Overwatch 2 Season 2 tier list analysis spotlights Kiriko’s dominance, Brigitte’s struggles, and shifting support hero rankings.
I still remember the chaos of Overwatch 2’s second season back in late 2022. Fresh off the launch hype, the community was in a frenzy trying to figure out which heroes actually worked in the new 5v5 format. Everyone had a hot take, and I was no different. Looking back from 2026, those early months feel like a different universe—but they also laid the groundwork for the wild balancing rollercoaster that followed.
The hot topic of that season was a tier list compiled from top content creators, and it sparked endless lobby arguments. To nobody’s real shock, Kiriko sat at the very top. Her kit was just too versatile: a cleanse that negated half the CC in the game, a teleport that let her bail out of bad positioning, and a headshot multiplier that turned her into a mini-Widowmaker. What more could you ask for in a Support? Meanwhile, poor Brigitte got dumped straight into the garbage tier. I had mained Brig since the GOATS days, and seeing her become the worst pick felt like a personal betrayal. Her shield was made of paper, her stun had been removed, and this new guy Ramattra could literally punch right through it. She didn’t stand a chance.
The tier list didn’t just expose Brigitte’s suffering—it highlighted a weird middle ground for everyone else. Sombra, despite being an absolute menace in quick play, had just been nerfed into team-play irrelevance. Was it satisfying to hack Tanks out of their abilities? Absolutely. Did it actually win games when the enemy team grouped up? Not so much. Then there was Doomfist, who had already been a meme in Season 1 and somehow got even worse after the next patch. I’d see fellow players lock him in and instantly brace for a loss. Why would you pick a hero who needed three times the effort to achieve half the value of a sneezing Orisa? The bottom half of the chart was a graveyard of fist-shaped dreams.
But the one ranking that truly baffled me—and still does in 2026 when I recall those debates—was Mercy sitting above Zenyatta, Moira, Ana, and Baptiste. Don’t get me wrong, I love having a Mercy pocket when I’m on Soldier, but as a Support main, her healing output felt painfully slow. Could she resurrect a fallen ally? Yes, and that clutch rez often changed the fight. But in a meta where speed and sustain were everything, did a single-target heal beam and a clunky weapon-swap really outweigh Ana’s anti-nade and sleep dart? I remember arguing with friends that Mercy’s power was more about perception than actual impact. The devs eventually sped up her weapon swap to let her whip out the Caduceus Blaster faster, but unless you were a savant who could juggle healing, damage boost, and pistol headshots without dropping anyone, you were usually better off just blue-beaming your DPS and praying.
That harsh spotlight on Supports hurt even more because the new heroes seemed to have it all. Kiriko and Sojourn were stomping lobbies, but Junker Queen—despite being built for the very 5v5 brawl meta Blizzard was pushing—couldn’t carve out a place for herself. She was supposed to be a self-sustaining brawler, yet she melted faster than a snowball in Havana. Blizzard teased a “spicy” change for her that kept us all hopeful, but in those early months, picking her felt like throwing. Roadhog, on the other hand, had never been more terrifying. His one-shot hook combo was a death sentence, and even I, a Support, often got yoinked from backlines without any counterplay. Of course, the devs eventually announced they’d look into nerfing that one-shot capability, probably meaning a rework to his scrap gun rhythm. I always found it ironic: the heroes who were most fun to play often broke the fun for everyone else.
Ramattra’s arrival at the top of the Tank list made sense. He launched into the meta as the third-best Tank behind Orisa and Roadhog, and his Nemesis Form punches that ignored barriers simply demolished any hero who relied on shields. That’s what sent Brigitte to the shadow realm—she couldn’t block him, and her Inspire healing couldn’t outpace his consistent damage. I watched many a Brig player swap to Lucio just to avoid the humiliation of being fisted through a shield.
Here in 2026, I can’t help but ask myself: how much of that tier list still holds true today? After dozens of seasons, multiple hero reworks, and the introduction of even wilder mechanics, Kiriko remains a high-tier pick, though her teleport has been tweaked repeatedly. Brigitte eventually clawed her way back into viability with a shield-health adjustment and a new passive that made her less of a free kill. Sombra got yet another rework, because some things never change. And Roadhog’s one-shot? Gone, replaced by a trapping tool that still infuriates me but at least lets me breathe for a second before dying.
That Season 2 tier list was just a snapshot of a young, turbulent game. But it cemented one truth for me: hero strength isn’t just about numbers—it’s about how a hero feels to play against. As I queue up for my next match, I’m grateful the meta never sits still.