Overwatch Tier List and Meta Report Season 19 - December 2019
The Overwatch Tier List shows the most popular heroes during December, Season 19. Find out the most successful support, tank, and DPS heroes in this meta.
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.
Blizzard has not released an Overwatch API to access the data of all players in the game, so this article 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.
Jeff Kaplan shared the official data on season 9, and the figures were mostly similar to the ones available on Overbuff. We can trust the data even it is isn’t completely accurate.
I have published updated data (based only on PC players) during each season. Check out all the previous meta reports.
Past Meta Report: November 2019
More: Updated Overwatch Hero Tier List
Note: Patch 1.43.0.0, published on December 10th, brought changes to several heroes, so I decided to use only data past this date.
Most popular heroes by rank
The table is responsive. If you are using a phone, turn it sideways for a full view. Otherwise, zoom in or click the grey area to swipe the table.
| # | Bronze | Silver | Gold | Platinum | Diamond | Master | GrandMaster |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Moira | Moira | Reinhardt | Reinhardt | Reinhardt | Baptiste | Baptiste |
| 2 | Reinhardt | Reinhardt | Moira | Ana | Baptiste | Reinhardt | Orisa |
| 3 | Mercy | Mercy | Ana | Moira | Ana | Orisa | Sigma |
| 4 | Baptiste | Zarya | Zarya | Baptiste | Moira | Hanzo | Hanzo |
| 5 | Lúcio | Ana | Baptiste | Zarya | Zarya | Ana | Zenyatta |
| 6 | Ana | Baptiste | Mercy | McCree | Hanzo | Sigma | Reinhardt |
| 7 | Orisa | Reaper | McCree | Mercy | McCree | Lúcio | Mei |
| 8 | Reaper | Orisa | Roadhog | Hanzo | Orisa | McCree | Wrecking Ball |
| 9 | Zarya | Junkrat | Hanzo | Roadhog | Roadhog | Moira | Lúcio |
| 10 | Junkrat | Lúcio | Reaper | Genji | Lúcio | Roadhog | Widowmaker |
| 11 | Roadhog | Roadhog | Orisa | Lúcio | Sigma | Mercy | McCree |
| 12 | Sigma | Sigma | Lúcio | Sigma | Mercy | Zarya | Ana |
| 13 | D.Va | McCree | Sigma | Orisa | Genji | Zenyatta | Doomfist |
| 14 | Mei | Hanzo | Genji | Reaper | Wrecking Ball | Wrecking Ball | Mercy |
| 15 | McCree | Mei | Junkrat | Wrecking Ball | Widowmaker | Mei | Brigitte |
GrandMaster tier list - S19, December 2019
Tier 1 (>10%): Baptiste 15.1% - Orisa 11.7% - Sigma 11.0%.
Tier 2 (>7%): Hanzo 9.4%.
Tier 3 (>4%): Zenyatta 5.8% - Reinhardt 5.4% - Mei 5.3%.
Tier 4 (>2%): 3.9% - Lucio 3.9% - Widowmaker 3.2% - McCree 2.7% - Ana 2.6% - Doomfist 2.4% - Mercy 2.3% - Brigitte 2.3% - Roadhog 2.1%.
Tier 5 (<2%): Tracer 1.7% - Genji 1.3% - Moira 1.3% - Torbjorn 0.9% - Winston 0.8% - Reaper 0.8% - Junkrat 0.7% - Zarya 0.7% - Ashe 0.7% - Sombra 0.6% - Pharah 0.4% - Soldier: 76 0.4% - Symmetra 0.3% - D.Va 0.3% - Bastion 0.01%.
Most successful heroes (positive win rate, and pick rate above 4%):
Sigma: 57.1%
Orisa: 56.2%
Mei: 56.0%
Hanzo: 55.7%
Zenyatta: 55.4%
Baptiste: 55.2%
Reinhardt: 53.9%
In the previous months, I have featured several meta heroes, and explained their impact in the gameplay at high ranks. For more info, check out the following reports:
The OWL team Florida Mayhem leaked the new meta heroes weeks ago, before the patch landed on the Live client.
They shared the following picture on their official Twitter on December 6th. The monitor on the left shows a lineup composed of Orisa, Sigma, Hanzo, Mei, Baptiste, and Zenyatta, who are the current top heroes at GrandMaster.
In the past, both pro and pub players complained about the excessive sustainability of the GOATS comp, but also this new iteration of the Double Shield meta is quite tough to kill:
Baptiste and Zenyatta provide two abilities that prevent teammates from dying: Immortality Field and Transcendence.
Orisa and Sigma both have spammable shields.
Mei can disable multiple characters at a time, counter dive tanks and mobile offensive heroes, and she has great survivability skills.
Blizzard nerfed all the shields in the recent patch 1.43.0.0 on December 10th, but these changes did not actually decrease the pick rate of shield heroes. In fact, they are even more necessary than in the past because a single shield now doesn’t have enough health points.
