Sombra currently holds an 83% ban rate in Overwatch 2 across all ranks. Discover this and more in-depth Overwatch 2 statistics right here.
Overwatch 2 devs Blizzard have published a blog post that dove into the data behind ranked play, including the ever-interesting topic of hero bans. The result of the findings: One Overwatch 2 hero trumps all others when it comes to ban rate, and to the shock of no one, it's Sombra who sees next to no play in ranked thanks to bans.
The information gathered is crucial for the Season 17 update, with the data including hero bans in competitive play across all ranks and regions, insights on newly released heroes, and a variety of other exciting metrics and trends from the game.
Sombra is the most banned hero in competitive
According to the May 23 blog post from Blizzard, Sombra is by far the most banned hero in Overwatch 2, boasting an impressive 85% ban rate. Following Sombra, we have Zarya at 59% and Doomfist at 43%. The support role is very far from the others; Ana is the most banned with a little bit more than 20%, but her rate pales in comparison to the Mexican hacker.
If the PC stats for Sombra were bad, the console ones are worse. On the console, Sombra has a 93% ban rate in Overwatch 2, making it all but impossible for Sombra mains to play the game.
As for the remaining, Zarya follows again with 57%, and Symmetra appears as the third most banned with 23%. In the support role, Mercy appears as the most banned hero on the console. The least banned in PC is Baptiste with 0.16%, and on console is Hanzo at 0.24%.
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Freja ban rate climbing as players get to grips with new hero
Since Freja's release, her ban rate is climbing steadily. Shortly after release her ban rate settled at a low 10%, but as players have learned and picked apart her kit, her ban rate has risen; it's now at around 40%.
On console she isn't much of a worry for players since her ban rate is pretty low, not even cracking 10%. What is interesting about her bans across both PC and console, however, is how often she's banned at each rank.
It's normal for ban rates to vary significantly between ranks. Specifically, for ranks above Master on PC, Freja climbs up the chart with an impressive ban rate of nearly 80%, followed closely by D.Va and Sombra.
The same can be said for regional differences. Freja is the most banned hero everywhere apart from Europe, which is not surprising since she was released last.
In Korea, players above Master rank commonly follow Freja with D.Va and Sombra, with Ana being a close contender. For Europe, the ban rate for Freja and D.Va is very similar, but D.Va remains the most banned hero, alongside Wrecking Ball and Zarya. In the Americas, Freja is again the most banned, followed by D.Va and Zarya.
Blizzard expects to use this information to help inform hero balance changes. For example, heroes that are more niche or chosen in specific maps might have to become more generalized. These adjustments can also happen with unpopular heroes regardless of their performance.
Systems like Hero Bans and the upcoming Map Voting feature in Season 17 rely heavily on player feedback, and it's hoped further details from the community, as well as data gathered for posts like this, help Blizzard make more informed balance decisions.
That's all for now. Stick around for more Overwatch 2 news, guides, and updates on esports.gg.
