Hero Bans in Overwatch 2 Bring Changes to Sombra, Zarya, and Others

Blizzard did this thing with Overwatch 2 in April — hero bans. If you’ve played lately, you probably noticed the same old suspects getting the boot: Sombra, Zarya, Symmetra, Ana, Mercy. It’s always those guys, right? Anyway, Blizzard dropped some stats to confirm what we all kinda knew. Some heroes might get a tweak or a full-on overhaul ‘cause of these bans. Repeated bans mean they’re maybe too good or just annoying? Who knows.

Sombra’s, like, the queen of bans on PC — 85%! And consoles? Even higher at 93%. Zarya? She’s sitting at 59% (or 57% depending on where you’re playing) and Doomfist’s there too, kicking it at 43%. Symmetra’s at 23%. Do these numbers mean anything to you? They’d better, ‘cause Blizzard seems to think so.

Gavin Winter over at Blizzard — he’s a senior systems designer or something — mentioned using these ban stats to kind of shuffle things around, balance-wise. Heroes that are always getting banned might need to be less niche, more every-occasion-type characters. Meanwhile, if nobody’s picking certain heroes, well, they’ll fiddle with them too, just in case. Though, Gavin’s clear: they ain’t changing things up just ‘cause of the ban data. More like, a gentle nudge? Or maybe not. Who knows, right?

What about Zarya and Symmetra? Their future’s as murky as my morning coffee. But Sombra getting kicked out 85% of the time? That’s a conundrum. Like, why bother getting good at her if she’s always out? Seriously, Blizzard?

Apart from some weird quirks in the ban system, they’re pretty happy with how it’s playing out. Gavin’s optimistic — says the system’s doing its job, and he’s pumped to see where it goes. Once they spill more about Hero win rates and pick rates, apparently it’ll get even better. Fingers crossed?

Oh, and in season 17, whenever that lands — late June, maybe? — they’ll let us vote on maps. Cool, I guess?