The best counters for each Overwatch 2 tank

Even though the number of tank players in each game of Overwatch 2 has been cut in half from the game’s original installment, these heroes still have a major influence on the course of any game, from arcade modes to the competitive queue.

In a game where one of the main strategies is counter-picking, (or choosing heroes that can nullify or reduce the impact of their opposition) understanding how to best deal with menacing heroes is one of the best ways to improve both your rank and experience in Overwatch 2 as a whole.

Since only one tank can exist per team, countering them—or at least not being hard-countered by them—is an important part of team play. And, with the arrival of season 9, countering tanks has gotten a lot easier.

Here are the best heroes you can play to counter each Overwatch 2 tank.

Best hero picks to counter every Overwatch 2 tank

Best Doomfist counters

Top counter picks

• Sombra
• Lúcio
• Pharah
• Wrecking Ball
• Ana

Doomfist is known as an annoying tank hero to play against. He highly mobile despite his bulk, and, in the right hands, he can truly be a menace. Doomfist is incredibly dangerous at close range, even though he can approach any hero at any range effectively.

Though he possesses a way to negate damage via his ability Power Block, it simply provides him with a bit of damage reduction that, in most situations, is not enough to keep Doomfist in fights and requires him to back away. The key to stopping Doomfist is by limiting his mobility and options for escape as much as possible.

Sombra is known as one of the best counters to Doomfist, because her Hack prevents him from using nearly every one of his mobility tools. Though he has a lot of HP, he isn’t as dense as some other tanks. So, if your team plans the perfect hack and capitalizes on it, you’ll force the Doomfist player to switch in no time.

Lucio is effective in a different way—he is also highly mobile, which means he can simply skate away, or he can use his boop ability to push Doomfist away or make him stray from his original path. Wrecking Ball and Pharah also have abilities that can do this.

Pharah, being an airborne target, is difficult for Doomfist to reach due to his short range, so she is probably the second-best DPS hero to choose to counter him. Ana’s sleep dart is wonderful against Doomfist since she can stop his momentum completely with just one ability.

Best D.Va counters

Top counter picks

• Symmetra
• Zarya
• Reinhardt
• Brigitte
• Winston
• Ramattra

D.Va’s strength is also her weakness: her Defense Matrix. Even though it nullifies all projectiles coming her way, it has limited charge and doesn’t protect her against melee and beam damage. Weaker than a shield, Defense Matrix is both a huge asset and a potential area to exploit for enemies.

Symmetra and Zarya can both melt D.Va’s HP with their primary fire due to the tank’s large hitbox and inability to stop incoming beam damage. Symmetra is a bit of a niche hero, but with her beam and also turrets placed in strategic spots, she can catch a D.Va player off guard.

Heroes like Reinhardt and Brigitte are also able to bypass D.Va’s Defense Matrix with their melee attacks, making them prime candidates for bursting down or defending against D.Va. But these heroes are unable to deal critical damage, which may give D.Va enough time to Booster away. If you’re playing Brigitte, try disrupting her Booster pathway with a Whipshot.

D.Va’s most powerful ability, her ultimate Self-Destruct, will wipe your team in a second if you don’t find cover or take distance quickly. That’s why tank heroes like Reinhardt, Winston, and Ramattra, all of whom have access to shields, can protect a large group of allies from the explosion.

Best Junker Queen counters

Top counter picks

• Kiriko
• Baptiste
• Pharah
• Echo

Junker Queen is the literal definition of a menace, with her throwing knife, boosting Commanding Shout, and anti-heal ultimate Rampage. Her ultimate is the biggest issue when facing her, so focusing on countering Rampage should be a priority when considering her best counter picks.

Great counter-heroes are Kiriko, who can dispel the anti-heal using her Protection Suzu, and Baptiste, who can also provide a brief area of invincibility for allies via his Immortality Field.

Yet, like Roadhog and Orisa, Junker Queen has no way to shield herself or her allies, so most damage and tank heroes can burst her down if they focus enough damage onto her. She compensates for this slightly by having a smaller hitbox than the aforementioned tanks, but can still be focused down with the right team synergy.

You should be wary of Junker Queen’s melee, as it can pull you toward her for loads of damage. Pharah and Echo are exceptional against Junker Queen for their ability to fly and shoot projectiles from above which she can’t reach with her shotgun.

Best Mauga counters

Top counter picks

• Ana
• Zenyatta
• Bastion
• Sombra

Depending on who you ask, Mauga is actually one of the strongest tanks in Overwatch 2 right now. Players are desperate for more ways to counter the newest addition to the bulky class. However, there are some ways to get past the big guy.

Ana’s Biotic Grenade is a fantastic way to prevent Mauga from healing himself with his Cardiac Overdrive. Of course, as always, Ana’s Sleep Dart can stop the tank in his tracks just as it does for anyone else.

