I think they're calling deadlock a moba, not overwatch

I personally think MOBA should be used to broadly describe a style of game rather than what's done while playing it. I know that when Riot coined the term, they were referring to games like DotA, LoL, etc.; to me the whole approach to a match's flow is echoed similarly enough throughout multiple games, that applying the term MOBA to other games is a logical extension.

To me a game is a MOBA if:

• The way to interact with it is primarily designed around playing with other players online (the M and O of MOBA.)
• The goals of the players are against the goals of other players — ie. it's competitive rather than cooperative (the B of MOBA.)
• Any player at the beginning of a match has access to all the same options as any other player. This one is a little more vague, but as the A in MOBA stands for arena, I imagine it like a group of gladiators standing before a communal weapon rack that they'll all pick from; no one has any options that the others don't have access to.

Following these criteria, something like Overwatch is a MOBA, as is DotA, and ironically LoL isn't as you have to unlock options meaning you don't satisfy the arena condition. To differentiate games like DotA, Smite, Awesomenauts, Deadlock, etc., I prefer the term lane-pusher as that's a lot more specific and understandable.

Does it really matter what it's called? Not really. I mostly just do it so I can feel superior to Riot for coming up with a vague term that is applied, how I deem, incorrectly, while also excluding their own game from the term that they made to describe it.

Because it's not identical. SMITE plays like the top down mobas but in a third person perspective. Deadlock plays like a third person shooter with moba elements.

And isn't everything derivative? What's the issue with that? If feel like you're really trying to gather negativity towards this game simply because it doesn't pander to your tastes

Even if it is, it's a derivation I've been sorely missing. Ever since Battleborn got shut down, there's been a Battleborn shaped hole in my heart. Deadlock fits in that hole really well.

It's possible that the whole impetus for creating Deadlock came from something like that. Someone at valve, like me, enjoyed the hell out this particular mix of mechanics.

There's nothing like it. Dota doesn't do the trick, neither does Overwatch. Of all things, the closest thing might be Titanfall 2's titan combat.