“The meta” exists in every game ever, even Minecraft. The axe in MC is better then the sword for example because it hits harder and is preferred by serious players. The only way to prevent “the meta” is to have a game with 1 weapon - 1 class - everyone with the same abilities - etc, nothing to “diversify” builds.
I recently tried kyrian as a hunter because it was 2nd best…it was inferior in everyway to night fae/dreamweaver soulbind. I have to follow “the meta” on my hunter for best DPS to not be a carry in M+, its sad.
Only if someone will be willing to carry you in certain specs. Some specs cannot perform well enough to +25, even +20 most fail.