OWL 2023 playoffs meta has way less Zarya than anyone was expecting

Four matches into the Overwatch League playoffs, the Sept. 7 patch has led to a significant change in the competitive meta, but not in the way that most fans were expecting. 

A buff to Zarya has led to a domino effect, changing how every tank is played and making the game much more enjoyable to watch—even if it is hard for players to adjust.

So far in the OWL 2023 playoffs, we’ve seen plenty of tanks run in different team composition, from Orisa, Reinhardt, and Winston, to Doomfist, Zarya, and even Sigma. The only two tanks that haven’t seen some playing time are Ramattra and Junker Queen, which is a big switch from the predominant Winston meta in the Summer Stage and Play-Ins. This has led to big change in the overall power rankings, with most teams having to rely on what combinations of tanks and DPS heroes work best for them instead of just running Winston.

The start of the tournament showed off the rock-paper-scissors nature of the tanks, as one team swapping their heroes led to a surprising reverse sweep. The Hangzhou Spark, known for their amazing Winston player guxue, had to change their tactics by running more Doomfist, which was one of the key reasons they turned that series around. 

In the later series, we continued to see different compositions, from the Houston Outlaws’ dedication to Doomfist to the Boston Uprising’s consistent Orisa play. Part of this tank diversity was teams trying to counter what an opposing team was bringing to the table, but the roles themselves are comfortable for the players, even if the meta is still developing.

“After the balance changes, it feels like each team has their own composition,” Boston Uprising support IZaYaKI said to the media in a post-match press conference. “When we face them, we use different strategies and tactics. For viewers, it’ll be really fun because you’ll see different heroes, but I wouldn’t say I feel totally comfortable with the meta just because of all the different possible team comps, so we just focus on saving our ultimates.”

The Uprising faced one of two teams running tanks the community expected to see from them: the London Spitfire. London made it through Play-Ins by running exclusively Reinhardt and kept him in their comp for Playoffs, but it didn’t lead them to victory in their first game of the 2023 playoffs, losing to the Uprising 3-1. 

As for the other team, everyone anticipated the Dallas Fuel to run Zarya, and they did exactly that to sweep the Seoul Infernal 3-0. Fuel tank player Hanbin talked to the media post-match, agreeing that this meta was rock-paper-scissors-like, but attested to his team’s comfort on the Zarya, saying that the team will just keep picking rock as long as it works.

From the Florida Mayhem’s ultimate synergy with Sigma and Bastion to the Boston Uprising’s wombo combo with Genji and Orisa ultimates, it’s safe to say that this playoff patch isn’t as Zarya-dominant as players and fans expected. It might be hard to practice, but boy is it fun to watch almost all tank heroes get played at the start of the OWL 2023 playoffs.