Overwatch 2’s Season 16 Hero Bans: How You Can Control the Meta Starting Now!

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In simpler terms, the developers of Overwatch 2 have clearly outlined the rules for banning characters during ranked matches from Season 16 onwards.

At last, hero bans will debut in Overwatch 2 starting from Season 16, enabling players to potentially tip the scales in their favor by excluding specific characters, thus contributing to a more balanced gaming experience.

Over time, each update for OW2 leads to solutions being found, and as a result, certain heroic characters or strategies become prevalent, outperforming others on the rankings. This trend is common in many games, but now, players will have the ability to veto any character they believe is excessively powerful.

In their latest blog update, developers have shed light on the functioning of the hero ban system and the benefits derived from analyzing the data of discarded heroes.

How will hero bans work in Overwatch 2?

In the opening of a competitive match, the text chat function will automatically become unavailable, and players will not have visibility of their opponents during the selection phase for bans.

Initially, players can pick out their favorite character, often referred to as their “Preferred Hero”. Although this action doesn’t stop others from banning the same hero since there’s no “Protection” phase, it certainly influences the team’s decision-making process during the voting stage.

Moreover, players have the flexibility to switch their Chosen Champion during the Ban Phase, and they can also exchange ideas and plans with their teammates through text or speech to enhance their overall strategy.

After that point, the “Ban Round” begins, where each team can ban a total of two characters. Each player will submit a list of three characters they wish to ban. The character selected for ban in the first round gets seven points, the second choice earns five points, and the third pick receives three points.

As a passionate gamer, I have the option to bypass the ban phase entirely by clicking ‘ready’. This move gives my teammates the freedom to decide which heroes they want to play, and if everyone chooses this route, the game commences with all heroes available for selection.

As per Blizzard, here’s how the whole process will play out:

  • The team with the most votes for one Hero will be considered the “first” team, and their most voted Hero will be guaranteed to be banned. If both teams are tied for the most votes for a single Hero, the first team is decided randomly.
  • The other team becomes the “second” team, and both of their bans happen next. If the Heroes they voted to ban were not the first team’s most voted Hero, then their most and second most voted Heroes will be banned. 
  • If the second team’s most or second most voted Hero was also the first team’s most voted Hero, then the second team’s third most voted Hero is used instead.
  • Finally, the second most voted Hero on the first team will be banned, with the same caveat the second team had when banning their Heroes.
  • In cases where the number of votes for a Hero are tied, the Hero that was voted by the most players in the lobby (not the total number of votes) for is banned. 
  • If Heroes are still tied, ties are broken randomly.
  • No more than two Heroes in each role can be banned. If two Heroes in the same role have already been banned and a team’s next most voted Hero is in the same role, those votes are ignored and this team’s next most voted Hero in a different role is banned instead.

As a dedicated fan, I’m excited about the upcoming changes in the system. It seems this tool will help the developers identify overpowered heroes that require balancing (a.k.a. nerfs). Conversely, it might also signal underdeveloped or less popular heroes that could benefit from some enhancements due to their consistent absence during hero selection (a.k.a. never being banned).

The developers additionally mention that they’ll examine data related to which characters are frequently banned on specific maps across different platforms and regions.

Additionally, Map Voting is being introduced in Season 17, allowing players a wider range of options they can choose from in the upcoming months.

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2025-04-18 23:19