Zenyatta is a bit trickier to counter with, but with the proper amount of team coordination his Discord Orb can cut through Mauga’s enormous health pool. Pairing a Discord Orb with Bastion is a great idea. Mauga’s enormous frame means it’ll be much harder for Bastion to miss with his hail of gunfire.

Finally, Sombra can do a lot to help against Mauga with her hack. Mauga’s guns are intimidating, to be sure, but his ability to stay alive is fairly dependent on his abilities. With the right hack timing, Sombra can interrupt those abilities to get your team the opening they need.

Best Orisa counters

Top counter picks

• Genji
• Tracer
• Echo
• Sombra
• Wrecking Ball
• Reaper

Orisa is here to protect her allies and impale you with her Javelin.

With how close Orisa wants to be to her opponents to inflict maximum damage, heroes like Echo are ideal choices for dealing with her, since Orisa is clunky and lacks mobility. Other heroes like Tracer, Genji, and Wrecking Ball are able to run around and damage her from all angles due to their own extreme movement that catches Orisa off guard.

Reaper, the tank shredder, is also good against Orisa, especially since she no longer has a shield in her kit to protect herself. Try to time your engagement as Reaper to start right after she throws her Javelin on someone else, so she can’t stop your attacks.

Sombra is also an exceptional counter since her Hack disables Orisa’s abilities. But due to how much Sombra is nerfed, it’s best that you have your team beside you when playing her and attacking a hacked Orisa, or you will be thrown into a wall with a Javelin. Sombra is still more effective against Doomfist than she is against the green bovine queen.

Best Ramattra counters

Top counter picks

• Reaper
• Roadhog
• Tracer
• Genji
• Echo
• Pharah

What Ramattra lacks in self-sustain and mobility, he makes up for in close-combat power and damage-reduction potential.

Like all tanks, Ramattra is weak to the traditional “tankbuster” heroes Reaper and Roadhog. Reaper’s shotguns will shred through Ramattra, even with the latter’s extra armor in Nemesis Form, and Reaper’s mobility can help him get out of the Omnic’s way during his rampages. Ramattra’s shield is short-lived, meaning these heroes can easily rip through that as well.

Roadhog has the added benefit of also being able to hook Ramattra, pulling him out of the enemy team and rendering him fairly useless without any major mobility assets. Ramattra’s relative lack of mobility, especially in Omnic Form, means he’s somewhat weak to highly mobile heroes, though he doesn’t suffer as much as Orisa. huge

Tracer, Genji, Echo, Pharah, and other small and fast heroes can zoom around him, avoiding his swings. When he uses Block in Nemesis Form, these heroes can quickly maneuver behind him and deal damage where he’s vulnerable, destroying him unless he has a pocket healer.

Ramattra handles burst damage well, so if you’re trying to burst him down as Pharah, you’ll need to time your shots rather than shooting blindly. Thankfully, he won’t be able to reach you to fire back as long as you stay in the sky.

With the exception of his Void Accelerator primary fire, which deals about the damage of a Nerf gun, Ramattra is primarily a melee hero. Cassidy, Ashe, and Widowmaker, who can attack from long range, can deal significant damage before he even gets close to them. You’ll have to land several good shots and might need some help from your teammates at close range, but you can wear him down with these DPS choices.

Best Reinhardt counters

Top counter picks

• Tracer
• Genji
• Pharah
• Echo
• Reaper
• Bastion
• Junkrat

Reinhardt, like many tanks, lacks mobility. You should exploit this glaring weakness of his by using high-mobility DPS heroes like Tracer, Genji, Pharah, and Echo, who can outmaneuver Reinhardt from the sides and from above, allowing them to either break through his shield or strike him from behind, where his shield does not reach.

Just don’t get too close, or you’ll succumb to massive damage from swings of Reinhardt’s hammer, which can delete DPS heroes from the field with just two or three deceptively fast hits. His shield is also his biggest asset, so attacking Reinhardt from the front will be useless most of the time.

Bastion and Junkrat are great options for breaking Reinhardt’s shield if you’d rather go that route. By breaking his massive shield down, allies can capitalize at just the right moment and take him down, or force the tank to retreat while his defenses recharge.

Best Roadhog counters

Top counter picks

• Reaper
• Ana
• Junker Queen

Roadhog is a headache because of his powerful solo play. He is known as one of the best tanks for survivability, able to last for long periods of time with no allies present.

With how dangerous Roadhog is in close vicinity, both distance and mobility are crucial in dealing with him efficiently. Most hit-scan heroes, like Cassidy and Ashe, can deal considerable damage to Roadhog, but his self-heal remains a persistent issue that can simply nullify any attempts to take down the tank. If you choose to play a long-range DPS hero, you’ll have to make sure to communicate with your team to all target the Roadhog at once

That’s why you should prioritize having both Ana and Junker Queen, the only two heroes on the roster that have access to anti-heal. Ana’s grenade and Junker Queen’s Rampage both make Roadhog unable to heal himself and receive healing for a short duration. Once this negative status has been inflicted, the rest of the team can then capitalize, though they should still be wary of Roadhog’s long-range hook that can lead to instant demise for squishy heroes. Be careful with the timing of the anti-heal, because once it wears off Roadhog will become deadly again.

