The Best Overwatch Heroes - Week of July 5th, 2016

The Best Overwatch Heroes - Week of July 5th, 2016

This is such a controversial topic that I'm hesitant to even touch, but it is also the question that I'm asked more than any other.  "What is the best Overwatch Hero?"

Any Hero can be played well, let's just get that out of the way.   A great player on a "weak" Hero will still destroy a good player on a "best" Hero.   The skill of the player means far more than the Hero choice, but all things being equal there are some Heroes that have floated above the rest.  

What does "best" mean?

In this case, best simply means that these Heroes are winning the highest percentage of games.  There are reasons for this, which we will explain.   Many are used in specific situations where they are most powerful and forgotten the rest of the time.   Some are just "safe" choice on any map without glaring weaknesses.  

Note: this list is for PC players in competitive games.   I'll add a bit at the bottom to help console players.  

Best Heroes

Symmetra (Support) - She wins nearly 4% more of her games than any other Hero, mostly due to the fact that her sentry turrets and teleporter are incredibly powerful when playing Defence on some maps.  Play her on maps like Hanamura, Watchpoint Gibraltar and Temple of Anubis at the start of the game while you are on D.  If your team gets pushed back to the half-way point, simply swap out to another Hero.   Your teleporter can single-handedly save a loss in some cases, like Point A on Hanamura.   She is considerably weaker when you are on offense.  Swap out! Wins over 64% of her competitive matches across all skill levels, but is only played in under 2% of all matches.   She is a very specialized Hero.  Torbjorn (Defense) - The higher you rank, the less effective he is.   That said, at any rank below 60 he is an incredible choice when defending.   Even average players have difficulty contending with his auto-aiming turret. Similar to Symmetra, he is a priority Hero when defending, but avoid him while on offense.   He really needs to have enemies forced upon him to be effective.  Excellent on Hanamura, Volkskaya Industries, Dorado and other maps when you can setup and lie in wait.   Turrets are most effective when not at ground level.  Put them up high.  Do NOT play him on offense unless you are a very, very skilled player.   Played is less than 3% of all matches. Wins over 59% of the matches that he is played in.  Zarya (Tank) - Not only is she a tank, but she amplifies the potential of her team mates.   Zarya delivers great damage while being a mobile, disruptive force.   An average player should be seeing a K/D ratio of over 3, which in of itself is impressive, but she also boosts the ratios of her team mates.   You can play her on any map.    Works best with another tank to slip your E on to boost your damage.   Time your shields to absorb damage, but don't hesitate to use them if you think you must.  They have a relatively short cooldown.  Wins over 53% of her matches in competitive across all skill levels.  The fifth most popular Hero in terms of matches played.    Roadhog (Tank) - An excellent choice on all maps.   His damage and sustain make him valuable to any team.  When teamed with a pocket healer like Mercy or Zenyatta he is a force to be reckoned with as he can stay in the line of fire much longer.   Hook disrupts enemies on defence and offense.   Zarya is a complimentary Hero as Roadhog takes a lot of damage and her shields boost her abilities.  Heal up.  You're useless dead.  Hook snipers and Bastions to remove their positional advantage over your team.  Wins over 53% of his matches in competitive across all skill levels.  Played in over 6% of all competitive matches.  Lucio (Support) - The best healer by a hair over Mercy.   He can amplify the speed and sustain of your team and doesn't require members to be dead to utilize his ultimate. Excellent on all map types.    Can provide secondary damage. Wins over 52% of his matches in competitive across all skill levels.  The most popular Hero in the game.  He is played in over 10% of all matches. 

Note: Torbjorn and Symmetra are even more difficult to deal with for console players.    Likewise, Lucio is even easier to play as a healer.   If you want to win... these three choices on console give you your best odds.  

Which Heroes do you feel should be on this list and why?   I'd love your feedback!