Hero Pools were first introduced a week ago, and they are already changing how Overwatch is being played. The Principle Game Designer, Scott Mercer, says that the intention of Hero Pools is to offer a gaming experience that is always changing and explains that most people respond positively to a meta that doesn’t remain stagnant. It is looking like this hero rotation from Hero Pools is doing just that—keeping the meta fresh.
Hero Pools are a rotation of Overwatch heroes curated by the developers. Every week to 2 weeks, four new heroes will be unavailable in Competitive Play, which includes one tank, one support, and two damage heroes. These heroes are randomly decided on after data has been taken over a two week period.
This means that if a hero has a usage rate above 10% over this two week period, it will be added to the Hero Pool and possibly be one of the heroes that are banned in the coming week. Once the Overwatch team has data from the two weeks, devs can make their Hero Pool and then randomly pick and ban them, rotating the heroes that are available in the coming weeks.
How Hero Pools are Actually Affecting the Game
So far, the heroes that have been banned have been Orisa, Hanzo, Mei, and Baptiste who are all heroes that play a heavy part in the “bunker” meta seen in almost every other Competitive game. The phrase “wanna go bunker?” had become common in almost every game (depending on tier) before hero pools. With the exclusion of these pertinent heroes, players have been forced to find new ways to play the game.
Offering variety to the game has always been a mission for Mercer and the rest of the Overwatch team. Before Hero Pools, Overwatch was trying to change the clearly defined metas by implementing a 2-2-2 role queue. When this didn’t change the meta much, the developers became more aggressive with hero balancing. Unfortunately, these attempts didn’t affect the meta as much as the team would have liked, but the team seems to be making ground now that Hero Pools are active.
Hero Pools are forcing players to try heroes they normally would never pick up, so the days of one trick wonders are over. In fact, it seems that the only people that are upset with this change are people who play only one hero. Widow and Genji mains will be unhappy once their hero is banned unless they have some other favorite heroes to switch to. These “one trick wonder” players can choose to either adapt or play another game.
Blizzard wants to offer variety to the game and keep gameplay evolving, and it is finally doing it with hero rotation. This means that choosing one hero and playing only that one hero is a thing of the past, as players are now trying new comps and strategies to make up for the banned heroes every week. The Overwatch community is seeing changes in gameplay that never would have happened without Hero Pools, and these pools are not only affecting the amateur community, it is making the Overwatch League more interesting too.
How Hero Pools are Affecting the Overwatch League
Hero Pools have a more intense effect the higher the player tier is, which means that Master and Grandmaster players are feeling the changes a lot more than bronze player because the meta is more defined in higher tiers. The Overwatch League is arguably changing the most out of anything because of Hero Pools, as the heroes that are banned in Overwatch League are different than the heroes that are banned in amateur competitive play. The first week Overwatch League experienced Hero Pools, players lost McCree, Widow, Reinhardt, and Moira, and this makes a lot of sense as these heroes were favorites of the League.
Reinhardt had a whopping 87.2% usage in weeks 3 and 4 of the Overwatch League. Moira, Widow, and McCree were used significantly less, but they were still part of many meta comps being used in Overwatch League. This meant that hit scan players and Reinhardt purists were punished in week 5 but the league became much more interesting, as fans got to see a lot more projectile heroes being played and new strategies being implemented.
In week 6 of the Overwatch League, the heroes that will be banned are Soldier 76, Sombra, Winston, and Lucio. This will bring a huge hit to mobility and dive based comps. D.Va will no longer get to hold hands with Winston as they jump from support to support, peeling as much as possible. Slow heroes will no longer get a speed boost from Lucio. DPS players that like to flank will have a hard time too, as Sombra and Soldier are now cut out of the roster. It will be very interesting to see how the Overwatch League reacts to the changes that will come with these heroes being unavailable.
Overall, the response from Overwatch League players and coaches is that Hero Pools have been making life harder, but they recognize the good it is doing for the game. Fans of Overwatch League are loving the changes, and amateur players are seeing more variety to gameplay. The first week of Hero Pools has had a generally positive response ,and it seems to be doing exactly what it was intended for. Overwatch is evolving once again, and hopefully, thanks to Hero Pools, it will never stop.
Overwatch is available now for PC, PS4, Switch, and Xbox One.