The best counters for each Overwatch 2 hero

A core part of gameplay in Overwatch 2 is counter-picking or choosing heroes for your team who have abilities that nullify or outperform those on the enemy team.

Few heroes have a real “hard counter” who they should consistently avoid in Overwatch 2. This doesn’t mean there are heroes who cannot be successful in any situation over others, but rather that you’ll have to be proficient at playing the character to get around their strongest counters.

Here are the best counters for each Overwatch 2 hero.

Overwatch 2 Counters Chart: Best counters for every hero

All Tank counters in Overwatch 2

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

D.Va counters

Heroes with beam weapons, like Zarya, Symmetra, Moira, and Winston are the best D.Va counters since her Defense Matrix can’t absorb their outgoing damage. You’ll still need to be mindful of D.Va eating some abilities, like Graviton Surge or Moira’s orbs, but at least she can’t negate your primary source of damage.

Thanks to her large hitbox while inside her mech, D.Va can take a large amount of damage from heroes who accel at burst fire like Sojourn and Bastion. These heroes also excel at tracking, which is needed as D.Va flies around with her Boosters. Both Sojourn and Bastion can force D.Va to target them or use all of her Defense Matrix quickly, leaving them open for attack.

Doomfist counters

The highly mobile Doomfist struggles against other mobile heroes and suffers with his large hitbox in comparison. Quick heroes can jump over his Power Block and deal damage to his vulnerable back, and they’re harder to hit with his Rocket Punch. Most notably annoying for a Doomfist will be Tracer, followed by a Genji with precise movement, though both of these squishy heroes have to be careful.

Sombra will always be a good counter against Doomfist since her hacks can make him nearly immovable and easy to focus on. As a hero who relies heavily on his external abilities to be effective, Sombra will always be a good counter against Doomfist.

Ana’s Sleep Dart will completely shut down a Doomfist, allowing him to burst down and be rendered immobile, while Brigitte can push him around and whip shot him to mess up his position.

Junker Queen counters

Heroes who have a self-heal or self-shield ability, including Wrecking Ball and Lucio, can negate some or all of Junker Queen’s wound damage, rendering part of her kit useless. Long-range heroes like Widowmaker and Ana can stay out of the range of her shotgun and her short-range AoE attacks and can also do decent damage to her themselves, as Junker Queen is one of the squishiest tank heroes. The true counter to Junker Queen will always be Kiriko, as her healing negates her bleed and her suzu negates her ultimate.

Mauga counters

Mauga is a massive force best countered by heroes who can outmaneuver him but are also strong. Therefore, the tank matchup against Mauga matters a lot. Doomfist and Wrecking Ball can exploit his weaknesses, while a Mauga mirror matchup is also effective.

Sombra can shut down everything except Mauga’s primary fire, allowing the team to isolate them. Zenyatta‘s tankbusting Discord Orb is effective, and Mauga can seldom keep up with Kiriko‘s mobility.

Orisa counters

Heroes with beam weapons, including Mei, Moira, and Winston, won’t be affected by Orisa’s Javelin Spin, which can only block physical bullets and projectiles. Heroes who draw power from damage being dealt to them, like Zarya, can better withstand her onslaught while powering themselves up. D.Va can absorb all of Orisa’s punishing primary fire with her Defense Matrix. Orisa’s low mobility also makes D.Va’s ultimate effective against her.

Ramattra counters

The usual tankbusters, including Reaper and Roadhog, can shred Ramattra quickly thanks to his lack of self-sustain. Highly mobile heroes, including Tracer, Pharah, and Genji, can jump around him and dodge his melee attacks. They can also attack him from the back when he’s blocking in Nemesis Form. With the strength of Cassidy’s consistent damage and movement, he’s a safe choice against Ramattra. Kiriko is the best support choice because her kunai can damage Ramattra from far away, and if caught in a tricky position, she can simply teleport away.

Reinhardt counters

Anyone who can shut down his barrier can crack Reinhardt. Sombra can do it with Hack, whereas Cassidy, Bastion, and Mei can whittle it down quickly, preventing him from deploying it. Junkrat and Pharah are excellent barrier-busters, thanks to their high burst damage. Zenyatta’s Discord Orb will make burning down Reinhart incredibly fast once his shield has been taken down.

