I will continue to track the S Tier for when a time when a non-1 Hero Limit format Tournament returns, but the Alienware Monthly Melee utilized 1 Hero Limit Rules so there were no S - Tier Heroes to Report.

The A Tier: The “Non-Negotiable” Core Heroes. The A Tier is the highest attainable designation in the 1 Hero Limit Format and for the first time since its adoption it is populated solely by Healers. This is reminiscent of the Closed Beta, No Hero Limit Formats where Teams would either stack Lucios or Zenyattas (when Zenyatta was overpowered), which led me at the time to conclude that Overwatch needs more Support Heroes. I still believe this, so before you go clamoring for Mercy or Lucio nerfs: consider instead to simply call for more Supports to be added to the game first (or for Zenyatta to be buffed, the poor thing). When there’s only four Support Classes -- only three of which can actually heal -- it stands to reason that these Heroes will naturally dominate in Usage Rate. All of that said, Lucio's climb back into this Tier this week was due to the amount of King of the Hill matches nearly doubling -- a game mode in which this AOE-based Healer excels.

The B Tier: The “Balanced” Heroes. I had refrained from calling the B Tier the “Balanced” Tier for several weeks, primarily because until last week it only housed a few Heroes, despite its large Usage Rate range (40-80%). It seems that last Week's six B Tier Heroes was no fluke: the B Tier finally seems to represent those Heroes who are “Well-Balanced” in their Usage Rate. These are the Heroes who are being swapped out often with other Heroes who share their Tier, as well as with the Tiers below them. When constructing a lineup to try out an experimental Offense -- or make a desperate swap for a Point Defense -- this is where you should look first.

The C Tier: The “Meta-Dependent” Heroes. This Tier now represents the Heroes whose usage is dependent on the state of the current Meta. You’ll notice that Widowmaker has regained a bit of her Usage following her nerf to reach this Tier, while Genji and Tracer fit Metas which are a bit less Tank-Heavy.

The D Tier: The “Specialist, or Weak” Heroes. These Heroes excel at one thing, and one thing only. Symmetra and Junkrat are the masters of chokepoint Defenses, Torbjorn finds a home on Numbani and Hollywood Defense and D.Va does as well as a counter to Torbjorn on Offense. Hanzo and McCree fall under the “weak” category -- McCree for his recent (possibly too strong) nerf, and Hanzo simply because Widow does everything he can do, but better.

The F Tier: The “We Exist, Barely” Heroes. Once again saw a negligible Usage Rate this week. Remember those rumors I heard about Zenyatta Team compositions making an appearance in Competitive play? Apparently, they were all dead wrong: Zenyatta had exactly 0 picks out of >900 Data points from the Alienware Monthly Melee. Blizzard, I have the evidence you need to buff Zenyatta -- just pull the trigger!

** I do not chose the placement of Heroes in a Tier, only the Range which defines the Tier. By determining Usage Rate directly from Hero Picks in Tournament Matches, my data is Objectively determined, and not subjective at all.