hero pools won’t change the meta, but it will sure make it more flexible.
- let’s say meta is : Reinheart - Dva // Mei - Hanzo // Briggita - Moira
Bans will only be 1 tank- 2 dps- 1 healer
That means We have SUB Metas :
META B : If Reinheart Is banned this week, we will have Dva + Sigma (what is best with them)
META C : If Dva is banned Reinheart + zarya (what is best with them)
Same applies to dps, but in a lesser extent , since dps (my opinion) don’t define meta like tanks and suppots do.
If Hanzo/Mei get banned in the same week , There will already be The 2 second best ones for either Dva + Sigma or Reinheart + zarya (granted there are a lot of strong dps, for there to be only 2 “strongest” ones)
Same applies to supports.
So in a way, it’s possible that there will be around 4 diffrent metas,
A meta STRONGEST / B meta if tank is banned / C meta if tank is banned / D Meta if both dps is banned.
However what are the chances for the 2 meta tanks being banned in the same week?
Meta A will always be the strongest meta, but with flexing Isn’t that awesome? 
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I think if there are four metas… That’s not a meta. Inherently
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There will Always be A meta. the strongest one, but in a way you are right 
maybe 4 is too much when there are so many strong dps
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it’s more like soft metas that are more easily overthrown by other compositions due to unfamiliarity with them.
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There will always be a meta obviously, it’s borderline impossible to stop that. But at least there will be a bit of variation.
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Of course there will still be a meta, but this ain’t it. The meta will constantly shift every week due to the most picked hero’s the previous week getting banned, forcing players to adapt to a new strategy, ultimately becoming the new meta, for that week.
Keeps things fresh and we don’t have to worry about there becoming a ban meta either.
Edit: Also when you think about it from a balancing stand point. the hero’s that can banned every other week is a great tell that they could use some nerfs. On the other side of the coin, the hero’s that never get picked, even when their counters are being banned is a great tell they could use some buffs.
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Exactly. While it still may be a META, you wont have to run double shield every game, so people can play characters because they want to, not because they need to.
There will ALWAYS be a meta. Outside of scenarios like Mystery Heroes where the team comp constantly shifts.
Yeah so what you’re saying is metas won’t die. But we’ll have 4 options within month. Instead of one for 3 months.
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wow, is that how it works?
I wont play 1945 games, so next game please
The META will be more restrictive week to week and have the ‘best 222 out of what is left’ be the mirror matches at higher ranks every week.
In lower ranks it’s just a punishment to all players nothing more. Either they can’t play the hero they want to play or are forced to play badly and make the matches worse.
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I predict that metas will remain basically the same but just have to take slightly less than ideal counterparts. So, if barrier is meta and Rein is banned, we’ll get Orisa and/or Sigma instead.
do you rather have one meta or 4? and its only for owl that it will be 1-2-1 band. not for normal comp. it might be that they end up like this. but jeff said the first 5 weeks they will try a different amount of bans a week.
and also dont forget we still get fast and harder balance changes even with hero bans. so the their might be even more meta. like one week rein meta one week banned and one week nerfed to the ground untill they want rein back and buff him.
Could be 1, could be 1000. For 99% of the playerbase it means nothing as the meta means nothing.
I’m in Bronze where the meta is not even a consideration in matches.
yeah but for suere we wont see one meta in that season. and they also might try a rank ban only. so different ranks have different hero ban. going for the most op or most played in that rank.
Jeff did mention in a forum post about maybe making hero pools only for Diamond upwards since Plat and lower don’t really adhere to ONE specific meta
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Yeah, I still think it’s gonna be all mirror matches, but with some variations, and that’s all… Seems more interesting than mirror matches of always the same comp at least…
I mean what’s the point. I honestly feel like pretty much almost everything is viable on the soloQ ladder right now in the right circumstances. This whole pool thing is pointless, not to mention hero bans are a better option.
In my rank this already happens… I see different comps every game. Sure, some chars are more frequent than others**, but overall there is great variety. Hero pools will just shrink people’s options here.
** And often the frequent ones are just popular ones, not meta ones.
Yes I dont see how this will work out other than make things very messy.
Oh, where did he say that? That would be better. Ive heard meta isn’t really a thing before GM even, but what do I know.