Ways to counter Pharmercy?

General Discussion
1

So I just had a game on Eichenwalde when the enemy decided to pull out team Pharmercy (Nightmare fuel for a Doomfist main) so I tried switching several times and just could not beat the couple whatsoever. So yah, better ways of countering or dealing with Pharmercy would be appreciated. :slight_smile:

2

Pick Pharah too it’s literally the best way i found to counter her since she will be paying attention to you instead of your team so they can have more space to play and remember it’s not about killing her it’s about distraction once your team start cleaning they will start focusing her even more and she’ll eventually die.

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3

All hitscan gives troubles to PharahMercy.

I would suggest to pick a hitscan+zenyatta.

Best hitscan to deal with them are Widowmaker,Soldier and sometimes McCree (harder). You can break the combo using Sombra (hack will make them unable to fly)

Or you can pick PharaMercy too.

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4

2 hit scans…

Not sure why everyone always makes it 1 hit scans job…

A) it makes their lives miserable and B) that’s generally a lot of damage on rest of team also…mercy better get off that pharah and help out

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Even tho my team usually switches off hitscan when the dreaded Pharmacy appears just so they can avoid the responsibility of putting pressure on them… Yeah, 2 hitscans + Zen or even 1 hitscan + Zen should do the trick.
…Or just a good Widowmaker.

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I use Junkrat to kill her…
I can’t hitscan that well, too many hours(400) leading my shots as Junk makes hitscan hard

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Doomfist(Really hard to do): Master traversing the map with the Rocket Jump cancel technique and uppercut + shoot Pharah first. It’s likely Mercy will try to Rez Pharah so just punch her in the face.

Sombra: One EMP sends them falling to the ground where they can be mobbed by your team or fall off a cliff. Or hack Mercy and try taking down Pharah alone or with the aid of a Widowmaker/Ana.

Ana/ Widowmaker: Target Mercy first then Pharah.

Dva: Can effectively harass Mercy and kill her , then harass Pharah.

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8

Bastion is a great way to contest Phamercy! His recon mode allows him to heal on the move and act as a second Soldier, and his beefy life pool allows him to eat at least 2-3 rockets before dying. The turret mode has enough bullet spread, enough ammo, and enough bullets per second to reliably shred Pharah at plenty of engagement angles. Pair with Orisa for a shield to defend against Pharah. Halt! will pull them apart or hold still long enough for bastion+orisa to focus either one of the two down. Or both if Bastion is nano boosted.

Sombra can throw a translocator up for a sky hack, forcing either of the two to the ground, or both with EMP. Perfect time for bastion to shred, or Soldier/McCree ults.
Moira can easily support teams due to her tickle touch negating mercy’s passive Regen and heal balls reducing the effects of rocket damage. Lucio speed boosts to avoid direct hits and take the lesser splash damage, negating some of Phamercy’s damage potential. Sound Battier can also give your team enough health during a normal engagement to remain calm, contest, and kill Phamercy.
Mercy Blue beam on Valkyrie is more than enough +team damage to secure the picks.
Torb turret can cause hell for Pharah if Reinharedt is actively shielding the turret and reliably blocking angles.

When I play Orisa, I have my team rally behind the shield and focus their attention on mercy then pharah. Discor orbs help. With Zarya, I wait for them to fly low then stick Pharah to the wall for a clean kill if she has no Justice

Pharmercy of your own can force the enemy team to adjust their comp and angles of attack, opening the ground units up to easy kills for your team’s Mei who can also block incoming rockets with ice, and eat 2 before dying herself. She can also bodyshot either of the two for surprising burst damage if necessary.

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9

If you can’t aim very well, Sombra is always a good choice. PharMercy does nothing if Pharah can’t fly : )

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10

A good mccree can deal a decent size amount of damage to Pharah or Mercy especially when landing headshots.

Widowmaker and Hanzo can deal great against the combo if they can land their headshots.

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11

Exactly, i love to hack pharas and see how they cant do anything without flying, and more important, if phamercy combination is the only thing doing real damage on their team, they are destroyed

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12

Imo don’t go for the skillshots. Just ask for a zen (or play him yourself!:sunglasses:) to discord and get the easier, more reliable body shots to force disengagement or death. This is just my opinion and approach though. It works well for me.

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13

Yeah I can imagine. Sombra is one of my least played heroes and I can usually take out PharMercy as a hitscan, but my aim is inconsistent, so if I’m having a bad aim day, I just go Sombra.

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14

If you position yourself to avoid being in the open you can easily counter their team comp rather than a specific pick.

It’s easier to 6v4, even if you have to position yourself in suboptimal locations to avoid lines of sight, especially since they might not even have a 2nd healer. When holding at the bridge, simply hide in the rooms, or the house if you’re on point. There are plenty of angles to use ranged dmg to suppress whoever is on the point, which will leave the pharmercy useless and easy to take out once their ground presence is down.

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15

widow+mercy or 2 hitscans. usually having your own pharmercy is the best way to go since widow is not an easy hero.

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16

i never have issues i just pick zen and deal with them.

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17

Just try to avoid her damage and win the ground war. Its going to be 6vs4. If you can win 4 people fast using the environment as cover then poke damage from all your teammates is enough to finish them off. Many people don’t get that if the team has a phara the ground heroes can be focused down hard. That’s the risk of picking phara you wont die and get gold damage but your team will suffer against coordinated teams.

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18

Get Widow, get Soldier, laugh at how Pharah can’t do anything.

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19

What makes it so difficult to counter them is the ridiculous hitscan falloff damage. Landing a headshot on them and doing 5 damage is depressing.

Widow is the best counter if you can land your shots.

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Thank you all for the advice :slight_smile: :heart:️