I've never posted in this sub before, but as a lover of this game, and someone who shares your sentiments about it's current state I thought I might share some thoughts as to a possible solution.

Currently what I see playing in competitive in this game at around the mid Diamond level is a lot of throwing, smurfing, leaving, toxicity, and all other manner of fuckery. I think this problem exemplifies perfectly the aptness your assessment of how this game might be shooting itself in the foot. While players like myself might really be interested in playing the game sportingly, and by that I mean being polite on coms, not leaving, and truly looking to improve while helping others do so, there will always be some jerk to come piss in their cheerios by committing any or all of the aforementioned sins. And it's their right to do so, really. They bought the game; they can play it the way they choose. There is nothing tangible to work toward, so why not goof off in competitive? This makes playing competitive a chore sometimes; especially for pros, as it seems.

Aside from this, there is also this tendency that you outlined for Blizzard to try and cater to the tastes of all walks of Overwatch players be they pro or casuals with their updates, new modes, etc. Which for obvious reasons will eventually lead to meeting the demands of the least common denominator in the player base, and the interest bubble will burst; this will kill the game.

The proper solution to these problems would have to, in my eyes, solve both of those problems. This is what I have come up with.

Why not have a sort of, "Higher Tier" mode of competitive that could only be accessed or unlocked upon a demonstration of a certain level of meritocratic commitment to the competitive scene defined by a combination metrics including skill, good sportsmanship, and time played? Within this mode, there would be a differing ability balance amongst the heroes geared strictly toward competitive play.

For instance, any account that achieves any of a number of accolades earns points towards a total number that would unlock this new competitive mode. Examples of these accolades would include crossing say the 3500 SR cap, going so long without being reported for toxic behavior/violating code of conduct, going so long without leaving a game, consistently being active on coms, simply playing so many hours per day/week, stream viewership, etc. Continued access to this mode of play could then require the maintenance of a good record in game.

Obviously pointed toward the pro scene, this system if successfully implemented would allow for several things:

1. Something for the regular competitive player-base to work toward.
2. A reason to maintain good behavior in game.
3. A separation of the truly serious and casual player-base.
4. A means of discouraging toxic behavior in the regular competitive player-base.
5. A reason, and a means to manipulate and balance all the heroes separately from the general fan-base to suit pro scene.
6. A true network of up-and-coming serious players. A bastion for pro players to play against other who are of the same mind when playing Overwatch. An easier means for other potential pro players to come out of the woodwork.

I don’t pretend to be a game designer, and understand that this would likely be a daunting feature to implement. But this to me seems to be the best means of satisfying everyone who plays the game. I hope this long winded post at least gets a few looks. I’d be interested to hear from someone with greater insight tell me why this wouldn’t work. Thanks.