Overwatch Season 17 Tier List: Build ’em up, Bunker down

Season 17 of Overwatch’s Competitive play is officially live as of July 1, 2019. This tier list reflects heroes that are both well-kitted and their synergy within the current meta. As new patches go live, this list will be updated to reflect those changes and new lists will be published.

[Update: An updated iter list has been published for August 2019 to better reflect the status of the heroes moving into 2-2-2. It can be accessed by clicking this link.]

Tier 1: Viable in any situation with high win-rates

• Orisa
• Ana
• Moira
• McCree
• Brigitte
• Zarya

As it currently stands, Bunker compositions are still very strong in ranked play. They do not require a lot of communication and are very good in the neutral fights (fights without ultimates being used). In this, heroes like Orisa, Ana, and McCree are easy mainstay picks to build a team around on both offense and defense. However, one way to counter bunker is to dive it and eventually use ultimates to break it. This is where heroes like Zarya and Brigitte show their worth and make them useful counters to dive. Overall, any team with 3-4 heroes from this should feel confident in Season 17.

Tier 2: Good meta alternatives to Tier 1 and overall strong heroes

• D.Va
• Winston
• Zenyatta
• Hanzo
• Torbjorn
• Baptiste
• Reinhardt
• Sombra
• Roadhog

All of the heroes on this list are currently very strong either because of their individual hero kits or because of how strong Bunker meta is. Heroes like Torbjorn, Baptiste, Roadhog and Hanzo work well behind a bunker, while heroes such as Sombra, Winston and D.Va can, often times, be the key to breaking a good bunker. An EMP with a well-placed D.Va bomb can be all it takes to dismantle a bunker sometimes. Others on this list are simply strong heroes and can be malleable in most compositions.

Tier 3: Good situational picks but less strong overall

• Bastion
• Mei
• Lucio
• Pharah
• Wrecking Ball
• Junkrat
• Widowmaker
• Mercy
• Genji

Not all heroes on this list are bad but they certainly are situational. These are good lower-tier substitutes for players who may be especially comfortable on one of these heroes over one in a higher tier. Genji, for example, can sometimes fill the need of a Sombra player diving a Bunker and Bastion can deal out damage behind an Orisa shield just like Torbjorn can. Use these heroes if needed but look to rely on those in the top two tiers, if possible.

Tier 4: Difficult to have success in the current meta

• Reaper
• Ashe
• Solider: 76
• Tracer
• Doomfist
• Symmetra

These last few heroes are either/both poorly kitted at the moment or have suffered as a result of the meta changes. These, again, can be used sparingly if a player is particularly comfortable with these heroes and they work within the team’s composition, however, they require a lot more teamwork than other, stronger heroes do.

For example, Doomfist requires lots of investment when he dives in and Symmetra usually requires all players to have their mics going for a good teleporter to get value. Given the status of ranked play and the current meta these, and the other heroes in this tier, are tough asks and are difficult to play with success.

As a reminder, this tier list is currently operating off of the latest live patch, 1.37.0.1. This will be updated as patches continue to come out throughout Competitive Season 17.

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