It’s hard being a DPS main in Season 2 of the Overwatch League, and few know that as well as Dong-eun "Hooreg" Lee.





Just last year, Hooreg was one of the OWL’s star players, staring in many compilations of heroic McCree, Tracer, or Widowmaker plays. But in May of last year, the London Spitfire released four of their players, including Hooreg, as the team’s overall performance slipped in Stage 3 of Season 1. The decision was quite a shock to those following the OWL, since Hooreg had placed in the top of the NA Competitive Play’s skill rating rankings. But it would soon become clear why: DPS were out. Tanks and support were in.









As the GOATS meta took over high-level competitive play, DPS mains were forced to adapt. No more flashy Genji plays. No more Widowmaker highlight reels.





While Hooreg said he’s not too bad playing non-DPS roles, there are other players on the Vancouver Titans who play better in the GOATS meta. As a result, Hooreg has barely been on stage in Stage 3, despite his star status in Season 1. But as long as the team keeps winning, that aligns with what Hooreg said is the Titan’s overall goal for the season.





“We want to be the first team to be undefeated throughout the whole regular season,” Hooreg said. “Then win again and be in the playoffs, like in Stage 1 and 2.”

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Right now, Hooreg said there’s a very good chance that will happen. The Titans are only growing stronger, since his teammates can adapt to so many situations. Hooreg said his own strength is his unique decision-making and play style. Unfortunately, due to the meta, there aren’t many situations that require his brand of decision making.





“GOATS has been going on for almost eight months,” Hooreg said. “I wish that this specific comp would be banned. It doesn’t allow the full GOATS comp. Like, there’s no variants. It’s the same heroes over and over again.”





Nobody can blame Hooreg for disliking GOATS. Right now, his favorite hero is Sombra, but because of the current meta, he can't really play her. Instead, it's all Zarya, all the time. And while Hooreg said he's not too bad at playing her, the hero doesn't let him utilize his full potential.





“I have mixed feelings about playing Zarya,” he continued. “I see that it doesn’t fit for DPS to play Zarya. But I see a lot of DPS players transition to Zarya, and they don’t play as well as they did on DPS. I’m not on a starting roster because of it.”





Hooreg stated it’s his job to adapt to the current meta, and he has no bad feelings toward GOATS. It’s just that the meta has been stale for too long. What’s even worse, though, is that Hooreg said the next rumored meta, bunker composition, won’t be much better.





“I think it will be boring again,” Hooreg said. “But I think we will play really well, just like now. We’re going to try our best to keep that success all the way through the season.”