Since Overwatch's launch last week, there has been a proliferation of online lists ranking the game's 21 characters on their raw power, or their effectiveness in certain modes, or their ability to counter certain other characters, or whatever metric you'd like.

Those lists are useful and fine for what they are. But after playing the game extensively for the last week or so (and seeing our beta impressions validated in a post-launch environment), we thought it would be more useful to rank the characters by how much fun we've had playing as each of them.

Below, Ars gaming contributor Steven Strom and I place every single Overwatch character into one of three self-explanatory tiers: "Fun," "Meh," and "Not Fun." These rankings are based partly on how useful the characters are to helping the team (because winning is fun), but they're more focused on how interesting and versatile characters are for inventive and satisfying play. The rankings all assume the character is filling a needed hole in the team, too. A team of six Tracers is a lot less fun than a team where other characters can help protect her, for example.

While this might seem like a simple set of subjective opinions from two Ars writers, rest assured we have used rigorous scientific methods to objectively determine how much fun each of these characters is. If you disagree, you are obviously disagreeing with objective facts.



Genji

Kyle: OK, so let's dive into Genji. Fun or not fun? Steven: I'd say fun. He's highly reactive and forces you to stay on your toes. I don't love him yet, but I can see there's something to killing fools with their own bullets. Kyle: Or with their own freaking energy dragon. I also love dashing in with the Dragonblades and just going nuts on the melee attacks for a few seconds. Steven: Haha, can you do that? I've seen him knock rockets back before, but not that. Either way, I think batting away rockets is impressive enough for Fun tier. Kyle: Yeah, deflections + nice melee + ok shurikens = Fun tier.

McCree

Kyle: I can tell other people are having fun with McCree, but I just can't seem to manage it. Steven: He's so slooow. Kyle: I never feel like my shots are having much impact, and there's just enough time between shots to be frustrating. Steven: That too. But apparently Blizzard disagrees because he's the first character they're looking to nerf. Kyle: The combat roll is great when I remember to use it, though. Maybe I'm just not made for McCree, but for me, he's Not Fun. Steven: I'd probably place him at Meh. He's too sluggish for me to feel like I'm having a great time, but getting a really good counter-gank on flankers (like Tracer) is satisfying. You just have to play him very reactionary-like.

Pharah

Kyle: On to Pharah. Steven: JUSTICE RAINS FROM ABOVE. Kyle: That phrase might as well be her name, it defines her so well. Steven: At first I didn't care for her, but after learning how to string her flight moves together I "get it." You're always on the move, and when you get a quad kill with Barrage it's just the best. Fun tier for sure. Kyle: The overhead barrage of missiles feels pretty cheap when you're on the other side, but pretty fun when you're raining down destruction with a single button. Steven: It's so easy to kill her when she's doing it, too. Torbjorn's turret just doesn't give a damn. Kyle: And I agree that the jets make aerial attacks pretty fun. The opponents often forget to look up. So yes, Fun tier.

Reaper

Kyle: Next up is Reaper, or @ReaperNames as I like to call him now. I'd mark him as fun solely for his ability to become invincible and basically taunt the opponents for a few seconds. That's more fun than even the Death Blossom ball of damage. Steven: That's pretty good, not to mention useful. Weirdly enough I don't see a ton of this character right now. I thought he'd be everywhere. Kyle: Well his basic shotguns and teleport and "soul reaping" aren't that exciting, to me. Steven: Me neither. It seems like Blizzard knew exactly what they were doing when they designed his look. He's such a dingus, and he's not so good at coordinating on objectives. He's just for the "I want to play this like Team Deathmatch lol" crowd. Kyle: That can be fun, though. So I'm sticking with Fun tier. Steven: I'm going Meh tier until I get good enough where I can just toy with other players like that.

Soldier 76

Kyle: Soldier 76 is the first easy Not Fun tier pick for me. Steven: Ah, yes. "Weirdly Very Good Old Man." Kyle: Soldier 76 feels like he belongs in a much more boring military shooter. He can be effective, but effective in the exact same ways as hundreds of other FPS games you've played to death. Which is booooooring. Steven: Yeah. Agreed. Again, I think that's intentional on Blizzard's part. He's like their olive branch to Call of Duty players. There's a reason you play him in the tutorial. But he is very, very strong. If this was a list of "most effective" characters he'd be near the top, but I'm putting him at Not Fun to play. Kyle: His one saving grace is the biotic field, which adds some much needed healing diversity to his strategy. Steven: Yesterday I went up against a team of all 76es. They just got on the point and all used Biotic Field at the same time. Stacked the healing and just stood there. Kyle: OK, that actually sounds kind of fun...

