Overwatch ranked Tier List and Meta report: October, Season 12
The Overwatch Ranked Tier List indicates the most popular heroes during season 12. 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 | Reinhardt | Reinhardt | Reinhardt | Reinhardt | Ana | Ana | Ana |
| 2 | Moira | Moira | Ana | Ana | Reinhardt | Reinhardt | Reinhardt |
| 3 | D.Va | D.Va | Moira | Moira | Zarya | Zarya | Zarya |
| 4 | Mercy | Mercy | D.Va | Zarya | Genji | Genji | D.Va |
| 5 | Ana | Ana | Mercy | Genji | Moira | D.Va | Winston |
| 6 | Junkrat | Junkrat | Zarya | D.Va | McCree | Brigitte | Lucio |
| 7 | Lucio | Lucio | Genji | McCree | D.Va | Zenyatta | Zenyatta |
| 8 | Orisa | Brigitte | Brigitte | Mercy | Brigitte | Winston | Brigitte |
| 9 | Brigitte | Zarya | McCree | Brigitte | Zenyatta | Lucio | Genji |
| 10 | Genji | Genji | Lucio | Zenyatta | Hanzo | Widowmaker | Widowmaker |
The GOATS team composition
In the past months, a new strategy appeared in the competitive scene: GOATS.
I decided to explain it in detail because the heroes played in this formation are among the most popular ones at GrandMaster, and many low/average ranked players are still confused about this term when it is used in their games.
The name GOATS comes from a North American team that first played this composition. The original lineup consists of 3 tanks (Reinhardt, Zarya, D.VA) and 3 supports (Brigitte, Moira, Lucio), and they exploited it in the Overwatch Contenders Trials.
Pros
High tankiness and AoE healing.
Several defensive tools.
Massive brawling power.
Cons
Very short fighting range.
Low damage potential.
It is easy to feed ultimate charge.
When talking about GOATS, we refer to the six original heroes: Reinhardt, Zarya, D.Va, Brigitte, Moira, and Lucio. Any 3-3 lineup with three tanks and three supports won’t work, but some variations are possible: for example, Winston could be played in place of D.Va, and Ana may replace Moira. You might consider GOATS also a sort of quad tank composition due to Brigitte’s hybrid role and skillset.
Why GOATS doesn’t work at low ranks
This tactic is mostly used at higher ranks for several reasons:
Low ranked players have issues accepting any formation that isn’t based on a 2-2-2 split.
There are always players who want to play as a DPS, and they are not willing to try something new.
GOATS requires coordination, so it is often fated to fail up to Platinum because in solo queue everyone tends to play on their own.
Dive vs. GOATS
The GOATS playstyle has some similarities with Dive, but the team has no vertical power. We could define it a sort of horizontal Dive.
It is a lot easier to execute. It doesn’t require as much coordination as Dive, and the roles and the goals of the team are fairly simple and standard. The squad plays as a whole: they move together, focus the same target, and try to score a kill as soon as possible to secure a numerical advantage; afterwards they jump on another enemy.
GOATS can be devastating against unprepared teams because most players are used to slow prolonged fights that start from a choke and end around the point; instead, this strategy relies on a quick approach based on the massive health pool and regeneration of the lineup.
When GOATS fails
In pubs, more often than not, GOATS fails due to the disorganization of the team.
We have already talked about the heroes required and the basic tactic, and while they are rather simple to execute, many players from Silver to Platinum are just not used to it.
They stick together with the team up to the choke, but then they split, facing multiple targets simultaneously and killing none. Sometimes, the whole team has no idea what’s going on, so some players actually engage the opponents while the others wait at the choke, attacking from long range with no real long-range DPS.
If it takes too long to get kills, eventually the healers or Reinhardt will die, or D.Va may lose her mech because she decided to dive solo and attack a target on her own.
Long-range is the main weakness of the GOATS comp: the enemies can bait them, attack from multiple high ground positions, delay the teamfights for as long as possible, and meanwhile build up their ultimates.
GOATS is amazing for short to average duration fights, but it becomes pointless in prolonged ones:
The team is composed of tanks, so naturally they can’t deal as much damage as DPS heroes.
The entire tactic is very dependent on cooldowns. Abilities such as D.Va’s Defense Matrix, Lucio’s Amp It Up, and Zarya’s Barriers are marvelous to block or mitigate damage, but they won’t work during a long fight without breaks.
The enemies can charge their ultimates quickly because they can attack three big targets with almost unlimited health points.
The highlight below shows how the limited attack range of the GOATS composition can be exploited by the enemy team. Los Angeles Valiant’s Pan-seung "Fate" Koo is able to contest the area for a few extra seconds exploiting the big drum in the middle of the point.
