The best Overwatch 2 Season 2 tanks, ranked

Looking for the best Overwatch 2 Season 2 tanks? The new competitive season is upon us and with it comes new strategies and combinations. This means you'll need to be on top of your game to succeed this season. The addition of the tempo tank Ramattra to the tanking lineup as well as a number of buffs to beloved Heroes is sure to shake up the meta. Let's take a look at the best Overwatch 2 Season 2 tanks, their best uses, and what to avoid playing so you don't slide back down into the silver mines.

This break down of the best Overwatch 2 Season 2 tanks is based on a few metrics. This includes an overall decision on what Hero is the best in any overall situation, as well as what best fits in the meta as of December 2022. While everyone may not agree on these choices, it should at least help players make their own decisions on what works best in the current metagame.

ORISA
The omnic protector of Numbani is an unstoppable machine, literally. With low cooldowns, high and accurate DPS, and a near-broken Ultimate, Orisa is honestly hard to compete against. Her ability to control middle ground space while also dealing high damage is already strong. However, what really pushes her above the rest is the ability to nullify damage, punish dive abilities with her spear spin, and cancel Ultimates with a javelin toss.

Best situations: Payload escorting, pushing onto points, winning tank battles.
Countered by: Zenyatta Discord Orb, Bastion, Sombra.
Pairs well with: Kiriko cleanses, Nano Dart.

SIGMA
Our resident foot aficionado finds himself as the best of the shield tanks, thanks to its quick recovery and ability to cover hard-to-reach hitscan angles. Not only this, Sigma is a beast of an aggression tank. His damage is shockingly high, his rock throw is still a major stun and squishy finisher, and Graviton Surge may be one of the best Ultimates in the game now that most stuns were taken out. Let's not also forget: His Kinetic Grasp still slaps.

Best situations: Holding choke points, escort.
Countered by: Mei/Reaper aggression, Junker Queen DOT, Symmetra
Pairs well with: Hitscans to follow up on Ultimate, Mercy pocket.

DVA
Nigh indestructible with the right healer and one of the best finishers in the game, Dva is still the best overall dive tank. Her ability to get into a backline to counter the likes of Widowmaker while still getting out safely makes her more versatile than the likes of Monkey or Ball. And while Self-Destruct takes some finesse, the lack of shield tanks in Overwatch 2 generally means an easy time shooting your shot from downtown.

Best situations: Dive comps, countering high ground/Pharmercy
Countered by: Bio Grenade, Ramattra Nemesis Mode.
Pairs well with: Shield break, Ana pocket.

WRECKING BALL
This writer and Wrecking Ball main is going to show his bias here a bit, but Ball continues to be a constant threat. While his skill ceiling is perhaps the highest in the game--second only to Doomfist--Hammond is a combination of high HP, high armor, high damage, and high mobility. All of these things equal a tank that cannot be ignored and is hard to stop if the player stays out of the tunnel. He's ranked higher than Winston here thanks in part to the most recent patch that buffed Symmetra and, in general being more durable.

Best situations: Dive, squishy enemy team, low mobility opponents.
Countered by: Roadhog, Sombra, Discord Orb, Junkrat.
Pairs well with: Zenyatta, Genji, Hitscan.

WINSTON
It was only a month or so ago that Winston was at the top of the tank food chain. His ability to dive, stay safe, and get back out again is done with ease. So, why the drop? In a world where Mei is back in the lineup and Symmetra is good again it's just that much harder for Monkey to do his thing. His hard counters are also much more of a detriment to his playstyle than, say, Wrecking Ball's counters. That said, Winston will always be baby's first dive tank and is still a great option.

Best situations: Single-target dive, creating separation, maps with boops.
Countered by: Symmetra, Reaper, Mei, Bastion, a good Hanzo.
Pairs well with: Zenyatta, Pharah.

REINHARDT
Some people are hard on the premier shield tank in a world where shield meta is dead. That said, Reinhardt is finally free from the chains of every Quick Play match where someone has shouted "Uh, can we get a shield tank?" This new 5v5 meta frees Reinhardt up to play aggressive and capitalize on enemy deaths and other mistakes while staying relatively safe. It's also safe to say that a good Rein may built ult charge faster than any other Hero in the game.

Best situations: Death ball comps, holding chokes, countering dive.
Countered by: Reaper, Symmetra, Ramattra Nemesis Mode
Pairs well with: Brig, Mei, pocket healers.

DOOMFIST
Up and down. Up and down. The balance changes on Doomfist in Overwatch 2 have been a nonstop rollercoaster. However, as it stands Doomfist is in a much better place than he was two months ago, once considered the worst tank in the game. While he may be the hardest of the dive tanks to use efficiently, the Fisted One is fantastic at creating space and holding positions. A smart Doomfist with a halfway awake healer will win almost every single time.

Best situations: Defending a control point, attacking high ground, isolating targets.
Countered by: Junker Queen, Dva, Discord Orb.
Pairs well with: Tracer, Moira, Widowmaker.

ZARYA
Oh, how the mighty have fallen. Considered broken only a month ago, Zarya's changes have made her viable only for those that know what they're doing. The bubble becomes a liability against a halfway decent Symmetra, and a team that waits out her bubble cooldowns will win out every time. She's still fantastic at punishing overly ambitious hitscan players, but Zarya is a lot of work for little reward as of now.

Best situations: Death ball, up-close fights
Countered by: Anti-shield Heroes, Junkrat, Moira.
Pairs well with: Baptiste, Pharmercy.

JUNKER QUEEN
Oye? While we love a Giant Woman around these parts, Queen is a niche pick that gets eaten up by a decent DPS lineup. She's the literal queen of holding the middle ground of a fight, with her DOT and Carnage swing still being a lethal combination. We also can't forget that her Ultimate is one of the best in the game, even if its highly susceptible to a Kiriko cleanse. That said, Queen is less of a tank and more of a thicc DPS, which just doesn't cut it most of the time.

Best situations: Pure aggression, fighting over the payload.
Countered by: Ana, Mei, Wrecking Ball.
Pairs well with: Brig, Genji.

RAMATTRA
The new kid on the block feels a bit under-tuned. Not quite a shield tank, not quite a dive tank, Ramattra doesn't excel at any one thing, but also isn't terrible at any one thing either. His real value comes in punishing enemy team mistakes and capitalizing off a single enemy death, using the 'tempo' in tempo tank to take charge of advantageous situations. However, he has the same squishiness problem as Junker Queen, even when he goes Beast Mode. Let's wait and see if he receives buffs in the coming months.

Best situations: Countering snipers, punishing DVA/Rein aggression.
Countered by: Ana, Zenyatta, a good Mei wall.
Pairs well with: Brig, Lucio speed boost.

ROADHOG
This is hard to write as a big fan of Roadhog, but the big boi is just outclassed and countered by too much. His issues were much less pronounced in Overwatch 1 where he could off-tank and do his own thing. However, in a world where he needs to be out front and hitting hooks he's just not effective at being the team lead. His list of counters is as wide as he is, and you're almost always guaranteed to see at least one in every game, if not multiple. Perhaps this is a sign that Hog needs to finally be switched over to DPS.

Best situations: Aerial counter, shield break.
Countered by: Ana, Zenyatta, Mei, Sombra, Bastion, Junker Queen, Reaper.
Pairs well with: Heroes of the Storm.

Stay tuned to esports.gg for more Overwatch 2 tier lists during Season 2.