{"id":1181533,"date":"2026-02-15T04:28:22","date_gmt":"2026-02-15T04:28:22","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/zhNHvZ3PZ9YVqQNQieohVa"},"modified":"2026-02-15T04:28:22","modified_gmt":"2026-02-15T04:28:22","slug":"overwatch-2-season-16-finally-adds-hero-bans-to-competitive-play-and-its-really-brought-out-the-vindictive-side-of-players-hes-an-annoying-unkillable-pain-in-the-ass","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/arcader.org\/news\/overwatch-2-season-16-finally-adds-hero-bans-to-competitive-play-and-its-really-brought-out-the-vindictive-side-of-players-hes-an-annoying-unkillable-pain-in-the-ass\/","title":{"rendered":"Overwatch 2 Season 16 finally adds hero bans to competitive play, and it’s really brought out the vindictive side of players: ‘He\u2019s an annoying unkillable pain in the ass’"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Every Overwatch<\/a> player has that one hero that they can’t stand. The hero that boils their blood and fills them with a kind of rage that is unmatched in every other avenue of their life. For me, it’s Mercy, but every player has their own arch-nemesis in this game, and now we can all do something about it.<\/p>\n

Overwatch 2 Season 16 is introducing hero bans, finally. At the beginning of every competitive match, players will vote to remove up to four heroes from play (two per team, but no more than two per role).<\/p>\n

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Best of the best<\/div>\n
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(Image credit: Larian Studios)<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

2025 games<\/strong><\/a>: Upcoming releases
<\/strong>Best PC games<\/strong><\/a>: All-time favorites
Free PC games<\/strong><\/a>: Freebie fest
Best FPS games<\/strong><\/a>: Finest gunplay
Best RPGs<\/strong><\/a>: Grand adventures
Best co-op games<\/strong><\/a>: Better together<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

This will give players an extra level of customisation to “tweak team compositions and add an extra layer of mind games before the real fighting begins,” according to a Blizzard blog post<\/a>. “It\u2019s a system built for strategic thinkers and team players, which rewards coordination and understanding of hero synergies.”<\/p>\n

I, alongside most Overwatch players, have been begging for bans since 2018, the same season when Brigitte was introduced and I played D.Va, but that’s just a coincidence. Then last year, I pleaded my case for hero bans yet again after a particularly brutal balance patch<\/a> that saw me getting rolled by the evil hamster in a mechanical ball.<\/p>\n

Hero bans have been teased here and there over the years. Jeff Kaplan discussed adding them back in 2020<\/a> in the form of an “Experimental Card”, where Blizzard would choose which hero got banned via a hero pool system that would change each week. But it wasn’t seriously talked about until February this year, as it was presented alongside a whole host of radical changes.<\/a><\/p>\n

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With a roster as big as Overwatch 2’s, there’ll always be one or two heroes who are just too big for their boots. Maybe they’re super strong in the current meta, or perhaps they triple in strength on a certain map. There are a lot of variables to juggle, and hero bans allow you to make things a bit more manageable.<\/p>\n

“Hero Bans don\u2019t just level the playing field, they shape it,” the blog post says. “Are you tired of seeing the same heroes dominate every match? Want to throw a wrench in the enemy\u2019s go-to strat? Coordinate with your team and swing the vote to remove a high-impact pick, block that one counter that\u2019s keeping your best in check, lock out a problematic flanker, or protect your support duo. Whoever you choose, Hero Bans give your squad more power to play your way.”<\/p>\n

Players have been fantasising over who they’re going to ban, and it seems like the most popular pick for bans is none other than Doomfist. “Doom mains either roll the entire lobby or are recovering from a lobotomy,” JaSaw0 says<\/a>.<\/p>\n

With the hero ban coming to the game in the future, who do you think will be the most banned heroes?<\/a> from r\/Overwatch<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n