EPTI hope you really enjoy this game! I wanted to start a series dedicated to more in-depth counter guides. Specifically, I wanted to cover not just heroes play style, but what counters them, how a given hero counters than them, and what play styles help against said hero. So far I have done Bastion, Tracer, and McCree.
I will be releasing at least a Guide a Day until launch, in hopes of getting close to all 21 by then. In addition to the guides I have been working on cleaning up a Spreadsheet with hero counters for new and experienced players a like. The spreadsheet has already gone over many revisions and I want to have it more finalized for launch.
If you have any feedback about the guides, my writing, countersheet, or anything I am doing please let me know!
A little about me: I am an avid gamer for over the last 15 years. I have played competitive SC2, Halo 3, and CS:S at a low amateur level, and Dota2 at the amateur/semi-pro level. I have also done an extensive amount of commentating in dota 2's semi-pro scene. I love Overwatch, and I want to help the community grow in skill and understanding of this game. I have played over 100 hours in the last 2 stress-test weekends, over 70 hours in the open beta, and I extensively study professional play to bring their ideas to you.
Edit: Excerpt from McCree Guide - His numbers, his playstyle, and How to beat that playstyle.
McCree is designed to be counter almost every hero in a 1 v 1 situation, so he is very hard to counter himself. McCree's tool-kit allows him to move around the edges of the map, isolating and picking off heroes - then pressing the advantage he just got with a Dead-eye. Between the terror his ultimate creates on the map, and the speed at which he can burst heroes; McCree is someone that has to be kept under control and checked at all times. (Trying to fix format of video placement sorry!)
Let's look at McCree's numbers so we can better deal with him. McCree has 200 HP, a standard amount for defense and offense heroes. This means that critical shots from a Windowmaker or Hanzo will one shot him. His Peacekeeper is a force by itself dealing 35 damage at long distance, and 70 up close. While his Fan the Hammer cannot critically hit, all 6 rounds hitting a target in close quarters will deal 420 damage in 1 second. His combat roll is a key utility ability, reloading his Peacekeeper upon completion of the roll. It will move him 6 meters in the direction of his movement key, and has a 8 second cooldown. In 1v1 situations, McCree's Flashbang will stun you for .5 seconds dealing 25 damage, and be on cooldown for 10 seconds. Flashbang will automatically detonate at 5 meters or on any surface/hero, and if it does catch you his fan will deal 210 damage in that .5 second window.
Dead-Eye is one of the strongest ultimates in the game. Because he gains 160 damage per second that you stand in his Line of Sight, and it lasting 6 seconds, no target can survive this without hiding behind a wall or barrier. Even more, McCree's will not always use the ultimate on one or two heroes, but rather cancel it after 6 seconds retaining 50% of their ultimate charge and use the zoning power to press their advantage.
Work with your teammates. Countering most heroes starts with the idea that some heroes will help you deal with them directly, or indirectly. More so, usually this centers on what their abilities do to certain heroes. With McCree, his tool-kit is built around never losing a 1 v 1 engagement. Very few heroes, if any, can meaningfully duel a McCree, so when dealing with him we need to it in force. This guide, unlike a few of the others, will focus primarily on how you play against McCree, rather than what you need to pick to beat him. There are heroes to help you, but working as a team to harass and shut down a McCree is absolutely key.
Remember when picking heroes to deal with McCree, you must work in tandem with your teammates to shut him down. While each of the following heroes will help with their abilities and play style, you must remember a McCree that is able to freely move around the sides of the map will get out of control. Forcing McCree to group up with his team and take teamfights without first getting picks is the primary way to negate his impact. Communicate with your team; keep tabs on him, call it out, and request help dealing with him. If you consistently use teamwork to shut down this lone ranger, he will be forced to play his hero in a less efficient manner or switch away from McCree.
If all else fails, do what McCree does, roam around the map and pick apart his team. Much like McCree has been slowly tearing down your teammates one by one, you can do the same to him. Most of the time he will not be thinking about his teammates and rather be concentrated on how to dismantle your team. If you create enough pressure, McCree will be forced to deal with you first - slowing and negating the impact he has on your team.