Best Sigma counters

Top counter picks

• Sojourn
• Widowmaker
• Hanzo
• Baptiste
• Kiriko

You should attempt to bait out Sigma’s Kinectic Grasp ability with large spam damage done from a distance, such as by heroes like Sojourn, Widowmaker, and Hanzo. Kinetic Grasp is the ability that absorbs projectiles and transforms them into a shield for Sigma.

From there, nearly any damage-dealing hero, whether a tank or DPS, can burn through Sigma’s health. This can be more efficiently done with heroes that have more mobility, like Tracer and Genji, since they can evade Sigma’s primary fire Accretion easier than other heroes. However, if an unlucky Tracer, Genji, or other squishy hero does get smacked in the face with the giant boulder, they’re as good as dead, so tread carefully.

Sigma’s ultimate, Gravitic Flux, is the other big issue to deal with. This ability does massive damage, rendering all heroes caught in it unable to move, making them easy targets to onslaughts of attacks. The only real counter to this would be hacking Sigma with Sombra or providing zones of invulnerability with Baptiste, Kiriko, and Lúcio for momentary recovery.

Best Winston counters

Top counter picks

• Reaper
• Mei
• Bastion
• Roadhog

Winston prefers to be right in the opponents’ faces at all times. That’s why melting him with Reaper is a great option as soon as he dives your backline since Winston deals so little damage that he can’t win a damage race against Reaper. Reaper can also destroy Winston’s bubbles fast, breaking down the protective barrier with ease.

With Winston’s high mobility thanks to his jump, you should try to stop the tank hero in his tracks with options like Mei, Junkrat, and Roadhog, or focus a more coordinated assault on Winston with heroes like Bastion that can break through his shield easily, then follow up with nearly any other damage hero.

Overall, Winston is usually played in a dive style, meaning he will try to attack low-HP support or DPS heroes on the opposing team first. Stick close to your teammates and you can render this strategy useless entirely.

Best Wrecking Ball counters

Top counter picks

• Sombra
• Junkrat
• Mei
• Brigitte

Wrecking Ball is the only hero incapable of being headshot, though this is only when he rolls around, so the only way to defeat him is either through large bursts of damage or via crowd control. The best way to counter Wrecking Ball is to get him to stay still, and there are multiple ways to do this.

For DPS counters to Wrecking Ball, it’s best to include either Junkrat or Mei on a team, perhaps even both simultaneously, since they have ways of slowing the tank hero down that leave the remainder of the opposition susceptible to allied fire. Junkrat’s trap is a nightmare for Wrecking Ball, and Mei’s wall and primary fire can slow him down to disrupt his motion.

Brigitte can also push the hamster back with her Shield Bash and Whip Shot, making him less of a threat when at long range. Brigitte is a great hero to use alongside another high healing output, squishy support hero, so she can protect them from Wrecking Ball’s attacks.

Once again, Sombra is also an excellent pick because she can remove Wrecking Ball’s mobility entirely by hacking him, and therefore force him to face a barrage of attacks for a short duration before rolling away. Her ultimate, EMP, is exceptionally strong against this tank hero as it will take away a massive chunk of his health, forcing him to rely on his shields earlier than later.

Most tanks are also great counters to Wrecking Ball, though they need to be aware that instead of the hamster protecting his team, he’ll likely be disrupting their own backline like a DPS, making picks like Roadhog, Doomfist, and Orisa a bit more useful for their long-range crowd control and movement.

Best Zarya counters

Top counter picks

• Kiriko
• Baptiste
• Zenyatta
• Lucio
• D.Va

When Zarya protects anyone with a bubble barrier—including herself—avoid dealing damage to that enemy at all costs. After the barriers have dissipated, Zarya will be susceptible to any incoming damage, making that the most ideal time to remove her from the battlefield and send her back to spawn.

Any hero can do this, but those with large clips like Tracer, Sombra, and Bastion will get the job done quicker. The only risk to using high-damage output heroes against a Zarya is you risk giving her primary fire charge if you shoot at the wrong time.

Yet even more of Zarya’s strength lies in her ultimate, Graviton Surge, trapping enemies inside a vortex. The best way to deal with this is an invulnerability field cast by Kiriko or Baptiste, or the ultimates of Zenyatta or Lúcio, which can provide a large amount of healing at once that can nullify nearly any combination of ultimates used with the Graviton Surge. This ability can also be deflected by Genji when cast, blocked by a Mei wall, or eaten by a D.Va, though these tactics require a bit more practice.