Did you not get enough of the GOATs meta during the painfully long stretch of a year and some change where Blizzard struggled to understand game balancing?
DPS players quit as they weren’t getting playtime as teams cobbled together the highest HP meatball they could field in a server with six people, and went ham at each other in a unique meta that allowed teams with impeccable teamwork to come ahead.
Arguably, the biggest reason that GOATs is frowned upon is that it simply never ended; fans missed watching the flashy DPS plays and star players rotted on benches for well over a full season until Blizzard was finally forced to mandate a role-lock that brought two tanks, DPS, and support players per one team, shortly followed by hero pools which was finally axed after frustration.
GOATs itself was interesting, if you managed to miss it; teams would need to synergize their abilities with each other, and a singular errant move often resulted in the teams’ meatball being removed rather quickly.
Also, as fans of the GOAT meta are quick to point out, spectating had never been better as the teams all moved across the map together; while every other meta has been punctuated by TTours as the action happened off-screen of the observers, GOATs allowed the spectators to almost auto-direct the battles.
In the event that you somehow find yourself yearning for the days of tanks standing in front of each other while healers spammed endlessly behind, the Toronto Defiant has just the tournament coming up to whet your whistle.
Coming on September 27 is a throwback tournament featuring the GOATs meta, with ten teams competing in a four-stage single elimination bracket.
MARK YOUR CALENDARS. WE'RE THROWING IT BACK.
The Defiant Throwback Tournament presented by @TD_Canada is coming Sept 27! Our players are building the teams so watch out for line-up announcements 👀 Don't miss the ultimate GOATS showdown! #RiseTogether
📺 https://t.co/3DOWVVgEHm pic.twitter.com/7cY2CZQpA7
— Toronto Defiant (@TorontoDefiant) September 19, 2020
Team leaders include some prominent members of the Overwatch League, and teams have already been trickling out with some surprising names coming to the stage to take the meatball fight on the Toronto Defiant‘s YouTube channel.
my roster for the @TorontoDefiant goats tourney @Grimreality @silkthread @Kayuun @bawlynn @GoliathOW @agilities
impossible for us to lose 🙂
— Brady Girardi (@agilities) September 20, 2020
https://twitter.com/LogixOW/status/1305978342655614976?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw
.@TorontoDefiant Throwback Tournament
Team RoKy#RiseTogether pic.twitter.com/4KHMRfbahb— Andrew Pelley (@Nekopxl) September 23, 2020
Starting at 1100 EST, ten teams will go head to head in the biggest meatball matchup we’ve had since 2019 for the lion’s share of the $5,000 prize pool; paltry to some that are used to CS:GO and Valorant Ignition tourneys, but sizeable enough for a single day of play in a fun community-facing throwback.
Got my 🇫🇷 crew for the @TorontoDefiant 🐐 tournament@Ascoft_OW @TEK36_OW @FDGod_OW @KayZzeR_OW @tsuna
— zYKK (@zYKK_) September 22, 2020
Not all teams have announced their rosters just yet, but are expected to do so today.
The throwback tourney will begin the day after the Asia All-Star tourney, which is scheduled to occur on September 26, and briefly before the NA All-Star tourney on October 3. Here’s hoping this is the closest that Overwatch League will ever get to having GOATs re-enter the meta.