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After several weeks of speculation and rumors, new leaks from the Overwatch League show that a role lock is being implemented for stage four. The videos were taken from an episode of Watchpoint that aired too early.
“With role-queue coming to Overwatch shortly—as the team just announced earlier today—we thought it was really important to bring it to Overwatch League as quickly as we could,” Overwatch senior product director Jonathan Spector said in the leaked video.
With this news, Overwatch League games will now feature two DPS heroes, two tank heroes, and two supports. Spector also confirmed that role queue will be added to Overwatch very soon, although it isn’t specified whether it’ll only be for competitive or for all modes.
Many people are praising the addition of the 2-2-2 role lock due to the prevalence of the GOATS meta, which has dominated the league for some time. With a composition made up of three tanks and three supports, this meta was one of the least exciting to watch as a fan. But having DPS heroes in the mix should bring hype to the stage once more.
There are also some strict rules to the role lock on-stage. Players aren’t allowed to change roles during a map but they’re allowed to change heroes within that role. The only time that players can change roles is between maps. The seating arrangement is very specific as well. Players will be seated as two damage, two tanks, and two supports, all in that order. If a player changes roles, they’ll need to change seats, too.
The 2-2-2 role lock will impact many teams’ strategies, especially following the GOATS meta. But pros might be more inclined to break out some interesting heroes since they can’t switch roles mid-game anymore.