Tracer

Kyle: On to Tracer, who is near the top of the Fun tier for me. You can't kill what you can't hit! Steven: Agreed. Kyle: Although if she does get hit she's super dead. Steven: This is where McCree comes in. Flashbang to stun her, *then* spray some bullets. If she stops moving she's done. Which is why you just *never* stop moving. Which is totally Fun to do! Kyle: Yeah, the blink ability is surprisingly easy to use and makes you feel like The Flash. Steven: I hadn't thought of that, but yeah. She's definitely the speedster in the Overwatch superhero club. Kyle: It can be hard to get kills with her pistols, but she's like an annoying gnat who has a lot of fun while doing little bits of damage.

Bastion

Kyle: On to Bastion, our first Defense character. Steven: BORING. Not Fun. Next character. Kyle: I'll move him up to Meh tier... Sitting there as a turret and spraying bullets at anything that comes your way is pretty boring (if effective). But figuring out effective placement and when to get up and move can be a tad interesting. Plus, Tank mode is fun. Steven: It'd be more interesting to me if he couldn't self-repair. Then you'd have to think about health pack placement and coordinating with healers. As it is wherever you can get a good line of sight is a good spot for Bastion. He's too self-sufficient for his level of power. Kyle: Until and unless people start abusing hard counters like Widowmaker. Even then, though, he's just gonna die a lot, which is no fun. So yeah, you convinced me, down to Not Fun tier. Steven: Nice. Further proof that I am always right.

Hanzo

Steven: I spent a day memorizing what he says in Japanese during his ultimate. So I think it would be dishonest if I didn't at least put him at Meh tier. Kyle: It's the new Tatsumaki Senpukyaku. His energy dragon Ultimate attack is super fun, but lobbing arrows from a distance is pretty boring. So yeah, it averages out to Meh. Steven: I do like his ability to spot out enemies for the team on the regular, with his radar arrow, though. Then use that to angle his scattershot into the hordes. Kyle: Yeah but I think I prefer Widowmaker for that overall. Steven: Too bad she's the worst character in the game, though!

Junkrat

Kyle: Junkrat is just a ball of Fun. Lobbing bouncy grenades from around corners is fun. Trapping opponents is fun. Driving an explosive tire is fun. Dropping grenades to get a cheap kill after you die is fun, too. It's all super fun! Steven: Interesting! I don't actually care for him. I agree with everything except the moment-to-moment feel of the guy. The way maps are choke-pointed right now—especially King's Row and Temple of Anubis—it's way too easy to just sit and spam grenades all day down a hallway. Which isn't very fun. But the bear trap, the rip-tire, the concussion mine that can launch you into the air? All pretty good. So I'm giving him a Meh for now. Kyle: Note to Blizzard: More Junkrat-friendly maps, please.

Mei

Steven: Mei is easily one of my top three Fun characters. Kyle: Totally, super Fun. The ice walls are so versatile on both offense and defense. They allow for a lot of creativity. And freezing an opponent to the point of helplessness is fun, too. Steven: Yeah. I love using them to climb walls by standing on them when you activate it. I actually think the freezing aspect to her standard gun—not to mention her ultimate—is a bit overpowered right now. But she's so versatile and well-designed as a character I can't help but play her. Kyle: Her gun has no range, if you can keep your distance. Steven: Not with her freezing, but those icicles are no joke. Though it's hard to hit a moving target with them. Like Pharah.

Torbjorn

Kyle: Torbjorn... more like Torbjoring! Totally Not Fun. Steven: I think it depends on how you pronounce his real name. I've heard about six dozen variations this last week. Kyle: If you enjoy essentially diddling yourself while repairing a turret, then sure, he's fun. Otherwise he's like an even less fun version of Bastion. Steven: Pretty much. He has a massive impact, but like Mei I think he's overpowered. His turret is just too damn good. It's got range, perfect tracking, decent health, and does a lot of damage. And Torb himself is no slouch when he's got his ultimate turned on. So he's a pain in the ass *and* sort of passive to play. Not Fun! Kyle: Pronouncing his name is the funnest part!

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