Since no one seems to know how: A guide to countering Sombra

General Discussion
1
  1. Be aware of your surroundings
  • Sombra shines when she can capitalize on unexpecting enemies. Be vigilant and make sure to notify your team of her presence.
  1. Shoot in her direction
  • All 3 of Sombra’s abilities can be denied by being shot one time. Any hero with a spread such as D.Va or Tracer can very easily deny Sombra her power by simply doing 1 point of damage to her.
  1. Get out of view
  • Move around corners to break the LOS of hack, you can even use this to manipulate the Sombra to go into your team. I’ve actually done this before to a poor Sombra
  1. Play Winston
  • Easiest counter to Sombra is winston with his auto-aim and flanker denial skills. Forcing a Sombra back or denying a Sombra of her abilities is Winston’s specialty.
  1. Remember: You’re NOT defenseless
  • Unlike most CC abilities in this game; hack does not make you helpless. You can still shoot and fire at Sombra even after she hacks you. So do it! Notify your teammates she’s fighting you.
10 Likes
2

How do you counter zarya and hanzo? more importantly.

1 Like
3

Burst damage is a Hanzo’s nightmare, a skilled Tracer or Genji can ruin him.

For Zarya…lol

4

She walks around with a megaphone.

5

Torb is also a problem for Sombras.

6

You dont counter hanzo

You bow to his power

3 Likes
7

how to counter sombra:

just play sombra then wait for them to unstealth first and chase them off because just like tracer players 90% of them are bad and you don’t actually have to be good at the game to counter them

5 Likes
8

lots of damage to just outright kill that pink-haired abomination

1 Like
9

Unless she shields which gives her 2 seconds to do whatever she wants

10

I made this a month or so ago but I think it would also be useful:

1 Like
11

Zarya beam / Mei sprei / Sym Beam all work great for locating as well.
As for me, I usually just go Hanzo. Sonic Arrow the chokes she’s most likely to take; if you’re confident she’s beyond the choke, sonic arrow near the backline/supports. If she tries to hack you, click her head. I love when a sombra hacks me and starts shooting, only to realize I have no intention of running, shoot them in the head and laugh. (What are you going to hack, my leap?)

Also Torb is phenomenal against her. Dont set up your turret in the front or behind the shields, set it up in back. Use it as an anti flank turret. Works great vs tracers, genjis, etc. But the turret will usually not be busy due to its position, which means as soon as sombra pops out to hack, she gets focused and hack gets canceled. Its crucial when using turret this way that its not exposed to the enemy snipers/frontline. You won’t get nearly as much turret damage, but the utility will pay for itself in spades.

1 Like
12

One thing I tell Rein players in my elo all the time - and I dont’ even play Main tank.

As soon as you hear her starting to hack you, just turn and your shield will cancel the hack.

Also, a tip for a teammate if there is an enemy sombra - try and be near your teammates. Sombra is good for isolating characters that are by themselves. If my Lucio gets hacked for example, peeling back for him is great as he is pretty useless. As a Mercy, i’ll keep my pocket heal on him and try and keep him alive for longer rather than leaving him to suffer xD

1 Like
13

I feel like Reaper and Torb are decent counter-picks to Sombra, simply because her hack does very little to either of them. Reaper isn’t quite as effective on fairly open maps, but in closer maps, he puts a lot of pressure on her, especially when he’s peeling for supports and tanks.

14

When she’s invisible, you should always be able to locate her. She’s so obvious.

This is why I spin around constantly spraying my weapon. 16000 DPI really helps with this, as I can cover everywhere all at once. No escape for Sombra now.

Turn invisible yourself. If she can’t see you, she can’t hack you. Also, an invisible Rein is the most dangerous beast there is.

Only Winston. At all times. 6 stack Winston every game. You’ll never lose to Sombra again.

False. Hack does the same thing as Uppercut did where it causes your character to be unable to turn or shoot in addition to its other effects.

/s

But, in all seriousness, good job, OP. I know a lot of it is common sense, but we already know how common that is.

1 Like
15

Profile icon checks out

I’m only making this because I see a lot of nerf Sombra posts on here from people who are incapable of countering the hero with the lowest winrate

16

Notice there’s nothing in here about how to play against EMP;

Because there literally isn’t any way to do so.

2 Likes
17

How about being sensible and grouping together FOLLOWING the emp so it’s harder to single people out.

Get good.

18

Well you see, in higher ranks, EMP is the signal for the enemy team to Hold W and slam into our team, usually followed up by a Shatter or Grav or a support ult to engage, and we literally can do nothing about it cause, you know, our Zen/Lucio got hacked so no defensive ult. Grouping up doesn’t mean anything when 4-6 players are putting damage on the same dude.

Be realistic. All EMP really needs is a radius reduction so it’s harder to get 5-6 man EMPs.

The rest of her kit is fine, EMP is just too good.

19

Sombras on the enemy team and you play Lucio as well as Zen? 2 heroes she directly counters? You sure you’re at high ranks, bud?

Like I said earlier. Just get better at he game and learn to play around Sombra by countering and out-playing.

20

Masters, yea. People like to play GOATS there. Remember that little team comp? Runs Lucio and Zen? You must have been gone from the game for a little bit to not have noticed it. Sombra is literally an EMP bot at high ranks. People up here peel for their supports.

I have no problems playing around Sombras normal kit. It’s just EMP that’s too good right now. But hey, keep using the mechanic while you can, bud.