Overwatch: Low-Effort Counters to Annoying Team Builds

Not my snappiest title, but basically I wanted to go over some picks in Overwatch that I’ve discovered after enough times getting frustrated by silly class consistencies. These tips are mostly assuming you’re in Quickplay solo-queueing, as even in a group of two there’s usually enough cooperation on your team that natural selection should weed the silly strats out.

1. Lots of Bastions and Reinhardts. The remaining players are usually Mercy. The bastions sit in front of chokeholds, the Reinhardts stand in front of the Bastions with shields up, and it seems like nothing can even scratch them. In this situation, I switch to Symmetra and spam fully-charged alt-fire balls at the Bastions. Reinhardt can’t block the projectile, and Bastion must either take it on the chin or switch form and break position, which gives you team a solid chance to break the front lines. In addition, the Bastion/Reinhardt combo’s biggest weakness is being worn down, due to being so defensive and immobile, and Symmetra’s teleporter is great for keeping the pressure on them until your team finally wears them down.

2. Lots of skilled picking classes. Up against Widowmakers in the backrow, Genjis up in your face and McCrees everywhere else? If your team doesn’t seem capable of dealing with them on their own, there’s no better answer than Winston.

It’s the only time I play Winston, and it’s still laughably easy to hard counter any of these classes since he has the healthpool to sponge their damage output, the mobility to take the fight to them, and a no-aim death cannon that’s a real bitch to escape from. Now, I’m not saying you’re going to just kill them over and over effortlessly; if they’re worth their salt they’ll probably be familiar with Winstons out for their blood, but you’ll absolutely maintain the lion’s share of their attention and they won’t be able to do their actual jobs harassing your team.

3. A Maze of Meis. One is annoying enough, but what if there are three, four, or (god help you) six of them?

Personally, I use Zarya, primarily for the fact that her protective bubbles completely nullify Meis slowdown ability, and your primary-fire laser beam deals damage way faster than her popsicle gun does. Wait a few seconds before popping your barrier so that you can bait Mei into a vulnerable position, thinking her prey’s about to be frozen and an easy tag, and then destroy her with immunity to slowdown and a bunch of free damage to charge your energy. Don’t forget to give your teammates bubbles too.

4. DVas and healers. Most Overwatch classes don’t stack with themselves, but DVas only get scarier in groups. Perhaps it’s because she can toggle between being DPS and tank, or her mix of mobility, high-damage, and defense matrix, but slap a Lucio behind a DVa squad and it’s a really scary team.

It’s also usually the time I bust out Zenyatta. He’s great for helping your teammates shred DVas thanks to his orb of Discord, but I also play a lot of support so he comes more naturally to me than Zarya, the other good counter to DVas. Once again her primary-fire is immune to DVas defense matrix, and her bubbles can almost completely nullify DVas arm cannons (or pistol fire if in human form). Her barrier can also save yourself (and high-health allies) from DVas ult, one of the few barriers powerful enough for that.

Above all, when your current class isn’t working you need to switch. Overwatch is a game all about adapting, and there are enough classes that you can probably find someone more suited to the current environment when your regulars fall short. I’ve personally been working on my Soldier 76, Junkrat, DVa and Lucio so I have a class I can play proficiently in all four categories, so I recommend that as a good starting point for becoming a versatile all-round player.