Overwatch 2 takes teamwork to the next level with its 5v5 gameplay. Carefully selecting your team composition and which roles to fill can make all the difference between clutching victory from the jaws of defeat or ending up staring at the defeat screen.
After over 70 hours of playing Overwatch 2 and experimenting with different team combinations, I‘ve narrowed down what I believe to be two of the strongest lineups: an Aggressive Composition tailored for competitive ranked matches and a Defensive Composition for those who prefer a more calculated approach.
Aggressive Composition: Bring the Noise
The Aggressive Composition prioritizes high damage output and relentless pushing power. The goal is to aggressively rush objectives and take out key enemy targets before they have time to react. Speed and disruption are vital!
Tanks:
- Junker Queen – Leads the charge with her knife and shotgun up close
Damage:
- Genji – Swift and lethal cyborg ninja harassing backlines
- Sojourn – Railgun sniper backing the push with covering fire
Support:
- Lucio – Speed boosts the team and keeps them topped up with healing
- Brigitte – Extra protection and stuns to set up kills
Let‘s take a closer look at each hero and why they work so well together…
Junker Queen
As one of the most aggressive tanks around, Junker Queen excels at initiating fights and causing disruption in the enemy ranks with her knife that ensnares targets.
Her Adrenaline Rush passive makes her deceptively self-sufficient, while Carnage applies an anti-heal that prevents enemies from recovering HP. Pair Junker Queen up with heroes that can capitalize on the chaos, like Genji slipping through to take out the backline.
Tips:
- Lead every push with Knife and Shotgun
- Heal up with Adrenaline Rush between fights
- Ult at critical moments when grouped up with team
Genji
The cyborg ninja drops in to harass isolated targets using his unmatched mobility. Swift Strike provides both engage and escape potential, while deflect can turn the enemies‘ own firepower against them.
Once Genji has farmed his ultimate, Dragonblade can demolish entire teams when properly set up with Grouping up with Junker Queen‘s Rampage or Lucio‘s Sound Barrier make landing kills with Dragonblade much simpler.
Tips:
- Use Swift Strike to finish off low HP targets
- Save Deflect to counter dangerous ultimates
- Communicate Dragonblade combos with team
Lucio
The Brazilian DJ zips around the battlefield boosting team speed, healing up allies, and offering utility through knockbacks and shielding when needed. His Sound Barrier ultimate can effectively counter almost any offensive ultimate in the game.
Lucio enables the team to engage and disengage quickly while providing sustain through his passive AOE healing. Amp It Up gives significant bursts of speed or healing depending on the situation at hand. He can also dish out reliable chip damage when the opportunity arises.
Tips:
- Master wall riding mechanics
- Swap songs between Speed and Healing appropriately
- Use Boops to disengage from lost fights
- Time Sound Barriers to counter big enemy ultimates
Sojourn
Sojourn hangs back using her high-powered railgun to threaten enemies from long range while steadily charging up her one-shot kill threshold. Her Disruptor Shot and Power Slide offer playmaking ability and mobility for re-positioning.
Sojourn excels at punching holes in the enemy frontline, allowing Genji openings to dash through and wreak havoc on the backline supports. Her damage potential rivals most DPS heroes and helps compound the pressure applied to overwhelm opponents.
Tips:
- Charge Railgun shots before going for finisher kills
- Use Power Slide to reposition for advantageous angles
- Focus on building ultimate charge through damage
- Coordinate Railgun to burst down out-of-position targets
Brigitte
Brigitte fills the final slot providing personal defense for diving heroes and some extra stuns to lock down eliminations. She passively heals all nearby allies through her Inspire ability whenever she deals damage with her mace flail attacks.
Her Barrier Shield provides mobile cover during aggressive pushes, allowing the team to advance safely. She can also toss out Repair Packs to keep Genji healthy as he darts around taking duels. Rally armor gives that extra bit of beefiness before a big fight.
Tips:
- Trigger AOE healing with mace attacks
- Shield tanks and divers to enable pushes
- Layer Rally armor right before fights
Strengths and Win Conditions
The Aggressive Composition revolves around relentlessly pushing fights and dictating the pace of engagements before the enemy can react. Speed and disruption are vital to the gameplan.
Win Condition 1 – Quick takedowns
Sojourn and Genji focus on singling out and bursting down isolated targets rapidly. Lucio enables quickly rushing at opportunities.
Win Condition 2 – Chained crowd control
Junker Queen, Brigitte, and Lucio layer their crowd control abilities to lock targets down.
Win Condition 3 – Devastating combos
Layer Junker Queen‘s Rampage and Sojourn‘s Railgun with Genji‘s Dragonblade for fight-winning multi-kills.
