Overwatch 2 players worried that “counterpicking culture” is ruining the game

Overwatch 2 is a challenging game to climb in rank, and players are worried that counterpicking culture is making the challenge worse. 

Counterpicking in Overwatch 2 refers to players changing out their characters to make it easier to deal with heroes on the enemy team. Some classic options include Reaper vs. Winston, Zarya vs. D.Va, and Ana vs. Roadhog. 

Countering picks in Overwatch is an essential part of being successful in games. It is, however, not the only way in which players can win their fights. In fact, players are becoming increasingly concerned that counterpicking culture is actively ruining the game. 

“I’ll swap if someone asks nicely, but I’m tired of people asking me to switch to like Soldier/Reaper cause they’re easy,” ‘psdao1102 posted to Reddit. “I’m playing bad, and I’ll play bad on those characters too lol. Not every problem in the game is solved by a counterpick.”

Toxicity has always been a problem in Overwatch 2, but players feel that it is made worse by others trying to tell them what to play. While counterpicks are a good strategy to follow, sometimes players also can’t play the heroes that are necessary to counter a hero on the enemy’s team. 

“People act like counter picking is an ‘I win button.’ Then get mad when it doesn’t work and blame the game, because they refuse to admit that player they counter picked and still lost to, might just be a stronger player,” a fan commented on the thread. 

The issue for fans is that, while Competitive does offer a more driven environment, Overwatch 2 is still a game most people play for fun. Unless you are in a professional team, players think it’s better to learn how to play against your counters rather than having a huge hero roster that you can’t really play 

“Instead of b***ing about how you can’t outdps a character at the height of their power curve, think about how you can fight in scenarios where you can level the playing field,” a fan explained. 

There are many ways to win games in Overwatch 2, and counterpicking isn’t the only way according to players. They say that sometimes it’s better to be the best at the hero you love rather than play a hero you don’t like for the sake of counterpicking. 

For more on Overwatch 2, read about how to get all the name cards and the best aim training codes to practice with.