S Tier: Last week -- after the McCree fall-off Damage buff escaped the PTR -- I predicted McCree would be a guaranteed S Tier Hero and boy did I get that one right. Naively, I suspected Mercy had the potential to reach the S Tier after her dominance in the Pre-McCree Meta, but her lineup slot was almost entirely taken by Zenyatta, who missed the S Tier by less than 1%. This Tier is meant to highlight Heroes who may potentially be Overpowered -- those Heroes that are used for >95% of all Match Time in all Matches. McCree has already received a reactionaary Balance Change prior to the writing of this Report, but it could end up being a Buff Rather than a Nerf. Will McCree reach the S Tier next week? How about Zenyatta? Tune in next week on Meta Report Z!

A Tier: The Core Heroes. Again, I totally whiffed on Mercy and underestimated how strong Zenyatta would become with his increased survivability. Much like Lucio, Zenyatta can do it all -- all at once. Zenyatta can DPS, Heal, Buff, and Debuff whereas Mercy and Ana have to pick and choose between the respective sides of their kits. Discord Orb was and still is the strongest Debuff in the game -- and it seems like Zenyatta’s glass-cannon status in the Pre-Release Meta was the only thing holding him back. This was more than enough to catapult the Robo-Monk directly into Mercy’s former position as Overwatch’s premier Hero. Try him out, before Blizzard turns their all-seeing Nerf-Eye towards Discord Orb.

B Tier: The Favorites. The B Tier is now an All-Ninja Tier! Genji was the only Hero who reached the B Tier in the 7 Day Meta, although Zarya was close behind. Genji’s prominence as the only Hero with between 50 and 80% Usage was due at least in part to the Zenyatta Usage boom: Genji is one of the strongest flankers with an Orb of Harmony on him, and his Ultimate is one of the most devastating in Overwatch. Combine this with Discord Orbs flying across the Map constantly, and you've got a squishy-killing machine. I originally expected him to see a boost in Usage alongside Ana’s release because of Dragonblade’s perfect synergy with Nanoboost, but given Ana’s low (6%) Usage this week this was all Zenyatta’s doing. Genji’s success in the 7 Day Meta has immense implications for the coming weeks especially given Ana’s new buff, expect many more boosted Dragonblade play of the games in the immediate future.

C Tier: The Balanced Heroes. Last week, I described the C Tier as “filled with a pool of Heroes that appear in many if not most games, but are usually not used for more than specific parts of Maps”. This description held quite true this week, and demonstrated how closely Balanced most of the Tanks in Overwatch were during the 7 Day Meta. Zarya, D.Va, Reinhardt, and Winston all fell within 7% Usage of each other and all had high Swap rates, indicating that each of these Tanks were being swapped among each other depending on the current Map location or to respond to an Opponent’s Team composition. It appears that D.Va ate most of Roadhog’s Usage from last week (down to 8% from 31%) with the multitude of Buffs she received in the new Patch. Reaper rounded out this Tier as the “Most Situational, but still very Viable” DPS. Overwatch’s Edgelord will always be a premium choice for closed-in brawler areas of Maps and seems to be a constant feature of the C Tier.

D Tier: The “Meta Dependent” Heroes. These Heroes have the potential to reach the Balanced Usage Tiers but are crowded out by popular Meta Heroes, Map trends, or strategies. Like most 1 Hero Limit Metas, Tracer’s Usage was a prime example of a Meta Dependent Hero. She saw respectable usage on King of the Hill Maps (22%), but barely anywhere else outside of last-point Defenses, which now count for much less in Time-based Usage Rate Data. The rest of the Heroes in this Tier were strictly victims of the Ana Release Patch. Mercy and Ana have no place in a Meta where the top two Healing Supports can heal and DPS at the same time -- not to mention the premium Lucio’s Speed Boost has in what’s turning out to be a Rush Strategy-based Meta. Roadhog lost almost all of his lineup slots to D.Va as previously mentioned, and Soldier 76 got hit with the double whammy of McCree’s buffs and his own slight nerf.

F Tier: I would like to take some time to mourn two Heroes: Widowmaker and Hanzo. Last week, Hanzo escaped the F Tier for the first time in recent memory -- but this appears to have been a last gasp before succumbing to forces outside his control. Both Hanzo and Widowmaker saw exactly 0 picks out of 1431, and while I like to let my readers come to their own conclusions that’s pretty damn telling. Pharah’s Post-Ana Patch free-fall (64% to 2% Usage) was far more impressive, but more easily explainable: in a Meta with Discord Orb and Sniper McCrees running around the skies were no longer safe. The rest of the F Tier was filled with the typical, uninspiring Defense Heroes -- who seem to only exist in the game as skill/strategy-based barriers for lower MMR players to aspire to overcome with practice.

** 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 Time Played in Tournament Matches, my data is Objectively determined, and not subjective at all.