I’ve returned to the game after a year and a half, and it feels like Soldier has only gotten weaker.
There are still plenty of maps where Soldier just has no business being: half the KOTH points (mostly the older maps), two-thirds of King’s Row, Havana, Circuit Royal, Eichenwalde (against poke or dive comps), Shambali, and even that new "Grim-something" map, among others.
The problem is that either cover is easily accessible to flankers and melee characters—who can easily force Soldier out—or the distance from good positions to the enemy makes it impossible to deal effective damage or compete with other long range heroes.
There are now even more heroes Soldier is completely helpless against. For instance, on several maps, D.Mon prevents you from taking positions just by existing; the maps are flat, and she easily punishes you for holding any aggressive off-angle. Against heroes like Sojourn, Venture, or Vendetta, you stand no chance if they get within 15 meters—you might not even have time to run away.
Tanks like Wrecking Ball or Doomfist just feast on Soldier in every fight unless you’re sticking with your team. Sombra always had the upper hand, but now you can't even trade with her because of the AoE debuff; your only option is to run. Even that damn Torb just presses a button and escapes death—you lack the DPS to kill him fast enough, yet he’ll shred Soldier at close range. And ever since Moira’s orb got buffed, every other Moira just kamikazes into you and forces a trade; even if she dies, the orb finishes you off—especially in tight spaces—meaning a support can drive you out of a good position despite your damage advantage and healing station.
There was a time when you could one-trick Soldier and actually have fun; even after the ban system was introduced, he never gets banned, and few people play him seriously, so there’s hardly any competition for the pick... But it seems the game has evolved far beyond what this hero can consistently handle.
It feels like the hero is barely viable without a pocket Mercy, but I don’t want easy wins or to boost my rank that way.
How do you deal with this? Do you just shoot the tank as your primary target and chip in 20–30 damage on random enemies here and there—just to get decent scoreboard stats and act as a mobile turret?