Let's look at McCree's numbers so we can better deal with him. McCree has 200 HP, a standard amount for defense and offense heroes. This means that critical shots from a Windowmaker or Hanzo will one shot him. His Peacekeeper is a force by itself dealing 35 damage at long distance, and 70 up close. While his Fan the Hammer cannot critically hit, all 6 rounds hitting a target in close quarters will deal 420 damage in 1 second. His combat roll is a key utility ability, reloading his Peacekeeper upon completion of the roll. It will move him 6 meters in the direction of his movement key, and has a 8 second cooldown. In 1v1 situations, McCree's Flashbang will stun you for .5 seconds dealing 25 damage, and be on cooldown for 10 seconds. Flashbang will automatically detonate at 5 meters or on any surface/hero, and if it does catch you his fan will deal 210 damage in that .5 second window.
Dead-Eye is one of the strongest ultimates in the game. Because he gains 160 damage per second that you stand in his Line of Sight, and it lasting 6 seconds, no target can survive this without hiding behind a wall or barrier. Even more, McCree's will not always use the ultimate on one or two heroes, but rather cancel it after 6 seconds retaining 50% of their ultimate charge and use the zoning power to press their advantage.
Work with your teammates. Countering most heroes starts with the idea that some heroes will help you deal with them directly, or indirectly. More so, usually this centers on what their abilities do to certain heroes. With McCree, his tool-kit is built around never losing a 1 v 1 engagement. Very few heroes, if any, can meaningfully duel a McCree, so when dealing with him we need to it in force. This guide, unlike a few of the others, will focus primarily on how you play against McCree, rather than what you need to pick to beat him. There are heroes to help you, but working as a team to harass and shut down a McCree is absolutely key.
Remember when picking heroes to deal with McCree, you must work in tandem with your teammates to shut him down. While each of the following heroes will help with their abilities and play style, you must remember a McCree that is able to freely move around the sides of the map will get out of control. Forcing McCree to group up with his team and take teamfights without first getting picks is the primary way to negate his impact. Communicate with your team; keep tabs on him, call it out, and request help dealing with him. If you consistently use teamwork to shut down this lone ranger, he will be forced to play his hero in a less efficient manner or switch away from McCree.
If all else fails, do what McCree does, roam around the map and pick apart his team. Much like McCree has been slowly tearing down your teammates one by one, you can do the same to him. Most of the time he will not be thinking about his teammates and rather be concentrated on how to dismantle your team. If you create enough pressure, McCree will be forced to deal with you first - slowing and negating the impact he has on your team.
Edit 2: Just finished the Widowmaker Guide!
Widowmaker is an incredible sniper; when played by a skilled player she is able to quickly depense of pushes by picking key heroes, or open up a push through the same picks on defensive heroes. Because Widowmakers Widow's Kiss uses Hitscan, it is easier for a strong player to shine on this hero than say Hanzo. Windowmaker also has a strong a tool-kit to exploit the verticality of maps, and gain a lot of information for her team. The keys to shutting down Widowmaker are pressuring her via flanks or harassment - or by dismantling the setup around her so she is vulnerable.
Let us cover Widowmaker stats so we can better understand how she works. Having 200 Hp, Widowmaker is sitting right in the middle of HP pools. This makes her vulnerable to other snipers, as well as flankers. Getting up close to Widowmaker is key if you are flanking her. If you do not kill her quickly; grapple, with 12 second cooldown and 20 meter range, will allow Widow to quickly escape vertically or horizontally. Because of this, it is imperative we are patient for our moment, to ensure we finish Widow before she can escape. Venommine having 15 second cooldown and dealing 75 damage over 5 seconds, makes the flanking job much harder. Good Widowmakers will be consistently positioning their mine to cover their flanks, and give advanced warning of incoming threats. This makes our map awareness that much more important.
Infra-Sight, 15.5 seconds of "wall-hacks" is Widowmakers claim to fame. Infra-Sight is among the fastest recharging ultimates; at 1% every two seconds (resulting in only 100 seconds needed to passively gain 50% charge). Add that its 10 damage per %, good Widowmakers will have Infra-Sight up as soon as its down. Providing her team with consistent "wall-hacks" makes pushes, defenses, or any fight that much harder. Again, to deal with Widowmaker, especially one with "wall-hacks" active, you must be patience and precise. Because she can see where we are, where we are going, and whose with us; it is imperative we know what we are doing and execute it as cleanly as we can.