In my opinion, adjusting directly the shields is not the best route, but they had to nerf each shield-tank in other ways. For example, Orisa required a nerf to Fortify, instead, Blizzard decided to buff this ability by decreasing its cooldown from 10 to 8 seconds.
The Double Shield meta is now less oppressive because the shields have less health, but this was not the best approach to get rid of it.
Zenyatta and Baptiste replaced Moira and Lucio because the old pair had no shield-breaking abilities.
Hanzo can destroy quickly the new paper shields with Storm Arrows.
Once the shields are down, these three heroes can shoot and kill opponents from a distance. In particular, Hanzo is one of the best snipers in the game, and with his abilities he can literally one-shot most characters from long range, especially if supported by Zenyatta’s Orb of Discord.
Hanzo’s Dragonstrike is a teamfight-winning ultimate in combination with Mei’s Blizzard, and the latter also provides a shield via Ice Wall.
Note: I will explain accurately Mei’s strengths and role in the DPS section.
Ultimately, while the Double Shield meta is still alive and strong, it will be less static, and it will require better teamwork and positioning skills to succeed.
Support popularity
Symmetra is still included among the supports because of the statistical tool used. Removing her would have caused problems with the data.
| Hero | Bronze | Silver | Gold | Platinum | Diamond | Master | GrandMaster |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Moira | 10.4% | 10.9% | 9.8% | 8.1% | 6.5% | 4.1% | 1.3% |
| Baptiste | 5.1% | 5.1% | 6.1% | 7.3% | 9.0% | 12.2% | 15.1% |
| Ana | 4.7% | 6.1% | 7.0% | 8.3% | 8.0% | 6.5% | 2.6% |
| Mercy | 7.5% | 7.0% | 6.0% | 5.2% | 3.9% | 3.5% | 2.3% |
| Lucio | 4.8% | 3.9% | 3.4% | 3.5% | 4.3% | 4.5% | 3.9% |
| Zenyatta | 1.7% | 1.4% | 1.4% | 1.6% | 2.2% | 3.3% | 5.8% |
| Brigitte | 1.6% | 1.4% | 1.1% | 1.1% | 1.4% | 2.1% | 2.3% |
DPS popularity
The graph shows data on the top 8 most picked DPS heroes at all ranks.
| Hero | Bronze | Silver | Gold | Platinum | Diamond | Master | GrandMaster |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hanzo | 2.7% | 3.1% | 3.8% | 4.7% | 5.9% | 7.2% | 9.4% |
| McCree | 2.8% | 3.5% | 4.6% | 5.4% | 4.9% | 4.1% | 2.7% |
| Genji | 2.2% | 2.6% | 3.1% | 3.5% | 3.4% | 2.2% | 1.3% |
| Reaper | 4.4% | 4.4% | 3.6% | 2.6% | 1.7% | 1.1% | 0.8% |
| Mei | 2.8% | 2.8% | 2.4% | 2.0% | 2.2% | 3.1% | 5.3% |
| Doomfist | 1.5% | 1.7% | 1.9% | 2.4% | 2.6% | 2.9% | 2.4% |
| Junkrat | 4.2% | 3.9% | 2.8% | 1.7% | 1.0% | 0.7% | 0.7% |
| Widowmaker | 1.5% | 1.1% | 1.4% | 2.0% | 2.6% | 2.9% | 3.2% |
Baptiste is the most popular hero of December at GrandMaster, but I already talked extensively about him in the past meta report, so today we will dedicate our time to another rising star: Mei.
Mei acts as the third tank in the 2-2-2 role meta
The Overwatch developers forced the 2-2-2 role meta, but Mei can be picked to cheat the system and include a third tank in the lineup. Honestly, with a few changes she could easily become an off-tank.
Most offense heroes have 200 HP, so Mei is relatively tough if compared to them with her 250 HP.
Cryo-Freeze increases her survivability making her immortal for 4 seconds and healing her for 150 HP, so she has 400 HP effectively.
Mei against the Double Shield meta
The Double Shield meta counters most frontal assault DPS heroes, unless they are able to rotate behind the shield or to destroy it. Instead, Mei’s gameplay is barely affected.
Mei’s Primary fire used to freeze one hero at a time, while now it can disable multiple targets at once.
Previously, Blizzard buffed it in an attempt to counter GOATS as it punishes teams that stay grouped closely. Of course, this perk is also great against Double Shield comps, after you get past the shields.
Honestly, being frozen is one of the worst gameplay experiences in Overwatch: you can just stand in place, trying to escape, while being slowly killed - this is excruciating if the team doesn’t come to your help. Only Orisa can counter it on her own thanks to Fortify (this skill adds up to the reasons behind her popularity).
Of course, heroes who stay grouped up are also an easy target for Mei’s ultimate, Blizzard.
