Oh, sweet Overwatch meta shake-ups. The only time most of us will be able to see the entire cast of characters, where signature names are on their signature heroes, all trying to counter whomever is shutting them down the hardest. It’s peak Overwatch and a crying shame that we only see it once a PTR a year at most, as Blizzard makes tepid movements to sate whichever fans are most vocal about.
The most recent PTR mix has seriously nerfed the usage of shields, making DPS heroes surprisingly viable for the team-shooter as tanks no longer can spam shields in front of their DPS. Everyone that has a stake in Overwatch currently, from top-tier Overwatch League to Overwatch’s Open Division, is currently exploring PTR, and the results might be enough to make you forget GOATs was a thing for a year and a half.
Alan Gai, Chinese Overwatch League personality has taken to Twitter to announce what hero-picks in his scrimmages are currently looking like in PTR, and the result is a mix of both strange and refreshing.
Immediately, we can notice a distinct lack of the hero Doomfist, a refreshing respite from the one-hit-kill hero that has been meta for so long based on his ability to pick kills through the opposing teams’ shields; one of the very few heroes that can do so, along with other melee-based picks. As shields can be played around now, the risk of playing the hero is far too great, as he needs to dive into backlines to pick supports, and then quickly escape.
There’s also a noticeable lack of Hammond, the interesting Blizzard hero of a literal hamster in a ball. Some professional players have commented that Hammond will continue to shy away from primary meta as he has too many hard counters, currently.
Mei, Sombra, and McCree are all hard counters to the niche pick and will remain that way. Hammond is still a primary pick for attempting to rush the cart in the final seconds, yet will most likely not see default tank play.
Reinhardt finally has the ability to move again, with only a 25% movement speed reduction as he moves with his shield deployed. This buff is making him tremendously viable yet again, as another iconic Overwatch hero returns to viability to high-level play. His movement speed is also currently marking the return of faster Overwatch, as teams are given greater agency to aggress, temporarily using the nerfed shield at pivotal moments.
Of course, this is currently only PTR; it remains to be seen if the patch will be moved to main as a whole, or piece-mealed into smaller nerfs and buffs. The only thing clear currently is that PTR is a huge breath of much-needed fresh air.
