Simple Geometry: A Quiz on the Best (and Worst) Times to Play Hanzo
Test your knowledge on when Hanzo is a good pick vs. when he is not what your team needs.
Players might be more likely to play Hanzo after his recent changes and now that he has a sweet new skin. However, regardless of a player’s personal skill or the powers of the new skin, there are times when Hanzo can be good or not good. This quiz serves as a guide to understand when Hanzo might be useful versus when Hanzo is not going to work out. This quiz will describe a scenario you might encounter in a game. Test your knowledge and then find out whether or not Hanzo is a good pick in these scenarios!
Scenario 1: Your team is defending on Eichenwalde. So your spawn is far away, and keeping your tanks and healers up to hold the choke is crucial for your defenses. Your team is running a Reinhardt, Symmetra, Mercy, Roadhog, Soldier 76, and you chose to play Hanzo.
The match begins, and the enemy team is running a Soldier 76, Pharah, Zarya, Roadhog, Mercy, and Zen. Your Soldier is taking care of the Pharah, and you are sniping the enemy healers every time they peak through the choke.
A minute into your defense, the enemy Roadhog changes to Winston, and the enemy Soldier 76 changes to Genji. Your supports are getting wrecked by the Genji, and the Winston just dove straight for you. You aimlessly try to Scatter Arrow and wall climb away from the giant monkey, but you find yourself only able to spam “I need healing.”
Should you switch off Hanzo or keep playing him?
Scenario 1 Answer: Time to switch! This situation has nothing to do with individual skill. You could be the best Hanzo ever and still get countered by the enemy team. While Hanzo can be effective for doming healers and even hitscan heroes, he is very vulnerable to heroes who fit into a dive comp (like Winston or Genji). Take this opportunity to assess what your team needs to protect your healers and hold your defense.
Scenario 2: It’s time to attack on King’s Row. Your team is running an Ana, Lucio, Reinhardt, Zarya, Genji, and you have already insta-locked Hanzo (My man!). On a map like King’s Row, where the defender's spawn is far away, an early pick can ensure an early 5 vs 6 team fight. The other team is running a Reinhardt, Roadhog, Mei, Soldier 76, Symmetra and Mercy.
You get an early pick on the Mei from on top of the bus or movie theatre on your side of the choke, and your team is able to move in on the defenders. However, the enemy Symmetra just microwaved your Ana and your Reinhardt ran straight through her turrets. She is able to put up a Teleporter, and the enemy fights you off the point after getting 2 ticks.
The enemy team is staying real sharp now, and watching out for your snipes. However, you manage to farm your ult off a few Scatter Arrows. It so happens that your Zarya is also at full ult charge. It is likely Sym has 1 or 2 charges left on her Teleporter and there is a Mercy. Your wombo-combo with Zarya could wipe the team… if Mercy is hit.
Should you switch off Hanzo or keep playing him?
Scenario 2 Answer: Keep playing Hanzo and let the dragon consume you! Make sure to coordinate with your Zarya, and send some dragons (or wolfs) to kill the enemy team. The most important part of this wombo-combo is making sure the Mercy is in the kill feed, otherwise, there is nothing in this situation to counter this combo. It is worth noting that Zenyatta can out-heal the damage from the dragons, but only barely. Zen’s Transcendence can heal 300 per second while Hanzo’s ult deals 200 damage per second. If you team focus fires into the Grav, you could still kill some enemies. However, it’s more effective to bait Transcendence or make sure Zen is dead.
Scenario 3: Let’s imagine your team is now attacking on Ilios. Your team is running a Pharah, Mercy, Roadhog, Zarya, Lucio, and you decide to play Hanzo. The enemy team is running a Winston, Genji, Pharah, Mercy, Zenyatta, and Roadhog. You keep doming the Zenyatta because he has a hitbox the size of Texas, but you can’t seem to land a shot on Pharah or Mercy while they are flying through the air. There is nothing on your team to counter the enemy Pharah, so you think about asking your Pharah to change to Soldier 76 (or another hitscan hero). However, there is nothing on the enemy team to counter your Pharah, so your Pharah is raining rockets of justice from above.
