It is that time again this week where Overwatch players see another round of hero pools released. This means a whole new meta being introduced. The catch is that the Overwatch team heavily banned a significant part of DPS heroes, four to be exact. Other bans include 1 tank and 1 support.

In previous weeks, there was experimentation with hero pools. For example, players saw popular heroes like Orisa, Hanzo, Mei, and Baptiste banned in one week, then Reinhardt, Reaper, Moira, and Ana banned in another week. There were a lot of questions from the community about how these pools are handled since there is an influx of DPS heroes. 

Now, it seems the Overwatch team heard their community's concern. DPS heroes that are banned this week are hitscans like McCree, Soldier: 76, Sombra, and Widowmaker. Other heroes that are banned are D.Va and Baptiste, once again. 

What does this mean for the meta?

Tank players can go with a strong pick like Reinhardt, who is strong with starting team fights with his ultimate and absorbing a lot of damage. For off-tank players, D.Va was the go-to hero. Although, depending on your team composition, you can play Winston for any dive strategies or Zarya for her ability to get stronger with her beam attack. 

DPS players may experience difficulty in adapting, especially those who are one-tricks or specialize in hitscan heroes. Ashe is a strong pick who is great at evading attacks, has an area-of-effect (AOE) ability with her dynamite, and a very effective ultimate with B.O.B. Other heroes you can always depend on are Mei and Reaper. Both heroes were effective prior to hero bans and still are if paired together.

Support players have nothing much to be worried about. Baptiste was banned in the hero pool once before. Players adapted by picking Brigitte, who finds herself back in this meta with her team engagements and sustained healing. Moira is also a great pick for her AOE healing and damage orbs. Additionally, Moira's ultimate is one of the best in the game due to melting the opposition while significantly healing her teammates. 

A change with banning more DPS heroes is a good one since there are significantly more DPS heroes than other roles in Overwatch. These bans also address the concern from the community regarding DPS queues in competitive games. It is hard to tell how this week's hero pool will have an effect when it comes to DPS queues. However, it gives a great sigh of relief for tanks and supports.