How to Counter Widow

Disclaimer: This was originally a comment on Reddit, but I thought maybe some people would appreciate it here too. I don’t want to claim this is complete by any means, but I do believe it is a good overview of what works against Widow (and why).
My competence: I’m a 3.8 Hitscan player, who mains Widow and have over 600 hours on her, I also play for a low-mid Master team and so, of course, also play against them.


Widow’s biggest counter is teamplay. Actually know that everyone has a job in dealing with Widow, be it killing her, denying her space, or simply just not dying to her while you deal with other enemies. Now, I know in Solo Queue you won’t always get your Zarya to play Sigma, but imo it’s important to know what role can do what against Widow, so you can suggest swaps and simply know more about the situation if you play in it.

Single hero counters:

Tanks:

Dva - Dva is great at harassing Widow and denying her space. She can also save others, especially tanks, from dying to her briefly. You don’t have to run dive to run a Dva, and depending on the teamcomp, her jobs will be different, however, she should always be able to find time to harass her, unless there is a better dive target like a Support. If you play DPS, you can assist her by enganging with her (as Tracer for example), but be aware that she’s very much hit and run, so you need to get out quickly again as well or you’ll be on your own, or you can put everything at helping the rest of the team (especially the main tank), so the enemy tank line won’t collapse on your team while Dva deals with Widow.

Sigma - Sigma only really works as a counter with another shield tank, so he can use his shield specifically for Widow, however if he does have that and uses it to counter her, I’d put him as one of the best counters for Widow. I believe the best way to compliment it as DPS is to either shoot some spam shots as Widow, or preferably, go all in during the 5v6 and don’t give her time to get value out of repositioning. However, I don’t have too much experience with that yet. Sigma also compliments Widow, Hanzo or Ashe very well (if he’s the second shield), so if you play any of these heroes against a Widow and you have a Sigma to pocket you, you’ll have an advantage even against a smurf.

Wrecking Ball - Probably the single best Widow counter. Can annoy her, is a constant threat, can easily kill her if he gets the drop onto her, is even still a danger if she’s with her team/supports. The way to play around is to not get shot in the head while he sets up to go for her. You have an aggressive Widow counter at the price of a shield, don’t get dinked before he can do his work. If you play a somewhat long-range hero, you can also try to kill her or her Supports while WB cc’s them upwards, whatever the name is, or be ready to dive a little bit with him (flank as Tracer, set up to dash reset when she gets low).

DPS:

Doomfist - Only if you can play him very well. You’ll have to hard flank a lot, but if you can get to Widow before or right as she sets up, you’re a huge threat. Especially because you’ll also force her to play more around her team, limiting where she can set up. If you can play in a way that lets you be close to Widow, he’s a good choice, if you can’t, he’s really not your best option.

Genji - Genji is of course the classic flank and dive the Widow. With the new buffs, he’s even great at bursting the targets he flanks down and the deflect buffs takes away from the counter play of waiting until the exact time it ends Widows used to have. Just be smart about it, if you can play him, you’re at the very least a threat. Also, something barely anyone talks about, you have a great ult. Of course you can shut down a Widow with it, but that’s not even the point. With Genji, you have a great DPS ult as opposed to the enemy Widow, ult economy is incredibly important.

Hanzo - Not really a counter, but a threat. If Widows don’t know how to play against you (forget about sonic arrow, stand still), you can easily make their lives miseralbe. If they camp a spot, for example Anubis def Point A, you can force them away with spam. But as I said, threat, not counter.

Symmetra - Only on specific points/with comps, but what’s a sniper gonna do when you skip the whole “walking to point” part? Works especially well on Hanamura attack and Lijiang Night Market, might work on Horizon but I haven’t played that map in like half a year, actually.

Widowmaker - Of course, you can’t forget the better Widow. I wouldn’t say she’s the “best” counter, as imo best counters are teamcomps and I actually think WB might take the spot if he were more viable, but she’s of course, a great option, if you are that better Widow. I’d also like to say, that it’s not much about aim, but mind-games, your own positioning and knowing her’s. The one who’s more prepared to take the duel usually wins, not the better aimer.

Supports:

None really as a single counter, all of them have their places in teamcomps that are good against a Widow, but outside of those, Widow might literally counter all of them. If I had to pick a single best one, I’d say Lúcio, but it’s really not relevant.

Teamcomps and Synergies that counter Widow:

Dive - Of course, the classic dive, don’t show yourself, get on the Widow or a Support and don’t leave her an opportunity to breathe. Of course, this only works on certain maps right now, and is also highly dependent on your own skill, team coordination and the enemy comp. A good map, imo, is still Numbani. Heroes: Winston / WB, Dva - Ashe / Doomfist / Echo / Genji / Hanzo / McCree / Pharah / Soldier / Sombra / Tracer / Widowmaker - Ana / Brigitte / Lúcio / Mercy / Zenyatta

Ashe, Mercy + Sniper - having to deal with a pocketed Ashe on one side, and either Hanzo or Widow on the other is absolutely nasty, especially if you are the only sniper on your own team. This really only works if you really set up on different off-angles. Make her look one way, shoot from the other. It’s especially good in a double shield comp. If you only duo with someone, Ashe+Mercy is already pretty annoying and won’t allow for many mistakes, especially on more close-ranged maps.

