Overwatch ranked Tier List and Meta report: August, Season 11
The Overwatch Ranked Tier List indicates the most popular heroes during season 11. Find out the most successful heroes in this meta depending on your rank.
Based on popularity. The tier list is based exclusively on the popularity of a hero in ranked games. The win rate is considered only to determine the most outstanding heroes in a particular tier.
No pro data. The performance of a hero when used by pro players and teams doesn’t influence the tiers.
General and rank-based meta. The best picks at GrandMaster can differ a lot from the ones at Gold, so I produced both a general ranked tier list and many rank-based ones to point out the meta differences in each rank.
Only PC. This list includes no data from console.
Unfortunately, Blizzard has not released an Overwatch API to access the data of all players in the game, so this list displays no official info. There are several websites that gather data from their users, and I decided to utilize the statistics provided by Overbuff as it is the most popular one.
Not long ago, Jeff Kaplan shared the official data on season 9, and the figures were mostly similar to the ones available on Overbuff. Even if the data isn’t perfect, we can trust it.
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Most popular heroes by rank
| # | Bronze | Silver | Gold | Platinum | Diamond | Master | GrandMaster |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Mercy | Mercy | Reinhardt | Reinhardt | Reinhardt | Reinhardt | Mercy |
| 2 | Reinhardt | Reinhardt | Mercy | Mercy | Mercy | Mercy | Zenyatta |
| 3 | D.Va | Moira | Moira | Ana | Zarya | Zenyatta | Reinhardt |
| 4 | Moira | D.Va | D.Va | Zarya | Zenyatta | Zarya | Zarya |
| 5 | Junkrat | Ana | Ana | Zenyatta | Ana | Ana | Hanzo |
| 6 | Lucio | Junkrat | Zarya | Moira | Hanzo | Hanzo | Widowmaker |
| 7 | Ana | Zarya | Zenyatta | D.Va | Genji | Genji | D.Va |
| 8 | Orisa | Zenyatta | Hanzo | Hanzo | McCree | Widowmaker | Winston |
| 9 | Zenyatta | Brigitte | McCree | Genji | Widowmaker | Winston | Genji |
| 10 | Brigitte | Hanzo | Genji | McCree | D.Va | D.Va | Ana |
I skipped the meta report in mid-July as the top picks were essentially the same, and I wanted to see the impact of the Symmetra's rework. Recently, Hammond joined the roster, and Blizzard released a substantial patch on August 9th, so things are still adjusting.
In this article, I will feature data from all August, and in the explanation we will take into consideration the latest changes.
The old Mercy taught players a wrong game style
After the last nerf to the healing beam, Mercy's win rate declined, but her resurrection skill remains a game-changer in many comps and maps.
Mercy players need to readjust their gameplay and learn which target to prioritize in a specific situation because they can’t heal as quickly as before. 10 less healing per second is more impactful than you might think on a hero that does it continually, so she won’t have time free anymore during a battle.
“I believe low ranked players are failing to adapt to the changes, and I am talking about Mercy’s teammates.”
While remaining one of the best healers in the game, she can’t take care of the entire team herself anymore, so you must stop looking at Mercy as a solo-healer, and finally pick a second support in your games. This isn’t just a Bronze issue, but such behaviour is widespread even at Gold and Platinum.
Likewise, it is important to avoid risky plays. The “old” mercy used to have amazing resurrection abilities, but they have been nerfed several times during the past year. The real problem is that many Overwatch players got used to asking a ress, and started playing with little care about their life, relying on her ability to make up for their own mistakes, and get back in action quickly.
This isn’t a viable option anymore as now Mercy endangers her life every time she attempts a ress. While resurrecting a player, she can’t move, and the entire enemy team will try to kill her during the channeling time (1.75 seconds). It is mandatory to use this ability only when it is safe because a dead Mercy won’t be of any help to the team.
Ranked hero tier list - August, season 11
Tier 1 (>10%): Reinhardt 11.6% - Mercy 10.6%.
Tier 2 (>7%): None.
Tier 3 (>4%): Zarya 6.1% - Ana 6.0% - Zenyatta 5.7% - D.Va 5.6% - Moira 5.5% - Hanzo 4.7% - Genji 4.4% - McCree 4.0%.
Tier 4 (>2%): Brigitte 3.7% - Widowmaker 3.2% - Winston 3.1% - Pharah 3.0% - Roadhog 2.8% - Junkrat 2.4% - Lucio 2.4% - Reaper 2.2% - Tracer 2.2% - Orisa 2.1% - Doomfist 2.0%.
