I’ve been thinking about it a bit, and from my own amateur, non-expert, unpopular opinion, GOATS is actually a good meta from a spectator standpoint, especially this non-Ana version that we’ve been seeing in OWL. Here’s why.
First of all, I am not a ranked player, or very knowledgeable about what playing Overwatch is like in a detailed, firsthand sense. I only know what I see in the Overwatch League and on streams. I know that GOATS has been meta for a long time now, and that people are bored out of their minds playing it. But from a spectator standpoint, it’s kind of good. It’s true that there are less highlight reel-caliber plays, but it improves the quality of the team strategy part of Overwatch, in my opinion.
Damage is meaningful in this meta–if you take a lot of damage, you only have a Lucio, Brigitte, or Zenyatta to heal you back, and all of them do relatively slow healing. This means that if you make a mistake or step out of position, it matters.
Along that line, support ults have a massive amount of value and their use is just as important as not having them ready to go. Deciding on when they will be used and whether certain fights or ults need to be avoided based on if they’re up is critical. (Something something ult tracking but that’s always important.)
Team coordination is also more important than ever. I mean, it has always been important, but the micro-coordination of when to be using Zarya bubbles and D.Va defense matrix is a precise timing that must be mastered. Teams that take time to perfect this are easily going to do better than ones that don’t, and it’s a clear line between who’s doing well and who’s not.
Fights are more interesting, in my opinion, because they are front-to-back and are so grindy either way. A good ult can completely flip the course of a fight, even if it’s going one way at first. As I mentioned before, taking damage matters, so there is less forgiveness.
I say all of this in comparison to the feelings I had watching OWL at the beginning of the season last year, which was primarily Mercy meta. Yes, DPS was a role then, but even if you hit a stellar headshot on opposing squishies, Mercy is there to resurrect, completely nullifying how amazing or impactful that play is. Taking damage barely mattered at all, main support was so strong that a skilled support could work with a coordinated team to make sure no one sustained poke damage. I really do like this non-main support meta for that reason–there’s no burst healing.
Yes, there are some disadvantages to GOATS, namely that we see less snipers and big hype plays or flanks, but I think the precisely strategic play that “three-three” brings out requires more skill and coordination in my opinion.
Not to mention that the patch that OWL is currently on still allows for flexibility–yes, GOATS is definitely one of the strongest comps, but there are other strategies that we have seen pop out, such as single-tank Wrecking Ball, snipers, Sombra, and Pharmercy. It’s not as if there is absolutely no variance in strategy.
I’m going to enjoy watching OWL right now.
bTackt 