The team always looks to force chaotic skirmishes to overwhelm the enemy. Coordinating speed boosts and ultimate combos are key!
Defensive Composition: Hold the Line
For players who prefer a more careful approach focused on area denial and map control, the Defensive Composition employs patient heroes that excel at locking down objectives and fortifying positions.
The gameplan revolves around bunkering down to repel enemy attacks and responding with lethal precision fire. Range advantage and safety are paramount! Let‘s examine the heroes:
Tanks:
- Orisa – Anchors the team with her javelin spin and defensive fortify
Damage:
- Soldier 76 – Reliable hitscan damage dealer
- Sombra – Gathers intel and assassinates out-of-position targets
Support:
Orisa
The guardian robot anchors defensive holds using Fortify to become unstoppable and resist crowd control. She can also draw fire away with Javelin Spin while gaining partial damage immunity.
Orisa specializes in area denial by spamming her Fusion Driver from behind the safety of barriers and utilizing Halt to group enemies up for focus firing. Her ultimate provides a huge offensive buff to the team when needed.
Tips:
- Fortify and spin to counter engage attempts
- Use Halt to punish over-extensions
- Coordinate Bongo for big pushes
Soldier 76
The pulse rifle veteran Soldier 76 fills the primary damage dealer role, offering reliability through sustain damage and self healing. His Biotic Field keeps him healthy while Sprint provides mobility.
Helix Rockets chunk down targets from afar while Tactical Visor shreds enemies trapped out in the open. Soldier 76‘s well-rounded kit enables him to adapt his aggression depending on how the fight evolves.
Tips:
- Maintain high ground positioning
- Use heal station to sustain during fights
- Layer Visor with team slows/stuns
- Sprint to reposition if getting pressured
Sombra
Sombra specializes in stealthy infiltration to track enemy locations and pick off isolated targets. She can quickly transport herself across the map and bail injured allies out of sticky situations.
Her hacking ability temporarily prevents enemies from using skills. EMP delivered at the right moment utterly cripples teams caught grouped up by Orisa or Ana.
Tips:
- Scout enemy positioning
- Coordinate EMP/Hack chains
- Focus on assassinating isolated squishies
Ana
The premier long range sniper healer, Ana hangs back keeping her allies healthy from extreme distances while threatening enemies who expose themselves with lethal sleeping dart rounds.
Her Biotic Grenade provides strong burst healing while preventing opponents caught within its blast radius from recovering health. Ana‘s Nanoboost ultimate enables a chosen ally hero to wipe teams during a decisive push.
Tips:
- Maintain distance using scoping
- Shut down channeled ultimates with Sleep
- Nanoboost key damage carries
Moira
Moira sustains the team through her resource based healing and gradual damage mitigation. She excels at winning drawn out wars of attrition through her evasive mobility.
While Moira concentrates on keeping her allies healthy with Biotic Grasp, she can also drain enemies from afar using Biotic Orbs to recharge her healing supply. Fade lets her reposition and avoid danger.
Tips:
- Manage healing resource carefully
- Fade to escape when threatened
- Layer Coalescence during teamfights
Strengths and Win Conditions
The key pillars of the Defensive Composition are controlling sight lines with long range damage, repelling all-ins by beefing up with preventative mitigation tools, and answering aggression with precise counter-attack.
Win Condition 1 – Punishing over-extensions
Soldier 76, Orisa, and Ana maintain positional discipline and threaten enemies the instant they misposition.
Win Condition 2 – Fortifying in reaction
Moira and Ana stack heals while Orisa and Soldier rely on self-sustain tools to weather engagedments.
Win Condition 3 – Devastating counters
Sombra hacks and Ana sleeps enable blowing up staggered targets. Chaining EMP with Nanoboost or other damage combos can wipe teams.
The team looks to steadily accrue incremental advantages through winning micr skirmishes and positional trades to eventually dismantle the opponent‘s offense. Coordinated ability chains and covering mutual weaknesses are vital!
Final Thoughts
Team compositions obviously require much more nuance with consideration given to the map, individual player hero pools, and reacting to opponent adjustments. However, these two lineups provide solid foundations covering the basics for aggressive and defensive mentalities.
At the core, sound fundamentals like grouping up, tracking ultimate statuses, peeling for allies, and playing around win conditions will always reign supreme, regardless of the heroes chosen. Mastering the basics while further developing team synergy and tight communication channels should remain the primary focus for improvement.
The joy of these team-based hero brawlers lies in the sheer depth of strategic diversity available through drafting varied compositions. Experiment, get creative and most importantly, have fun on the journey toward competitive excellence!
Let me know which team comps have worked best in your own Overwatch 2 matches!
