_In_Sanityeeethere's a mild problem (?) with heavy and maybe pyro just being absolutely all encompassing at lower skill levels. A "good" heavy could easily solo games that he would be losing as any other class, especially at a subeagle level of skill. ofc CS has a similar problem where ppl cant use rifles below like SFMC for some reason so maybe valve just doesnt care if silvers get fucking annihilated by boring weapons, but nerfing heavy is probably likely if valve is just going to consider win rates or smethng
Heavy already dominates at low levels in the current competitive scene (both in 6s and in HL). Most sub silver HL teams in UGC focus the majority of their heals on their heavy at the expense of heals to the scout. This is because mechanically, heavy is very easy (the 'skill' required to play it effectively at higher levels has almost nothing to do with the mechanics of heavy and everything to do with positioning, timing, and general decision making). I doubt valve will care if Heavy is OP at low ranks, so long as it is more balanced at higher ranks (even just in certain situations).
As for valve buffing classes because the meta uses them as specialists rather than generalists. It is possible, but I was encouraged by the fact that they wanted to model their match making around existing formats. I think the devs at valve are intelligent enough to understand that in a competitive format not every class is going to see equal use and that alone does not mean there is a balance issue. My hope is that they will look at the data they collect intelligently to consider the effectiveness/balance of a class or weapon in regards to the intended purpose of that class or weapon.
Final note, while it is interesting to read all of the change suggestions in this thread. I agree with the first post that suggesting changes is not the way to help valve balance weapons. Maybe, as the dialogue between devs and comp players continues that will be possible, but right now it would be more effective to create a comprehensive list of core problems with weapons WITHOUT suggesting possible fixes to those weapons.
They nerfed heavy a while ago because it was overpowered in pubs, at high levels in highlander, heavy was balanced. Now, as a result of the nerf, heavy in high levels of hl is under-powered. Heavys do well at low levels because they have high health, not because of their dmg. Valve nerfed an aspect of the class that did not have an impact on low level play, therefore, heavy is still strong. However the nerf hurt the class for high level highlander.