The best counters for each Overwatch hero

Overwatch is an exceptionally well-balanced game. Even in the early days of its release, there was never any one character that was “broken” or completely unbalanced. Some heroes are more popular than others, but overall, the game continues to stand as a shining example of live-game balance.

One of the reasons for this is that Overwatch isn’t built on a true system of counters. It doesn’t have the consistent rock-paper-scissors effectiveness of something like Pokémon. Instead, it’s built on a complex system of team-based interactions, individual matchups, and skill.

Few Overwatch heroes have a real “hard counter” that they should consistently avoid. That doesn’t mean that there aren’t some characters that do better against, say, Genji than others. It simply means that playing one of those characters into Genji doesn’t always result in success.

With that in mind, here are the best counters for each Overwatch hero.

Tanks

For more details, check out our full tank counters guide.

D.Va

Heroes with beam weapons, like Zarya, Symmetra, Moira, and Winston, are the best D.Va counters since her Defense Matrix can’t absorb them.

Orisa

Very maneuverable characters that can get behind her. Heroes like Tracer, Genji, Doomfist, Pharah, and Echo are all able to get behind Orisa’s barrier and deal damage.
Sombra’s Hack prevents her from putting down new barriers and using her Fortify to withstand burst. Sombra can also hack her Supercharger, disabling it temporarily.

Reinhardt

Anyone who can shut down his barrier. Sombra can do it with Hack and Cassidy, Ana, Mei, and Brigitte can stun him, preventing him from deploying it.
Junkrat and Pharah are excellent barrier-busters thanks to their high burst damage.

Roadhog

AoE attacks from heroes like Pharah, Junkrat, and Zarya (alt fire) tend to get caught on Roadhog’s giant hitbox.
Highly mobile heroes like Echo, Pharah, Genji, Tracer, Sombra, Doomfist, and Wrecking Ball can quickly escape his hook.
Roadhog’s gun is great for busting tanks—including himself. Roadhog counters other Roadhogs.
Widowmaker, Pharah, Echo, Junkrat, and Ana all attack at a distance, which makes it hard for Roadhog’s shotgun to hit them. Just watch out for his hook.

Sigma

Sigma’s projectiles are all fairly slow. Lucio, Genji, and Tracer are all small and fast and dodge his attacks more easily.
Sombra’s Hack prevents him from putting down new barriers.

Winston

Like Roadhog, AoE from Junkrat, Pharah, and Zarya’s alt fire tends to splash onto his big model.
Stuns from Ana, Mei, Brigitte, and Cassidy can prevent Winston from diving into or out of a backline.

Wrecking Ball

The easiest way to prevent him from denying an area or rolling away from a fight is with a stun from Brigitte, Mei, Ana, Roadhog, or Cassidy.

Zarya

Fast, high damage from Junkrat, Pharah, Echo, and Bastion can defeat her before she has a chance to gain full energy. Be careful, though: Zarya counters burst damage thanks to the way her barrier works.
D.Va can consume Zarya’s Graviton Surge with her Defense Matrix. Genji can deflect it, turning it into a utility for his team.

Damage-dealers

For more details, check out our full DPS counters guide.

Ashe

Heroes that are small, fast, and hard to hit, like Genji, Tracer, and Echo, can more easily flank her and avoid her precision shots.
Soldier: 76’s auto-fire can frequently kill Ashe faster than she can kill him.
Sombra can hack B.O.B., disabling a powerful asset for Ashe’s team.

Bastion

Burst fire and AoE from the usual suspects—Junkrat, Pharah, and Zarya’s alt fire—can take out Bastion quickly, particularly when he’s immobile and receiving fire from multiple directions.
Stuns, particularly long-distance ones from Ana and Roadhog’s hook, can stop Bastion long enough to take him out. Bastion is generally a sitting duck target, which makes landing stuns easier.

Doomfist

Stuns from Mei, Brigitte, and Cassidy can put his high mobility to rest. Ana and Roadhog can also stun him, but their stuns are more pinpoint-based and harder to hit.
Heroes with long-range attacks, like Widowmaker, Ashe, Bastion, Ana, and even Cassidy and Soldier: 76, can skirmish with him at long distances to stay out of the way of his close-combat attacks.

Echo

Like all flying heroes, Echo has a glaring weakness to hitscan shots from Soldier: 76, Cassidy, Ashe, and Widowmaker.

Genji

Genji can’t deflect beam weapons from heroes like Zarya, Symmetra, Moira, and Winston. Auto-locking beam weapons are even better.
Brigitte and Mei can slow down Genji’s mobility, making him easier to hit.

Hanzo

Hanzo has a difficult time hitting highly mobile heroes like Tracer, Pharah, Lucio, Wrecking Ball, and Genji since his arrows aren’t hitscan.
Genji can deflect his Dragon Arrow, turning it into a utility for his team. D.Va can also consume the initial projectile with her Defense Matrix.

Junkrat

Junkrat’s rate of fire is low. Fast-firing heroes like Reaper, Cassidy, Soldier: 76, and Tracer can take him out before he can land grenades.
Heroes that are highly mobile on land or in the air—like Pharah, Echo, Tracer, Lucio, and Wrecking Ball—can avoid his grenades easily.
Zarya’s energy barrier was made to work against attacks like Junkrat’s. She can gain a ton of energy from his shots and protect her team at the same time.

