How To Build The Best Team in 'Overwatch'

Overwatch is smartly designed for competitive team play. You’ll be hard pressed to achieve victory if you go in with a selfish attitude. Blizzard built its game so that whether you’re an experienced veteran, or a complete newbie, you can pick a character and immediately understand your role in a team. Overwatch’s dedication to open-play is worthy of a lot praise, and its accessibility will definitely be an asset to the series’ longevity. I myself don’t usually play team based shooters, but in beta, I found Overwatch both accessible and flexible to my playstyle.

That said, the traditional offense, defense, and support dynamic is a little worn. Luckily, you’re not tied down to this classic RPG paradigm, as each character’s stats are balanced. Maybe your favorite character is a support player but you traditionally play defense. In that case, you can play a little defensively with the help of your teammates, if you wish. Here’s a couple creative team compositions that don’t necessarily force you to play the way you’re not comfortable with.

Assassin Team

Assemble: Five Genjis and another Offense of your choice.

Okay, hear me out. Imagine guarding the payload when all of a sudden you have a team of Genjis just rolling down after you at breakneck speed. So impractical? Or the best damn #squad of robot ninjas this side of Overwatch? Maybe toss in a Soldier: 76 for back-up. You don’t wanna rush into a situation without any backup.

Pure Defense

Assemble: Bastion, Hanzo, Junkrat, Mei, Torbjornm Widowmaker

Honestly, the reason why I’m suggesting this is because, between you and me, Defense Team kinda has it going on. I mean, these are pretty much all of my favorite characters I tried during the beta, all in one. Sure, gaining objectives would be difficult with this team, and speed will definitely hinder you, but there’s a lot of fun to be had, absorbing blows and helping each other out.

Mech Army Team

Assemble: D.VA x3, Bastion x3

Just stack as many D.VAs and Bastions as you can to create your own robot army. Recreate your favorite mech anime, or Pacific Rim only you can choose to blow everyone to bits with one targeted blitzkrieg mission if you so choose. Look at this gif as reference:

The Cavalry

Assemble: Tracer, Junkrat x2, Soldier: 76 x2, Widowmaker or Hanzo

The cavalry have always traditionally been a swift offensive team that storms into battle and leaves just as quickly. That being said, you should always come prepared in the backfield, which is why having a ranged character like Widowmaker or Hanzo cover you while you make your light brigade charge into battle is probably good insurance.

Beard Team

Assemble: McCree x2, Hanzo x2, Torbjorn, Winston

This is actually a pretty good team in terms of offense and defense (no support will hurt you though). Is it a coincidence they all have beards? I don’t think so. Maybe it’s not the most diverse team, but you’d be hard-pressed to not reach your fundraising goal if all these men decided to model in a calendar to help raise money for charity.

Ladies Night

Assemble: Pharah, Zarya, Widowmaker, Tracer, Mei, Mercy

I’d move out of the way if I saw this band of ladies walk into an arena. With offense, defense, tank, and support roles all-covered, you best believe that they will be able kickass and take names.

Asian Sensation

Assemble: Hanzo, Genji, D.VA, Mei, Symmetra, Zenyatta

A pretty well-balanced group, the benefit is that they also perform as a band of Pop Idols on the weekends. Don’t let this well-oiled machine of offense, defense, and support lead you astray, they have the performance chops to sell platinum records all over the globe.

The Most Hated Team

Assemble: Bastion x5, Reaper

Sometimes the most fun team, is the most hated team and through the beta, Bastion and Reaper have both earned enough ire to become associated with frustration and anger. You could use this to your advantage and simply bother the enemy team into submission.