GOATS hasn’t been able to exist at all since the 2-2-2 Role Lock introduction to the live servers effective immediately. We all know how oppressive it was, but GOATS does not follow the 2-2-2 format, and so therefore it is not going to be played on competitive ladder anymore, let alone overwatch league and contenders.
So let me explain why the nerfs DESIGNED to weaken GOATS remain? Brig’s ultimate Rally can be argued as being one of the worst ultimates to have in the game, especially since now it takes nearly a full lunar cycle for it to charge and now usually lasts only one fight anyways. Same can be said about Lucio, although his ultimate has always taken a long time to charge (will also take even longer now due to the ultimate nerfs). However, I must regard the fact that Lucio has a pretty constant pickrate among the entire ladder; for S17 his pickrate has sat at around 11% for Support for Bronze - Masters and only dips to 7% in Grandmasters. Brig is the contrary here, being the lowest picked for Support in Bronze - Masters and only becomes 2nd least picked healer in Grandmasters. Lucio I can say as of right now seems fairly balanced and the nerfs to him previously will most likely remain; can’t say the same about Brig though. Maybe it’ll take time for the dust to settle with her rework but as of right now it’s not looking great for Brig as her overall pickrate is 1.41%.
Now lets look at D.Va. Obviously this is a more touchy, controversial topic to talk about, since whenever she got nerfs people were either all for it or completely against it. Her overall pickrate stands at about 2.95% for S17; just under 3%. 3 months before that, her overall pickrate was 3.63%. She has declined in pickrate since then. Another 3 months before that and her overall pickrate was 4.24%. Again, decreased. What I feel like has happened with D.Va is that the nerfs that she had been receiving had hindered her ability to actually tank and protect her team, and tailored her more into being this “DPS centric tank”. Her survivability has been absolutely devastated all in an attempt to “allow more counterplay”. D.Va has always been great at peeling for her teammates thanks to her mobility and her defense matrix. This is something a D.Va should do, right? That and obviously holding the frontline, making space, etc. In fact, all classes can do this to an extent, but the three off-tanks D.Va, Zarya and Hog (if you take the hook as being a great peeling option which it is) all have abilities that can be used for said peel. Decreasing the capability of the ability that the tank has also decreases the ability for them to do their job and to be more flexible. Right now, I feel like playing D.Va is incredibly straining and irritating to do, and I just end up swapping off her now simply because there’s no point in playing her when you’re constantly unable to help your teammates without being able to help yourself. That and the constant staggering that the enemy team might occasionally do. I’ve experienced it all, since I main D.Va. Yes, DPS mains, call me a filthy D.Va main but I really do hope I am not wrong in saying that D.Va right now feels incredibly underwhelming and tough to play as of late. If you want to enable DPS to be able to do much more, then why is it only D.Va having her ability to peel being hindered? Everyone can do it, not just her. DM is also simple to play against, you literally just have to not be stupid enough to shoot any cooldowns or ultimates into it. Coupled with the fact that this new “Barrierwatch” meta is coming, I’d honestly rather shoot myself in the foot and take more suffering with GOATS than this.
I just feel as though that nerfs that were designed to weaken GOATS are now no longer necessary since the very meta that they were supposed to weaken cannot even be played in competitive queue anymore, same can be said for overwatch league and contenders. I’d love to hear what you all have to say though, because although I believe I am correct, I am not necessarily saying I am correct and I am only saying what I think about the nerfs as of right now. Again, looking forward to hearing what you all have to say about this kind of stuff, namely any other nerfs that I missed that you might want to talk about.