Overwatch When To Pick Which Support Guide

Overwatch When To Pick Which Support Guide by neck_crow

As more and more balance changes have been coming in for supports, they have become less “pick your favorite” and have become more like tools in a toolbox. This adds a ton to strategizing beforehand to ensure you don’t get countered and killed.

To preface, I am a GM Support/Tank player. I mainly play Off-Support. Let’s begin:

Ana:

Pairs well with: Brigitte, Lúcio, Mercy

Pairs poorly with: Zenyatta

Ana works well with healers who can heal consistently and stay alive without assistance of another healer. Zenyatta fails to do that, making him a poor combo with Ana. They cannot peel easily, making them vulnerable to flanks.

Ana is at a very versatile spot right now. She works extremely well in and against GOATs comps, and can be a better pick than Moira. This will be discussed shortly. She falls short against or on Dive Compositions. Winston’s bubble or D.Va’s matrix can block her entire kit, while Tracer/Genji can harass her very easily. She works decently in Sniper Comps.

GOATs becomes a lot less black and white in when Ana is good. Ana’s strengths come from Biotic Grenade against GOATs. Anti-Healing becomes extremely lethal if used correctly. If you fail to consistently hit massive Anti-Heals, then a team with a Moira will end up winning due to the shear heals she puts out.

Wrap Up: Ana is a solid pick in most cases, but do not run her in a Dive Comp.

Brigitte:

Pairs well with: Mercy, Ana, Moira

Pairs poorly with: Zen, Lúcio (only exclusively)

After Brigitte’s recent nerfs, she has become far less versatile, but still has immense strengths. She is still essential to GOATs. She is also strong in Sniper Comps, but cannot be run in Dive. Her biggest strengths are against fast heroes that can harass or flank. These fast heroes are often run in dive. There heroes include:

• Winston
• D.Va
• Wrecking Ball
• Genji
• Sombra
• Tracer

If they are running 2 or more of these heroes, switching to Brigitte is recommended. On the other hand, ranged heroes cause a ton of problems for Brigitte, and playing her against Pharah, Soldier: 76, McCree, Ashe, or Widow will be very difficult, and switching off Brigitte may be beneficial to the team.

Lúcio:

Pairs well with: Ana, Moira, Mercy, Zenyatta

Pairs poorly with: Brigitte (exclusively)

Lúcio is the most versatile Support at the moment, and should be the “if all else fails” pick. He is really only weak against Sombra. Of course, Brigitte and Zenyatta will be better than Lúcio in several circumstances, and you should try to play them if the situation calls for it. If you cannot decide what to play, and you team needs an off-Support, go Lúcio. You should pick Lúcio every time if you need a defensive ultimate and they have flankers. You usually need a defensive ultimate against the following:

• Graviton Surge
• Dragonblade
• Tactical Visor

He is strong against nearly every composition, as he is difficult to be flanked, sniped, or focused down.

Mercy:

Pairs well with: Ana, Brigitte, Lúcio, Zenyatta

Pairs poorly with: None

Mercy is somewhat versatile, but will absolutely fall short against Moira or Ana in a tanky Comp. She becomes very powerful in sniper comps, where she can allow their snipers to get a second chance in a gunfight. She is also amazing for long-term sustain, in which she pairs very well with Orisa. Stacking Supercharger and Valkyrie also nearly doubles damage.

Mercy should never be run in GOATs, but she works as the only strong main healer in Dive. Dive requires either range or verticality and Mercy has nearly infinite mobility, making her a great pick for Dive.

Mercy can still solo heal in heavy DPS comps, like quad DPS, which is quickly becoming a GOATs counter. She also works very well with Pharah. If you are with a Pharah and she is getting countered, it is recommended you switch to something more effective.

Moira:

Pairs well with: Lúcio, Brigitte

Pairs poorly with: None

Moira is a very strong tank healer. She is by far the strongest healer in the game in terms of healing output (technically Zenyatta is, but that’s not important). She can be run in GOATs or triple tank. She can be run in a pinch if you need extra peel, as she can be very annoying to Genji.

Do not pick Moira if more than two heroes on your team are vertical based. Avoid running her if you have hitscan DPS that need to take high ground either. Mercy is the better pick in both cases.

Nothing really counters Moira, so don’t worry about the enemy’s comp to switch, look for your team’s comp to switch. Don’t worry about losing her Ultimate either, as it does not massively impact the game.

Zenyatta:

Pairs well with: Lúcio, Mercy

Pairs poorly with: Ana, Brigitte (exclusively)

Zenyatta is very strong as long as he is not being countered. He has the best defensive ultimate in the game, and has very high damage output. He is amazing against slower comps that turtle up, like with Rein or Orisa, as he can deal massive shield damage, and quickly finish enemies using Discord. He is helpful against Pharah+Mercy, too.

He is also one of the easiest heroes to counter. Tracer, Genji, D.Va, Sombra, and really any flanker will beat him in a 1v1 90% of the time. Unless your team can be built around countering them, like with Roadhog, McCree, D.Va, or any other peelers, you will not be able to do well, and a switch is most likely required.

His ultimate should be considered when going against certain comps, as well, notable a Hanzo + Zarya, in which Sound Barrier could fail to counter it in some cases.