McCree is an expert brawler who favors raw aim over fancy abilities. Sporting a high damage output, he crushes enemies at both medium and close range, with his damage falling off against distant targets. McCree can hold his own against opponents, but thrives when grouping with his team. He's held a top damage spot since the beginning of Overwatch, and has only recently seen a decline in play with the rise of Solder 76. With an incredibly low skill floor yet high skill ceiling, he's an amazing hero to learn and an even better one to master. An experienced McCree is a force to be reckoned with in both quick and ranked play, and can find success in every tier of the game.

Pros:

• Consistent damage
• Good at brawling
• High skill ceiling
• Low skill floor
• Fits into most comps

Cons:

• Damage falls off at long ranges
• Poor mobility
• Struggles against full tank teams
• Relies on cooldowns for defense

-Ability Breakdown-

Peacekeeper (Left Click)

• Single shot hitscan
• 20-70 damage
• 6 ammo
• Can shoot 2 bullets per second
• Damage falls off at 22 meters
• 1.5 second reload

Peacekeeper is a simple point and click ability which deals incredible amounts of damage. With 70 damage body shots and 140 damage head shots, an accurate McCree can devastate an entire enemy team from medium-close range. McCree's damage begins to fall off at the 22 meter mark, so heroes such as Mei or Soldier will be more effective choices at longer range.

When it comes to aiming with this weapon we first need to discuss two different aiming styles, tracking and flicking. Tracking is when you follow an enemy around with your crosshair. This makes it so that you only have to make small movements to hit slow targets, but is ineffective versus mobile ones. Flicking is when you snap your aim at targets, and is useful against things such as a Tracer who's blinking around. Both of these have their advantages and disadvantages, so top players combine a mix of the two to be as accurate as possible. Here's a montage of some of the best McCree players so you can see how they incorporate both styles.

Fan the Hammer (Right Click)

• Rapid fire hitscan
• 22-45 damage
• 6 ammo
• 1.5 Second Reload
• Damage falls off at 18-30 meters

Fan the Hammer rapidly unloads any remaining ammo in McCree's pistol, dealing 45 damage per shot. The bullets have a wide spread and damage falloff, but since this ability is only used at close range this usually isn't something you need to worry about. This is used less commonly then Peacekeeper, but is good in a few situations.

Firstly, people use this in combination with McCree's E, Flashbang. Once you get close to a target, you can use Flashbang to stun them, and then Fan the Hammer to deal up to 270 damage. Depending on your distance from the target some of the bullets could miss, which is why top players instead prefer to double headshot after a Flashbang. Never use Fan the Hammer with less than 5 ammo, because it won't kill anyone with 200 health.

The next thing you can do with Fan the Hammer is melt close range targets with big hitboxes, such as Roadhog or Reinhardt. While the bullet spread on this ability is pretty wide, these heroes will still get hit with a majority of the shots depending on your range. The same concept works for burning Reinhardt shield too, as its large hitbox will help most of your bullets connect.

Combat Roll (Left Shift)

• McCree rolls 6 meters in the direction he's moving
• Reloads your pistol automatically
• 8 second cooldown
• 0.5 second duration

Using for mobility: Since the distance you move with Combat Roll is so short, it's often used for evading attacks rather than getting somewhere faster. You'd save yourself about a second of travel time by using this instead of just running, so save it for a fight unless your team is stalling in overtime. Combat Roll is amazing for dodging things such as Roadhog hooks or enemy ultimates, since its wide range of movement gives you full control. You roll in the direction you're moving, not facing, so rolling backwards or sideways can help you avoid a variety of abilities. If you feel like using this a bit more aggressively you could dash into a target, and then kill them with a Flashbang combo. If you do this then make sure no other enemies are there to punish you, because you'll have to no cooldowns to defense yourself.

Using to reload: The secondary effect of Combat Roll instantly reloads your pistol, and this is what it's commonly used for. McCree has a 1.5 second reload time, and that could be the difference between life or death in a firefight. This ability takes 0.5 seconds to complete, but that extra second you save could be 140-280 more damage. Over the course of a game this quickly begins to add up. With this ability you can score kills that others would miss, or be able to protect yourself after dumping all your ammo into another target.

Flashbang (E)

• Throws a flashbang which stuns any enemy in its 2 meter radius
• Stun last 0.7 seconds
• 5 meter range
• Deals 25 Damage
• 10 second cooldown

This is a fantastic addition to McCree's kit since it provides both offensive and defensive uses.

