Overwatch 2 players frustrated as Tank becomes a “Rock Paper Scissors” role
Blizzard EntertainmentOverwatch 2 players share their thoughts on why playing tank feels like “Rock Paper Scissors” compared to other roles in the game.
If there’s one thing that arguably makes Overwatch 2 stand out as a competitive game, that would be the ability to switch heroes in the middle of a match. Regardless of where the payload is, the capture point’s progress, or the player’s ultimate charge, the game allows players to swap their heroes from spawn.
The enemy is running D.Va? Switch to Zarya. Or perhaps they’re running the Pharmercy combo? Have your DPSs switch to hitscans, and it should be smooth sailing after that — provided they hit their shots, of course.
Because of things like these, counter-picking has always been a strategy since the early days of Overwatch. However, one player claimed that this is more prominent when it comes to Tank… to the point that it feels like playing “Rock Paper Scissors.”
Pouring their thoughts in a Reddit thread, the user mentioned that playing Tank isn’t as “great” as before and just feels “boring” now as it’s now “all about counter-picking.”
They explained that other roles, “for the most part,” aren’t required to swap as much as long as they can play a “poke, dive, and brawl hero.”
Meanwhile, for Tanks, players have to “know them all and counter-swap all game” to make things work, which makes it feel “awful” and “hard to build [a] connection with your [favorite] hero.”
Other players in the comments agreed with the OP, saying that playing Tank is a “chore” due to all the counter-picking and that “constantly switching” isn’t fun.
“At least half the games playing Tank, the enemy Tank just swaps to whatever counters you are on. Doesn’t even matter if you were mirrored to start. It’s exhausting,” one user replied.
BlizzardAgreeing with the OP, another user wrote: “That analysis is pretty spot on. It’s literally rock paper scissors, and whoever doesn’t switch loses. It was like this in OW1 too, the issue’s just a lot more glaring when it’s all on one Tank.”
Meanwhile, one user pointed out that Tank is the “hardest counter role” in the game. “As DPS, you can kinda play what you want. As Tank, it’s a straight hard counter. It’s difficult to outplay a counter, which is why it’s the worst role in the game… if you wanted to know why Tank was dog***** and nobody wants to play,” they explained.
Some replies mentioned that players can still win if they “learn their matchups” and “adapt” to the situation. “I’ve been on the JQ (Junker Queen) grind for a bit and I just had to learn who counters me and work around it,” one of them explained.