The Meta is stale so I take a deep dive into what makes Lucio tick with one of Overwatch's best Lucios -- dhaK of Team SelflessGG. I also perform some cursory speculation based on the upcoming balance changes in this final report before the Gamescom Battle for the Atlantic LAN Finals.
Today Blizzard released their list of Overwatch World Cup nominees -- I've taken the assignment of seeking out and profiling the top esports names of those nominated. Read as they make their case for representing their home countries!
This week, the Meta seems to be in dire straights. 11 of Overwatch's 22 Heroes had less than 5% usage rate for the third qualifying weekend of the Faceit Eleague Tourney and the culprit is two simple abilities: Discord Orb and Speed Boost. It's a bit too early to panic, however, as many of the F Tier Heroes have had success in previous Metas -- it's simply the Deathball Meta that's pushed them down the ladder.
Lucio and Zenyatta finally have no significant outside pressures holding them back from dominating the Meta -- and so that's exactly what they've done. When you put the two best abilities in the game -- Discord Orb and Speed Boost -- on an essential class (Healing Support), it's no surprise that these two Heroes end up on top. I discuss this and more, as I introduce a new metric: Win Shares, used to pair Usage Rate with Offensive and Defensive wins.
Detailing the Overwatch Tournament Meta for the week immediately following Ana's release. This Meta was unfortunately cut short by some speedy Balance Changes on Blizzard's end to McCree and Ana. I review how well my prior predictions for the Meta went, and try to uncover the mystery behind how the Meta reacted so quickly.
In the last week before the Ana patch, CaptainPlanet breaks down data from ESL’s Battle for the Atlantic Showdown and discusses current hero tiers, the evolving meta and predictions for the post-Ana world.