Double Sniper - this is very similar to Ashe+Mercy and a sniper, however, it’s not a synergie, it’s its own comp, an especially nasty variant of double shield. You still want to get a crossfire with the two snipers going, especially good on Havana defense. Heroes: Sigma , Orisa - Ashe / Hanzo / Widow - Ana / Baptiste / Lucio / Mercy / Moira / Zenyatta

Mei Deathball - can’t kill the Widow? Make her useless! Go all in on her tanks, be fast, and give no opportunity for shield break. The goal is basicalyl to go full in on her tankline, because she has no way of protecting them, and if you’re at their frontline fast, she’ll even have a very hard time hitting you. Heroes: Rein , Zarya / Dva / Sigma - Mei , McCree / Reaper / Hanzo / Junkrat / Sombra / Symmetra / Pharah - Lúcio , Ana / Baptiste / Brigitte , Mercy, Moira , Zenyatta

Pirate Ship - don’t need to kill the Widow if she can’t kill you before the fight is over. On payload maps this either forces her to hard flank and try to somehow clutch, or press h. Just be careful when setting up, I’ve shut this comp down in a tournament once with a lucky headshot on the Bastion. This can also work on some 2 CP defenses. It’s basically Bastion bunker. Heroes: Orisa , Sigma / Dva / Reinahrdt / Roadhog - Bastion, Ashe, Hanzo, McCree, Torbjörn, Widowmaker, basically any DPS can work - Baptiste, Mercy, basically any Support can work, I wouldn’t recommend most though

Hope this was helpful, sorry if it was too long, I’m literally incapable of not writing more than needed. Good luck against all the smurfs infesting ranked.


Also, because these are the forums, please don’t come to this post to complain about how broken or not broken, how easily countered or not easily countered Widow or her counter, or who she counters, is. This is not the post for this. I made this to help people play the game, not to put judgement on any hero or teamcomp. You can gladly think Widow is super hard to counter, but I don’t care, this is not the post for this, so please just move on if complaining is all you want to do.

I’m open to all feedback or questions though. I’m not perfect and neither will my information ever be.

My respons to "Winston is the best Widow counter, why didn't you include him?"

I see a lot of people saying Winston is a great counter to Widow, and maybe they are right in Gold, what do I know, but I just don’t think it’s the case for my rank, my scrims or any rank above me really. Unlike Dva or Hammond, who can also be played in other comps, Winston only really works in dive. Switching from Rein to Winston in a Deathball to counter Widow is in my opinion a terrible play. Not only are you throwing away a good comp and making it awful, you’re leaving your team without a shield just to go after the Widow yourself. So, you’re putting your team at two disadvantages just for going and killing the Widow.

And even then, monkey isn’t a big problem to deal with whatsoever. You can spot him going for you from a mile away, and so can your team. It’s very easy to simply avoid Winston with basic awareness and positioning, and even if he gets the drop on you, you’re easily saved by just a little help from your team.

Even if you accomplish taking Widow out of the fight by annoying her, which is a totally valid way to counter someone, a MT is almost always more valuable than a DPS. Your trade is a disadvantage, especially if you don’t make it out alive. Not to mention your team will be helpless if they can’t remotely dive with you. I’ll gladly die to a Winston in my backline if it means my team just overruns the enemy, in fact my scrim team has a strat with me on Widow where I’m quite literally bait.

Dive is a completely different story, it’s deadly and Winston is the MT most of the time. But there are fundamental differences. You’re not leaving a team that needs a shield without a shield, you’re not jumping her on your own, you have your team to back you up in damage, healing and support, Widow’s team can’t collapse on your team. And even if Widow is too far away to be dived, you can still go for Supports and she’ll be more or less useless.

The response to this was that in the person’s games who said this (Diamond), the Off Tank would swap to Winston, as opposed the MT. All I can say to that is, I’ve never seen it, people don’t do it to me and my team doesn’t do it to the enemy. It is very much possible that it’s a viable strat in Diamond and probably even Master, but I just haven’t come across it, you have to try it out and see if it works, I can’t tell you anything about it. All I know is that swapping your MT to Winston in a comp that’s not good for him, is likely not a good play.


Where I posted it originally if you’d like to see it/responses to it: https://www.reddit.com/r/OverwatchUniversity/comments/hf2mt1/the_basics_of_countering_widowmaker/?utm_medium=android_app&utm_source=share

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