The GOATS gameplay
Reinhardt has a fundamental role in the GOATS composition, and all the resources of the team must be used to keep him alive for the whole fight as he is the main front-line hero.
Lucio’s Amp It Up provides a speed boost which is essential to engage the targets quickly, but it is Reinhardt who will jump on the opponent first. He inflicts a lot of damage at melee range - swinging his Rocket Hammer, becoming a critical threat, and getting focused by the opponents.
The GOATS team has two great defensive abilities on a cooldown to nullify all the damage: D.Va’s Defense Matrix and Zarya’s Barriers. The whole squad must focus the same target, and they should use those abilities at the right time to keep Reinhardt alive while killing the first enemy.
Afterwards, the lineup jumps on the second target. Ideally, even if the defensive abilities are still on cooldown, the team should be able to survive because they have three tanks with a big health pool and three AoE healers.
Lucio’s Amp It Up is mostly needed to speed boost the team while moving from a target to another, but when needed can be used also to regenerate health.
Moira’s massive AoE healing is the main healing source of the team. As long as she has charge available, her teammates should survive as they all move and fight together.
Finally, do not forget about Brigitte. She provides heals, has a shield to block some damage, and the stun can be game-changing to stop in place the target attacked by the squad.
Once the GOATS team gains a numerical advantage, they can get the control of the area and deal with the remaining opponents. At most ranks, the players don’t know how to react and will quickly lose a point of the map.
If well-executed, this tactic will charge quickly all the ultimates of the team:
The AoE healers have an advantage, and Moira might obtain Coalescence during the first point. While under its effect, this team is basically immortal.
Reinhardt will hit opponents with his hammer for most of the time, so Earthshatter will charge rapidly.
Zarya bubbles Reinhardt, blocking most of the attacks, and charging her own damage. She will turn into a real threat, and usually Graviton Surge will be ready after conquering the first point.
Ranked hero tier list - October, season 12
Tier 1 (>10%): Reinhardt 11.5% - Ana 10.0%.
Tier 2 (>7%): Moira 7.3%.
Tier 3 (>4%): Zarya 5.9% - D.Va 5.9% - Mercy 5.1% - Genji 4.8% - Brigitte 4.1% - McCree 4.1%.
Tier 4 (>2%): Zenyatta 3.8% - Hanzo 3.6% - Lucio 3.6% - Winston 3.2% - Doomfist 3.1% - Widowmaker 3.0% - Pharah 2.6% - Roadhog 2.3% - Junkrat 2.3% - Tracer 2.1%.
Tier 5 (<2%): Soldier: 76 1.9% - Reaper 1.9% - Orisa 1.6% - Wrecking Ball 1.5% - Mei 1.1% - Sombra 1.1% - Symmetra 0.8% - Bastion 0.4% - Torbjorn 0.3%.
Most successful heroes (positive win rate, and pick rate above 4%):
Brigitte: 56.0%
Reinhardt: 52.2%
D.Va: 51.2%
Zarya: 51.4%
Genji: 51.0%
Moira: 50.5%
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
I have already talked about the situation of Ana and Mercy in the previous meta report as the patch that brought Ana back has been released near the end of Season 11. At the time, her pick rate was rising up, while Mercy was still the most popular support at most ranks.
Tank popularity
Ranked hero tier lists by rank - October, season 12
GrandMaster hero meta
Tier 1 (>10%): Ana 14.3%.
Tier 2 (>7%): Reinhardt 9.8% - Zarya 8.1%.
Tier 3 (>4%): D.Va 6.9% - Winston 6.3% - Lucio 6.2% - Zenyatta 5.3% - Brigitte 5.3% - Genji 5.2% - Widowmaker 4.9% - Doomfist 4.5% - Hanzo 4.1%.
Tier 4 (>2%): Tracer 3.5% - McCree 2.7% - Sombra 2.1%.
Tier 5 (<2%): Mercy 1.9% - Wrecking Ball 1.7% - Moira 1.3% - Orisa 1.2% - Roadhog 1.1% - Pharah 0.9% - Mei 0.8% - Symmetra 0.5% - Soldier: 76 0.5% - Junkrat 0.4% - Reaper 0.3% - Torbjorn 0.2% - Bastion 0.1%.
Most successful heroes:
Doomfist: 56.7%
Brigitte: 55.7%
Zarya: 55.3%
Zenyatta: 55.0%
Reinhardt: 54.8%
Genji: 54.7%
Widowmaker: 54.2%
Ana: 54.2%
Hanzo: 54.0%
D.Va: 53.7%
Winston: 53.3%
Lucio: 52.7%
Doomfist’s success in the meta
I used a Doomfist’s banner for this meta report for two reasons:
He is one of the heroes with the highest win rate in the game at GrandMaster, Master, and Diamond while maintaining a respectable pick rate. Statistically, he is just slightly behind Brigitte.
