The Overwatch 2 meta has slight differences from OW1’s, mainly because team size has been reduced from six to five players per team, and, to some extent, because of changes that certain heroes have sustained in the transition to Overwatch 2. At any rate, as you play your OW2 matches, you will notice that characters perform better or worse against certain members of the opposition. This is why, during a game, you will sometimes be in a position where you need to switch your hero for someone more suitable for the situation.
Related: Overwatch 2 Celebrates April Fool’s Day with New Ultimate Voice Lines
In this guide, we go over every hero counter in Overwatch 2 so you know exactly how to stop the opposition. Let’s go!
April will hopefully bring us a new amazing Hero, so make sure to stay tuned to Prima Games since we’ll make sure to report on the matter as soon as possible.
How To Counter Heroes in Overwatch 2?
Below, we will sort the Overwatch 2 heroes in alphabetical order for ease of access. Or, you can just use Ctrl+F (Find in Page on mobile) to locate the heroes you love and hate the most.
Related: Overwatch 2 Hero Tier List: Best Heroes in Overwatch 2
How To Counter Ana in Overwatch 2
A good Ana is an inconvenience to deal with as she can dart you to sleep, bomb you to prevent your healing, and of course, heal her own teammates. Basically, any hero that’s highly mobile will make it difficult for Ana to hit her dart shot:
- Doomfist
- Echo
- Genji
- Lucio
- Pharah
- Sombra
- Tracer
How To Counter Ashe in Overwatch 2
Ashe is a decent damage dealer with a really great DMR (Designated Marksman Rifle), nice disengage ability, and a stick of powerful dynamite. If you are at long range against her, you won’t have much chance so you will need to get closer and put the pressure on:
- Doomfist
- Echo
- Genji
- Reaper
- Roadhog
- Soldier: 76
- Sombra
- Tracer
Related: How to Get Free Cursed Captain Reaper Skin & Weapon Charm in Overwatch 2? – Answered
How To Counter Baptiste in Overwatch 2
Baptiste provides a crazy level of support to the team, has a lot of healing, and prevents his teammates from dying. On top of that, he deals good damage. Some would call him Soldier: 76 on steroids. You also need to put huge pressure on Baptiste to stop him from doing his thing. Heroes that can do this are:
- Ana
- Echo
- Genji
- Hanzo
- Lucio
- Pharah
- Reaper
- Roadhog
- Sombra
- Tracer
How To Counter Bastion in Overwatch 2
If you decide to ignore Bastion, Bastion will rain thousands of bullets on your team in just a few seconds. In Overwatch 1, Bastion was immobile and easier to counter so now you need to put in the extra effort to annoy, oppress, dislocate, and finally, kill him. Basically, we would say “do not let it blink or breathe without your permission” but Bastion is a robot.
You get the idea, anyway. The candidates for the job are:
- Ana
- Genji
- Junkrat
- Pharah
- Roadhog
- Sombra
- Tracer
- Zarya
How To Counter Brigitte in Overwatch 2
Brigitte is a half-tank, half-healer. She doesn’t fear a good fight and is very versatile. Her downfall is the fact that she is a melee-range hero with one ranged damage ability. Let’s take advantage of that and move away from her as fast as possible and resolve our disputes without getting our hands dirty:
- Cassidy
- D.Va
- Echo
- Genji
- Junkrat
- Moira
- Pharah
- Sombra
- Tracer
- Widowmaker
Related: Best Controller Settings for Overwatch 2: Settings Guide
How To Counter Cassidy in Overwatch 2
If Cassidy scores a headshot on you, you’re gonna have a bad time. He has a great maneuvering ability which also helps him reload his gun instantly, a potent flash bang, and his ult is an absolute beast on the battlefield. If you get close to him, he can just rapid-fire all of his revolver’s ammo, and if you are far, he can hitscan you effectively. There’s nothing much you can do against him that you can’t do to anyone else, except be a better long-range shooter than him. It is possible to annoy Cassidy with:
