Stage 3 of the Overwatch League has begun to see a departure from the ever-present triple-tank, triple-support GOATS composition. With struggling teams such as the Houston Outlaws returning to their DPS roots and playoff contenders like the New York Excelsior embracing Sombra-GOATS, this stage has seen a much-awaited meta transition.





However, with GOATS still remaining a viable and oftentimes necessary composition, the question has arisen of whether or not greater action must be taken to diversify hero selections. To settle the score, Upcomer asked Overwatch League players whether or not they would support a 2-2-2 role lock where teams would be forced to select two supports, two dps, and two tank heroes.





https://twitter.com/NYXL/status/1115728620348157952









Those that oppose a 2-2-2 role lock:





Image Courtesy of Robert Paul for Blizzard Entertainment





Ding "Ameng" Menghan, Chengdu Hunters

I think GOATS is pretty fun! I guess it can’t be 2-2-2 100 percent of the time, because that could limit other compositions as well.





Chan-hyung "Fissure" Baek, Seoul Dynasty

I think a 2-2-2 role lock would be the worst decision that could happen. I understand that they’re trying to kill the GOATS meta, but they’re not able to do it with balance patches. I think it would be better to create a ban rule where you could block key heroes that create this GOATS meta. That might be a better choice.





Which heroes would you ban?

It depends on the team I’m going against. If they’re really good at GOATS composition, then I would ban Brigitte. If I have a team with really good DPS comps then I would ban Wrecking Ball or their key DPS hero.





The undecided:





Image Courtesy of Robert Paul for Blizzard Entertainment

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Xu "guxue" Qiulin, Hangzhou Spark

A role lock might mess with the flow of the game, it could take some of the fun away. Some of the maps require GOATS, and some 2-2-2.





Benjamin "BenBest" Dieulafait, Paris Eternal

I think it would be good to change the meta, but there is variation everywhere. With a 2-2-2 role lock you couldn’t play compositions with triple DPS or play GOATS, so it’s difficult to say.





Byung-sun "Fleta" Kim, Seoul Dynasty

Whether its 3-3 GOATS composition or 2-2-2, I feel that both are good, but the problem arises when the current meta only favors one of them. If there’s only one meta for the entire season, viewers and players would get bored and we’d lose viewership. If there’s a meta that favors all compositions, that would be the best case scenario.





Supporters of a proposed 2-2-2 role lock:





Image Courtesy of Robert Paul for Blizzard Entertainment









https://twitter.com/zacklombardo/status/1136748613663481856









Sung-hyeon "JJoNak" Bang

Because we have been running GOATS and 3-3 composition a lot, I had a lot of fun coming into the All Stars Event and using the 2-2-2 composition. If 2-2-2 role lock came to the regular season, I believe that it will be more exciting.





Cameron "Fusions" Bosworth

One of the main issues that people raise with role lock and 2-2-2 over GOATS and 3-3 in general with the ability to pick different roles, is that not locking enables flexibility in the game because everyone can play everything. You can come up with more creative ideas like GOATS in the first place. But I think at this point it’s limited.





I don’t think GOATS will ever not be the meta unless you nerf it into the ground, and that’s clearly not the way that Blizzard wants to balance. I would really like to see 2-2-2 going forward, I think that’s a lot more exciting for viewers. Obviously it depends on the meta, but I think we’d see a lot of different changes if it happens and I’d look forward to that.