He works great versus tanks, and as I have explained so far, most tanks (particularly those played in the GOATS composition) are dominating the top 10 at GrandMaster.
Brandon “Seagull” Larned, a famous players and streamer who last competed for Dallas Fuel, explained in the video below how Doomfist became a meta hero.
Doomfist was always a god-tier hero against tanks, but he is weak versus Dive compositions.
Dive fell out of the meta, and after Brigitte was added to the game, tank-based Deathball formations became popular.
Doomfist can one-shot supports, and chain CC tanks without dying thanks to his passive ability, The Best Defense.
No tank can counter Doomfist
Generally, each DPS hero is countered by a specific tank. For example, Winston is the best pick versus mobile heroes like Genji, and you can notice that both of them are popular picks at GrandMaster.
Roadhog is the only tank who might deal with Doomfist, but currently he is underpowered and out of meta. Jeff Kaplan announced that the changes to Hog will hit the PTR soon.
Right now, even Roadhog has just poor hopes against Doomfist as everything relies on your luck with the Chain Hook and the coordination of the team.
You can’t one-shot a full health Doomfist on your own as in most cases he will have some barrier to mitigate the damage - maybe the old Hog, with more burst damage, would have been enough. Beside the damage, landing the hook isn’t guaranteed, and Doomfist could survive in any case if protected by Zarya’s Projected Barrier; who is a popular pick nowadays.
On paper, Orisa is the only other tank who works against Doomfist thanks to her abilities Halt! and Fortify, but she isn’t a popular pick, and in the end he can just ignore her and focus other targets.
Dealing with Doomfist
Lane “Surefour” Roberts, DPS player for Los Angeles Gladiators, explained in the video below that positioning is crucial to avoid being one-shot by Doomfist.
Deny his space. Conquering the high ground will make his life harder, allowing you to avoid most one-shot situations.
Focus him anytime he appears on sight, so he can never reach a good position.
Study the map, find out the areas from where he could engage, and be ready to counter him.
If Doomfist attacks a teammate, disable him with an ability such as Ana’s Sleep Dart, or protect the target with Zarya’s Projected Barrier.
Save your disables for Doomfist, and focus him while his abilities are on cooldown. He is naturally strong against most heroes in a 1vs1 situation, but Overwatch isn’t a single-player game, so you must act as a team to deal with this threat.
As Surefour said, if you stare at the Reinhardt’s shield for the entire game, do not be surprised that Doomfist had the time to reach a suitable placement and one-shot you.
Master hero meta
Tier 1 (>10%): Ana 13.7% - Reinhardt 11.0%.
Tier 2 (>7%): Zarya 8.2%.
Tier 3 (>4%): Genji 6.0% - D.Va 5.2% - Brigitte 5.1% - Zenyatta 5.0% - Winston 5.0% - Lucio 4.7% - Widowmaker 4.1% - Doomfist 4.1%
Tier 4 (>2%): Hanzo 3.9% - McCree 3.8% - Moira 3.4% - Tracer 3.3% - Mercy 2.6%.
Tier 5 (<2%): Sombra 1.6% - Roadhog 1.6% - Wrecking Ball 1.5% - Pharah 1.2% - Orisa 1.2% - Soldier: 76 0.9% - Mei 0.8% - Junkrat 0.6% - Symmetra 0.6% - Reaper 0.5% - Torbjorn 0.2% - Bastion 0.1%.
Most successful heroes:
Brigitte: 55.4%
Doomfist: 55.1%
Zenyatta: 54.0%
Reinhardt: 53.4%
Zarya: 53.2%
Genji: 52.8%
Widowmaker: 52.4%
Ana: 52.0%
D.Va: 51.5%
Winston: 50.5%
Lucio: 50.2%
Diamond hero meta
Tier 1 (>10%): Ana 11.9% - Reinhardt 11.6%.
Tier 2 (>7%): Zarya 7.6%.
Tier 3 (>4%): Genji 6.3% - Moira 5.5% - McCree 4.7% - D.Va 4.6% - Brigitte 4.5% - Zenyatta 4.3% - Hanzo 4.0% - Doomfist 4.0%.
Tier 4 (>2%): Widowmaker 3.9% - Winston 3.9% - Lucio 3.4% - Mercy 3.3% - Tracer 2.9% - Roadhog 2.2%.