Offensively: This is used to stun an enemy so you can easily kill them. Stunning an enemy and headshotting them twice with Peacekeeper deals 305 damage, killing any hero that isn't a tank. If you aren't confident with headshotting a target that quickly you can instead finish them off with Fan the Hammer, dealing 295 damage. This requires less aim, but it's possible that the target can survive if some of the bullets miss. If Flashbang is off cooldown there's very few heroes that can fight you head on, so make sure you're use it wisely. Missing a Flashbang isn't the end of the world, but it does put you in a position to be punished.

Defensively: You can use this for escaping enemies, or maybe just get a little reprieve from incoming fire. 0.7 seconds isn't much time, but it's long enough for you to be able to receive a heal or shield. While this is nice, the most game changing use of Flashbang comes from interrupting enemy ultimates. Stunning Pharah, Roadhog, or Reaper during their ultimate completely shuts it down, hopefully saving the team fight. They might get some of the ult charge refunded, but you've dealt with the threat for now. You can stun other enemies during their ultimates as well, but this won't cancel the effect outright.

Deadeye (Q)

• Upon charging up McCree fires bullets at all enemies within his line of sight
  
• Charges up 250 damage per second
• Up to 6 second duration
• Fires from right to left

Deadeye targets all enemies within McCree's line of sight and starts to charge up damage against them at a rate of 250 per second. Once this damage equals the current health of your target a red skull will appear on them, marking them for death. Once you fire Deadeye these targets will die, assuming nothing blocks your bullets. This ability seems insane, but any good team will know how to mitigate its damage. You can LoS it, kill/stun McCree while he's channeling, hide behind Reinhardt shield, soak it with D.Va Defense Matrix, or use anything else with a similar effect. If you want to pull off a successful Deadeye you'll need to either combo with teammates, use the element of surprise, or stall with it.

Comboing with teammates is a broad statement, so allow me to elaborate. McCree is completely vulnerable during Deadeye since it slows him down to a crawl. This makes having a Reinhardt or Zarya ready to shield you extremely valuable. A D.Va or Winston can provide a similar effect, but this takes a bit more coordination. Deadeye also pairs well with a lot of other ultimates. The most basic examples of this would be Graviton Surge or Earthshatter, but a majority of them would work nicely. Since ultimates present a threat to your opponent their first instinct is to get away from wherever the danger is. You can take advantage of this by using Deadeye to pick off any retreating enemies.

The second way to go about landing a Deadeye is by using the element of surprise. Odds are if you start channeling in front of the entire enemy team you're going to get taken out, so flanking is your best bet. They'll hear where the Deadeye is coming from, but be forced to turn their backs on the rest of your team. You either pick up some kills or force them out of position, either way it's a win. If you want this to be even more effective than try getting some high ground, it's harder for people to aim vertically, and you might be able to score a kill over Reinhardt shield.

While stalling with Deadeye might not be as great as it used to be, it's still a good way to keep enemies at bay. This can be for holding out until assistance arrives, or keeping enemies off a point during overtime. You aren't necessarily looking to score kills here, but rather to present a threat so no one pushes up. Failing a Deadeye doesn't refund any charge, so make sure stalling is your only option.

Role and Playstyle

McCree is at his strongest when surrounded by teammates, making use of their support abilities to help him safely pump out damage. Ideally you want to be sitting near the point, taking out enemies with Peacekeeper and punishing flankers with Flashbang. While McCree can kill tanks it shouldn't be your main focus, instead aim for any 200 health heroes who decide to peak you. Against Reinhardt you can burn down his shield, or throw a Flashbang over it so your team can take him out. Sitting with your team works well, but it's not mandatory. If you feel like playing more aggressively then you can roam the map, taking out supports in the backline or flashbanging enemies when they run to health packs. This is a lot riskier, but can excel on certain maps, especially KoTH.

Always stay near cover so you can Combat Roll into safety if enemies start returning fire. You can weave in and out of LoS, firing a few shots before retreating back to cover. You never want to be out in the open, because longer range heroes will quickly punish you. Another option is to take the high ground. You can reign havoc from above, forcing enemies to aim up at you instead. Most people have trouble aiming vertically, but it's much easier to aim down then up. This also sets you up for a good Deadeye or flank on unsuspecting targets.

McCree is all about proper positioning and game sense, knowing exactly where you should be and when you should go into fights. Know where your team is at all times so you can't get punished for pushing up. Your job isn't as straight forward as some of the other heroes. Sometimes you should run in like Reaper, and other times you need to sit in the backline. Different McCree's have different levels of aggression, and finding the right balance for you will come with time.

Synergies

McCree works well with most heroes, so don't stress too much over what your team is running. That being said, these heroes pair vary nicely with McCree.

Reinhardt's shield allows McCree to dish out heavy damage with his Peacekeeper without worrying about returning fire. This is amazing when holding chokepoints, and even better when you have a Mercy. Earthshatter also opens up a lot of opportunities for you as McCree, since you can Deadeye targets while they're stunned. Since most teams want a Reinhardt anyway, no one has to go out of their way to make this pairing happen.

