hog is not very good right now, but I think it will get better over time.
Orisa is strong, and Hog is strong, but together, unfortunately, it's hard to get them to work in my Elo right now. Roadhog has very good shield break and is a great offensive off-tank, but his lack of a protective ability really hurts the ease with which you can run him alongside Orisa. Once her barrier breaks, you're essentially done in this Elo, since using hard cover, anticipating when you're going to take damage, and being reactive overall is not something everyone in Plat-Diamond can do. It's going to take some discipline for those of us in this Elo, including myself, to take hard cover instinctively when you anticipate danger in an Orisa-Hog setup. I don't think I've had a single match since this patch dropped where an Orisa-Hog duo has won, and I've been on both sides of this coin, suffering silently when I lost, and feeling sorry for this almost-classic pair of tanks when I won.
6. Orisa-Sigma is still strong; just not as invincible.
Rotating cooldowns and cycling barriers is much more necessary now for Orisa-Sigma duos. I've noticed that if you coordinate cooldowns and barrier usage with your co-tank in this case, the game seems to get a lot easier. For example, the Orisa first puts down her barrier. When it gets low, she calls out to Sigma, who puts up his Experimental Barrier for temporary protection. When Orisa has a new barrier, she tells Sigma the same, and he withdraws his own to recharge its HP. This is a very simplified example, but you can integrate Fortify and Kinetic Grasp into such 'team speak' as well. Remember that you are much more vulnerable to damage now, so you're going to have to be more alert even if you're using two barriers. For some reason this has given plat-diamond players the impression that Orisa-Sigma just isn't viable anymore, but I think that mindset will change if they open their minds, turn on their mics, and begin coordinating. Honestly, communication is like a 7th teammate in Overwatch (8th if you have B.O.B.), and it can win you games even if you aren't as individually talented as the opposing players but still are on the same page.
7. Orisa-Reinhardt is quite good, but requires synergy similar to Orisa-Sigma.
Never did we anticipate Orisa-Rein would be somewhat meta. Then again, everything works in Plat-Diamond if you execute it well enough. In this double main tank setup, nobody is really a fixed main tank or a fixed off-tank. It seems like you're constantly interchanging roles. I guess it depends on who's doing the primary tanking at what time, or who's pushing up ahead. For instance, when Orisa deploys her barrier aggressively, Rein can walk up to it and start swinging at nearby enemies. That's when Orisa seems like the main tank. However, when Orisa's barrier breaks, and Rein puts his barrier up, he seems like the main tank. It's actually appalling how good this pair is right now, but I've also seen it crumble before coordinated teams. Well, coordinated teams and Symmetra players. If you're playing Rein-Orisa, remember to coordinate barrier usage like you would in an Orisa-Sigma setup. Also, you can combo Halts with things like Firestrike, or even plain Hammer swings to get more value out of them.
8. Sigma is much harder to kill because of his Kinetic Grasp buff.
Not much to say here. If you catch Sigma without his barrier now, he can still escape your clutches quite often unless either he's poor at managing cooldowns, or you're dealing melee/beam damage to him. That's because Sigma's Kinetic Grasp is available a lot more often now, and that makes it really hard to catch him unawares, especially if he has solid positioning and cooldown management.
9. Rein-Zarya is back!
From the rumours I've heard, this is not the case in pro play, but let's focus on the Plat-Diamond Elo here. The buffs Rein and Zarya got have certainly helped them see more use and get more value in my SR range. It's much easier to push up to enemies with Rein now, and since you don't see a lot of Lúcio play in my tier anyway, it feels like a boon to be slowed down less when you have your barrier up. Now, you can have a Brig instead of a Lúcio and still not feel useless while pushing onto a capture point. I've personally been playing a lot of Rein, and when I get the chance, one of my absolute favourites, Zarya, who can pump out much more damage because of the reduced ammo consumption on her secondary fire. It also doesn't feel like checkmate while playing them into Orisa-Sigma anymore, as you can actually close the gap between you faster and start brawling. I'm hoping Rein-Zarya sees more playtime especially in the pro scene, but apparently, it's not going to happen at least yet.
10. Dive isn't back.
Brawl potential and sustain still win out over mobility in most scenarios, and since the likes of Mei, Reaper and Doomfist are still really powerful, it's risky to go for Dive characters, lest you be punished for bad or overly-aggressive engagements. If those 3 characters aren't on the enemy team though, you can certainly attempt to go for a combination of Winston, D.Va and Wrecking Ball based on the rest of the heroes on the battlefield.
I get that I haven't touched on many DPS and supports in this post, but the main changes, patterns and trends I've observed are tank-related, maybe because that's the role I play the most. What I've written is by no means pervasive, i.e. the observations don't apply to all the tiers, and they're also not intended to direct you to any particular composition or playstyle. All I've done is observed what seems to work or not work in my Elo on the new patch, and although the meta always changes with time, it'll be interesting to see whether what I've experienced turns out to be true in more levels of play.
If you are a Plat or Diamond player yourself, do tell me if you've noticed the things I've written about as well. If you are from other tiers, do tell me about the trends you've seen in your games; it'll be fun to compare and contrast between our experiences. Also, if you like this post, do subscribe to my blog. It doesn't seem like a big deal, but trust me, it helps me out a ton.
Alright, that rounds up this article. Thanks a lot for reading till the very end, and I hope you have a fantastic week ahead!
4. Orisa is mega strong on an individual level.
I think a lot of us saw this coming. Orisa's Fortify buff is extremely good. She can bail herself out of sticky situations more frequently, and can break barriers more quickly because of the reduction in their average health. I never thought I'd say this, but I sometimes have fun playing Orisa on ladder now. On the last patch, it was a horrendous experience, since I'd just be shooting barriers, but now, despite my own barrier being weaker, I can actually shoot other players, pressure tanks more, and disengage successfully more often even if I'm not getting healed a lot. I'm more of an off-tank player, but filling on Orisa feels less of a punishment now, because I can actually get stuff done myself, and play a little more independently than before.