Tier 5 (<2%): Pharah 1.8% - Wrecking Ball 1.7% - Sombra 1.3% - Soldier: 76 1.3% - Orisa 1.2% - Junkrat 1.0% - Reaper 1.0% - Mei 0.9% - Symmetra 0.7% - Torbjorn 0.3% - Bastion 0.2%.
Most successful heroes:
Brigitte: 57.0%
Doomfist: 55.6%
Zenyatta: 54.3%
Reinhardt: 53.9%
Zarya: 53.7%
Genji: 53.0%
D.Va: 53.0%
Moira: 52.5%
Ana: 52.3%
Hanzo: 52.1%
McCree: 50.5%
Platinum hero meta
Tier 1 (>10%): Reinhardt 11.7% - Ana 10.7%.
Tier 2 (>7%): Moira 7.3%.
Tier 3 (>4%): Zarya 6.4% - Genji 5.3% - D.Va 5.3% - McCree 4.8% - Mercy 4.6% - Brigitte 4.0%.
Tier 4 (>2%): Zenyatta 3.9% - Hanzo 3.9% - Doomfist 3.3% - Widowmaker 3.3% - Winston 3.2% - Lucio 3.2% - Pharah 2.6% - Roadhog 2.5% - Tracer 2.2%.
Tier 5 (<2%): Soldier: 76 1.9% - Reaper 1.9% - Junkrat 1.8% - Wrecking Ball 1.5% - Orisa 1.4% - Sombra 1.1% - Mei 1.0% - Symmetra 0.8% - Bastion 0.3% - Torbjorn 0.3%.
Most successful heroes:
Brigitte: 56.6%
Reinhardt: 52.7%
D.Va: 52.3%
Zarya: 51.6%
Moira: 51.5%
Genji: 51.2%
Ana: 50.3%
Mercy: 50.2%
Gold hero meta
Tier 1 (>10%): Reinhardt 11.9%.
Tier 2 (>7%): Ana 8.8% - Moira 8.8%.
Tier 3 (>4%): D.Va 6.5% - Mercy 6.3% - Zarya 5.1% - Genji 4.1% - Brigitte 4.0%.
Tier 4 (>2%): McCree 3.9% - Lucio 3.4% - Zenyatta 3.4% - Hanzo 3.4% - Pharah 3.2% - Junkrat 3.1% - Winston 2.8% - Reaper 2.6% - Roadhog 2.6% - Doomfist 2.6% - Widowmaker 2.5% - Soldier: 76 2.4%.
Tier 5 (<2%): Orisa 1.8% - Tracer 1.7% - Wrecking Ball 1.5% - Mei 1.3% - Symmetra 0.9% - Sombra 0.9% - Bastion 0.5% - Torbjorn 0.3%.
Most successful heroes:
Brigitte: 55.7%
Reinhardt: 51.2%
D.Va: 51.2%
Silver hero meta
Tier 1 (>10%): Reinhardt 11.2%.
Tier 2 (>7%): Moira 9.4% - D.Va 7.6% - Mercy 7.5% - Ana 7.0%.
Tier 3 (>4%): Junkrat 4.4% - Lucio 4.2%.
Tier 4 (>2%): Brigitte 3.9% - Zarya 3.8% - Genji 3.5% - Pharah 3.2% - Zenyatta 3.1% - Hanzo 3.1% - McCree 3.0% - Reaper 2.8% - Soldier: 76 2.7% - Roadhog 2.5% - Orisa 2.4% - Winston 2.4% - Doomfist 2.3% - Widowmaker 2.1%.
Tier 5 (<2%): Wrecking Ball 1.5% - Tracer 1.5% - Mei 1.5% - Symmetra 1.2% - Bastion 0.8% - Sombra 0.8% - Torbjorn 0.5%.
Most successful heroes:
Lucio: 50.1%
Reinhardt: 50.1%
Bronze hero meta
Tier 1 (>10%): None.
Tier 2 (>7%): Reinhardt 9.7% - Moira 9.2% - D.Va 8.3% - Mercy 8.2%.
Tier 3 (>4%): Ana 5.8% - Junkrat 5.2% - Lucio 5.0%.
Tier 4 (>2%): Orisa 3.6% - Brigitte 3.5% - Genji 3.4% - Hanzo 3.3% - Zenyatta 2.9% - Soldier: 76 2.9% - Pharah 2.8% - Zarya 2.7% - Roadhog 2.5% - Reaper 2.4% - McCree 2.2% - Winston 2.2% - Widowmaker 2.2% - Doomfist 2.0%.
Tier 5 (<2%): Mei 1.8% - Symmetra 1.7% - Tracer 1.6% - Wrecking Ball 1.5% - Bastion 1.5% - Sombra 1.2% - Torbjorn 0.8%.
Most successful heroes:
None.
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