Tier 5 (<2%): Soldier: 76 1.9% - Wrecking Ball 0.9% - Mei 0.9% - Symmetra 0.7% - Sombra 0.7% - Bastion 0.4% - Torbjorn 0.3%
Most successful heroes (positive win rate, and pick rate above 4%):
Zenyatta: 52.3%
Reinhardt: 51.7%
D.Va: 51.4%
Zarya: 50.8%
Genji: 50.5%
Hanzo: 50.2%
Mercy: 50.1%
Support popularity
Symmetra is still included among the supports because of the statistical tool used for this tier list. Removing her would have caused problems with the data.
Ana is finally a respectable pick
Mercy isn’t the optimal healer in any situation. In the past meta report, I talked about the versatility of Zenyatta, a character able to heal, boost the team’s damage, snipe the opponents, and prevent potential team wipes thanks to Transcendence.
Today, I will discuss about Ana. Yes, after the latest buffs she is no longer a throw pick; at least at high ranks.
I consider Ana one of the healers with the highest skill requirements in the game: she is a subpar pic if you can’t shoot the targets reliably with the Biotic Rifle, and if you don’t know when it is the best moment to use the Biotic Grenade.
The Sleep Dart is a powerful tool, but its success doesn’t depend solely on Ana as her teammates must also be smart enough to understand when it is preferable to focus a target, or to leave him unconscious on the ground.
In the right hands, Ana is as good as Mercy. Personally, I prefer the former on attack due to the potential impact of Nano Boost, and the latter on defense due to Resurrection (particularly on the first point).
The recent buff to Nano Boost (it heals the target instantly for 300 HP) can change the fate of a team fight as it isn’t used anymore just to enhance the damage of a teammate, but also to the save the life of a hero who might be crucial for the outcome of the battle. There is no need to ress if you can avoid the death :P.
The Overwatch player base must adapt to Ana
As you can see from the graphs, now Ana is quite popular at all ranks, and this leads to another issue: players must adapt to her game play. Again, the great majority of the OW population is used to Mercy, a hero who can fly to heal them from virtually anywhere - Ana is not that simple.
Many support users are trying her in these weeks. Maybe they are tired after the multitude of matches on Mercy, or they are just looking into this new trend, but their performance is often suboptimal. This may cause rage and flame among the teammates, who are desperately in need of healing, and do not understand that also the support is a real person.
If you are playing Ana for the first time, you won’t be able to perform at your usual level because the hero requires some practice, and a completely different approach if compared to Mercy. But, also your teammates must play differently: they can’t overextend and disappear from Ana’s line of sight, or she won’t be able to heal them consistently.
Communication has a greater value with Ana. You must indicate your position and the areas of the map you can reach with your gun, while the team must utilize this info to plan their movements. This is a fatal problem at most ranks as there is often a complete lack of communication. Voice chat and coordination can make a huge difference between life and death.
Ana or Mercy
While Ana has a better win rate at higher ranks, Mercy remains an optimal pick, and an easy source of heals who can be deployed in any game and SR. Don’t forget that we can’t expect everyone to have a pro aim, so the game must have alternatives that do not have the same skill needs to cover a certain role.
In the end, Ana is in a better position than before, and we will certainly see her more in our games, but Mercy will still dominate in most rankings for her ease of use, the Resurrection, and the amazing mobility.
Note: If we consider only data from the past week, Ana's pick rate is similar to Mercy at Platinum and Diamond, but she surpasses her at Master and GrandMaster. A week worth of data is still not enough for a proper distribution, so I suggest checking out how things will evolve in the next month.
Tank popularity
Wrecking Ball has been added only recently to the hero roster, and he is available in the competitive mode from August 8th. The graphic above doesn't represent his true pick rate as it considers a longer period of time - If we look only at the data of the previous week, his average pick rate increases to 2.3%.
Ranked hero tier lists by rank - August, season 11
GrandMaster hero meta
Tier 1 (>10%): Mercy 11.2% - Zenyatta 10.7%.
Tier 2 (>7%): Reinhardt 9.6% - Zarya 7.6%.
Tier 3 (>4%): Hanzo 6.3% - Widowmaker 5.8% - D.Va 5.7% - Winston 5.3% - Genji 5.1% - Ana 4.8%.
Tier 4 (>2%): Tracer 3.9% - Brigitte 3.4% - Doomfist 2.9% - McCree 2.8% - Lucio 2.6% - Roadhog 2.0%.
Tier 5 (<2%): Orisa 1.9% - Pharah 1.7% - Wrecking Ball 1.0% - Moira 0.9% - Sombra 0.7% - Mei 0.6% - Soldier: 76 0.6% - Junkrat 0.5% - Reaper 0.4% - Symmetra 0.4% - Torbjorn 0.2% - Bastion 0.1%.
Most successful heroes:
Ana: 55.0%.
Zarya: 55.0%.
Reinhardt: 54.9%.
