Hanamura point B can be tricky to hold without the proper knowledge of advantageous spots to hold. In this article we're going to look into the proper way to defend against incoming attacks. If you want to know how to take control of the point as the attacking team then check out my guide on the attacking side here.

The best place to hold for defending teams on this map is definitely the top left area, which I refer to as Balcony. The key to holding this area is to stay back before the first door into the stairs, and wait for the team to come to you as many players are too aggressive or impatient and try to force a fight when you don't need to take one. This often ends up giving the other team free ultimate charge and can end up getting you killed, leaving your teammates at a significant disadvantage and vulnerable to a rush from the attacking team.

To have this strategy work effectively you will need certain heroes. Reinhardt, Ana and Soldier 76 or McCree (depending on preference) are a must in my opinion. Reinhardt can put up his shield at the door so as the Soldier/McCree player can peek into the stairwell, and do damage to a team attempting to come up the stairs. Ana can heal any damage taken very quickly, due to her Biotic Grenade and standard healing.

Another hero who can work wonders for defending this point is Mei. Her ice wall ability has huge potential to split apart teams at choke points, leaving those walled in at a vulnerable state where they can be in 2v4 or 3v5 scenarios, and those walled out are incapable of helping, as they are attempt to break down Mei’s wall. In order to do this all the Mei player needs to do is be pushed up slightly ahead of the team, in order to place her wall at the door after a player walks in, leaving them separated from their team. Quickly kill them and have the opposing team at a disadvantage, they will more than likely wait to group as six before they try to push in again.

A controversial pick for this point would be Symmetra. Due to her recent buff with a Photon barrier, and her second ultimate Shield generator, this has recently made her a viable pick in many player’s eyes. The main thing that makes her work is her Shield Generator, the placement of which is vital to the success of the hold. The only place you can leave it while keeping it the safest is on the right exit of spawn. This is the only place to put it where an enemy Tracer or D.Va cannot quickly dive out of a team fight and destroy it with ease. With a few turrets left to alert you that the generator is under attack and to slow down the enemy to give you an extra sliver of time in which to defend it. I do not recommend running Symmetra on point B unless you were running her on Point A. This is because in the time you take to switch off a hero, place turrets and start trying to build your ultimate meter the opposing team has a huge amount of time to attack without your shield generator there to protect your team.

Necessary Heroes:

Reinhardt: The shield that Reinhardt provides in an invaluable asset in these situations, and his Earthshatter can makes huge plays in a narrow corridor, where escape is near impossible.

Mei: In order to wall in charging enemies. Her Blizzard is also great for having an aggressive push out the door when the enemy is down in numbers, using her ult can help catch anyone who thought they could get away.

Lucio: His Speed boost and Sound Barrier are great ways of initiating a fight and having an advantage from the get go. Until someone else can offer a speed boost that is equal to or greater than Lucio’s I see him being a must pick for most situations.

Common ways that this Balcony defence is broken is by a Reinhardt and Zarya combo. This is risky but the combo entails of a Reinhardt abandoning his team for a brief moment to charge into the enemy team, while their Zarya Player gives them a projected barrier to protect them from the likes of Ana’s Sleep dart and Roadhog’s hook, which would quickly put an end to his deadly shenanigans.

This Rein/Zarya combo is very risky, as mentioned before, because it relies heavily on the Rein player landing a charge and pinning a hero which gets instantly killed from the charge, in order to have a quick advantage in numbers for the fight, and potentially remove an ultimate on the other team from the fight for over 10 seconds. Keep in mind that Reinhardt’s charge does a maximum of 350 damage, which is more than capable of killing most heroes in the game.

A very simple counter to this strategy is again using a Mei, to wall off the charging Reinhardt player so as their team cannot follow him after the fight, and when the Zarya bubble is broken it wears off you quickly kill the Reinhardt and delay the next 6v6 fight from happening.

A much less effective way to hold point B, but many players that are not as experienced with the game will do, is to hold on the point itself. The is not a good idea to do as you can be easily attacked from any opposing hero taking high ground, and depending on the hero composition you are running you may not have any heroes that can quickly take the high ground and deal with a threat like that. E.G Winston or D.Va.

I do not recommend using this tactic to hold the point as it is the easiest for the enemy team to counter, and take advantage of your team's poor positioning, due to having no high ground and also being grouped up together on the point itself leaves you vulnerable to both Zarya’s Graviton Surge and Mei’s Blizzard, which can result in a team wipe and your team losing the point.

I hope these strategies will helpful to you all in the new year.

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