- Ana
- Ashe
- Bastion
- Genji
- Hanzo
- Pharah
- Widowmaker
How To Counter D.Va in Overwatch 2
D.Va is problematic as she can infinitely shoot her machine guns (albeit they are not very effective at long range) and has her Defense Matrix which essentially blocks all projectiles in front of her for a limited amount of time. This, of course, leads us to a short list of counters to D.Va:
- Brigitte
- Doomfist
- Moira
- Reaper
- Roadhog
- Symmetra
- Winston
- Zarya
How To Counter Doomfist in Overwatch 2
Doomfist is now a Tank and oh boy does he put up a good fight. You will need to crowd-control him and/or run away in order to stop him from stomping you. These are the heroes that can put up with him:
- Ana
- Ashe
- Brigitte
- Cassidy
- Mei
- Pharah
- Roadhog
Related: Overwatch 2: Tips & Tricks for Playing Doomfist
How To Counter Echo in Overwatch 2
Killing a flying hero is an annoying task, but luckily, Overwatch has many hitscan characters that you can play to get rid of Echo quickly:
- Ana
- Ashe
- Baptiste
- Cassidy
- D.Va
- Junker Queen
- Moira
- Reaper
- Soldier: 76
- Widowmaker
- Zarya
How To Counter Genji in Overwatch 2
Genji is a very mobile and agile hero, making him an absolute pest to deal with. These heroes have a fly swatter with Genji’s name on it:
- Brigitte
- Mei
- Moira
- Symmetra
- Winston
- Zarya
How To Counter Hanzo in Overwatch 2
Hanzo is very difficult to aim with, given that his arrows are one of the slowest projectiles in the game. But if they hit, they deal a lot of damage. So, what do we do against this? Use high-mobility heroes, of course:
- D.Va
- Genji
- Lucio
- Moira
- Pharah
- Sombra
- Tracer
- Wrecking Ball
Related: How to Unlock Characters in Overwatch 2
How To Counter Junker Queen in Overwatch 2
New to the roster, Junker Queen is a great close-range fighter. With her shotgun, sprint, and knife that can pull the enemy towards her, she is a pest to deal with. You should go long-range against her with:
- Ana
- Ashe
- Baptiste
- Cassidy
- Pharah
- Soldier: 76
- Widowmaker
- Zenyatta
How To Counter Junkrat in Overwatch 2
Junkrat is an explosive hero in OW2 and he is a menace to deal with with all the bombs and mines he has. You should be mobile, try to deal with him from a distance, or even better, burst him down:
- Ashe
- Cassidy
- Echo
- Genji
- Lucio
- Pharah
- Reaper
- Roadhog
- Soldier: 76
- Sombra
- Tracer
- Wrecking Ball
How To Counter Kiriko in Overwatch 2
Due to Kiriko’s nature of slow-moving attacks, hit scans from a distance can annihilate her very effectively if applied well *loads a sniper rifle with malicious intent*. Or even better, harass her at close range:
- Ana
- Ashe
- Baptiste
- Cassidy
- Genji
- Moira
- Reaper
- Sojourn
- Tracer
- Widowmaker
Check out some of our Kiriko guides:
- When is Kiriko Coming to Overwatch 2 Ranked? – Answered
- All Skins for Kiriko in Overwatch 2 – Detailed
- Overwatch 2: Tips & Tricks for Playing Kiriko
How To Counter Lucio in Overwatch 2
Lucio is annoying, period. He jumps around, healing or speed-boosting, and knocking you away. Hitscan is the way to go, or lock-on beams if you manage to get close to him:
- Ashe
- Baptiste
- Cassidy
- Moira
- Soldier: 76
- Symmetra
- Winston
- Zarya
How To Counter Mei in Overwatch 2
To be honest, you either kite her from long range or just go all-in head-first and burst her down (or at least force her into her Ice Block). Her Ice Wall is an annoyance too if placed well, so you need to be able to get around it:
- Echo
- Pharah
- Reaper
- Sombra
- Tracer
Related: How to Convert Valorant Sensitivity to Overwatch 2? – Answered
How To Counter Mercy in Overwatch 2
Hitscan is good against Mercy, especially if she’s teaming up with a Pharah. Stopping her from healing with Ana is a good idea, along with being mobile enough to charge at her when she dashes toward an ally. Everything counters Mercy if you put your mind to it. But here’s an arbitrary list:
- Ana
- Ashe
- Baptiste
- Cassidy
- Genji
- Moira
- Reaper
- Roadhog
- Soldier: 76
