Overwatch 2 competitive mode: Who are the most banned heroes?

On April 22, 2025, Blizzard introduced hero bans to competitive Overwatch 2. This feature allows players to vote for heroes they don’t want to be part of a game. At the time of writing, it’s been around a month and a half since the banning feature was implemented into Overwatch 2. 

Despite not much time passing, several Overwatch heroes are already being banned more often than others. In May, Blizzard released some of the Hero Bans data to show which heroes are getting the axe frequently in competitive games. Let’s dive into this data in more detail to see why these characters are banned more than others. 

Before we look at why Overwatch heroes are now facing bans, let’s first examine the ban system. Before players start banning in a competitive Overwatch 2 game, they will first have the opportunity to select the heroes they wish to play as their “Preferred Hero.” This does not stop your chosen character from getting banned, but it allows you to show your team who you want to play as. 

If you miss the prompt to choose your preferred hero, you can still choose your preferred hero during the ban phase.

Four heroes can be banned in each game, with two choices per team. Individual players can choose up to three heroes to ban, though their first choice will be the most weighty, so be sure to pick the character you want to ban the most as your first choice. According to a blog post by Overwatch 2 system designer Gavin Winter, each ban choice is worth a certain number of votes. The first choice is worth seven, the second is five, and the third is three. 

Only two heroes within each role can be banned, so players don’t have to worry about all the bans being from one particular role. Banning can be skipped if the player picks the Ready button. If the player chooses this, the rest of their team will still be able to vote. 

The blog states that the main reason behind introducing the hero bans feature was to allow players to remove heroes that they consider irritating or overpowered. However, the bans are also intended to allow this without encouraging players to ban heroes simply because the enemy team wants to play them. To do this, the developers have made it impossible to see the enemy teams choices or talk to them via match text chat during the banning phase. 

The blog goes into more detail on the intricate workings of the ban system, so check it out for more information. 

Let’s take a look at 10 heroes who see a fair amount of bans in the Overwatch 2 competitive scene. Some of these heroes are banned much more on PC in comparison to console, and vice versa. The approximations are based on the hero ban graphs released by Blizzard, which are also included below. 

Sombra is the most banned hero on the PC, followed by Zarya, Doomfist, Hammond, Freja and Ana. 

Sombra is also the most banned hero on console, though some of the other heroes change. Zarya and Hammond are frequently banned on console, but Mercy is banned more than Ana. Symmetra, Tracer and Widowmaker are also banned more than Freja, while tanks D.Va and Mauga are banned on console more than Doomfist. 

Olivia Colomar, known by her alias Sombra, is a Damage hero in Overwatch 2 who specialises in hacking. Her kit can be incredibly irritating to fight against, as it revolves around stealth and disruption. A well-played Sombra can get behind enemy lines and cause chaos, which is likely why she is the most banned hero across all platforms. 

Zarya is a weightlifting champion and a Tank hero in Overwatch 2. Her skills focus on energy thanks to her Particle Cannon gun, which allows her to shoot energy beams while also projecting energy barriers to protect herself and teammates. 

Zarya’s combination of strong offence and defence can make her challenging to play against. Her laser beam primary fire is also particularly frustrating, as it cannot be deflected and is hard to avoid. Not only that, but Zarya can also convert damage into shields and energy, which can sometimes feel like she is invincible. Playing against a good Zarya can be very depressing, hence why she is banned so much. 

Doomfist is a melee Tank in Overwatch 2 who uses his gigantic fist and movement abilities to cause disruption on the battlefield. He went through a major rework between Overwatch 1 and Overwatch 2, as he was turned into a Tank after previously being a Damage hero. 

A well-played Doomfist can be an absolute nightmare for a team, especially for Support, who often find themselves as targets. Doomfist can stun enemies with his punches, and his movement skills make him ideal for diving the backline, making him a frustrating hero to play against and leading to his high PC ban rate. 

Wrecking Ball might be a cute hamster, but his spherical mech and super-fast movement while rolling make him a menace in comp games. Despite being so large, Wrecking Ball can roll around the battlefield quickly and elude enemies after dealing significant damage.

His Minefield ultimate ability is particularly annoying, as any damage or support heroes caught within it are almost guaranteed instant death. Wrecking Ball’s ability to knock enemies off the map or into his mines is also infuriating, so it’s easy to see why he gets banned so often. 

Ana is a support hero who was one of the founding members of Overwatch. She is also the mother of the damage hero Pharah. Ana is a tricky healer to get to grips with, but good Ana players can become the bane of a team’s existence. 

Ana can dominate the battlefield by putting enemies to sleep, denying them healing with a well-timed Biotic Grenade, powering up allies by Nano Boosting them and healing the team.  Her excellent countering skills combined with disruptive abilities that can also heal make her a tough support hero to encounter, which is likely why she is banned so much. 

At the time of writing, these are currently some of the most banned heroes in Overwatch 2 competitive mode. This will likely change over time, especially if certain heroes get reworks, nerfs or buffs. For now though, it is clear that we can all agree on one thing: Sombra is the absolute worst.