Do they look random to you? D.va got meta = ban.
Ptr is bug testing. They’re going to need to rotate through every hero to make sure there aren’t bugs on role bans on those heroes
2 Likes
Well it’s literally the first wave of bans but yeah, considering that, Pharah and Soldier look very random
Pharah ban is honestly hilarious. Like… What is next? Bastion ban? Rofl.
2 Likes
Wait… they cheesing us… what if DPS is random… then… tank and healers… aren’t…
It’s ptr. But it is pretty funny.
3 Likes
I think it’s looking to be less of a “ban the heroes used in ‘X’ comp” and more of a “remove the main healer from one comp, remove the tank from another, and close your eyes and choose the two DPS to ban”.
I think we were thinking they were gonna do a “meta ban” but it’s looking to be more of a removal of key characters from a “meta comp” and leaving the rest.
Is this a new hero or something? 
Probably:
Sort tank cast by pick rate, high to low.
Top 3-4 get placed into ban pool.
Select 1 random from those three or four.
Ban it.
Then support.
Then dps top pick rate pool of 8.
Random pick 2.
Though, for ptr… Probably just 100% totally random. Only to make sure banned heroes actually are always unavailable / QA.
Its just PTR good grief. They probably chose Hamm,Cree,Gengi,Bap at random to get a FEEL to whats it gonna bee like.
3 Likes
Sigma’s comparatively weak right now, Doom isn’t bad but he’s not best of the best anymore, Mei got nerfed and isn’t nearly as bad as she was, and Baptiste is literally the worst character in the game right now.
D.Va is Meta. Soldier is decent right now. Lucio is Meta. Pharah is weak, can’t refute that. But seriously, your picks would do nothing to shake up what’s good at the moment.
I wouldn’t use Strongest but the most consistent. I often carried as Lucio so yeah he’s no pushover but others in his class have better strengths he cannot provide.
The heroes being banned are currently rotating every single game in the ptr comp in order for them to filter out and catch as many bugs as they can before they transition into live. play a few games and you’ll see more heroes swapped around.
1 Like
It’s probably random for the PTR, but if it’s not it could be that they’re trying to pick for lower ranks too…? Just a thought.
Yes but he is not obnoxious to play against like Mei or pre nerfs Baptiste were.
Lucio has been in most metas lol.
None of these are played anymore.
They’re aren’t the “strongest” anymore.
1 Like
D.Va is slowly shaping up to be leaving the meta, as she was forced in it.
If they wanted to ban a meta defining tank, they’d ban Rein. Every week. Until they give us a proper alternative.
Chill it’s probably random bans to see if the system is working
It’s on PTR after all
I wouldn’t take much stock in the PTR hero pool, since it’s likely they’re just experimenting with the bans themselves and picked out heroes that they predicted would be “meta shapers” if left untouched. Pharah seems like a pick to address low tier concerns, D.va is a very popular pick currently, and Lucio is consistently one of the most staple heroes through Overwatch’s history, he’s always fallen back to whenever metas are blurry. Soldier only stands out as the one weird pick, but if I had to guess, they picked him just to make sure he would be freed up next week when they target someone else, or just chose a middle-of-the-road hero to try and offend the least amount of people. I think they still want to see how the meta this patch shapes out, especially with heroes like Hanzo and Mei.
Jeff has explained before that they’re going to target the meta heroes based on statistics, as well as their own general feelings. They have other undescribed philosophies, likely things such as “don’t ban X and Y at the same time since one of them needs to counter Z.” They likely also consider different tiers and how hero pools will effect them, so they probably want to ban some low tier stompers in addition to whoever is dominating top tier play.