Overwatch team show off epic tactic to counter GOATS
An Overwatch Open Division team demonstrated a creative strategy to counter the infamous “GOATS” composition.
GOATS has been a major topic in the Overwatch community in recent months as the current dominant strategy.
Named for the Overwatch Contenders team that popularised the composition, GOATS features three tanks and three support heroes. The line-up has faced criticism both for how powerful it can be, and the lack of hero diversity it promotes.
The power of GOATS is largely in its survivability. The three tanks provide cover for the three supports, who in turn keep the large health pools of the tanks topped up.
Being able to quickly eliminate the Reinhardt, however, instantly makes GOATS a lot more vulnerable – the big shield is no longer available to mitigate damage, leaving them at a significant disadvantage in an outright team fight, and there are no high burst-damage DPS heroes to quickly reply with a pick of their own.
To accomplish this, Overwatch Open Division team Path to Poverty set up an ingenious trap on the Sanctuary point of Nepal.
The “GOATS” composition rose to prominence after the addition of Brigitte.Allowing the enemy to take positioning on the point, Path to Poverty set up with most of their players on the opposite side, drawing attention such that their Lúcio could sneak in on the wall behind.
Orisa then sent her “Halt!” above the enemy team, drawing multiple members into the air and right into the path of the waiting Lúcio, who then sent them flying towards the edge with a blast from his Sonic Amplifier.
Though D.Va managed to survive the push, Reinhardt, the key target and the hero without a movement ability capable of saving him, was sent flying into the abyss.
As u/Anghell1c, the Lúcio in question, points out, in this particular clip the team are themselves playing a variant of GOATS with three tanks and three supports. However, the key synergy is between the Orisa – not a standard GOATS pick – and the Lúcio, so it’s a tactic that can be applied in a variety of compositions.
Though it does rely on certain environmental elements in order to be executed to maximum effectiveness, there are points on several maps in which this tactic could work. Even without the Reinhardt falling to his death, a well-timed combo between the Orisa and Lúcio could still knock him out of position and open up a pick.