As we trundle though Stage Three of the Overwatch League, we also trundle through another stage featuring the now-infamous GOATS composition. Instilling its presence over the meta for over a year now, GOATS is perhaps the most controversial composition we’ve seen in the history of professional Overwatch play. Some fiercely defend it, while others claim that it’s driving casual viewers away with its low-risk, low-reward gameplay and lack of DPS heroes. Stage Three has seen much more variety and a strong return of DPS compositions, alongside the rise of the Sombra-GOATS variation, but it still feels like GOATS is the default composition. At this point, any other compositions feel like exceptions, not the rule, even if the meta is slowly shifting.

The developers have tried to nerf GOATS out of professional play with a variety of balance patches, none of which have had a huge impact. This has led to a rise in discussion about a potential 2/2/2 role lock being implemented into the Overwatch League. This would mean that teams would have to be playing two DPS heroes, two tank heroes and two support heroes at all times.

There have been a variety of reports and rumours that role lock will indeed be in place for Stage Four of the the 2019 Season, as reported by Sascha “Yiska” Heinisch for Upcomer and backed up by Fissure, who seemingly confirmed the role lock rumours in the wake of his retirement.

During week one and two of Stage Three, we spoke to a variety of Overwatch League pros at the Blizzard Arena about whether they had heard anything about the system being implemented and what their thoughts were on a role lock system in general. When asked if they had heard anything about the system being implemented, ever player very quickly denied knowing anything – almost too quickly, a cynic might say. My gut reaction, at least with some of the more PR-trained players, was that they knew more than they were letting on, especially given Fissure’s comments. However, this is pure speculation.

There’s also discussion as to whether implementing a role lock system this late in the season, during Stage Four, would be competitively unfair, as it marks such a drastic shift. Some teams who have perfected GOATS, such as the San Francisco Shock or the Vancouver Titans, might suddenly find themselves at a disadvantage in the last stage and post-season games after playing all of the regular season in a vastly different meta and ruleset. Likewise, teams that weren’t so good at GOATS could suddenly improve.

“Seeing GOATS every day is definitely very hard for the viewer. It would be nice to have more variation.” – Dogman

Sinatraa, from the San Franscisco Shock, is not super concerned about a sudden shift. “The thing is, if it stays not locked and we’re just playing GOATS, that’s fine because we’re good at GOATS. But if it does lock, I think I’d still be fine with that because if it goes to 2/2/2 and you’re forced to pick DPS … we have Striker, Architect and Rascal. We have a nasty DPS line. So if it’s ever Tracer, Widow, anything like that, Striker is literally the best Tracer in the world so we’ll be fine.”

As to whether role lock would be good for the Overwatch League and the game in general, Sinatraa is unsure. “I haven’t thought about [it] and I’m not sure. Honestly, everyone says they don’t like GOATS but I don’t think everything wants to see Orisa, Hog, double sniper 24/7 too.”

Houston Outlaws player LiNkzr can see both sides of the argument. “Role lock is both exciting and scary. It changes the game completely again, which is always welcome. But honestly, it’s hard to say if it’s for better or worse. I think that’s the scary part.”

“The resurface of dive will come for sure,” LiNkzr said, if a role lock were to be implemented. “That was the standard. Then, the natural progression is, ‘Is Brig playable? Are there going to be changes to heroes?’ It’s going to bounce around. We’ve seen people play 2/2/2 with Rein/Zarya, so it will be about how well heroes work on a more theoretical level. Can Ana play against dive with a Rein/Zarya? Can these two heroes put enough pressure on Tracer? How do they play the space? There’s going to be a whole revamp of the strategy if 2/2/2 lock ever comes out.”

Indeed, if role lock were to be implemented, it’s likely that it could be accompanied with significant balance changes from the Overwatch development team. As Overwatch League caster Christopher “Montecristo” Mykles has pointed out, a role lock guarantees that only two heroes from any given role will be on the same team at any time. This means that you’re able to completely rebalance heroes like Brigitte to take into account that she would only ever be one of two healers in play on a team, not one of three or more.