Widowmaker: 54.8%.
Zenyatta: 54.6%.
D.Va: 54.0%.
Genji: 54.0%.
Winston: 53.5%.
Tracer: 53.2%.
Mercy: 53.2%.
Hanzo: 53.1%.
Meta transition from Season 10 to 11
In June, I have explained how Brigitte contributed to establishing a new meta where playing close and midrange DPS heroes became almost impossible, which encouraged the rise of Hanzo and Widowmaker to the top of the charts.
Junkrat and Pharah were also viable picks, but extremely limited to certain maps, and the latter in particular had a very hard time against two long-range attackers.
Widowmaker lived a relatively peaceful life
Flankers such as Tracer and Genji could not be used as freely as before because Brigitte dealt with them too well.
Dive heroes like Winston and D.Va also disappeared because Hanzo’s new astonishing burst damage annihilated them. Zenyatta also assisted with his Orb of Discord so any hero literally melted against them.
About the tank picks
The Brigitte comp required a mobile shield, and Reinhardt was the best choice as the Orisa’s one is too static and not as strong.
Hanzo requires Zarya, and she works great with Reinhardt, thus they were the most popular duo of tanks.
As previously explained, the dive tanks were not played anymore.
Things are different now because - among other changes - Hanzo and Brigitte received several nerfs, so their predominance in the meta decreased. Honestly, Hanzo is still one of the best DPS in the game, but as you can see from the graph above, Brigitte fell to tier 4.
In June, she was the 6th most picked hero at GrandMaster, while now she maintains a solid 3.4% pick rate. Even if played less, her influence in the meta is still visible, but the hero pick rate distribution in Season 11 is a lot more balanced. The top characters of the old season are still dominant, but other DPS and Tank heroes are ranking up again: Genji, Tracer, D.Va, and Winston.
Finally, I do not consider the win rate of a hero in these meta lists because it isn’t a value we can trust for a proper distribution, but I want to point out that Brigitte’s win rate is still extremely positive at all ranks.
If you pick dive, you are countered with Brigitte
Right now, we mostly talk about deathball and dual-sniper metas, but the previous dive meta still exists, and it is potentially viable. The issue is that every time a team tries to use the dive comps, the opponents will change their picks, and heavily counter them with the lineup built around Brigitte.
At higher ranks, there is a sort of tacit agreement: "you don’t go full dive, and we won’t use Brigitte ;)". At the end, I can’t tell for sure if the meta really changed, or the players just want to play other heroes.
“Even if more DPS are finding a space in the lineups, having an excellent Widowmaker and/or Hanzo in the team is often the key to victory.”
With such heroes, and with Widowmaker in particular, a good aim is fundamental, but knowing the positions from where to shoot without being seen makes the difference between a good and a great player.
Check out my series on the best sniping spots for Widowmaker!
Hybrid Maps
Assault Maps
Master hero meta
Tier 1 (>10%): Reinhardt 11.5% - Mercy 10.6%.
Tier 2 (>7%): Zenyatta 9.1% - Zarya 8.1%.
Tier 3 (>4%): Ana 6.0% - Hanzo 5.6% - Genji 5.3% - Widowmaker 4.5% - Winston 4.4% - D.Va 4.3%.
Tier 4 (>2%): McCree 3.8% - Brigitte 3.6% - Tracer 3.1% - Doomfist 2.6% - Roadhog 2.5% - Moira 2.3% - Lucio 2.2%.
Tier 5 (<2%): Orisa 1.9% - Pharah 1.7% - Wrecking Ball 1.0% - Reaper 0.8% - Soldier: 76 0.8% - Sombra 0.8% - Junkrat 0.7% - Mei 0.7% - Symmetra 0.6% - Torbjorn 0.2% - Bastion 0.1%.
Most successful heroes:
Reinhardt: 52.8%.
Genji: 52.7%.
Zarya: 52.7%.
Ana: 52.4%.
Widowmaker: 52.3%.
Zenyatta: 52.1%.
D.Va: 51.5%.
Hanzo: 51.4%.
Winston: 50.9%.
Mercy: 50.9%.
Diamond hero meta
Tier 1 (>10%): Reinhardt 11.9%.
Tier 2 (>7%): Mercy 9.7% - Zarya 7.6% - Zenyatta 7.2%.
Tier 3 (>4%): Ana 6.6% - Hanzo 5.5% - Genji 5.4% - McCree 4.6% - Widowmaker 4.1% - D.Va 4.1%.
Tier 4 (>2%): Moira 3.8% - Brigitte 3.7% - Winston 3.5% - Roadhog 2.8% - Tracer 2.7% - Doomfist 2.6% - Pharah 2.2% - Lucio 2.0%.
