Bastion is a really underrated pick in Competitive Play. His ability kit is focused to sit on one point and destroy enemies on long distance. That's why there are many counters against Bastion and he is often considered as useless in Competitive Play.

Basic tips

Bastion is a very immobile hero with a huge damage output. You want to get yourself an advantage over the enemies with your Sentry and also want to reposition yourself very often with your Recon mode. Therefor you have to know that you never have to reload your guns. Switching between your Sentry and your Recon mode automatically reloads your guns and you can reposition yourself during this duration. Switch as often as possible between Sentry and Recon to get an advantage over enemies. It's also better to heal yourself while in Recon mode to run away if enemies get close to you. Your ultimate gives yourself 300 extra life and can prevent you from death. You can use your ultimate to heal yourself when you get into trouble. While in Configuration: Tank you can rocket jump into the air and on higher ground with shooting under you and press jump. This can give you a boost to get away from enemies and also jump above enemies. Your ultimate doesn't need a synergy, but is really good with Zarya's or Reinhardt's ultimate.

If you want to play Bastion in Competitive Play you also have to learn when and how to use him. Playing Bastion requires a decent team composition to be successful. A Reinhardt and a Mercy to protect you is definitely recommended and often seen in Competitive Play. With a double support composition like Lucio and Mercy or Lucio and Zenyatta you will have a much better time, since Lucio can help you with his speed boost and Zenyatta or Mercy can give you a damage boost to shred through the enemy tanks. Bastion is really good to deal with enemy tanks or offensive heroes like Soldier, Tracer or Reaper, but you need someone who is dealing with a Pharah or a Widowmaker if you want to be successful with your team.

Maps

Bastion is not good on every map and on every situation. If you want to win in Competitive Play you have to know when you are useful for your team as Bastion.

On King of the Hill maps Bastion can be really useful and a huge thread for the enemy team. Placing him on the right position often gives your team a lot of advantage and he can easily destroy the enemy frontline. Stages like Sanctum on Nepal or Control Center on Lijiang Tower are really good for Bastion since you can shoot the enemy team from long distance. On the Sanctum you have to place yourself on the higher ground outside of the capture point. There you can control the enemy team on the point and you'll see flanking enemies before they can kill you. With good protection from a Reinhardt or a Mercy you can place yourself on the point to control incoming enemies. On King of the Hill maps you want to stay close to the capture point, but not on the capture unless you need to get on the point to trigger overtime or prevent them from capturing it. Bastion is really good to control incoming enemies, since you can place yourself on a point where enemies can't reach you, but you can shoot them from a long distance. Together with a Lucio you can easily go in with a speed boost to position yourself on the capture point.

On Escort maps Bastion can be picked as offense and can be placed directly on the payload. This tactic requires a Reinhardt and a Mercy to make sure you are well protected. As defense Bastion is good for chokepoints on maps like Dorado, Hollywood or King's Row. You always want to shred through the enemy Reinhardt's Shield or Winston's Barrier. Even if you have problems to kill the enemy damage dealers, destroying the enemy tank is a huge advantage for your team since they don't have any protection when they want to go in. On defense you always have to look for flanking enemies since they are your biggest counter. It's also really recommended that you place yourself on a safer position, even if you can't shoot the enemies from the start of the game. Change your position after every attack to get yourself the surprise moment. Try to position yourself on higher ground if the enemies don't have much air control. Don't push too far on the Escort maps, because if the enemy team can engage into you, your team will have a really hard time to defend the current stage of the map.

Assault maps are usually the hardest for Bastion players. You probably won't pick him on offense since you have to capture a point and you often don't have free sight over the capture point. Also there aren't many positions where you can place yourself without getting immediately killed by enemies. On defense it's also pretty hard to play Bastion. Since the enemy team will probably know your position, you will switch between Recon and Sentry mode very often. Use your ultimate to prevent the enemies from capturing a point and try to switch your position as often as possible. A Mercy or a Lucio are really good for supporting you with damage and speed boost. As on the King of the Hill maps try to position yourself outside of the capture point and clear the capture point from a safer position. If the enemy team needs to get to you to capture a point you will buy your team some time to kill the enemy team.

Conclusion

Bastion can be used in different situations and it's hard to figure out when you need him the most. Your positioning is by far the most important thing to learn if you want to play Bastion. Know how to position yourself and when you should switch between Recon and Sentry mode. It's also really useful to learn how to rocket jump with your ultimate to get yourself into position and move faster during your ultimate. Also talk with your team, because you will need protection from tanks and supports.

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