Free Agent - NA
Front Line main here to walk you through yet another season of burst meta that is now even more bursty
ss
Barik - With Cauterize nerfed, Barik with Bowling Ball and Double Time is easily some of the best solo sustain in the game. He can run a plethora of cooldown reduction cards so that he can have his skills up whenever needed, particularly his mobility skill which is his get out of jail free card. Barik doesn't mind the damage nerfs to Tinkerin because Fortify allows him to put up good early to midgame shielding with the Wrecker nerfs, and his regular LMB does good damage at close range. His ult remains one of the best forms of area denial and point contest in the game, though it is now counterable thanks to Raum and Bulldozer buffs. He suffers if crippled, but is otherwise the best point tank by a country mile. As a bonus, he synergizes the best with Jenos out of the 4 point tanks in the game.
Torvald - I didn't put Torvald above Barik for one reason and that's because he's still a little situational and team-dependent, whereas Barik works in virtually any composition. Torvald is still more likely to see a ban right now though, and that is because he synergizes super well with the current hyper carry meta picks like Zhin, Koga, and pretty much any hitscanner. He gives shielding and healing, as well as potential damage boosts, to the carry who will go kill your backline and then help kill the tanks. This will force teams to spec into Wrecker (which has been nerfed, giving him early dominance,) and allow more breathing room for your healers and CC. With a good hyper carry, Torvald can easily create snowball momentum and guarantee a steamroll. The only real downsides to him is his slow-charging, super situational ult and his lack of point presence.
s+
Inara - Inara hasn't changed much. She just has to go sit on the objective and survive for as long as possible. She doesn't appreciate the increased viability of several damages and flanks who outspeed and damage her, but with a good team she doesn't usually have to worry. Her RMB is still a monstrous sustain, and her wall lets her cleanse cauterize, escape damage, and get her RMB back up. Her ult is an excellent form of CC, but can be tricky to maximize utility with.
Raum - Raum is a super great late pick if the enemy team isn't running a lot of CC. He boasts something like 9k hp at full soul armor, has a minigun that is perfect for spreading cauterize, and of course boasts one of the current best forms of sustain in the meta- Juggernaut. Boosted with cards, it allows him to keep himself alive on the flank, get out of dicey situations, and contest objectives. In addition, he has other uncounterable damage reduction cards in his kit that will let him survive situations he normally couldn't without Juggernaut. His ult is basically Inara's on steroids, allowing for easy team wipes and it hard counters Barik's ult and pretty much any deployable/shield. His main counter, of course, is any sort of CC, which will render him a big useless target. This is why he is not a very smart early pick.
Terminus - Terminus doesn't mind his ult nerf, because his ult has always been a form of area denial over everything else and it still hits hard enough to make a difference. Nimble's increase availability allows him to run round 1 Caut and Nimble which is super great for him, as it allows him to chase squishies way earlier without sacrificing the all-important anti-heal. His power siphon/Decimation-boosted Calamity Blast combo is ever potent, and he is capable at both point tanking and offtanking- though I prefer him on point. What I love about Terminus is he boasts so many useful cards, allowing him everything from earlygame healing, to meter cycling, to damage reduction. Terminus still struggles against the current mid to long range burst meta, and requires people to get close to him to really put on the heat. But he is just as capable as he ever was.
s
Atlas - I still view Atlas as extremely good, but he fell from grace quite a bit because of damage nerfs and Caut nerfs. Whereas before Atlas could walk up to a healer, plink them with a 1k+ damage headshot and then send them back in time before they could escape, now he must fight a little harder to make a presence on the battlefield. Resilience nerfs also made it a little harder for him to deal with his major counters like Bomb King and Cassie (though they do benefit him), and his mobility skill being counted as a regular mobility skill places him at risk against Torvalds, Tyras, Jenos, and other cripples. He requires a very good team to make him shine like he once did, but do not count out how strong he is.
Khan - Khan was hit very hard by nerfs- his damage nerfs has made Storm of Bullets pretty much a situational answer to flying targets, and his shield is garbage now. Yet Khan remains steadfast in spite of this, because CC is very important in the current meta and Vortex Grip is essentially a single-target Inara ult that in earlygame guarantees a kill if your team knows what's up. VG Khan is a potent threat that allows for pesky targets like Barik and Raum to be taken out of the picture, and if he can get his hands on squishies like Koga, Maeve, Zhin etc. he pretty much forces them into buying resilience. His ult is still extremely centralizing, probably one of the most centralizing ults in the game.
a+
Fernando - Nando was probably one of the least useful tanks last season, but he really appreciates several buffs and item changes. Wrecker's nerf allows his shield a bit more presence, but its still very easily countered especially by hard hitters like Bomb King, Vivian and Tyra. His Scorch reversion allows him to once again play a bruiser role, giving him access to a 700 damage or so Q so he can more easily contest or trade. He also boasts cards (Looks That Kill and Hot Pursuit) that allow him increased mobility after a fireball, making Nando very good at hunting down healers or DPS that get too close to point. His ultimate is a super important, potential game changer that can turn the tides of bad point fights. However, Nando still struggles against the usual suspects- Wrecker for his shield, and CC when its down (and also CC and damage that bypasses his shield like SJ Maeve Pounce, Khan grab, Tyra fire nade).
Ash - Ash is a excellent bruiser, but she recieved several nerfs that significantly raises her skill floor. Her currently pitiable damage makes it very hard for her to confirm kills on mobile champs, or 1v1 flanks and DPS with burst damage. She has lost some damage reduction for her superior Battering Ram talent, making her unable to escape at super low HP as she once was able to. If she runs Battering Ram, the shield nerfs have made hers one of the biggest jokes in the game. All in all, she has many barriers to entry for novice players. Played correctly though, shes still a force to be reckoned with. She has lifesteal cards for earlygame sustain, lots of knockback, good escape options (and damage) with BR, and her ult is great CC that can let her get picks on the high ground or allow for combos/contest.
a
Ruckus - Can still hardly be called a tank. He's just a tanky DPS- incredibly squishy, but potent damage. Even with Wrecker nerfs, his shield is really bad and hitscanners like Viktor, Vivian, Tyra will make his life miserable. You need to play very mobile with him...just like a DPS. He has no real point contesting abilities to speak of apart from his ult. I can't understate his damage though. He is great for cauterize and wrecker duties, and can easily get picks, and has the benefit of high damage hitscan that other tanks do not. I hope they rework him at some point though.
b
Makoa - How the mighty have fallen.... In the current meta, Makoa is next to useless unless your aim is perfect- and even then, he lacks the damage to 1v1 most of the meta hitscanners (and Zhin) that he used to walk all over. He is a big target with a huge headbox, and lacks health because he cannot run Leviathan and expect to be useful. His Pluck boost isn't as significant because of a obscene 3 seconds of additional cooldown on his hook, meaning missed hooks hurt way more, and the ones he does get require team support to confirm picks most of the time. His ultimate was also damage nerfed, and his shield is weaker. He's still a solid B because a good player will make him shine- but he has to play with the team now. As a former Makoa main, it hurts to say this but: unless you're super experienced with him, choose another offtank.