Overwatch ranked can be, for a plethora of reasons, headache-inducing. One of these reasons is centered around a few heroes that are particularly annoying to play against in ranked. These might not be the most overpowered heroes but they are certainly the ones that require the most coordination and teamwork to defeat. Things that are typically very hard to come by in a typical ranked game.
Bastion
Counters: Sombra, Hanzo, Zarya, D.Va, Genji
This deadly robot is never something that players want to see when they enter a lobby. Bastion is not only able to deal an insane amount of damage but he is also able to self-heal. This, essentially, makes him a hero that can be run with little to no coordination (outside of maybe a shield placement) and takes an entire team working together to defeat. Not only that but Bastion has become useful in just about any situation due to the prevalence of bunker and the introduction of Baptiste. These have only made him more deadly.
Countering Bastion, and bunker for that matter, inevitably require patience. Both are very good in the neutral fight, or when no ultimates are yet available for either team, but can crumble when the opposing team gets more valuable ultimates ready. If players have a non-toxic team, they can form combinations with Sombra, Genji, Zarya, and/or D.Va to focus fire the robot and mitigate hiss outgoing damage. If the rest of the team will not help or are simply at too low of a rank to know what to do, the best bet is probably a Sonic Arrow from Hanzo. This will hopefully finish off the remains of a shield and sneak a few arrows onto the stationary killer.
Symmetra
Counters: Winston, D.Va, Torbjorn, Pharah, Solider: 76
According to overbuff.com, Symmetra, despite having only a 0.58% pick-rate across all competitive ranks, has a 57.03% win percentage, third only to Brigitte and Torbjorn. In Bronze and Silver ranks, her pick rate is nearly double, as players have begun to understand how pesky her turrets can truly be.
Symmetra’s turrets are what make her so deadly at lower ELO’s. Players in lower ranks will typically have lower sensitivities and will take longer to snap around to shoot the turrets and/or will not have teammates helping them to deal with them. This can be especially annoying on king of the hill maps and assault maps where the opposing team will, at some point, have to fight where her turrets are.
The key to breaking this typically comes in one of two ways. First, players can dive the area where the turrets are using characters like Winston and D.Va to quickly clear out the turrets without much aim required. She will sometimes have her cooldowns ready and be able to deploy new turrets when this happens, so be ready to deal with those quickly. The second option is to fight slowly and from afar. Symmetra can’t hurt players too badly that are far away and those long-range heroes are perfect choices to pick off her turrets. This is where Pharah’s rockets or 76’s bullets can deal with Symmetra. Also, Torbjorn’s turret can be a great way to shoot down her turrets before they even land, if players have first access to a point, that is.
Sombra
Counters: McCree, Zarya, Brigitte, Ashe
The hacker has one of the most terrifying kits in the game, as it stands. Her permanent invisibility allows her to pick her targets at her leisure and her gun packs a punch of its own. What makes her most problematic is the communication required to call out when she is in the backline and the coordination required to spread apart when she’s nearing an EMP. Most teams in ranked stay bunched up together, especially in bunker, and teams are rarely able to get to their poor, hacked Zenyatta in time to save him. But, there is hope in proper counter picks.
A McCree, Zarya or Brigitte in the backline is sometimes all a team needs to counter Sombra. McCree can flashbang her as she attempts to hack, Brig can shield bash her and Zarya can provide bubbles to allies to stave the attack. Zarya’s bubbles are also very helpful if a player can anticipate an incoming EMP. All in all, these heroes provide good counters to hacking without much communication required.
Going up against these heroes may be daunting and frustrating but, at the very least, this guide gives players some tools to counter them. While Overwatch may be frustrating in its current state, players expect big changes incoming in the next few months with hero pools being introduced. This should give the game a much-needed refresher.
Stay Connected
Follow me on Twitter: @GoopyKnoopy I would love to dialogue with you about anything I’ve written!
You can also shoot me a line on Discord! (GoopyKnoopy#2205)
Featured Image Courtesy of Blizzard Entertainment
Follow The Game Haus for more sports and esports coverage.
Twitter: TGH Esports
Facebook: The Game Haus
“From Our Haus to Yours”