The new Overwatch meta is already proving to be one of the most divisive in history with main tanks becoming seemingly obsolete and teams opting to run double off-tanks in place, completely flipping the game on its head.
Notably, Orisa, Sigma, and Brigitte were all nerfed heavily. As a result, the days of double barrier are seemingly over and teams moving in the complete opposite direction: no barriers at all.
With the rise of Roadhog, who received some buffs in the patch, this also changes up which support heroes are the most viable because so much of the game is determined by shutting him down.
If you’re going to rank up as a support player in this meta, there are some heroes you should be playing and others that may be a bit of a hindrance to your team.
As Overwatch streamer Harbleu explained, there are three supports that will get more value for your team than the others: Baptiste, Zenyatta, and Ana.
“Any combination of those three. If you have a hero on your team that isn’t one of those three, you’re probably losing,” he explained. “If you’re a support player, for the love of God, be able to play one of those heroes.”
Baptiste brings a lot to the table through his damage output, Immortality Field, and a decent ultimate in Amplification Matrix. The Immortality Field, nicknamed ‘lamp’ by players, can be super beneficial in team fights as it can save an ally who gets hooked by Roadhog or is caught in a Graviton Surge.
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Ana is also an incredible pick and with less barriers in the game, it’s easier than ever to land big Biotic Grenades and completely deny healing for the enemy. It’s also one of the best tools to defeating Roadhog – using grenade on him when he’s self-healing to put him in a vulnerable state. Sleep dart can also take a Hog out of the fight giving your team a chance to win.
Finally, Zenyatta’s Discord orb can get a tonne of value, making any enemy take 30% more damage. It also is key to removing Roadhog or any other hero your team can focus down. Plus, with some damage buffs, Zenyatta is more of a threat than ever to everyone on the opposing side.
Unfortunately, not all of the other supports are viable. Lucio does have Speed Boost, which can be a plus, but in the heat of battle, Discord and Biotic Grenade provides more benefit to the team.
Elsewhere, Mercy, Moira and Brigitte just lack the utility of the others to outplay the other team. Raw healing simply won’t be enough, especially with so much burst potential.
While the anti-barrier patch on August 13 left many in a state of shock, it could be here to stay for some time. The Overwatch League playoffs will be run on the patch. They begin September 3 and will run until October 10.
It’s unlikely that developers will want to have two completely different metas/patches running concurrently, so while there may be some hero tuning from now until then, expect this meta to last a couple months at least.
