Seriously, McCree should be removed. The way the game is now with power creep, he is useless in any matchup. His only strength are his flashbangs, which don’t work half the time anyway. Beyond that, he’s got nothing. Mediocre damage, no mobility, no passives, a useless roll that doesn’t even get him far or give him i-frames (unlike every single other hero with a similar ability) and a useless rapid-fire that most higher-tier players never use, an ult that’s such a joke to the point said higher-tier players only use it for a free reload, extremely short damage falloff, very limited ammo, and the largest human-sized hitbox of any DPS.
Every other DPS does what he does better. He can’t reliably shut down Genji because he can deflect his flashbang. He can’t reliably shut down Tracer because she can blink away from his flashbang. These are the only two heroes he’s said to counter and other heroes do the job better, especially with the introduction of Brigitte.
“But McCree’s been buffed!” you say. Yeah, very tiny buffs. A fire rate buff that most McCree players testify has glitched out his aim and screwed up hit registration due to the way the game handles recoil. A fan buff that got instantly undone. A minor cooldown buff to a useless skill. More Dead Eye shield damage for the 5 players who ever use it for shooting. That’s it.
The way it stands McCree will never be a viable pick in the meta. Power creep has killed him. The hilariously overbuffed Hanzo does everything he can do but better. Widowmaker can do everything he can do but better. Ashe can do everything he can do but better. McCree’s only standout ability is his grenade, which is on a very large cooldown, barely has any radius, and only stuns players for roughly a single second. Cool. Mei has an AOE ability that “stuns” players almost instantly for an extended period of time, called her Primary Fire.
It all boils down to this: either other DPS heroes need toned down to where every game in Platinum and above isn’t just Hanzo-Genji-Widowmaker for the DPS lineup, or McCree needs brought up to their level. I used to think Soldier was the bottom-tier DPS, but his substantial buffs have made him considerably more useful (though still not as good as G-H-W), but it’s pretty obvious that it’s McCree. He does nothing no one else can’t do, and everyone else can do a better job of what he’s designed to do. If the gunslinging cowboy is never going to get any love or ever be viable ever again in any situation aside from the launch window in 2016, he might as well be removed.
Thoughts?