Should you switch off Hanzo or keep playing him?
Scenario 3 Answer: Switch off Hanzo! He is inherently weak on King of the Hill maps where dive comps seem to thrive. In this specific situation, your other DPS is doing really well. Asking them to switch could hurt your strategy or team synergy. At this point, it is best to work with your team and chose a hitscan hero to take out their Pharmercy (since it is never really a Pharah’s job to counter another Pharah). Besides, if your aim is good enough to play Hanzo, it is plenty good enough to play Solider 76.
Scenario 4: Your team is now defending on Dorado. This payload map is mostly uphill for the attackers, so there will be a lot of opportunities to fire arrows down at your enemies. Your team is running a Reinhardt, Zarya, Lucio, Mercy, Reaper, and Hanzo. The enemy team is running a Reinhardt, Mercy, Lucio, Tracer, Soldier 76, and McCree (holy hitscan). As Hanzo, you are able to fire Sonic Arrows and see when the Solider or McCree is about to peek. When you see them round a corner, you are able to dome Solider 76 and McCree immediately follows because one of them is obviously not in team chat. You manage to fire a Scatter Arrow at Zarya, effectively charging her up to a little less than half energy.
Should you switch off Hanzo or keep playing him?
Scenario 4 Answer: Keep playing Hanzo, but for the love of all things good, please do not fire Scatter Arrows in the general direction of a Zarya. It would be more effective to bait her bubble, then fire the Scatter Arrows her way. It should be enough to kill her or get her very weak. While DPS heroes like Solider 76 and McCree have to do damage over time, all Hanzo has to do is get line of sight for a headshot. This is easily achievable with his ability to wall climb with a charged arrow paired with a Sonic Arrow to reveal enemies. These abilities make Hanzo a good counter for hitscan heroes.
Scenario 5: Finally, you are on Oasis and your team is running a Zarya, D.Va, Tracer, Lucio, and Ana with you on Hanzo. The other team is running a Mei, Tracer, Zarya, Roadhog, Mercy, and Zen. You already know that before you combo with your Zarya’s ult, you have to kill the Zenyatta. After you headshot the Mercy, the Tracer begins hunting you. You’re able to track her with your Sonic Arrow or by listening for her surprisingly heavy footsteps. Every time you hear her come around the corner, you fire a Scatter Arrow to kill her. While Tracer is at spawn, you are able to focus the Mercy and Zen. However, the Tracer keeps focusing you without help from your team. On top of trying to snipe their healers, you are trying to keep the Tracer off you.
Should you switch off Hanzo or keep playing him?
Scenario 5 Answer: It depends. Like many happenstances in Overwatch, this could be completely situational. Yes, Hanzo is inherently weak on King of the Hill maps, but if your strategy is working, why change it. After all, if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it. Are you struggling to stay alive against the Tracer? If so, maybe you can ask a teammate to play McCree to kill her. If no one on your team is willing to do that, you might need to play someone else. However, Tracer is a low-health DPS hero who is tied to the ground. She has incredible mobility but no verticality, and she is easy to kill with Scatter Arrows. This situation is dependent on your team’s willing to work with you and your individual skill. If you don’t have the support or the aim, don’t play Hanzo.
A lot of times, Hanzo players are reluctant to change because they have their ultimate. This goes for any hero, but if you are getting countered, it is worth it to throw away the ult in order to adjust to your enemies. Players can also be reluctant to change because they “have really good aim” or “have gold eliminations.” It is really important to remember that Overwatch is a team-based game, and the ability of the team is more important than individual skill. Besides that, you win by capturing objectives or pushing payloads, not by getting the most hits on enemies who die.
However, on the flipside, teammates need to know how to work with Hanzo players. As we see above, Hanzo can be useful in certain game modes, maps, and against certain types of heroes. Do not immediately shoot a teammate down because they want to play Hanzo. Work together, be willing to make adjustments when needed, and know when you should and should not choose the spirit dragon.
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