OVERWATCH Updates Hero Pools System and Retires Map Pools

Today, Overwatch is tweaking the Hero Pools and Map Pools systems. For Hero Pools, the goal is to “implement a unified Hero Pool, allowing both the Overwatch League, Contenders/Open Division, and Competitive Play to mirror each other as closely as possible and making a more consistent viewing and play experience.” To reach this goal, the Hero Pool will now be based on hero play rates. If a hero is played above an unrevealed threshold, they’ll be eligible for removal. In other words, the more a hero is played, the more likely they’ll be gone next time. This translates to one Tank, two Damage, and one Support being removed, but the same hero will never be removed two weeks in a row. The new Hero Pools will be announced at the end of every Sunday’s Overwatch League Matches and go into effect on Monday. In the off-season, the announcements will be made on Monday morning.

As far as Map Pools go, they’re going away. On April 14, rotating Map Pools will be retired. Competitive Play will now feature all maps except Paris and Horizon Lunar Colony. Both maps will eventually be added back into the mix after some improvements are made.