Winston has a little bit of a bad reputation in Overwatch of being a no brain character in some lower tiers of ranked play. They say all you have to do is jump in and hit left click letting your Tesla Cannon do all the work. However, there are a few small tips and tricks that can bring your Winston play to the next level as well as hopefully get those solo queue monkeys off your back.

Winston can cover a wide variety of playstyles in Overwatch, whether you want to dive into the enemy backline and destroy their supports or if you want to play a more defensive style being able to peel for your teammates. No matter which one you turn out to be, there are a few things that every Winston player should know.

Winston's Kit and You

Winston's kit is pretty straightforward, but that doesn't mean there is more to these abilities than meet the eye. Whether it's the use of his jump, shield bubble, or even his ultimate, good usage of the abilities can separate the good Winstons from the great Winstons.

Tesla Cannon

The Tesla cannon is pretty straightforward in terms of usage. You don't necessarily have to aim at someone as the coils of electricity will tether themselves to the enemy and do damage per second. However, it is not as easy as holding down your primary fire sometimes there are times where you want to not be constantly pumping your enemies of electricity. When you are within melee range of an enemy near you, it is better to rotate between melee and Tesla cannon fire. This will up your DPS as well as save some ammo if they decide to try and run. This will kill enemies more quickly as well as make you better prepared for your next engagement.

Jump Pack

Your jump pack is your main tool for moving around as Winston. It gives you the mobility to survive enemy fire or jump onto the enemy pack line to pump out damage on their supports. It is very important to keep in mind the six second cooldown on your jump. If you jump into an enemy team, you need to make sure that you will be able to live during those six seconds until your jump will come off cooldown. One cool trick that you can try to practice is meleeing right before you land on a target. If you are able to time your landing and melee just right you will connect with the jump pack damage as well as the damage from your melee giving you a maximum of 75 damage. That extra damage can be the difference between life and death for the person you are diving on or even yourself.

Barrier Projector

Possibly your most important ability as Winston. This is the defensive ability that makes sure you don't get gunned down by enemies in a fight. Far too often though I see people use their Winston "Bubble" willy nilly. You should only really use your bubble in circumstances where you need it, either when you are diving into a team of short range damage dealers or you need to block some incoming damage that might kill a teammate. For instance, if you use your Winston bubble on a guaranteed kill you have to wait thirteen seconds for your next one. Then a D.Va bomb comes out and you don't have the ability to shield yourself or your team. It could possibly ruin your team's chances of winning.

Primal Rage

Winston's ultimate ability should very rarely be used as an engagement tool. I have seen a few times where a Winston will pop his ultimate before the team fight starts and jumps in pushing people away. You ultimate as Winston is your reset button when you are in too deep and are low on health, you can hit your ultimate and gain one thousand health. The only time ult should be used in an offensive manner is to deter an enemy ultimate. For instance, to boop an ulting Soldier 76 out of the line of sight from your team or to boop a Transcending Zenyatta away from their team.

The Counters You'll See

Reaper - This is your biggest counter that you will face in solo queue. Reaper can do an immense amount of damage to you if you aren't careful. The best way to play against a Reaper is to try and avoid him as much as possible since you cannot damage his passive life steal. The best way to deal with a Reaper is play around your barrier. You can maneuver around it enough to where you can avoid his shots all together until you can call your teammates for help or find safety.

McCree - While McCree isn't as much of a threat as the tank shredder Reaper, he is still a nuisance to deal with as Winston. He can do a decent amount of damage to you from afar and if you decide to dive onto him he can Flashbang/Fan the Hammer combo you. This will nuke your health bar and let his teammates target you. Your best option is to not try to dive onto McCree unless you know he has used his Flashbang or are confident in the healing your teammates can give.

Roadhog - The anti-tank tank Roadhog is another counter to Winston which you should try to avoid. Roadhog's hook combo can do a huge amount of damage to you and if you don't have Jump Pack to get away, he will kill you with his Shrapnel Gun at close range. If you do manage to live through the hook combo, drop your shield or jump away for healing. You don't want to fight him one on one as he will out sustain you with his self-healing.

Brigitte - Overwatch's newest hero counters dive exceptionally well and can pretty much make your Winston play non-existent. Whether she's using her Shield Bash to CC you, using her whip shot to knock you out of your jump, or wailing on you with her flail and using her passive to heal herself and her team, she is someone you don't want to see on the opposite team. Your best option, for now, is to not pick Winston against her.

Final Thoughts

These tips and tricks will hopefully take your Winston play to the next level. Make sure to play around your counters and use your abilities wisely. Also, don't be scared playing Winston, it may look like a dangerous task to dive into the enemy team but if you use some of these tips and are confident enough in your abilities. The kills, the wins, and eventually SR will start to roll in. So go grab some peanut butter, hop into Overwatch, and keep these tips in mind as you try to be the best Winston you can be.

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