I still remember the first time I stared at the Overwatch 2 role-select screen in 2026 and felt the same old tug: Damage looked like the fun aisle, while Tank and Support looked like chores with better marketing. That feeling is not new. Back in 2021, before Overwatch 2 had even launched, I was already writing about the Damage class as the game’s structural weak point. The original Overwatch roster had 32 heroes split into 8 Tanks, 7 Supports, and 17 Damage heroes. At the time, Damage accounted for more than the other two roles combined. Today the exact numbers have shifted with every season, but the pattern has not: Damage is still the most crowded role, and Role Queue still turns that popularity into a waiting-room problem.

The old argument was simple. Role Queue forced players to choose a class before matchmaking, which made teams more balanced but exposed a lopsided roster. Tank and Support queues moved; Damage queues stalled. Priority Passes were a band-aid, not a cure. In 2026, after Overwatch 2’s launch, the move to five-vs-five, and several years of hero additions, I can say the band-aid has aged about as well as a sticker on a leaking pipe. The queue timer is still the most honest critic in the game.

The arithmetic is still lopsided

When I look at the 2021 numbers now, they read like a time capsule: 17 Damage heroes against 15 Tank and Support heroes combined. The modern roster is larger, and Blizzard has added memorable Tanks and Supports since then, but Damage remains the default fantasy for most players. That is not just a vibe. It is a design gravity well. Damage heroes get the flashy eliminations, the highlight-reel ultimates, and the clearest feedback loop: see enemy, click enemy, feel good. Tank and Support require more translation between action and reward.

That table is not a complaint about Tank or Support players. It is a map of incentives. A role with more heroes gives players more ways to express themselves, and expression is retention. The Damage class is a candy store with too many shelves; Tank and Support are smaller shops that still need foot traffic.

Why the queue feels like airport security

The Damage queue in Overwatch 2 is the airport security line of hero shooters: everyone understands why it exists, nobody enjoys standing in it, and the people at the front always seem to be taking their time. I have had nights when I wanted to play one specific Damage hero, waited through a queue that felt like a small geological era, and then got a match where the enemy team ran a composition that made me question the wait. That is not a balance issue in the narrow sense. It is a roster and incentive issue wearing a balance costume.

Balancing a hero shooter by raw headcount is like tuning a piano with a hammer: you can hit the right note, but the instrument will complain. Blizzard cannot simply delete Damage heroes or force players into roles they do not want. The fix has to make Tank and Support feel as expressive as Damage, not just as necessary.

More Tanks and Supports, not just more Damage

The 2021 reference point was frustrating for a reason. Two of the first new heroes revealed for Overwatch 2 were Echo and Sojourn, both Damage heroes. Echo had already arrived in the original game, and Sojourn was previewed as a sequel headline. I understood the marketing logic: Damage sells. But the long-term logic is different. If every seasonal reveal leans Damage, the queue leans with it.

In 2026, I want to see parity in release cadence, not just token support. Give me Tanks with strange space-making tools. Give me Supports who feel like playmakers rather than healing appliances. Give me heroes that make the role-select screen feel like a choice instead of a penalty. A roster where one role swallows the others is a coral reef with too many clownfish: colorful, but ecologically off.

The Defense-class question and the 7v7 temptation

I have also revisited the old idea of restoring the Defense class. Splitting Damage back into Offense and Defense would create more role identity on paper, but it would also reopen old problems with Role Queue and force another round of retooling. I do not think Blizzard should rebuild the taxonomy just to make the menu look balanced. The better move is to fix the experience inside the existing roles.

The seven-vs-seven thought experiment from the original debate is tempting for the same reason it was tempting in 2021: more Damage slots mean shorter queues. But adding a third lane to a highway that still feeds into one toll booth does not solve traffic; it just moves the jam. Overwatch 2 chose five-vs-five at launch, and later six-vs-six experiments showed that format changes are not a magic switch. They are tools with trade-offs. A third Damage slot would change map pacing, ultimate economy, and support pressure. I would rather see Blizzard test it carefully than ship it as a queue-time painkiller.

What I want in 2026

My wish list is not radical. It is structural:

• 🎯 Release Tank and Support heroes with the same confidence and frequency as Damage heroes.

• 🧭 Give each role clearer fantasy and feedback, not just a job description.

• 📊 Share queue and role-population data in plain language so players can see the problem.

• 🧪 Test format changes as experiments, not as permanent fixes.

• 💬 Treat Priority Passes as a symptom manager, not a cure.

The old BlizzConline countdown now feels like a time capsule, but the lesson is current. One class cannot keep absorbing the roster’s creative energy while the other two roles carry the queue burden. Overwatch 2 has had years to grow, and it has grown in many ways. The Damage class remains the clearest place where growth has become imbalance. I still love the fantasy of Damage. I just want the role-select screen to stop feeling like a test of patience before the match even begins.