Roadhog counters

Junkrat and Reaper are two great counters to Roadhog and his massive hitbox, allowing you to chunk him down quickly if positioned right. Highly mobile heroes like Echo and Wrecking Ball can quickly escape his hook. Heroes like Tracer and Sombra can be strong, but they’re dead instantly if they do get hooked. Roadhog’s gun is great for busting tanks—including himself. Roadhog counters other Roadhogs. Ana is the best support counter because her Biotic Grenade will nullify Roadhog’s Take a Breather, making the entire ability useless.

Sigma counters

Sigma’s projectiles are all fairly slow. Lucio, Genji, and Tracer are small and fast and dodge his attacks more easily. They can also easily outmaneuver his barrier shield. Sombra’s Hack prevents him from putting down new barriers in the first place. Ramattra and Roadhog can fight against Sigma up close and avoid his barriers while doing good damage.

Winston counters

Like Roadhog, AoE from Junkrat, Pharah, and Zarya’s alt fire tends to splash onto his big model. Winston has a bubble shield he can use, but because his greatest strength is his mobility, he won’t be inside it for very long.

Bastion can almost single-handedly stop a dive by focusing a Winston down and tracking their primary fire to burst the gorilla down. Sleeps and stuns from Ana and Brigitte can prevent Winston from diving into or out of a backline. Brigitte is also a very self-sufficient support hero, so she can survive a dive better than any other.

Wrecking Ball counters

The easiest way to prevent the pesky hamster from denying an area or rolling away from a fight is with a stun or slow from Mei, Ana, Brigitte, or a well-timed hook from Roadhog. A hack from Sombra will also do the trick and will, more often than not, make the Wrecking Ball player swap to a different hero. Similarly to how they interact with Winston, Ana and Brigitte can shut Wrecking Ball down and survive if he tries to focus them.

Zarya counters

To counter Zarya, you’ll want fast, targeted damage that can take out a target between her Bubble cooldowns. Hanzo, Widowmaker, Cassidy, and Tracer are all great at this. D.Va can consume Zarya’s Graviton Surge with her Defense Matrix, and Zenyatta‘s Discord Orb can help in bursting down a Zarya with no Bubbles.

All DPS counters in Overwatch 2

Ashe counters

Heroes who are small, fast, and hard to hit, like Genji and Tracer, can rush around an Ashe and easily avoid her shots. Widowmaker is a better raw sniper than Ashe and will win most head-to-head battles against the cowgirl, especially if she can’t hit her shots.

Zarya‘s bubble can nullify and absorb damage from Dynamite, a huge part of Ashe’s kit. Kiriko is also a solid counter for the same reason since her Suzu can remove the fiery damage over time. Ana‘s Sleep Dart is the best single counter for B.O.B.

Bastion counters

Burst fire and AoE from the usual suspects—Junkrat, Pharah, and Zarya’s alt fire—can take out Bastion quickly, particularly when he’s slowed in Configuration: Assault and receiving fire from multiple directions.

Ana‘s Sleep Dart can stop Bastion long enough to take him out. Bastion is often a slow-moving target, which makes landing the dart much easier. Small heroes who force Bastion to move around and focus them, like Genji and Tracer, can whittle him down while keeping your tanks alive.

Cassidy counters

Genji can deflect Cassidy’s High Noon ultimate, sometimes resulting in an instant kill on Cassidy. Similarly, Ana can sleep Cassidy to cancel his ultimate. Heroes with shields, like Reinhardt and Winston, can hide themselves and their teammates from High Noon and all of Cassidy’s other incoming damage. Going with a mirror Cassidy duel, if you’re better at hitting shots or landing grenades, is also a good counter.

Echo counters

Like all flying heroes, Echo has a glaring weakness to hitscan shots from Soldier: 76, Cassidy, Ashe, and Widowmaker. If she stays on the ground for too long, tank heroes with stun abilities can stop her from flying and take her out quickly. Winston can pressure Echo in the air, no matter what they’re doing. Zarya’s bubbles absorb all of Echo’s high damage output, making her ineffective.

