Tomorrow begins stage 4 of this season's Overwatch League. For the first time in its history, players will not be allowed to pick any hero they want. Instead, a role lock will be enforced that requires teams to build a composition of 2 tanks, 2 dps, and 2 supports.

This represents a major shift in ideology from early Overwatch, when the developer team believed that restricting roles limited player expression in the game. When the game first launched, it didn't even have character limits and all 6 teammates could play the same hero. Over time, though, with the addition of new heroes and the meta-compositions that have emerged, it has become necessary to enforce a role lock not only in the pro-league, but for competitive and quick-play mode as well. It's a big change, but Blizzard believes role lock will extend the life of the game and change the way they balance characters for the better.

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A Farewell To GOATS

The dominant composition in the OWL for the past year has been a 3-3 comp called GOATS. This composition, popularized by the team pro team GOATS (pre-OWL), is comprised of D.Va, Reinhardt, Zarya, Brigitte, Zenyatta, and Lucio. This 3 tank 3 support team move as a single unit: Reinhardt and D.Va charge in with the healer in toe, bubbled by Zarya, who is the main damage dealer and needs to keep a maximum charge to be effective. It's an extremely aggressive and generally short ranged comp, and has had so much success in the league that GOATS mirror matches (both teams playing the same heroes) has become the standard. If you're not running GOATS, you're not winning.

You can imagine then why the pros are excited for the role lock. GOATS is a 3-3 comp and starting tomorrow can never be played again in the league. This opens up the doors for a lot more variety as teams try out different 2-2-2 comps to find their strengths. It also means more hero-swapping and counter-picking now that teams won't feel locked into the same exact composition every game. We'll see different heroes dominate on different maps and game modes and hopefully, we'll see those big head-shot moments again now that DPS characters are back on the menu.

Balance Changes Will Work A Lot Differently

Throughout the history of Overwatch, the developers have used balance changes to shake up the meta in the game. GOATS came out of a need to counter the previously dominant composition: Dive meta. Back then it was the same: every team played the exact same 6 character, only then it was flankers and high mobility characters like Winston and Tracer that could get in fast and overwhelm the other team.

GOATS overtook Dive when Brigitte was added to the game. A support character with high sustainability and weak heals was just what the game needed to counter Dive, but unfortunately, we find ourselves in exact same situation now looking for a way to break GOATS. They could add a GOATS countering Hero to break up the meta, but we would just wind up back here in a few months. That's why role lock is the best solution.

This also means that the Overwatch developers will need to hero balance very carefully in order to sustain the game. An individual hero's strength is now much more important now that teams won't be glued to specific compositions. It will be good for players and viewers now that the team can focus on just making Overwatch a balanced game, as opposed to shaking up a stale meta.

Role Queue And You

Role lock begins tomorrow for the OWL, but won't be officially added to the game until the next competitive season starts on September 1st (the same day Sigma will be available for ranked). Players on ladder and quick play have always kept to a 2-2-2 composition, as pro comps like GOATS require a great deal more coordination and communication than you would find in an average online match. However, there are still player benefits to officially locking the role, that come in the form of the role queue.

The role queue will require you to chose which role you are going to play before queuing for either quick-play or ranked. This assures that players will get to play the role they are comfortable in, rather than ending up in a group of 6 dps mains where someone will have to take up a support role despite not being skilled in it. Wait times may vary now that you will need to wait for 5 other people in compatible roles to queue, but the variety of characters and play styles almost guarantees you will always find a match with people that play other roles.

Stage 4 begins tomorrow live on Twitch where we will get our first look at the new meta of Overwatch going forward.

NEXT: Overwatch: Beginners Guide To Sigma