Cassidy

Cassidy can’t stun heroes that attack him from far away, like Widowmaker, Pharah, Bastion, and Ashe. Be careful, though: His hitscan shots also counter some of these heroes.
Genji can deflect Cassidy’s High Noon ultimate, sometimes resulting in an instant kill on Cassidy.

Mei

Sombra’s Hack blocks Mei’s ability to heal and become invulnerable.
Airborne heroes like Pharah and Echo can fly around Mei’s defensive Ice Wall.
Long-range heroes like Widowmaker and Ashe can take out Mei before she gets close enough to freeze them.

Pharah

Pharah has a hard weakness to heroes with hitscan weapons, like Soldier: 76, Cassidy, Ashe, and Widowmaker.
If Sombra hacks her while she’s on the ground, she won’t be able to fly, rendering her attacks mostly useless.

Reaper

Reaper’s shotguns are most effective at extremely short range. Snipers and heroes who can attack at a distance—like Pharah, Widowmaker, Echo, Ana, and even Junkrat—can defeat him before he has the chance to get close.

Soldier: 76

Soldier: 76 specializes in sustained damage, so those that can defeat him more quickly with burst fire have the advantage. Pharah, Junkrat, Roadhog, and Cassidy’s alt fire are all great for this. (Soldier: 76 can just as easily counter some of these heroes, though, so be careful.)

Sombra

While Sombra’s ability to become invisible is powerful, it doesn’t grant total immunity. AoE from Pharah, Junkrat, and Winston can reveal her while she’s trying to sneak around. Hanzo’s Sonic Arrow will also reveal her if it lands near her.
Stuns from Mei, Brigitte, Ana, and Cassidy can prevent her from teleporting back to safety.

Symmetra

Burst fire from heroes like Junkrat, Pharah, and Echo is great against Symmetra’s slow but steady sustained fire.
AoE attacks with lots of splash damage can easily destroy groups of her turrets. Junkrat, Pharah, and especially Winston are great for taking out turret nests.

Torbjorn

Long-distance AoE and burst fire from Pharah and Junkrat is a great way to quickly destroy Torbjorb’s turret.
Highly mobile heroes that can stay out of his ground-based ultimate, like Pharah and Echo, render it effectively useless.
Sombra can hack his turret, disabling it for a short period of time.

Tracer

Trying to hit small, fast-moving Tracer with precision weapons is a waste of time. Instead, try hitting her with characters who use auto-locking weapons, like Symmetra, Moira, Winston, and Torbjorn’s turret.
She can also be stunned by Cassidy, Mei, or Brigitte, particularly if she tries to dive or flank.

Widowmaker

Widowmaker’s secondary close-range fire is pretty awful, so flanking heroes that can get behind her, like Genji and Tracer, have the advantage. Even when they’re far away, they’re tricky for a sniper to hit. Genji can also deflect Widowmaker’s shots, resulting in a potential instant kill.
Widowmaker counters herself. Other Widowmakers can easily counter-snipe her if she’s standing still.

Supports

For more in-depth information about support counters, check out our full guide.

Ana

Heroes with a lot of maneuverability—like Genji, Echo, Pharah, Doomfist, and Tracer—are generally too fast and mobile to be hit by her Sleep Dart.
Ana is hard to play in general. She’s easily targeted by a wide variety of heroes, particularly in the upper ranks.

Baptiste

The usual mobility suspects—Genji, Tracer, Hanzo, Lucio, Echo, and Pharah—can get around his Amplification Matrix to avoid taking additional damage.
Sombra can hack his Immortality Field, disabling it for a short period. Baptiste’s team will likely be huddled around it, which makes them sitting ducks for focus fire.

Brigitte

Brigitte is made to counter close-combat divers, so flying targets that don’t frequently hit the ground can evade her stun. Pharah and Echo are the classic choices.

Lúcio

Most hitscan heroes—including Soldier: 76, Cassidy, and Ashe—are better against Lúcio because hitscan is easier to land on a moving target than other types of shots. This doesn’t include Widowmaker because of her slow rate of fire and the precision nature of her gun.
Like other highly mobile characters, auto-locking weapons are great against Lúcio. The best options are Symmetra, Winston, Moira, or Torbjorn’s turret.
Cassidy, Roadhog, Mei, and Brigitte can disrupt Lúcio’s mobility with stuns.
Sombra can disable all of Lúcio’s AoE healing with Hack.

Mercy

As a semi-flying target—OK, gliding—Mercy shares Echo’s and Pharah’s weakness to hitscan weapons from the likes of Cassidy, Ashe, Widowmaker, and Soldier: 76.
Heroes who can dive in and pursue her—like Genji, Winston, Tracer, and Symmetra—also have an advantage.
Literally everyone outdamages Mercy’s gun.

Moira

Burst fire from Junkrat, Pharah, Echo, and similar heroes can out-damage her sustained self-heal.
Cassidy, Ana, Mei, Brigitte, and Roadhog can stun her out of her Coalescence ultimate.
Long-range heroes like Ashe and Widowmaker can stay out of the reach of her Biotic Grasp.

Zenyatta

AoE and burst fire from the likes of Junkrat and Pharah can knock out Zenyatta before he has a chance to land his precision shots.
His slow-moving head is target practice for headshot heroes like Widowmaker, Ashe, Cassidy, and Hanzo.