Zarya's barrier helps McCree immensely when he's going in for a Flashbang combo or Deadeye. The damage soaking is great, but the real winner is its CC immunity. Getting interrupted while diving in for a Flashbang will almost certainly result in you being punished, and this completely removes that threat. Furthermore, Graviton Surge is perfect for grouping enemies up for Deadeye.

These two heroes function similarly, so I'll place them together. Both D.Va and Winston excel at creating space which gives McCree free rein to pick off targets. Both of their ultimates can disrupt enemies, which creates a lot of opportunities for a good Deadeye. With proper coordination, they can also protect you during Deadeye with Defense Matrix/Barrier Projector.

Mercy hasn't been very popular as of late, but she's still pretty good with McCree. Her healing is nice, but the main thing we're looking at here is the damage boost. While boosted, McCree's Peacekeeper deals 105 damage on body shots and 210 on head shots. That means a head shot has the potential to kill 15 out of the 23 heroes in-game. Add in a Reinhardt shield to protect them both and you're good to go.

Mei is amazing with most other DPS because of her crazy strong ultimate. Even if enemies aren't frozen from Blizzard, the slow will prevent them from taking cover from Deadeye, although sometimes Peacekeeper is enough to clean them up. Mei also has great damage at long-range, which can make up for McCree's damage fall off. Since both heroes are so consistent they make an amazing pair on both king of the hill and defense, but can also find success on attack.

Counters

With a kit suited for every situation McCree can be tough for teams to deal with, but there's still some tricky matchups.

A good Widowmaker can be an issue for McCree since she completely outranges him. None of his basic abilities will have any effect at long range, so you're pretty much a free kill if her aim is good. Most Widowmakers aren't going to be able to shut you down completely, so just ignore her and kill the rest of her team instead.

Soldier 76 is an annoying matchup because he performs the same role as McCree, but does a few things better. His damage falls off a longer range then McCree's, so in long-range fights it's much easier for him to outdamage you. If you do end up dealing any significant damage then he can pop down a Biotic Field, while you'll have to grab a health kit or get heals from an ally. Without a Biotic Field down it only takes 3 shots for you to kill him at medium range, but that's assuming he hasn't already killed you first. If you can ever get close to him for Flashbang he's almost guaranteed to die, but you'll need to avoid his Helix Rockets on the way.

The next hero on this list has recently received some nerfs, but can still be annoying to face as McCree. D.Va's large health/armor pool means you can't instantly kill her with head shots, and you'll most likely die before getting her out of suit. Boosters Engage makes Combat Roll look like a joke, and Defense Matrix can soak all of your abilities. She can permanently stick to you, and it's near impossible to peel her off without the help of your team.

This one especially will depend on the skill of your opponent, but Lucio can create some major hardships for McCree. For starters when you're trying to kill someone with a Flashbang combo he can boop you away, leaving with no Flashbang and no kill. He can also negate your ultimate by shielding his team with Sound Barrier, or speed boosting them away with Amp It Up. Lucio won't be fighting you head on anytime soon, but the fact that he can cancel out half of your abilities makes a good Lucio a nuisance to fight.

Combining the problems you have with both D.Va and Lucio, Zarya is another tank presents some issues. She can immune Flashbang on herself with Particle Barrier, or save a teammate from it with Projected Barrier. This makes it near impossible to land kills when she's nearby. If she does immune your Flashbang then her 400 health pool will keep her alive long enough to melt you with Particle Cannon. Zarya also has an incredibly strong ultimate which McCree has no hopes of escaping.

With a heavy focus on movement and the ability to Deflect your shots, Genji has always been a threat when playing McCree. The first problem you face is that he can Deflect your Flashbang back at you. To avoid this you either have to never Flashbang, or throw it above/below the Deflect hitbox (Link). Once he connects to you it's hard to get him off because his double jumping and close range makes hitting shots a challenge. He can also Deflect your Deadeye, but there's a few ways around this. Most Genji's will start their Deflect right when Deadeye begins, so simply wait out it's duration and score a free kill on him. You can also take advantage of the fact that Deadeye fires from right to left to kill some of his team even if he is deflecting.

Tips

- Use Flashbang on a charging Reinhardt to stop him in his tracks.

- If an enemy was ever in your line of sight during Deadeye you'll be able to see their location for the rest of its duration.

- Consider using the dot crosshair, it'll help you be more accurate with head shots.

Further Resources

McCree Aim Practice Drills by OverwatchDojo - Link.

Sensitivity Guide by kandyrew - Link.

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