OWL’s Midseason Madness brings Sojourn and Zenyatta into the meta

Midseason Madness, the second stage of the 2022 Overwatch League season, has already shown significant changes from the Kickoff Clash’s meta; while Soldier: 76 and Ana were the most popular picks in the first stage, Sojourn and Zenyatta have led the meta for the second stage. This shift in the meta is mainly due to Ana’s biotic grenade nerfs and Sojourn and Zenyatta’s buffs as well as a more general league-wide understanding of Overwatch 2.

It's hard being a support player against @yung_ksp's Sojourn 😭#LetItReign | #OWL2022 pic.twitter.com/9TXSBRAjfU

— Overwatch League (@overwatchleague) June 17, 2022

Sojourn’s start in the Midseason Madness

While we did see some short moments of Sojourn in the Kickoff Clash, players agree that she is much better now; the most recent patch puts Sojourn in a better spot than a nerfed Solider: 76. In the Kickoff Clash, Soldier: 76 was popular due to his flexibility; plus, Ana’s ultimate works perfectly with Soldier: 76’s, making her a popular Kickoff Clash choice as well. However, Soldier: 76 and Ana recently received nerfs while Sojourn and Zenyatta got buffs, putting them on top in the Midseason Madness’ first week.

Sojourn’s charged railgun shots are crucial to her kit, and her original build in the Overwatch League wasn’t strong enough; but with recent changes, Sojourn is back. Her charged railgun shots are now easier to hit shots with, both on the body and on the head. This puts players who have more skills getting headshots at the forefront as opposed to Soldier: 76’s tracking. Plus, with the Ana nerf and Zenyatta coming into the forefront, the meta has changed so that shields are destroyed even faster. Zenyatta’s discord orb combos with Sojourn’s ability to gain railgun charge by shooting shields — due to that, Reinhardt and Winston especially can be focused and killed quickly. We saw that with teams like the Toronto Defiant, who stuck with Winston in their first two games and got steamrolled by Sojourn and Zenyatta compositions.

Just those two changes alone led to a pretty big meta shift for Overwatch 2.

Zenyatta’s return to power

Alas, Sojourn’s changes alone weren’t enough to change the meta alone; Zenyatta is back as well, with his new kick ability potentially being the funniest change so far in Overwatch 2. Now, his melee kick can boop enemies away just like Lucio’s right click. That alone wasn’t a huge buff, but it was a nice addition to give Zenyatta close range defense. Where he really shines is in concert with Sojourn, like how Ana worked with Soldier: 76 during the beginnning of the season. Zenyatta can discord orb a target and make them weaker, and Sojourn can then focus on that target. If she has a charged shot, a headshot can kill almost every non-tank hero in the game right now.

Now, much like Ana and Soldier: 76 in the Kickoff Clash, not every match includes Sojourn and Zenyatta. But the amount we’ve seen them in the West makes it look like fans will be watching more Sojourn and Zenyatta as the Midseason Madness goes on.