Strong Widowmakers are never going to stay in the same spot (unless its explicitly advantageous to do so), so being mobile and aware is incredibly important. Much like when we deal with Bastion, precision and coordination are key to dealing with good snipers. If we rush out movements, or are careless with our awareness our team and us become easy pickings for a Widowmaker. Communicate with your team on pushes. Work with at least one or two other heroes to pick at Widow from a distance and open up windows to get on her flank and kill her. If we are on the defense, again communicate with one or two other heroes and synchronize your harassment so she cannot pick off any one of you.
![[image loading]](https://thumbs.gfycat.com/VengefulOddballBird-size_restricted.gif)
Widowmaker is a much easier hero to counter; especially compared with McCree or Tracer. The key to stopping Widowmaker is making her feel pressured, and never giving her free angles. If a Widowmaker is able to get setup behind her team with a good field of view, killing her requires flanking or moving into her setup. This is why mobility will be a critical factor against Widow. Constantly look to disrupt her, harass her, and kill her. Even if you are unsuccessful on kill attempts, if she is forced to moved and setup in a weaker position her over all effect is diminished greatly. I can not stress enough that Widowmakers need to be pressured if you want to have any success shutting them down. If Widow get's the setup she wants, the above gif demonstrates her impact. Do not let her setup freely.
Let us cover Widowmaker stats so we can better understand how she works. Having 200 Hp, Widowmaker is sitting right in the middle of HP pools. This makes her vulnerable to other snipers, as well as flankers. Getting up close to Widowmaker is key if you are flanking her. If you do not kill her quickly; grapple, with 12 second cooldown and 20 meter range, will allow Widow to quickly escape vertically or horizontally. Because of this, it is imperative we are patient for our moment, to ensure we finish Widow before she can escape. Venommine having 15 second cooldown and dealing 75 damage over 5 seconds, makes the flanking job much harder. Good Widowmakers will be consistently positioning their mine to cover their flanks, and give advanced warning of incoming threats. This makes our map awareness that much more important.
Infra-Sight, 15.5 seconds of "wall-hacks" is Widowmakers claim to fame. Infra-Sight is among the fastest recharging ultimates; at 1% every two seconds (resulting in only 100 seconds needed to passively gain 50% charge). Add that its 10 damage per %, good Widowmakers will have Infra-Sight up as soon as its down. Providing her team with consistent "wall-hacks" makes pushes, defenses, or any fight that much harder. Again, to deal with Widowmaker, especially one with "wall-hacks" active, you must be patience and precise. Because she can see where we are, where we are going, and whose with us; it is imperative we know what we are doing and execute it as cleanly as we can.
Strong Widowmakers are never going to stay in the same spot (unless its explicitly advantageous to do so), so being mobile and aware is incredibly important. Much like when we deal with Bastion, precision and coordination are key to dealing with good snipers. If we rush out movements, or are careless with our awareness our team and us become easy pickings for a Widowmaker. Communicate with your team on pushes. Work with at least one or two other heroes to pick at Widow from a distance and open up windows to get on her flank and kill her. If we are on the defense, again communicate with one or two other heroes and synchronize your harassment so she cannot pick off any one of you.
Widowmaker is a much easier hero to counter; especially compared with McCree or Tracer. The key to stopping Widowmaker is making her feel pressured, and never giving her free angles. If a Widowmaker is able to get setup behind her team with a good field of view, killing her requires flanking or moving into her setup. This is why mobility will be a critical factor against Widow. Constantly look to disrupt her, harass her, and kill her. Even if you are unsuccessful on kill attempts, if she is forced to moved and setup in a weaker position her over all effect is diminished greatly. I can not stress enough that Widowmakers need to be pressured if you want to have any success shutting them down. If Widow get's the setup she wants, the above gif demonstrates her impact. Do not let her setup freely.
If i could add some constructive critisism I would love to see parts about counter-picking (both ways, what the char is strong against and the other way around). Another part that would be really intresting is synergies (like Reinhart - Widowmaker shielding/babysitting)