Genji counters

Genji can’t deflect beam weapons from heroes like Zarya, Symmetra, Moira, and Winston. Auto-locking beam weapons are even better. Mei and tanks with crowd control abilities can slow down Genji’s mobility, making him easier to hit. Ana can sleep and use her grenade on Genji in his ultimate.

Hanzo counters

Hanzo has difficulty hitting highly mobile heroes like Lucio, Wrecking Ball, and Genji since his arrows aren’t hitscan. Genji can also deflect his Dragon Arrow, turning it into a utility for his team. D.Va can consume the initial projectile and Hanzo’s ultimate with her Defense Matrix. Lucio can boop Hanzo out of position and pester him so he can’t line up his shots.

Junkrat counters

Junkrat’s rate of fire is slow. Fast-firing heroes like Cassidy and Soldier: 76 can take him out before he can land his grenades. Heroes who are highly mobile on land or in the air, like Wrecking Ball and Lucio, can easily avoid his grenades. Don’t play Tracer or Sombra into Junkrat because his explosions can easily one-shot you.

Zarya’s energy barrier was designed to work against attacks like Junkrat’s. She can gain a ton of energy from his shots while protecting her team. Brigitte and Lifeweaver both have great self-sustainability that can last through Junkrat’s attacks.

Mei counters

D.Va‘s swift mobility gives her the best chance of surviving Mei’s Blizzard and maneuvering around a quite slow hero compared to other DPS heroes. 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, and only very skilled Mei players who can land airborne Icicles can take them down. Kiriko‘s Suzu can nullify slowing and freezing damage from Mei.

Pharah counters

Pharah is highly vulnerable to heroes with hitscan weapons, like Soldier: 76, Cassidy, Ashe, and Widowmaker. Even Baptiste in the support category can easily pluck her out of the sky. Any D.Va player who cycles their boosters properly can effectively dive Pharah and negate her ultimate by eating it with her Defense Matrix.

Reaper counters

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 can get close. Zarya will absorb Reaper’s close shotgun damage and turn it around to use against him.

Sojourn counters

Because Sojourn’s primary fire is technically not hitscan, fast-moving heroes like Lucio, Genji, and Tracer can out-maneuver her, making it difficult for Sojourn to hit them. Dive heroes like Winston can jump on Sojourn, forcing her to slide away or, if she’s already used it, making her very weak. Mauga can trap her in his ultimate and remove her ability and excellence at mid-range.

Soldier: 76 counters

Widowmaker and Ashe can out-range Soldier: 76, so if you can hit shots, you can try these heroes to out-duel him. Genji can deflect everything a Soldier: 76 can throw at him aside from his heal. Ana and Lucio have abilities to counter Tactical Visor, and Roadhog‘s hook can take Soldier: 76 out of position easily.

Sombra counters

While Sombra’s ability to become invisible is powerful, it doesn’t grant total immunity. AoE from Pharah and Junkrat 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 and Ana can prevent her from teleporting back to safety. Kiriko can use her suzu to remove hack and virus from her allies.

Symmetra counters

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. Mauga has enough HP to survive turret damage for a long time while also easily shooting Symmetra down. Both Winston and Mauga can also just jump straight through her ultimate.

Torbjörn counters

Close-range AoE and burst fire from Junkrat are great ways to quickly destroy Torbjörn’s turret. Highly mobile heroes who can stay out of his ground-based ultimate, like D.Va, render it useless. (Torbjörn’s auto-locking turret counters these heroes while they’re in the air, which is why Pharah and Echo are less effective.)

Tracer counters

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 or separated from her team by Mei or tanks with crowd control abilities, particularly if she tries to dive or flank. Brigitte is self-sufficient enough that trying to kill her as a lone Tracer is useless and even dangerous. She is often used as a support to protect heroes who are particularly vulnerable to Tracer.