5. Orisa-Hog is not very good right now, but I think it will get better over time.
Orisa is strong, and Hog is strong, but together, unfortunately, it's hard to get them to work in my Elo right now. Roadhog has very good shield break and is a great offensive off-tank, but his lack of a protective ability really hurts the ease with which you can run him alongside Orisa. Once her barrier breaks, you're essentially done in this Elo, since using hard cover, anticipating when you're going to take damage, and being reactive overall is not something everyone in Plat-Diamond can do. It's going to take some discipline for those of us in this Elo, including myself, to take hard cover instinctively when you anticipate danger in an Orisa-Hog setup. I don't think I've had a single match since this patch dropped where an Orisa-Hog duo has won, and I've been on both sides of this coin, suffering silently when I lost, and feeling sorry for this almost-classic pair of tanks when I won.
6. Orisa-Sigma is still strong; just not as invincible.
Rotating cooldowns and cycling barriers is much more necessary now for Orisa-Sigma duos. I've noticed that if you coordinate cooldowns and barrier usage with your co-tank in this case, the game seems to get a lot easier. For example, the Orisa first puts down her barrier. When it gets low, she calls out to Sigma, who puts up his Experimental Barrier for temporary protection. When Orisa has a new barrier, she tells Sigma the same, and he withdraws his own to recharge its HP. This is a very simplified example, but you can integrate Fortify and Kinetic Grasp into such 'team speak' as well. Remember that you are much more vulnerable to damage now, so you're going to have to be more alert even if you're using two barriers. For some reason this has given plat-diamond players the impression that Orisa-Sigma just isn't viable anymore, but I think that mindset will change if they open their minds, turn on their mics, and begin coordinating. Honestly, communication is like a 7th teammate in Overwatch (8th if you have B.O.B.), and it can win you games even if you aren't as individually talented as the opposing players but still are on the same page.
7. Orisa-Reinhardt is quite good, but requires synergy similar to Orisa-Sigma.
Never did we anticipate Orisa-Rein would be somewhat meta. Then again, everything works in Plat-Diamond if you execute it well enough. In this double main tank setup, nobody is really a fixed main tank or a fixed off-tank. It seems like you're constantly interchanging roles. I guess it depends on who's doing the primary tanking at what time, or who's pushing up ahead. For instance, when Orisa deploys her barrier aggressively, Rein can walk up to it and start swinging at nearby enemies. That's when Orisa seems like the main tank. However, when Orisa's barrier breaks, and Rein puts his barrier up, he seems like the main tank. It's actually appalling how good this pair is right now, but I've also seen it crumble before coordinated teams. Well, coordinated teams and Symmetra players. If you're playing Rein-Orisa, remember to coordinate barrier usage like you would in an Orisa-Sigma setup. Also, you can combo Halts with things like Firestrike, or even plain Hammer swings to get more value out of them.
8. Sigma is much harder to kill because of his Kinetic Grasp buff.
Not much to say here. If you catch Sigma without his barrier now, he can still escape your clutches quite often unless either he's poor at managing cooldowns, or you're dealing melee/beam damage to him. That's because Sigma's Kinetic Grasp is available a lot more often now, and that makes it really hard to catch him unawares, especially if he has solid positioning and cooldown management.
9. Rein-Zarya is back!
From the rumours I've heard, this is not the case in pro play, but let's focus on the Plat-Diamond Elo here. The buffs Rein and Zarya got have certainly helped them see more use and get more value in my SR range. It's much easier to push up to enemies with Rein now, and since you don't see a lot of Lúcio play in my tier anyway, it feels like a boon to be slowed down less when you have your barrier up. Now, you can have a Brig instead of a Lúcio and still not feel useless while pushing onto a capture point. I've personally been playing a lot of Rein, and when I get the chance, one of my absolute favourites, Zarya, who can pump out much more damage because of the reduced ammo consumption on her secondary fire. It also doesn't feel like checkmate while playing them into Orisa-Sigma anymore, as you can actually close the gap between you faster and start brawling. I'm hoping Rein-Zarya sees more playtime especially in the pro scene, but apparently, it's not going to happen at least yet.
10. Dive isn't back.
Brawl potential and sustain still win out over mobility in most scenarios, and since the likes of Mei, Reaper and Doomfist are still really powerful, it's risky to go for Dive characters, lest you be punished for bad or overly-aggressive engagements. If those 3 characters aren't on the enemy team though, you can certainly attempt to go for a combination of Winston, D.Va and Wrecking Ball based on the rest of the heroes on the battlefield.
I get that I haven't touched on many DPS and supports in this post, but the main changes, patterns and trends I've observed are tank-related, maybe because that's the role I play the most. What I've written is by no means pervasive, i.e. the observations don't apply to all the tiers, and they're also not intended to direct you to any particular composition or playstyle. All I've done is observed what seems to work or not work in my Elo on the new patch, and although the meta always changes with time, it'll be interesting to see whether what I've experienced turns out to be true in more levels of play.
If you are a Plat or Diamond player yourself, do tell me if you've noticed the things I've written about as well. If you are from other tiers, do tell me about the trends you've seen in your games; it'll be fun to compare and contrast between our experiences. Also, if you like this post, do subscribe to my blog. It doesn't seem like a big deal, but trust me, it helps me out a ton.
Alright, that rounds up this article. Thanks a lot for reading till the very end, and I hope you have a fantastic week ahead!
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