The start of the Overwatch League Season 2 is one of the most highly anticipated event for Overwatch fans craving esports action. After nearly 7 months of the off-season, fans showed up dressed in their OWL jerseys and home-made signs, some of them waiting more than 6 hours in advance in the rain.





The first match of the day was between The London Spitfire and The Philadelphia Fusion, a rematch of epic proportions considering both teams last met during the Grand Finals of OWL Season 1. Fusion ending up winning the match 3-1, but the most popular topic around social media the presence of the triple tanks, triple support meta called Goats.







Casters thought of unique names to avoid directly calling the Zarya, D.va, Reinhardt (sometimes Winston) Brigitte, Lucio, and Zenyatta by their community accepted name, Goats. Sometimes they called it the triple triple, sometimes they called it three and three, but nearly 23,000 Twitch viewers were, nevertheless, quick to spam Goats memes and spam throughout the match.





During map 3, London Spitfire brought out a unique composition featuring, a Widowmaker, Mercy, Pharah, Zarya, andWrecking Ball composition but, after getting stopped they returned to Goats and completed the push.



London Spitfire on social media poked fun at their attempt to run anything but Goats, however, when they found success using a 4 DPS composition, they were quick to celebrate as the "NoGOATS" team.





The Goats meta

During the first post-game press conference, EQO of Philadephia Fusion was quick to address questions concerning the teams supposedly reliance on DPS players. Today's match, as EQO puts it, proved his team can be successful in any meta.

EQO also addressed the power of the Goats meta and how, despite the strategies popularity, teams will still find ways to adapt and develop new approaches to countering it. Weaker teams, in particular, will be tested on their ability to counter Goats and avoiding the mirror match.

During the London Spitfire press conference, the players and coaching staff in attendance seemed to agree on the importance of the Goats meta, stating that any teams able to counter Goats will see success.

NYXL, another top OWL team is benefiting from the Goats meta. After their match vs. Boston Uprising, they revealed how confident they are playing Goats and running counter composistions as well:





Overwatch League season 2 can be watched live at twitch.tv/Overwatchleague. The first week's scheduled matches are as follows:





Thursday, Feb. 14

· Philadelphia Fusion vs. London Spitfire, 4 p.m. PST

· New York Excelsior vs. Boston Uprising, 5:30 p.m. PST

· Seoul Dynasty vs. Los Angeles Gladiators, 7 p.m. PST

· Shanghai Dragons vs. Hangzhou Spark, 8:30 p.m. PST





Friday, Feb. 15

· Toronto Defiant vs. Houston Outlaws, 4 p.m. PST

· Atlanta Reign vs. Florida Mayhem, 5:30 p.m. PST

· Dallas Fuel vs. San Francisco Shock, 7 p.m. PST

· Chengdu Hunters vs. Guangzhou Charge, 8:30 p.m. PST





Saturday, Feb. 16

· London Spitfire vs. Paris Eternal, 12 p.m. PST

· Washington Justice vs. New York Excelsior, 1:30 p.m. PST

· Los Angeles Valiant vs. Hangzhou Spark, 3 p.m. PST

· Vancouver Titans vs. Shanghai Dragons, 4:30 p.m. PST





Sunday, Feb. 17

· Houston Outlaws vs. Boston Uprising, 12 p.m. PST

· Philadelphia Fusion vs. Atlanta Reign, 1:30 p.m. PST

· San Francisco Shock vs. Los Angeles Gladiators, 3 p.m. PST

· Seoul Dynasty vs. Dallas Fuel, 4:30 p.m. PST