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How To Counter Widowmaker in Overwatch 2

EsportsHeaven 2023-01-23 03:55:05
Headshot after headshot, lobbies everywhere are ruined from Widowmaker mains. Whether your ranked climb is being hamstrung by her range or her lethality, Widowmaker is an incredibly popular character that you've undoubtedly seen before. However, countering Widowmaker isn't as easy as some of the rest of the Overwatch 2 cast. So, how do you counter Widowmaker in Overwatch 2? Simple; keep her busy. The next time you load up a game of Overwatch 2, take a glance at the end-of-game damage numbers and see how much total damage heroes like Widowmaker do. Spoiler, it is not a lot. Widowmaker's pride and joy come in the form of sporadic high amounts of burst damage. It's that surgical nature that we have to exploit and much like a surgeon, Widowmaker needs her time. She ideally wants strong positioning away from the team fight and high ground. Then she can begin her artistry. But what happens when we get in her way? If we toss even a modicum of harassment towards a Widowmaker, her strength quickly becomes her weakness. Because she is so far away from her team, that can oftentimes leave her out of reach of her supports. This means that the little 10hp chip damage you threw at her adds up very quickly.  Another easy way to limit her? Assume she is good.  If we load into Ruins on Illios for example and we know there is an enemy Widowmaker, let's just assume she is good. Let's assume that if we don't position on corners or behind cover when taking the point that she'll kill us. Let's assume she is good and keep her pinged so that we can rotate properly. Again, her range means she has to work with the sightlines she's given and if we can abuse the map geometry in our favour then without having to swap heroes we are already countering the Widowmaker.  Speaking of heroes, here are a few recommendations to really keep Widowmaker quiet.
Also read: How to Counter Reaper in Overwatch 2
  DPS   If the goal is to keep her busy, we're taking flank-heavy heroes every day of the week. And in some sense you become a pseudo-tank.  Tracer and Sombra on flat maps provides a consistent way to keep the Widowmaker moving and watching behind them and a huge amount of space for your supports to breathe. Genji on more vertical maps does similar things with even better defensive cooldowns. The only thing we have to warn you about is her Venom Mines. Don't get caught off guard and walk directly into a choke. Check the door frame Widowmaker is sitting in front of, make sure you don't get caught in the cloud because that only flips the script on you. Hanzo, when played from a mid-range, can be a really strong way to keep an enemy Widowmaker's head down. One Recon Arrow is all it takes for her to either reposition or to get her head taken clean off.  In a more creative light; Mei also can stifle her quite a bit. Remember our comment regarding map geometry? What if you could just make a wall in front of her? Well, Mei can! It only gives you a set amount of time, especially if the Widowmaker is quick to rotate, but that could save your team fight.    Tanks   When it comes to tanks, there really are not bad picks, just picks that do a bit better into Overwatch 2's favourite sniper. Sigma has the ability, much like Mei, to close of sightlines for your team. This cover is a heaven-send and can quickly match her when she repositions. That same notion of agility can also be said about picks like D.Va, Winston, and Wrecking Ball. Again the goal is to keep her busy. With their high mobility, they can close the distance very quickly and put the Widowmaker under a high amount of pressure to move. This then opens space for your team to work. That said, you're going to need some adept healers to help you, especially on maps with lengthy stretches like Hollywood and Rialto.    Support   Supports can be viewed as the prey to Widowmaker's predator. However, they are vital to keeping the Widowmaker busy. As much as Zenyatta is a sitting duck, having a Harmony Orb to give to a flanker like Tracer or Genji can easily make the difference. On top of that, being able to volley Widowmaker's angle can also take her head off.  Ana and Kiriko both bring the range to support some of those more mobile tanks as they try to counter the enemy Widowmaker. If you're looking to individually take over the lobby and get in her face yourself if you're adept at Lucio he can definitely become a pain in the neck for the enemy Widowmaker. 
Images via Blizzard Entertainment
 

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