Jake, from the Houston Outlaws, agrees with Monte’s thoughts on potential changes to the development team’s balance approach after implementing a role queue. “I think that’s a great plan,” he said when I brought up Monte’s points. “Overall the game is like… when you play three tanks and three healers, you’re playing a different game than 2/2/2 or 3 DPS. I think 3 DPS plays like a lot more like any other comp, like a 2/2/2 comp. Whether you have an extra Tracer or an extra D.Va, you’re playing a dive style – trying to get pickoffs on their back line. But Brig just changes the game – you’re no longer trying to get kills, you’re just trying to not die. The enemy, through throwing themselves at your bodies, will falter and die, right? That’s your gameplan.” Implementing a role lock would allow Brigitte to be tuned differently, in the confidence that she would never be part of a three-healer stack, only two.

New York Excelsior support and 2018 Overwatch League MVP JJoNak believes that a role lock with the current balance patch would see Brig fall out of play and make way for the other healers. “If it’s going to be 2/2/2, [it will be] probably more Ana [than Zen]. Most likely Lucio, Ana.”

“If it goes to 2/2/2 and you’re forced to pick DPS … We have a nasty DPS line. So if it’s ever Tracer, Widow, anything like that, Striker is literally the best Tracer in the world so we’ll be fine.” – Sinatraa

Not everyone is necessarily an advocate for a role lock. Paris Eternal tank player BenBest worries that a role lock would make compositions too restrictive. “Not in favour… I don’t know,” BenBest responded when I asked him if he would be in favour of a role lock system. “Because the viability of the compositions will be bad, and you can’t choose 3 supports [or] 3 DPS, so I’m not a fan of that. [However] it’s good for the meta, because the GOATS meta [has been around] for one year and it’s pretty bad for the spectators.”

The spectating experience is also something that Atlanta Reign support player Dogman takes into account. I asked him if he had heard anything about role lock being implemented into the Overwatch League, and whether he would be in favour of it. “I haven’t really heard anything yet, but I think in favour of it. I mean, seeing GOATS every day is definitely very hard for the viewer. It would be nice to have more variation.”

Similarly to JJoNak, Dogman believes a 2/2/2 lock would likely see him move over to Ana instead of Zenyatta. “Obviously as a Zen player, it’s nice to be in a meta [like GOATS] that revolves around you a little bit more, or you need to be good for, instead of hiding or stuff like that with other metas. But it would be nice to play Ana again.”

In our interview with Gesture, which was his first ever interview in English, he spoke a bit about role lock as well. “I think 2/2/2 lock system is better, for now. Just my opinion. Overwatch is basically FPS game, so I think for now just like triple tanks, triple healers… little bit… not fun? I love more 2/2/2, because our Widowmaker shooting someone and get headshots and our Monkey dive and their Monkey dive… Ablablablabla [Makes hand motions of two Winstons diving each other].”

Los Angeles Valiant player Custa feels that a role lock might be a step in the right direction not just for eliminating GOATS, but for improving the game as a whole. “I was a big advocate for the banning system, when that became a conversation a few months ago,” he said, when I asked if he was for or against a role lock system. “I think Overwatch’s biggest problem right now is that every game is essentially the same. And that’s why you see teams that are able to be successfully playing only one thing. That’s one of the big limiting factors. I think 2/2/2 will be a step in the right direction.”

“We’ll probably have the same problem of something becoming meta and everyone plays that until the balance [changes]. [But] I think it will make it easier for Blizzard [to] balance, so hopefully they get more liberal with moving things around. But I also think it’s good for the ranked experience. Hopefully 2/2/2 comes into ranked. It’ll make everyone more excited to play the game – it’s something different. You’re seeing Overwatch League viewership dip, you’re seeing – I would assume – people playing ranked dipping. A lot of people don’t enjoy ranked right now. Hopefully this brings a sort of energy and revitalises a lot of that.”

The next period for Blizzard to implement a role lock system would be at the beginning of Stage Four, the final stage before the post-season. It remains to be seen whether such a system would be accompanied by something similar in Overwatch itself, or just at a league level. We can likely expect more news in the upcoming stage break.

The Overwatch League continues later today, with week four of Stage Three. Featured image by Robert Paul for Blizzard Entertainment.

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