Widowmaker counters

Widowmaker’s secondary close-range fire is pretty awful, so flank-heavy heroes who can get behind her, like Genji, Tracer, and Sombra 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 snipe her if she’s standing still, as can the surprisingly powerful support hero Zenyatta.

All Support counters in Overwatch 2

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

Ana counters

Heroes with a lot of maneuverability—like Echo, Pharah, and Tracer—are generally too fast and mobile to be hit by Ana’s Sleep Dart. Ana is hard to play in general because of her lack of mobility. She’s easily targeted by a wide variety of heroes, particularly in the upper ranks of play, including Winston, and Ramattra. Kiriko‘s Suzu can nullify even the best-placed grenades, making the ability totally useless.

Baptiste counters

Cassidy and Ashe can easily land shots on Baptiste’s medium-sized hitbox, and if he doesn’t have his Immortality Field, Baptiste can be picked off easily. Mei can separate Baptiste from his allies to prevent them from getting healing. Lucio can boop teammates out of range of both Baptiste’s Amplification Matrix and Immortality Field.

Brigitte counters

Brigitte is made to counter close-combat divers, so flying targets that don’t frequently hit the ground can evade her Shield Bash and Whip Shot. Pharah and Echo are the classic choices. Shield-busters like Pharah and Junkrat can quickly break her barrier shield.

Illari counters

Illari counters need to be strong since she is mostly a DPS healer. Orisa, Zarya, and D.Va come to mind for tanks to whittle down her health and catch her fast with high mobility. Hitscans like Cassidy, Ashe, and Widowmaker do a great job of countering her just in case she’s hanging behind enemy lines. For support, Baptiste, Lifeweaver, and Lucio can contain Illari with high damage and immobility, all while staying healed.

Kiriko counters

Kiriko’s only damage-dealing ability is her Kunai alternate fire, and it’s a tough projectile to hit. Highly mobile heroes like Tracer, Sombra, and Genji can make it difficult for her to land those coveted headshots. Roadhog and Mei can also stun her and catch Kiriko, making it difficult for her to teleport or climb away.

Lifeweaver counters

Sombra’s kit might be the bane of Lifeweaver’s existence. Lifeweaver’s platform and grab abilities will be made null and void by a simple Sombra hack. Soldier: 76’s arsenal will make light work of Lifeweaver’s platform. He’ll also be able to easily shred through a Lifeweaver’s health points, as the support doesn’t possess the movement to escape far enough. Lucio can boop Lifeweaver’s teammates away from platforms or trees placed for healing.

Lúcio counters

Hitscan heroes who can also track movement, like Soldier: 76 and Cassidy, are great against Lucio. Like other highly mobile characters, auto-locking weapons are great against Lúcio. The best options are Symmetra, Winston, Moira, or Torbjorn’s turret. Roadhog and Mei can disrupt Lúcio’s mobility with slows and stuns.

Mercy counters

As a semi-flying target—OK, gliding—Mercy shares Echo’s and Pharah’s weakness to hitscan weapons from the likes of Cassidy and Widowmaker. Heroes who can dive in and pursue her—like Genji, Winston, Tracer, and Symmetra—also have an advantage, especially if they catch Mercy in a corner with no one to fly to. Roadhog can one-shot a Mercy with his hook, and it’s not as hard to hit her in the sky as you might expect.

Moira counters

Burst fire from Junkrat, Pharah, Echo, and similar heroes can out-damage Moira’s sustained self-heal. Ana, Mei, 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. Moira can no longer Fade out of AoE ultimates like Zarya’s Graviton Surge, leaving her vulnerable.

Zenyatta counters

Zenyatta is a classic glass cannon hero with many weaknesses. AoE and burst fire from Junkrat and Pharah can knock out Zenyatta before he can land his precision shots.

His slow-moving head is target practice for headshot heroes like Widowmaker, Ashe, Cassidy, Kiriko, and Hanzo. Because Zenyatta is something of a headshot hero himself, this means he can counter himself, too.

Fast, small-moving characters like Tracer and Genji can focus down Zenyatta easily, thanks to his lack of movement. The only way to counter that as Zenyatta is to kill them or get support from your teammates.