For anyone wanting to climb ranks in Overwatch, and even for those committed to winning all their Quick Play games, knowing which team composition to play is absolutely vital. While it might be hard to force strangers to play what you want, teaming up with friends to set up the perfect comp is usually a great idea.
There are currently a few great comps that are good for different maps and situations. Not all of them will be available in Competitive Play every week, due to the existence of hero bans. However, all things considered equal, these compositions make for powerful teams when played the right way. Let's have a look at some of these winning strategies.
Updated on November 26, 2020 by Anastasia: As of late, Blizzard has been working on making balance patches for Overwatch more frequent. This is thanks to the Experimental Card, which allows the developers to test out balance changes quickly and receive feedback for them much faster. That being said, the actual meta for the game tends to shift more often.
Due to this, it's even more important to understand what's good and what isn't. While these compositions won't always be great, in certain maps and situations they will continue to rule within the game. When executed properly with good communication many of these compositions can even win against heroes that would normally counter them.
15 Double Shield
It's safe to say that double shield as of the end of 2020 is somewhat back again, despite the best efforts of Blizzard to weaken its influence. Orisa and Sigma continue to be very powerful in the game due to their ability to provide a sustainable shield, as well as combo their Halt and rock abilities together.
Double shield doesn't just mean Orisa and Sigma, however. There are times when replacing Orisa with Reinhardt might actually be the better call, especially if the team wants to engage with a slightly more mobile composition since Orisa is very slow.
14 Hog And Ball
Considered by many to be the ultimate composition of chaos and stun abilities, Roadhog and Wrecking Ball make up a destructive tank duo that can easily win games. This composition is generally paired well with DPS and support heroes who can sustain themselves and play equally as selfishly as these two tanks.
The idea behind Hog and Ball is to annoy the enemy with as many stuns as possible. Wrecking Ball will act as a distraction and boop the team around as well as slam into the team, allowing Roadhog to properly time his hooks to finish off the kill. Combine this with elusive flanker DPS and a sniper and the enemy will be forced to adapt or endure.
13 High Damage
It's not just tanks who can determine what composition to play and how to play it. Supports also have a tremendous effect on the pace of the game. In particular, Mercy and Zenyatta make for a deadly combination if the team has other self-healing heroes to balance out the lack of healing. This combination is great due to the sheer amount of damage Zenyatta's discord and Mercy's damage boost can provide.
Pair this with Soldier 76 who is mobile and can heal himself, as well as Roadhog who also has a powerful self-heal, and you'll have a powerful composition in your hands.
12 Ice Fishing
Orisa and Roadhog go together like bread and butter. Their ability to combine Hook with Halt makes them a fantastic tank duo for any two players who are communicating their cooldowns with one another. It's a very stationary comp, however, and only works best on maps where the team doesn't have to move much.
Pair them up with Mei, and you have what's been dubbed as ice fishing. Mei can play close up front with these two tanks and freeze any target who's hooked in and doesn't get killed instantly. Moreover, she can wall off the rest of the enemy team to prevent them from trying to save or heal their hooked teammate. Her ultimate also pairs well with Orisa's Halt.
11 Pig's Feet
Humorously dubbed as Pig's Feet, this composition saw a brief surge in the esports side of Overwatch. However, it's still possible to run it on occasion, as it features two tanks that currently are quite powerful within the game. Sigma's ability to sustain and negate quite a bit of damage makes him a fantastic tank, while Roadhog dishes out a lot of damage.
Both of them are highly spammy characters, and they pair well with a diverse range of DPS and supports heroes. However, it's still a very selfish comp where peeling for supports might be harder compared to a classic Reinhardt and Zarya comp, so having mobile supports and mobile DPS with good sustain, or perhaps a Brigitte to peel for the backline is a good idea.
10 Spam Comp
The purpose of a spam comp is in its name: spam damage. Before the enemy can even get close enough, their shields will have been drained, and chances are their teammates have also been picked off. If the enemy is particularly reliant on shield or has slow moving heroes, this is a great comp.
Spam also excels at any maps where there are tight choke points that would require the enemy to coordinate extremely well to pass through. As such, the best damage heroes for the job would be Hanzo and Junkrat, both of which can dish out consistent damage.
9 Rein-Zarya
This is a classic comp from the older days of Overwatch, and it mostly revolves around the two tanks, Reinhardt and Zarya. These two can build up an excellent synergy and farm one another's ultimates off of each other. This is why they work so well together, because they enable each other perfectly, and this works on almost any map.
