With the recent patches that saw the introduction of Ana the new support sniper, the buff of Zenyatta, as well as the one per hero limit, the support category has seen dramatic changes in competitive play.

In competitive mode, it is now very common to see team play with 2 support heroes. This can be very effective because supports like Zenyatta or Ana can deal damage and support the team offensively as well as defensively with specific healing abilities. Of course, Lucio and Mercy are still the go-to healers and Symmetra can be deadly in specific defensive situations. In this blog, we'll take a look at the best pair of support heroes depending on game modes and situations.

Control:

In the Control game mode, teams are both offensive and defensive at the same time depending on their control of the point. For that reason, you can go with Lucio alone as his healing ability works great in a zone and his mobility increases his lifespan in such a small combat area. However, it can be a very good idea to pair Lucio with another support to give your team a very strong backbone.

Lucio and Zenyatta on control can be a deadly duo. In terms of healing, Lucio can heal his whole team when they are close to him, and Zenyatta can heal a specific hero during critical moment, like during that hero’s ultimate, during a 1v1 between DPS heroes, a battle of tanks, or just in general just to help a hero stay alive when Lucio can’t activate his healing boost. Furthermore, Zenyatta is deadly on offense as his orbs do massive damage and the Discord Orb can multiply this damage significantly. That can benefit him as well as his teammates, as he can target important enemy heroes like tanks. Finally, both heroes have “zone-based” healing ultimate abilities. These are extremely helpful in the Control game mode as they allow you to protect the whole control point and nullify enemies’ ultimates or pushes.

Assault, Defense:

Defending on Assault can be very static and position-based, as you generally hold the attacking team at a choke point. In this case, Mercy is a go-to healer as she can damage boost heroes and heal them while staying behind cover. She can obviously Resurrect the whole team in critical moments to defend the control points.

On the first point of Assault, Mercy can be successfully paired with Symmetra. Symmetra is not a healing support so Mercy can cover that area. Symmetra, however, can shield every hero on her team and give them an edge in every engagement. She is most useful on these first points because she can place her turrets at the choke point, get kills up close, and then activate her Teleporter which allow her whole team to come back to the action very quickly instead of walking from spawn and losing the point because of numeric inferiority.

However, if you do lose the first point, a change is probably in order as Symmetra's Teleporter becomes somewhat useless since the defending team spawns very close to the point. You can then either switch to a more offensive hero or stay support and go for Zenyatta. Again, his damage boosting orb is a great help against tanks and his ultimate ability can nullify ultimates and help keep the point alive. Mercy is still a must as the Resurrection in this game mode can save and win games.

Hybrid and Escort, Defense:

In Hybrid mode, you can apply the same Mercy-Symmetra tactic on the first point as it is very similar to Assault. If the point hold fails, then Symmetra needs to go and be replaced by an Ana or a Zenyatta to provide a more offensive support. The ultimate ability of Ana, the Nano Boost, can effectively clean up an entire team and help the defense play the clock. In Escort mode, Symmetra does not have any business being played as she is pretty much useless. In this moving defense type of play, you can go for a Lucio-Mercy ticket, although you would be losing a lot of firepower. The wisest choice would be either Mercy-Ana or Lucio-Zenyatta.

Offense:

On offense in Assault, Hybrid or Escort, Lucio is almost a given as his speed boost helps heroes get to the action faster and he stays much more mobile and less vulnerable than a Mercy which can be easily focused by the DPS heroes defending.

Lucio-Ana can be a very interesting combo as Ana can serve as a sniper as well as individual healer to complete Lucio’s job. Her Nano Boost can also be a game changer at clutch points. She is overall weaker than Zenyatta, but as Zenyatta's ultimate is quite similar to Lucio’s, you can either choose to go safe with Lucio-Zenyatta or go bold with Lucio-Ana.

Obviously these tactics can change as soon as a new balancing patch hits, but in the meantime, Zenyatta and the double support tactic can be the way to victory.

Get your own AKRacing Chair here and support our players, all profit goes towards the teams!