Mei’s recent buffs
Mei enjoyed a slight buff to her Primary fire a few patches ago: damage increased from 2.25 to 2.75 (45 to 55 damage per second).
Her projectiles (Secondary fire) are unaffected by gravity, and there is no damage falloff (patch 1.26.0.3).
Once you get used to her weapon (Endothermic Blaster) it is rather easy to hit enemies at a distance and even shoot down Pharah players in the sky.
Ana’s Biotic Grenade used to prevent Mei from self-healing with Cryo-Freeze, but now the latter cleanses all status effects.
Mei has amazing survivability, solid burst damage, ability to disable several heroes at once, AoE ultimate that blocks the enemy team in place, and a wall to manipulate the battlefield.
I believe Mei has always been a strong hero, but she didn’t suit well the previous metas, so the great majority of the player base ignored her.
The new 2-2-2 role lock also helped her rise in the charts because she is the best tank option among the DPS characters.
Ice Wall usefulness
Mei’s Ice Wall offers great utility against most team compositions, Deathball ones in particular.
Ice Wall can be considered an unbreakable shield. It can be placed at a distance, it obstructs the line of sight of the opponents, blocks them in an area as it is often used near choke points, and for some reasons most players refuse to shoot and break it :D.
Ice Wall is composed of five pillars with 400 health each, so they can be destroyed easily if your team focus fire them. Unfortunately, this is not the case, so the poor Reinhardt stuck behind the wall is destined to die.
Generally, veteran players suggest shooting the middle ice pillar. This is not something that requires a callout, and all Overwatch players should get used to it. Blizzard also tried to help us by nerfing the health of each pillar from 500 to 400 in patch 1.34.0.1.
Fun fact: No one wants to destroy Mei’s Ice Wall, but everyone loves contributing to Zarya’s energy gain by shooting at her barriers.
How to balance Mei
IMHO, Blizzard should revert - or at least adjust - the buffs they stacked up during the GOATS meta as some characters are now excessively strong in specific situations.
Ice Wall is fine in its current state as nerfing more health points would make it useless at higher ranks.
Mei’s gun requires some changes, and I would get rid of the multi-freeze ability.
It is hard to achieve a perfect balance: Mei is situationally good against certain compositions, and right now she is very successful because everyone (at most ranks) is adopting the Double Shield meta.
If Blizzard nerfs Mei too much, she might become completely meaningless once the meta changes, especially at lower ranks because she requires more team coordination than most offense heroes.
Tank popularity
| Hero | Bronze | Silver | Gold | Platinum | Diamond | Master | GrandMaster |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Reinhardt | 8.3% | 9.2% | 10.9% | 10.9% | 10.7% | 8.7% | 5.4% |
| Zarya | 4.3% | 6.2% | 6.7% | 7.1% | 6.3% | 3.4% | 0.7% |
| Roadhog | 3.8% | 3.7% | 4.4% | 4.5% | 4.5% | 3.8% | 2.1% |
| Orisa | 4.7% | 4.1% | 3.4% | 3.3% | 4.6% | 8.1% | 11.7% |
| Sigma | 3.1% | 3.7% | 3.4% | 3.5% | 4.3% | 6.3% | 11.0% |
| Wrecking Ball | 2.0% | 2.2% | 2.5% | 2.6% | 2.9% | 3.3% | 3.9% |
| Winston | 2.1% | 1.8% | 1.6% | 1.5% | 1.2% | 0.9% | 0.8% |
| D.Va | 3.1% | 2.1% | 1.4% | 0.7% | 0.4% | 0.2% | 0.3% |
Hero tier lists by rank - S19, December 2019
All Ranks tier list
Most successful heroes (positive win rate, and pick rate above 4%):
Zarya: 52.3%
Orisa: 51.8%
Sigma: 51.8%
Reinhardt: 51.7%
Baptiste: 51.3%
Hanzo: 50.4%
Moira: 50.4%
Master tier list
Most successful heroes:
Reinhardt: 54.1%
Baptiste: 52.4%
Sigma: 52.3%
Lucio: 52.1%
Orisa: 51.6%
Ana: 51.5%
Moira: 50.5%
Diamond tier list
Most successful heroes:
Zarya: 55.1%
Sigma: 54.2%
Reinhardt: 53.4%
Baptiste: 53.2%
Orisa: 53.1%
Lucio: 52.4%
Roadhog: 52.0%
Hanzo: 51.9%
Moira: 51.9%
Ana: 51.2%
Platinum tier list
Most successful heroes:
Zarya: 53.3%
Reinhardt: 52.2%
Baptiste: 52.0%
Mercy: 51.4%
Moira: 51.4%
Hanzo: 50.7%
Roadhog: 50.5%
Gold tier list
Most successful heroes:
Zarya: 50.9%
Reinhardt: 50.7%
Silver tier list
Most successful heroes:
None.
