Overwatch 2: Is Winston a Viable Tank in Overwatch 2?

We take a look at how Winston will square up after his changes in Overwatch 2.

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Everyone who played Overwatch has heard of the phrase “No aim. No Brain. Winston Main”. Trolls used this all the time because people Winston is one of the heroes in Overwatch that is easy to play. However, the hero is difficult to master because you need to know when to play aggressively and when to hide.

With that being said, you can’t compare Winston to heroes like Sigma because the latter has many more abilities that are harder to use. Due to how easy it is to start playing, Winston quickly rose to the top and became the go-to option for lower-ranked players. Regardless of the meta, the hero continues to have an essential role for many players.

By the looks of it, Winston will also be a viable option in Overwatch 2. Unlike other tanks, this one has undergone a couple of changes, most of which are good. We know that this is many people’s favorite hero, so let’s learn more about him. Don’t forget that some of the things here might change in the future because Blizzard may add or remove some of the new abilities and buffs.

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What’s new?

As mentioned above, Winston has a couple of new things you must be aware of. For starters, his base armor is now 200 (it was 150 before), which means he becomes even harder to kill. Winston had one of the largest HP in the game, so adding more armor makes him even tankier.

In addition to the extra armor, the hero receives a secondary fire mode to his Tesa Cannon. This is probably the most important buff for him because the hero had no way of dealing damage from a distance. Fortunately, this is no longer the case.

Tesla Cannon’s secondary fire mode deals up to 50 damage and costs up to 12 ammo to use. Speaking of using it, the hero charges his shot, so hitting someone with the jolt of electricity is easier said than done.

Winston’s Barrier Projector also has some changes. People who pick this hero in Overwatch 2 will have access to a 700 HP shied whose cooldown is down to 12 seconds. However, the shield’s duration is down from 9 seconds to 8 seconds.

Finally, Winston’s ultimate now costs 20% more than before, so you won’t be able to use it that often. Fortunately, everything else stays the same.

As you can see from the changes, this hero will definitely play a key role for many Overwatch 2 players. He finally has some sort of range damage, which is good news for those who didn’t like diving.

The combos

Overwatch 2 will be available in October 2022, so Blizzard might decide to change some of the new abilities and stats. However, we believe Winston will most likely remain the same because the hero seems balanced.

Despite the fact that he has an ability that allows him to deal damage from a distance, Winston will remain the king of the dive combos. Since he is way more effective in closer range, people will have to dive their opponents in order to utilize his power.

Winston may have the chance to play alongside other tanks depending on the setup. Like Overwatch, his best options are D.Va and Wrecking Ball. Both heroes are highly mobile and offer a lot of damage, which works well with Winston.

As for the DPS, there are tons of combinations, depending on the map and opponents. The classic dive comps in Overwatch usually worked well with Genji and Tracer. Since these two heroes are extremely mobile and hard to kill, they are a huge pain to deal with. 

In addition to the two above-mentioned names, Winston also works well with Sombra, Echo, and even Pharah. The last two options are not good in every scenario because they have many counters that will be more than happy to go up against them.

In terms of Support, Mercy and Lucio are usually the go-to options for those kinds of combos. However, if the team has multiple tanks, getting something like Moira and Zenyatta is also a good idea.

Counters

Winton’s high mobility will remain one of his core strengths in Overwatch 2. Consequently, the hero does not have as many counters as other tanks because he can always escape from danger.

With that being said, there are a couple of heroes that can be a nightmare to play against. Bastion used to be one of the best heroes against Winston because he could easily burst him down even while jumping. However, since this DPS has undergone loads of changes, he is not as strong in this matchup as before.

Of course, the hero that is often picked to counter any tank is Reaper. This is definitely the best option against Winston because he has one of the highest damage outputs at a close distance. Moreover, his lifestealing ability allows him to sustain his HP even while playing aggressively.

Another hero that seems to be good against Winston in Overwatch 2 is McCree. Even though he no longer has a CC, his new ability allows him to deal even more damage. Consequently, he can easily kill any hero in a close-range fight, including Winston.

Is the new Winston Viable?

To answer the question in this article’s title, Winston will be a viable tank in Overwatch 2. He has always been one of the top-tier tanks in Overwatch because of his flexibility and damage output. Needless to say, he is even better in Overwatch 2 because the small tweaks make him tankier and able to do even more damage.

Of course, the new right-click to his Tesla Cannon means that his ultimate costs more resources than before. This was expected because the new fire mode would allow him to “farm” his ult much faster.

Despite the new buffs and the fact that the hero works in most scenarios, Winston is a tank that requires specific lineups. He does not fit comps that play slowly, nor those that focus on long-range flights. As a result, you need to be careful when you go for him because there might be better options.

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