However, because both of these tanks are slow and like to play at a close range, it's usually necessary to pair this comp up with a Lucio for speed boost. The DPS can be almost anything, so long as there's a main healer like Ana providing for the tanks when they brawl at close range, and a Lucio who can speed them in and out.
8 Bunker
Bunker is one of the most difficult compositions to play against, even at high rank. Able to dish out a lot of damage while also sporting at least one, but preferably two, shields, bunker is an immobile composition where the team needs to play clumped up. This best works in assault maps when defending.
The weakness of bunker is the inability to take into account multiple angles, which is why it still requires a minimum amount of coordination. A bunker is best played with Sigma and Orisa, who can rotate their shields, as well as a Bastion. For extra sustain, Baptiste and Mercy work well due to immortality field and resurrection being essentials in a slow comp like this.
7 Hamster Dive
Wrecking Ball is one of the more difficult tanks to master. When not played properly, it's very easy to roll in and die over and over again. However, when his cooldowns are taken into account, he's a powerful dive tank who can easily disrupt the enemy's backline with his rolling and piledrive.
Wrecking Ball can substitute for Winston when paired with D.Va. In this case, Hammond should get in position first to piledrive on the enemy backline so that D.Va can then boost in and dive damage heroes like Tracer, and Genji can jump in as well.
6 Double Sniper
Snipers are powerful but mechanically demanding heroes in Overwatch. Without their team enabling them, they tend to be extremely weak. However, a double sniper composition can really throw an enemy team off if both Hanzo and Widowmaker are taking different angles to pressure the enemy. This comp is particularly strong on maps with great high ground.
The comp pairs well with a Mercy, who can babysit both snipers, and if needed, quickly return back to her team. The tanks can be almost anything; what's important is that the snipers are given enough space to work with. Having at least one dive tank, like D.Va, who can peel for the snipers, is usually a good idea.
5 Pharmercy
Pharmercy is another old and classic composition that can be devastating when left uncontested. It allows for control of the skies, as well as any high ground easily, since Pharah is constantly being babysat by Mercy, which makes her hard to kill. This is great on maps that aren't too open, and therefore don't leave Pharah in a vulnerable position. Look for tall buildings for natural cover while in the skies, to dodge any snipers.
The rest of the team can play separately from the Pharmercy. Generally, a brawl comp works well, as the enemy will be distracted with Pharah, and will struggle to deal with an aggression on the front line. Due to Mercy solely healing Pharah, Ana should be the second healer on the ground.
4 Rein-D.Va
Currently considered one of the top tank compositions to run, Reinhardt and D.Va are definitely in the meta. The reason for this is D.Va's capacity to deny a lot of damage with her Defense Matrix, as well as easily contest high ground and use her boosters to play front and back all at the same time.
Meanwhile, Reinhardt provides decent shield for his team, making him the best shield tank as of now. This is why objectively these two are the best tanks in the game and work on pretty much any map. For a full meta composition, the team can also opt for a McCree, Mei, Ana and Lucio.
3 Brawl Comp
There are many different ways to run a brawl type composition, but when it comes to damage heroes, there are two who specifically that work well when the team wants to play up close and personal. Mei and Reaper have the perfect synergy for compositions like this due to Mei's ability to freeze enemies and Reaper's high close range damage output.
However, since both of these damage heroes are incredibly slow, they should be paired with a healer like Lucio who can easily speed them in and out of engagements. For a truly brawl type comp, Reinhardt and Zarya or D.Va can also be added into the mix. This composition works well when the team wants to play clumped up together as a new type of GOATS comp, and deal high damage at close range. However, if the enemy is playing far or on a high, this comp is practically useless unless the team uses cover to speed into the enemy.
2 Hackfist
Popularized by the Houston Outlaws in this season of Overwatch League, the hackfist composition is what skyrocketed them into their first victory. It also showcased the astounding and unexpected synergy between Sombra and Doomfist, both of which are damage heroes able to stun and disable enemies almost instantly.
This composition requires both of these damage heroes to work closely together to set up dives on specific targets. Sombra will first hack a target, which allows Doomfist to jump in with his punch. A D.Va pairs well with this comp as she can peel for both of these heroes when they jump in with her Defense Matrix. Otherwise, this comp is very versatile, and simply requires good communication and coordination to get value out of Sombra's hacks and EMPs.
1 Classic Dive
There's no other composition quite as iconic as the classic dive comp, which is seeing a partial return in some maps. Particularly strong against snipers or on maps where high ground control is essential, dive is great when players are coordinates and actively communicating on who to jump on.
The classic dive composition includes D.Va and Winston, Tracer and Genji, as well as Lucio and Ana. The composition can be tailored slightly depending on the specific needs of the team, but generally this basic composition will work best.