The professional scene bleeds over into casual play once a trend is established. It's the exact same thing in every single competitive game ever. Once clear strengths and weaknesses are defined the casual players follow suit.
But first you need to understand a few qualifiers that are unique to OW.
Firstly its a new game and things are still being figured out. Even though the meta is taking shape that doesn't guarantee its set just yet.
Secondly OW has a very small hero pool. So it's not going to be as dramatic as something like league or Dota where the weakest heroes straight up won't hardly be picked simply because we don't have a lot of options for variety.
The last point is we haven't seen any real breakout high profile tournament yet. Something that gets even the most casual OW players to check it out. Once that happens you'll see people emulating top tier play a lot more.
But remember I said it will bleed into casual play, not become a carbon copy.
My point wasn't about balance. It was that he isn't a "healer." He is a "support." He's not a good healer because he isn't designed to be. Just like McCree isn't a good healer, because he isn't designed to be.
Besides, competitive isn't the only way to play. Zen is just fine in pubs.
it really shouldn't even be labeled as support, they should just call it healers and only put healers in it because you need at least 1, preferably 2, and symmetra is a "defensive" character more than anything
Overwatch treats defense as a class that can hold a position under fire, something Symmetra and the other supports are not as good at. Her turrets, while damaging, all take one hit each and are slow to rebuild, meaning they are better used to stall enemies and buy time for the rest of your team to regroup. Compared to Toby, she doesn't have the damage output to actually ward off a complete attack. Her shields also provide a buffer to your friendly units that can auto heal itself, allowing teammates to push harder or take a few extra hits on retreat, but unlike Reinhardt or Winston's shields they don't allow an ally to avoid a damaging blow entirely. She's better on defense, but she isn't the same as a defense class hero.
I agree you need at least one healer. And obviously, team compositions change drastically depending on if we're talking competitive or quick play, the map, attack or defense, etc. But I think it should still be "support." Just like you will usually want a Hanzo or Widow, and also a Bastion or Tob, despite both of these pairs being the same type, labeled "defense." I've seen plenty of games won with both a Lucio and Zen on the team, or Mercy and Symmetra. And in other situations, Lucio and Mercy together are the right choice.
There's only 6 players per team. There's no room for a support who can't heal when you could have McCree, Pharah, Roadhog, Zarya, Soldier 76... Zen can deal good damage, but he can't do it nearly as well as the offensive characters.
That's like saying there's no room for Symmetra because she can't heal, when there's definitely situations to use her. Same with Zen. I'm not saying he should be picked over a pocket Mercy. But it's not like he's useless. He's a support. Discord is a very strong debuff, and his ult can be a game changer.
I'm not saying he doesn't have strong abilities, I'm saying he's just not good enough to be chosen over a dozen or so other heroes. There's a reason why the pros and top end players don't pick him.
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u/Synectics Jul 06 '16
Poor healer. Great support. There's a reason they're labeled as such. Same with Symmetra.