We talked about Overwatch introducing their 30th hero last week, so let’s dive a little deeper this week on how the new Support Hero, Baptiste, can affect the overall Overwatch (and Overwatch League) META.
If you’re not a huge follower of the Overwatch League, you might have noticed a trend in a lot of your Overwatch matches recently. In the current META, it seems to be very effective to run three Tank characters and three Support characters, also known in the community as “GOATs”. Each pick plays an important Role in GOATs:
GOATs Tanks
(Blizzard)
Reinhardt is always needed as a primary shield. Since the Goats composition requires everyone to stick close together, Reinhardt is used to block incoming damage with his shield, while still being mobile.
Winston is perfect for area control. Once your team has made it to the objective or the opposing team is contesting the objective, Winston can plop down his bubble shield to protect and control the area. His Tesla Cannon is good for doing damage through shields and harassing squishy characters, while his ultimate does wonders for knocking the opponents away from the point.
Zarya OR D.Va would always be the third tank choice depending on the opposing team. They count as the GOATs’ “DPS” character since they have the ability to wrack up a lot of damage. Overwatch League (OWL) players typically run Zarya, and can also swap out D.Va for one of the other two Tanks if more damage is needed. Zarya is usually the better pick since her Particle Barrier adds an extra layer of protection and her beam can be devastating when she reaches a high charge.
GOATs Supports
(Blizzard)
Lucio is must-have. Since the GOATs comp is primarily made of Tanks, the mobility of the team is super low. Lucio’s Speed Boost allows the team to move around more effectively.
Brigitte is the key focal point to GOATs. Her passive healing on top of her armor adds an extra buff to the team. Plus, she has the ability to stop divers from breaking up the group with her Shield Bash. Whenever taking down a GOATs team, the primary focus should be taking down the Brigitte first.
Zenyatta is the final healer for the team, but ironically, he acts more as a secondary DPS for the composition. A lot of the team is very short-ranged, and Zenyatta is good for taking out Heroes that can distance themselves, or melt tanky characters with the help of his Discord Orb.
Baptiste: Helping or Hurting GOATs?
(Blizzard)
Oops, that was a little long-winded! So now that you have the history lesson, where does Baptiste fit into all this?
Baptiste has a lot of unique abilities in his tool kit that can be very good when teamed up with the right characters. The main reason people seem to dislike GOATs is because the matches get repetitive and boring, plus it takes forever to take down beefy Tanks. In my opinion, Baptiste was created to eliminate (or at least discourage) this type of play style.
First off, let’s talk about his Invincibility Shield. That sucker protects easily-countered ults, and I love it.
Invincibility Field Makes Any Bad Play Genius
Credits: u/cityuser pic.twitter.com/SzmLcTzTAD
— OverwatchGG (@OverwatchGG) March 6, 2019
Many say that this encourages GOATs, but I completely disagree. A lot of Overwatch’s DPS characters have some handicaps that make them easy to pick off. With the addition of the Invincibility Shield, these characters have a better chance of survival, thus can be more effective with damage output. In reality, the only characters that can do more damage than a DPS character on a regular basis are Zarya and D.Va, but now that Baptiste is around, it gives players more of a chance to utilize counter-picks for those pesky GOATs characters and actually stay alive to make a difference.
Secondly, take a look at this:
the Mccree buff + Baptiste matrix is gonna make for some sick plays pic.twitter.com/t8JaO4eWvx
— Deaf David ? (@david_kennedy11) February 26, 2019
Baptiste’s Utlimate (plus the addition of another Boost) with a DPS character absolutely MELTS Tanks. It feels so good to see those Roadhogs just die. What? I’m not bitter.
