Capture the Flag was first introduced into Overwatch with the 2017 Year of the Rooster Lunar New Year event. Since then, it has become a mainstay in the arcade rotation, but many players are just starting to pick up the game mode with 2023’s Lunar New Year event.
Capture the Flag also has a competitive mode, where players can test their skills on the same tiered ranking system as the normal Overwatch 2 ladder.
Skills in normal five-vs-five Overwatch 2 don’t always translate smoothly into Capture the Flag. The objective of the game mode is entirely different—though some elements, like working together as a team and making sure you use your hero’s kit to the fullest, still apply.
Objectives
Before we get into the hero picks, there are three key points that you have to keep in mind about this game mode. Every hero selection here somehow relates back to one of these three key objectives.
To succeed in Capture the Flag, you must:
- Protect the flag carrier. Only one teammate can carry the flag toward your team’s base, and they will drop it if they die or get hit with certain crowd control (CC) abilities. Dropping the flag leaves your entire team vulnerable, so protecting your carrier is vital.
- Get in and out of the enemy base quickly. When capturing the flag from the other team, you need to move cohesively and quickly to avoid taking damage or having the flag drop down close to their base.
- Knock the flag out of the other team’s hands. This mostly comes down to using crowd control abilities but also means your team needs to be working together to focus down one target.
With these objectives in mind, here are the best hero compositions to lock in for Capture the Flag in Overwatch 2.
Best Overwatch 2 Capture the Flag team compositions
As we learned in the infamous “GOATS” era of Overwatch, the true all-out powerful composition in the game consists of tank and support heroes only, without any DPS character. In Capture the Flag, where crowd control and moving together as a unit is the name of the game, a brawl GOATS composition is your best bet.
Capture the Flag has no role-lock like normal five-vs-five, so you will want to utilize three tank heroes and two support heroes to make the best composition.
In general, a DPS-less composition will be better overall, unless you are a highly skilled and confident DPS player who can get kills on the other team’s support heroes. You will want to use a DPS that excels in brawl compositions, and there shouldn’t be more than one such player on your team.
Tanks: Orisa, Ramattra, Doomfist, or Zarya
The best tank right now for Capture the Flag in Overwatch 2 is Orisa. This is mostly because of her durability and crowd control abilities. Though Fortify did get a significant nerf in the Jan. 24 game patch, she is still strong in Capture the Flag.
Orisa is also great against brawl compositions because it isn’t easy to just run her over. She is optimal as the flag bearer in this mode. Orisa’s one flaw is her lack of speed, as she is the slowest tank in the game. Combined with the right support hero, however, this problem can be eliminated. Orisa is easy to protect and support when she carries the flag.
Ramattra, the game’s newest tank hero, is also a strong pick because of how great he is in brawl compositions. He has so much health in his alternate form that he can just punch his way through enemies to go get their flag with the support of his team.
Ramattra’s slowing crowd control ability is amazing for getting the enemy team isolated and pinned down to drop their flag. If you use his kit effectively, he is a great asset to any Capture the Flag team. An Orisa and a Ramattra playing together are almost unstoppable.
Doomfist is another good Capture the Flag pick purely because of his crowd control and mobility. But you definitely don’t want him as your only tank. Orisa and Doomfist play off of each other very well in Capture the Flag. If you’re an expert Doomfist player, you’ll get a ton of value out of him in this game mode.
Roadhog used to be a top-tier pick in Capture the Flag. His hook one-shot combo was the perfect all-in-one tool to dislodge the flag from the other team’s grasp. But now that his hook has been changed, we’re not sure if he is as viable of an option. He is also very slow, and his inability to focus his damage might be an issue when trying to get the flag down without the use of his hook combo.
Now, players who know how to play her might find Zarya a good pick. If you haven’t played her before, however, we don’t recommend picking her up just for this game mode. When playing Zarya in Capture the Flag, you will be put in more of a supportive role and will have to use your bubbles to help protect the flag carrier.
Zarya is also more mobile than Roadhog or Orisa with a smaller hitbox, so you can play her in less of a frontlining manner like you would in a regular five-vs-five competitive game. Zarya is a hero that has seriously suffered from the elimination of one tank in the shift from six-vs-six to five-vs-five, but since she can play with other tanks in Capture the Flag, it might be her time to shine again.
DPS: none, Bastion, Mei, or Torbjorn
Take this section with a grain of salt because you ideally won’t use a DPS hero in your composition at all. But if you have been waiting for your chance to pop off with Bastion or have a particular fondness for the Ice Queen herself, you could give it a try.
Bastion can be effective because he can essentially act like a tank with the right support. He also can put out a ton of focused damage, making it easy to take down the opposing team’s flag carrier. His major struggle is his mobility, so you’ll need to play carefully. This results in less of a frontline presence for your team, which, again, is why playing another tank is usually a better choice.
Mei and Torbjorn both have excellent map control abilities, which help your team protect the flag carrier and also restrict the territory around your own base to protect it.
Defensive DPS heroes like these three will be the best choice if you’re set on playing a damage hero for Capture the Flag.
Support: Lucio, Kiriko, Ana, or Moira
Every Capture the Flag team needs a Lucio. This isn’t a negotiable addition to your hero lineup. It’s almost like he was made for this type of game mode.
Lucio’s speed boost is arguably the most important ability in Capture the Flag. You will need to know exactly when to boost your speed to quickly move your team from one area of the map to another. His speed boost also helps to counter the slow, bulky nature of your team when you have three tanks on your squad.
In this mode, Lucio’s healing output is far less important than his speed boost. So focus on speeding in and out at the right time, and let your other support handle the rest.
For the support alongside Lucio, you’ll want to pick a flex support character than can put out a lot of healing in a short timeframe.
Related: What is the difference between main and off support in Overwatch 2?
Ana used to be a meta pick for Capture the Flag, but since Kiriko’s release, she has faded out of the spotlight. Though her Sleep Dart, Nano Boost, and nade are all still great abilities, Kiriko has better burst healing output and can also deal heavy targeted damage. If you’re a strong Ana player who can put out consistent healing with the sniper rifle and manage your other cooldowns, you could still play her, but Kiriko is arguably better in almost every way.
Her ability to teleport to nearby teammates is an extremely strong ability in the first place, but it is especially so in a game mode where escapability and fast movement is the key to success, adding to her status as a meta pick for this mode.
Kiriko’s Suzu is also incredible for helping teammates affected by crowd control abilities, of which there will undoubtedly be many constantly flying around in Capture the Flag.
If you haven’t quite gotten the hang of Kiriko or feel clumsy with her Ofuda papers and Kunai, you could play Moira. But be careful when you manage your healing resources. Try “puffing” the heal instead of spraying it everywhere. This will waste less “heal juice” and make your meter decay slower. Don’t play DPS Moira here: your job is to keep your team alive and let the tanks brawl it out in front of you. Stick close to your flag carrier, and you’ll help out a lot.