Tier 5 (<2%): Orisa 1.7% - Reaper 1.4% - Soldier: 76 1.2% - Junkrat 1.1% - Wrecking Ball 1.0% - Mei 0.7% - Sombra 0.7% - Symmetra 0.6% - Torbjorn 0.2% - Bastion 0.2%.
Most successful heroes:
Reinhardt: 53.6%.
Zenyatta: 53.5%.
Zarya: 53.0%.
D.Va: 53.0%.
Genji: 52.7%.
Widowmaker: 52.6%.
Hanzo: 52.2%.
Ana: 51.8%.
Mercy: 51.8%.
McCree: 50.7%.
Platinum hero meta
Tier 1 (>10%): Reinhardt 11.8% - Mercy 10.0%.
Tier 2 (>7%): None.
Tier 3 (>4%): Ana 6.7% - Zarya 6.5% - Zenyatta 5.6% - Moira 5.4% - D.Va 4.9% - Hanzo 4.9% - Genji 4.7% - McCree 4.7%.
Tier 4 (>2%): Brigitte 3.6% - Widowmaker 3.3% - Pharah 3.0% - Winston 3.0% - Roadhog 2.9% - Reaper 2.2% - Tracer 2.2% - Doomfist 2.1% - Lucio 2.0%.
Tier 5 (<2%): Junkrat 1.9% - Soldier: 76 1.8% - Orisa 1.8% - Wrecking Ball 0.9% - Mei 0.8% - Symmetra 0.7% - Sombra 0.7% - Bastion 0.3% - Torbjorn 0.3%.
Most successful heroes:
Zenyatta: 52.6%.
D.Va: 52.4%.
Reinhardt: 52.1%.
Zarya: 51.2%.
Moira: 50.9%.
Mercy: 50.8%.
Hanzo: 50.6%.
Genji: 50.5%.
Gold hero meta
Tier 1 (>10%): Reinhardt 11.9% - Mercy 11.1%.
Tier 2 (>7%): None.
Tier 3 (>4%): Moira 6.7% - D.Va 6.3% - Ana 5.8% - Zarya 5.3% - Zenyatta 4.5% - Hanzo 4.1%.
Tier 4 (>2%): McCree 3.8% - Genji 3.8% - Brigitte 3.7% - Pharah 3.5% - Junkrat 3.2% - Reaper 2.8% - Roadhog 2.8% - Winston 2.7% - Widowmaker 2.5% - Lucio 2.5% - Soldier: 76 2.3% - Orisa 2.2%.
Tier 5 (<2%): Tracer 1.7% - Doomfist 1.6% - Mei 1.0% - Wrecking Ball 0.8% - Symmetra 0.6% - Sombra 0.6% - Bastion 0.5% - Torbjorn 0.4%.
Most successful heroes:
Zenyatta: 51.4%.
Reinhardt: 50.9%.
D.Va: 50.8%.
Silver hero meta
Tier 1 (>10%): Mercy 11.5% - Reinhardt 11.2%.
Tier 2 (>7%): Moira 7.9% - D.Va 7.5%.
Tier 3 (>4%): Ana 4.8% - Junkrat 4.5% - Zarya 4.0% - Zenyatta 4.0%.
Tier 4 (>2%): Brigitte 3.7% - Hanzo 3.6% - Pharah 3.5% - Genji 3.5% - Lucio 3.3% - Reaper 3.0% - McCree 2.9% - Orisa 2.8% - Soldier: 76 2.6% - Roadhog 2.6% - Winston 2.5% - Widowmaker 2.1%.
Tier 5 (<2%): Tracer 1.5% - Doomfist 1.4% - Mei 1.1% - Symmetra 0.9% - Bastion 0.8% - Wrecking Ball 0.8% - Sombra 0.6% - Torbjorn 0.5%.
Most successful heroes:
Zenyatta: 50.3%.
Bronze hero meta
Tier 1 (>10%): Mercy 11.6%.
Tier 2 (>7%): Reinhardt 9.5% - D.Va 8.3% - Moira 8.1%.
Tier 3 (>4%): Junkrat 5.0% - Lucio 4.2% - Ana 4.0%.
Tier 4 (>2%): Orisa 3.9% - Zenyatta 3.6% - Brigitte 3.4% - Hanzo 3.3% - Pharah 3.2% - Genji 3.2% - Soldier: 76 2.8% - Zarya 2.7% - Reaper 2.6% - Roadhog 2.4% - Widowmaker 2.3% - McCree 2.3% - Winston 2.1%.
Tier 5 (<2%): Tracer 1.8% - Bastion 1.6% - Symmetra 1.5% - Doomfist 1.3% - Mei 1.2% - Sombra 1.0% - Torbjorn 0.9% - Wrecking Ball 0.8%.
Most successful heroes:
None
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