- Winston
How To Counter Moira in Overwatch 2
Moira is tricky to deal with. She can disappear and dash far away and she has a self-heal out of combat. Her healing orb also does wonders to recuperate her. We suggest using the following to stop her in her tracks:
- Ana
- Echo
- Genji
- Pharah
- Reaper
- Roadhog
- Sombra
How To Counter Orisa in Overwatch 2
Orisa is most vulnerable when flanked or attacked from behind or from a long range. There is no big philosophy here. You will be pulverized in most cases when you attack her from the front. Try using these heroes:
- Ana
- Ashe
- Baptiste
- D.Va
- Echo
- Hanzo
- Kiriko
- Pharah
- Reaper
- Sojourn
- Sombra
- Soldier: 76
- Widowmaker
- Zarya
- Zenyatta
Related: How to Counter Orisa in Overwatch 2
How To Counter Pharah in Overwatch 2
Just before writing this article, we witnessed a Roadhog hooking Pharah right out of the sky. Lulz were had, but that’s not an orthodox way to counter Pharah. She is very mobile and attacks from very long distances so your best bet is to use a hit-scan hero. And stay away from the edges of buildings to not get K.O.’d!
- Ana
- Ashe
- Baptiste
- Reaper (when she lands)
- Soldier: 76
- Widowmaker
How to Counter Ramattra in Overwatch 2
Ramattra, despite being in the game for over a month now, has not received a proper nerf (which is deserved by the way).
Ramattra is a dominant tank that can also dish out a significant amount of damage and basically, every team picks Ramattra to maximize their odds of winning. Here’s what you can pick to attempt to counter Ramattra:
- Ana
- Bastion
- D.Va
- Orisa
- Pharah
- Reaper
- Roadhog
- Symmetra
- Tracer
- Zenyatta
How To Counter Reaper in Overwatch 2
We have mentioned Reaper quite a few times as the counter for many heroes, which works wonders on close range and can melt health in 2-3 shots (if aimed well), but at long range, his little shotguns do little damage. He can try to warp to you, but this leaves him in a vulnerable position and his wraith form is a multi-purpose tool for both running and chasing. He also has lifesteal and critical strike chance, so it’s a REALLY good idea for you to be as far away from him as possible!
- Ana
- Ashe
- Echo
- Junkrat
- Pharah
- Widowmaker
How To Counter Reinhardt in Overwatch 2
Reinhardt’s shield is not that big of a deal, but you still need to get rid of it. It gives cover for him and his teammates and it can provide a great advantage even if it lasts for just a few seconds. You either need to bypass his shield and make him drop it, burst it down, or crowd-control him:
- Ana
- Brigitte
- Junkrat
- Mei
- Pharah
- Reaper
- Sombra
- Tracer
Related: What Are Overwatch Coins & How to Get Them in Overwatch 2
How To Counter Roadhog in Overwatch 2
Roadhog is one of the hardest heroes to deal with 1v1, despite him being a close-range-only character. He can heal himself pretty efficiently (and also charge his Ultimate with it) and if you don’t have a big HP bar and if he grabs you with his hook, it’s almost always game over (since he got nerfed a bit). You can either force Roadhog into a long-range fight or gamble with the likes of Tracer or Genji at close range and hope that shotgun and hook will miss (which we don’t recommend in most cases but some daredevils like to live their lives dangerously):
- Ana
- Genji
- Echo
- Junkrat
- Pharah
- Reaper
- Sombra
- Tracer
- Widowmaker
How To Counter Sigma in Overwatch 2
Sigma has pretty slow attacks but he can take a lot of damage so you ought to take a high-mobility hero against him and/or someone that has a beam attack due to his anti-projectile shield:
- Genji
- Lucio
- Moira
- Sombra
- Symmetra
- Tracer
- Zarya
How To Counter Sojourn in Overwatch 2
Sojourn is a great soldier, to say the least, with great mobility and attack power. It is good to try and get behind Sojourn and make a kill with a lot of burst damage, or to just counter her weapons with the following:
- D.Va
- Lucio
- Orisa
- Reaper
- Sigma
- Sombra
- Zarya
