For a few weeks now, Season 6 of Overwatch has been underway – and with it, a shift in the meta has been announced. Doomfist enters the fray as a new hero, and suddenly many previously weak heroes find their way open!
New Season – New Meta
At the beginning of the last Season 5 of Overwatch, a shift in the meta was already evident – away from the tank meta in Season 4 towards the dive meta in Season 5.
In gaming, “meta” refers to “the currently most effective tactic.” (Most Effective Tactics Available = META).
The term meta(-game) refers to the general composition of a team (for example, 2 healers, 2 offensive heroes, 2 tanks) as well as the most played specific heroes. Typically, a meta occurs when extremely skilled players discover strong synergies between heroes.
The dive meta was characterized by extremely mobile heroes like Winston, D.Va, Genji, and Tracer, who could practically change their position at any time. This made it difficult to predict where the next attack would come from. Flanking attacks were the primary method for breakthroughs. The strategy was so successful that very little else was played even in tournaments.
Breaking Through the Wall with a Heavy Fist
However, Doomfist forced the tactic to break apart more or less violently. Shortly after his release at the end of July, he was even used in Overwatch APEX, where he helped an underdog team defeat the renowned professional players from Lunatic-Hai.
Doomfist is particularly strong on maps with many chokepoints, such as King’s Row or Hanamura. There, both his Meteor Strike and his Rocket Punch become a downfall for the opponents.
Not only his ability to deal a lot of damage from any position in a team fight makes Doomfist a strong hero. He has the ability to slow down a dive team just by being present. His presence poses a threat to flanking attackers like Genji and Tracer. They would need to think twice about whether it’s worth the risk to jump into enemies when an attack could kill them instantly.
Gravity is Attractive
An additional important step away from the dive meta is the buff of Zarya’s Graviton Surge. Before the adjustment of the ultimate, heroes like Tracer, Genji, or Winston could escape the pull of the Graviton Surge by using their movement abilities. The buff changes this, so that heroes now hit by the ability are truly trapped for its duration.
This not only makes Zarya stronger but also gives her the ability to counter a dive composition. The mobility that is the strength of this composition is disrupted by the Graviton Surge for its duration. Additionally, it opens up strong synergies with powerful area abilities, such as Doomfist’s Meteor Strike (“Space Jam” combo) and McCree’s Deadeye. The strong Russian has been seen more frequently in competitive matches lately, perhaps for this reason.
Is Doomfist Perhaps Too Strong?
The fact that one hero and a slight adjustment were enough to destroy a strategy that had been entrenched for months raises the question of whether this hero might be too strong. The DPS player of the pro team “Immortals”, Brady “Agilities” Girardi, says:
That the hitbox of the ability was nerfed, as it seemed to hit impossible targets, was still important, but it probably has little impact at the professional level. There, the hits are generally on point, and very few players in that class will have difficulty with the adjustment.
Many players who want to catch the eye of talent scouts for the Overwatch League have already incorporated Doomfist into their repertoire. They hope to attract attention with his current status and thereby have a chance for a spot in eSports. Established players like Agilities, Lucas “Leaf” Loison (GamersOrigin), Kevyn “TviQ” Lindström (Misfits), and George “ShaDowBurn” Gushcha (FaZe Clan) have already achieved some success with the brawler.
What do you think? Do you welcome the change in the meta? Will Doomfist ease the rigid compositions or just create new “must-have picks”?
Maybe a small boost for Mei would also be useful. At least part of the community thinks so.
