Overwatch League Meta Analysis, The Heroes, The Combos & How to Play Like a Pro

The Overwatch League is going into its fourth weekend of matches and a solid meta is being repeatedly used at the highest levels of play. Malik is going to run down the heroes in the meta, the combos and synergy they have together, along with analyzing a few Overwatch League matches.

the heroes

Reinhardt

Reinhardt is the main tank of choice in this meta for the mobile stance he can take against the enemy team. His shield provides some much-needed protection for the damage players on his team, and his Earth Shatter remains one of the best ultimates in the game.

In this meta, Reinhardt players take a passive approach to team fights, keeping their shields up for as long as possible while taking the occasional swing at the enemy if they get too close. During moments of weakness, or after a key pick-off, Reinhardts get aggressive and go all-in.

D.Va

D. Va’s part in the meta is a subtle yet crucial one that requires peeling and flank management. Sigma was able to place a shield in front of an enemy hitscan, but D.Va throws herself at them using Defense Matrix to negate a majority of the damage and force the enemy to relocate. Disruption is the name of the game for D.Va, whether she is harassing an enemy McCree on an off-angle, or creating space by diving into the backline and attacking a healer. The Defense Matrix also remains as one of the strongest single abilities in the game, given that she can eat anything from a Blizzard to an Ana Nade. Defense Matrix can also be used in the face of an enemy Ana, because her main projectile provides both healing to allies and damage to enemies, allowing it to be eaten and deny healing.

Mei

Mei is the perfect hero for zoning out enemies given that her primary freezes the enemy in place, while her wall can block off a Dead-Eye or pesky D.Va bomb. Mei’s utility comes in that she is very adaptable to both the attacking and defending sides with her skillset. Often Mei walls can mean life and death, but can also delay the enemy forcing them to reevaluate a push. Ice walls used to separate the enemy team from each other is a great way to get a few picks before team fights even begin, and ensure some extra percentage on the point.

McCree

McCree is the high-versatility long-ranged damage player that makes this composition thrive. The main crux with the meta is that it requires a proficient hitscan player to wield McCree. As we have seen with teams like the Houston Outlaws, body shots don’t cut it in this meta when it comes to damage output. McCree’s ultimate, Dead-Eye is a hit or miss but offers the chance to zone out enemies, draw out support ultimates, or even get the occasional pick-off with the combination of another ultimate. The real fun with McCree comes with his flashbang, and its ability to fake out enemy Reinhardt’s and shut down just about every ultimate.

Ana

Ana is a killer main healer that offers the most out of any of the others in her class. Ana’s ability to easily shut down any enemy with a Sleep Dart or halt a push with a single Anti-Nade on the enemy. Ana’s Sleep Dart is a tool that forces damage players to position themselves out of her sightline, and can even render her own ultimate useless. Nano can empower just about any hero to become a wrecking crew, from a McCree with Dead-Eye to a Reinhardt creating space. The only problem is that this hero becomes a target for the enemy Ana to shut down with a Sleep Dart, and just about every other member of the opposition for that matter.

Lucio

Lucio’s role has remained fairly unchanged throughout most metas in that he gets the team in and out of situations while providing passive healing to everyone. The primary change in this new meta is that Lucio’s are more skilled and aggressive, often speeding in their D.Va or McCree when he is using Dead-Eye to provide some mobility. We’ve already seen Seung-soo “Jecse” Lee go in for the kill numerous times while Daniel “FunnyAstro” Hathaway has mastered the art of the Sonic Amplifier, landing numerous headshots that amaze us all.

Combos & Synergy

When approaching the objective, both teams test the Reinhardt barriers while getting themselves into position. McCree's will begin to rotate into a flank position, with Mei Ice Walls coming out to zone off select members of the enemy. Teams have developed a few styles of playing Mei Ice Walls, one of which is using it to separate one or two members of the enemy who steps a bit too far out. If the opposing Mei is one of the members cut off, they can defensively wall in front of them to mitigate damage and potentially save their own life.

Both teams test each other, looking for a flaw in the enemy setup that they can extort for the upper hand. Sometimes this comes in the form of a clutch McCree shot or the slip up of a healer. Usually, teams will take an initial fight off of the point and rotate to capture it once the upper hand is acquired, making it easier to capture the point with a man-advantage. If neither team is lucky enough to catch someone off guard, then there is a priority to taking down the opposition.

Removing D.Va from the fight is one of the top priorities along with managing the position of the enemy McCree, mostly because these two are the direct counters to each other in this meta. In early fights, D.Va’s will swap between applying pressure on the frontline, and managing the enemy McCree and communicating his position to the rest of the team. D. Va’s constantly hunting enemy McCree's, harassing them whenever possible and denying them the ability to get in the much-needed headshots. D. Va can also be incredibly useful at removing the enemy Blizzard from the fight if timed correctly. Mei’s will often focus on freezing the D.Va before throwing down their ultimate or just de-mech her completely and the problem is solved. When ultimates are online and the match is close, usually D.Va’s squeeze out the win.

Like a Pro

Breaking down the team fight of the NYXL versus the Philadelphia Fusion, Widow used the Infra-Sight from the Fusion to scout out where the enemy is. Jong-ryeol “Saebyeolbe” Park uses Dead-Eye to push back the Philadelphia Fusion while Ivy uses an Ice Wall to protect the team during their transition. An Ice wall from Seung-jun “WhoRU” Lee lifts the New York Excelsior up in hopes to give the McCree an angle, but he can't find anything. During this time the Fusion is pulling back and waiting for the ultimate to run its duration. Dong-Gyu “Mano” Kim rotates to the right and unleashes a shatter catching two members of the Fusion, and Hong-Joon “HOTBA” Choi flies in the backline and distracts Jae-hyeok “Carpe” Lee and Kyungbo “Alarm” Kim so the rest of the NYXL can do some damage.

The Sound Barrier came out from Funnyastro to protect his team, but WhoRU takes down Carpe and the Ice Walls from both WHORU and Ivy separate Su-min “SADO” Kim from the rest of the Fusion and out of the line of sight of Alarm. Ivy is left to the swinging wrath of Reinhardt and while we see the Lucio and the D.Va dive onto the point to delay the turnover, HOTBA on D.Va is able to push them up off the point and complete the capture. Lucio gets focused down but Poko on D.Va is able to slip away with his life.

In this next team fight, the Philadelphia Fusion attempt to take an aggressive push on the payload and secure the objective. Corey takes a high ground flank against the backline on McCree, hoping to get a pick on Alarm and shut down the fight, only to get sent packing by a diving D.Va and Carpe on McCree protecting his healer. On the point, Ark uses Sound Barrier to engage in a fight, but after a failed Earth Shatter from Roar, the Washington Justice backtrack as a Nanoed Reinhardt comes swinging their way with a Sound Barrier to enable the entirety of the Fusion to clean up the Justice. On the side, Carpe finds a pick off in the form of Minseok “AimGod” “Jeff” Kwon on Ana, and from here the fight is downhill for the Justice. Ivy places an Ice Wall behind Roar, cutting off his path for escape and putting him face to face with Roar’s hammer and no healer. Elliot “ELLIVOTE” Vaneryd dives onto the point to stall but at this point, the team fight is over and it's time to reset.

The Overwatch League spent a majority of last years’ season in a stale meta, and the hope is that this year Blizzard can keep things interesting more consistently. make sure to follow ESTNN on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, and Youtube for all the latest Overwatch news.