I charted the top 5 picks among the highest ranked players with 50 or more matches.

I'm going to disagree with you flat out, and I'll try not to sound rude.

Few things are more frustrating than suggesting a pick and having to explain why it's the current meta, only to get the response, "ya, well they do that because they're pros, we aren't pros so we can ignore their collective knowledge." The meta isn't for pros, and nobody has any justification for deviating from it. The meta represents what works best versus everything else, as discovered by the people whose livelihoods depend on the fact that they have objectively the highest levels of talent at understanding the game's mechanics and winning matches in the worst case scenario (i.e. against other pros). People don't pay attention to the meta because we like pretending we're pros, we pay attention to the meta because it's the best indicator we have about what works versus what might work.

If pros are using rock against scissors, it's because rock beats scissors. There isn't a good reason not to choose rock if your goal is to beat scissors. That's the meta, and it's true regardless of rank.

/r/Competitiveoverwatch Thread Parent Link - i.sli.mg