Related: Overwatch 2: Tips & Tricks for Playing Sojourn
How To Counter Soldier: 76 in Overwatch 2
The only thing that Soldier lacks is more HP, literally. He deals decent damage, can hit scan and sprint, he has a legit aimbot and can heal his teammates. The best soldier there is! In order to beat Soldier: 76, you need to burst him down fast:
- Ana
- Cassidy
- Junkrat
- Reaper
- Roadhog
- Widowmaker
How To Counter Sombra in Overwatch 2
How do you counter something that you can’t even see?! Oh, that’s right, stealth reveals utility and massive AoE attacks in hope of randomly hitting Sombra. But try to kill her before she teleports back from where she came from (such an annoyance):
- Ana
- Brigitte
- Hanzo
- Junkrat
- Mei
- Moira
- Pharah
- Winston
How To Counter Symmetra in Overwatch 2
Her turrets are fewer in number and seemingly deal less damage than in Overwatch 1, but they are still frustrating. Her teleport speeds up the movement of her team and you must locate the beacons and destroy them ASAP:
- Echo
- Junkrat
- Pharah
- Reaper
- Sombra
- Tracer
- Winston
Related: Overwatch 2: All Rewards on the Season 1 Battle Pass
How To Counter Torbjorn in Overwatch 2
We all know that Torbjorn’s turret aims better than Widowmaker so we must deal with it with utmost seriousness. There’s nothing much or special that you can do but here are some heroes that can help:
- Ana
- Junkrat
- Pharah
- Sombra
- Widowmaker
How To Counter Tracer in Overwatch 2
Tracer is definitely one of the most annoying heroes to deal with. Those three Blinks are a big deal and replenish fast, time travel is busted even more than Sombra’s teleport and honestly, there’s no big enough hammer to squash this pest with (look at how many times Tracer is listed as a counter!). Of course, you need to aim lock her and do the murder deed:
- Ana
- Junkrat
- Pharah
- Sombra
- Widowmaker
How To Counter Widowmaker in Overwatch 2
Someone, please buy Widowmaker a camping tent. She is the stereotypical sniper in video games, finding angles to cover, and remaining static for most of the match. One of the best ways to troll Widowmaker is to deflect her fully charged sniper rifle shot back to her with Genji, like some sort of an anime super special ultimate move. Her rifle doesn’t fare well without the scope so rushing her does wonders:
- Genji
- Reaper
- Sombra
- Tracer
Related: How to Change Weapon Charms in Overwatch 2
How To Counter Winston in Overwatch 2
There’s nothing we can suggest against Winston except raw, unfiltered damage, and crowd control. Put him to sleep, freeze him, stun him, do whatever you need to do to pause him so you can go off:
- Ana
- Brigitte
- Mei
- Reaper (you have lifesteal and he doesn’t)
- Roadhog
How To Counter Wrecking Ball in Overwatch 2
There are few counters for this wild hamster: duck and cover, run to the hills, evacuate, or pick some of these heroes to apply crowd control:
- Ana
- Brigitte
- Mei
- Roadhog
How To Counter Zarya in Overwatch 2
Zarya is a powerful and popular tank, and she requires bursts of damage to be knocked down (her shield keeps regenerating and it’s so frustrating to deal with it sometimes). Her attack range is miserable so there’s space for you to run away from her without taking much damage, though you need to keep dealing damage in order to prevent the shield from going back up:
- Ashe
- Bastion
- D.Va
- Echo
- Junkrat
- Pharah
- Widowmaker
Related: How to Add Friends in Overwatch 2
How To Counter Zenyatta in Overwatch 2
Zenyatta is a very useful hero with a decent single-target heal and a single-target debuff. If he charges the attack and hits you with everything, you’re dead as a dodo. Use these characters against him:
- D.Va
- Echo
- Genji
- Pharah
- Reaper
- Sigma
- Tracer
- Widowmaker
That’s it for this list. Feel free to bookmark it for later and to share it with your playgroup. We hope you’ll figure out great tactics to counter your enemies efficiently!
Related: Do You Need a Phone Number to Play Overwatch 2? SMS Protection Explained
