Overwatch Ultimate Combo Guide: Best Team Ability Pairings

Overwatch Ultimate Combo Guide: Best Team Ability Pairings for Maximum Impact

Welcome, heroes! If you’ve ever been on the receiving end of a perfectly executed ultimate combination, you know it’s often the deciding factor between a glorious victory and a crushing defeat. Mastering these powerful synergies is what separates a good team from a great one. This guide is your one-stop resource for understanding the best Overwatch ultimate combos, from the classic wombo-combos to more advanced team ability pairings. We’ll break down the "how" and "why" behind these devastating partnerships, ensuring you can both execute them and, just as importantly, counter them.

The Foundation: What Makes a Great Ultimate Combo?

Before we dive into specific pairings, let's establish the core principles. A powerful ultimate combination isn't just about using two abilities at once; it's about creating a situation where the sum is far greater than its parts. The most effective combos usually follow this formula:

Setup + Payload: One ultimate (the "Setup") groups, disables, or controls the enemy team, making them vulnerable. The other ultimate (the "Payload") delivers a massive amount of damage or a fight-winning effect to the now-stationary targets.
Area Denial + Confirmation: One ultimate zones the enemy into a tight space, while another confirms eliminations on anyone trying to escape.
Timing and Communication: This is the non-negotiable ingredient. The combo is useless if the ultimates are used seconds apart. A simple "My ultimate is ready!" followed by a countdown ("Zarya, grav in 3, 2, 1...") is the key to success.

With that in mind, let's explore the most effective team ability pairings in Overwatch.

The Classic Powerhouses: The Bread and Butter of Team Wipes

These are the combos that have defined the game since its early days. Mastering these should be your first priority.

1. Zarya's Graviton Surge + Hanzo's Dragonstrike This is arguably the most iconic combo in Overwatch. Zarya's Graviton Surge pulls all enemies within its radius into a tight, immobile cluster. This is the perfect setup for Hanzo's Dragonstrike, which unleashes two massive dragons that travel in a straight line. A grouped-up enemy team has nowhere to run, ensuring they take the full, devastating damage of the dragons.

Why It Works: Graviton Surge solves Dragonstrike's biggest weakness: its slow, predictable path. It guarantees maximum value.
Pro Tip: Hanzo should fire his ultimate through the Graviton Surge, not necessarily directly at its center, to cover the most area as the dragons travel.

2. Zarya's Graviton Surge + Tracer's Pulse Bomb A faster, more explosive version of the above. Zarya's Graviton Surge groups everyone up, and Tracer can easily blink in, stick a Pulse Bomb to a central target (preferably a tank for a larger explosion radius), and rewind out. The result is an instant team wipe if the enemy lacks a defensive ultimate.

Why It Works: Pulse Bomb deals immense, concentrated damage that is amplified when multiple targets are clustered together.
Pro Tip: Tracer should communicate her intent clearly so Zarya knows to bubble her as she goes in for the stick, protecting her from crowd control.

3. Reinhardt's Earthshatter + Any High-Damage Ultimate The classic tank-initiated combo. Reinhardt's Earthshatter knocks down all enemies in a long, wide cone in front of him. This sets up a shooting gallery for your damage heroes. Excellent follow-ups include:

Reaper's Death Blossom: Reaper can walk directly into the downed enemies and unleash his ultimate for easy, close-range kills.
Cassidy's Deadeye: With the enemy team unable to move or take cover, Cassidy can lock on and secure multiple confirmed kills.
Pharah's Barrage: Pharah can hover safely and unleash her entire barrage into the stationary targets.
Why It Works: Earthshatter provides a long stun duration, allowing slow-casting ultimates like Deadeye and Barrage to be used without fear of interruption.

Advanced and Tactical Synergies

Beyond the classic wombo-combos, some of the most game-changing plays come from more nuanced team ability pairings.

1. Sombra's EMP + Almost Anything Sombra's EMP is the ultimate enabler. It instantly removes all shields and barriers (including Reinhardt's Barrier Field and Brigitte's personal shield) and hacks all enemies caught in its radius. A hacked enemy cannot use abilities or ultimates. This sets up for numerous fight-winning plays:

EMP + D.Va's Self-Destruct: With barriers down and enemies hacked (unable to use mobility skills like Recall or Fade), the mech becomes almost impossible to avoid.
EMP + Tracer's Pulse Bomb / Reaper's Death Blossom: Without abilities like Sleep Dart, Flashbang, or Protective Suzu, Tracer and Reaper can wreak havoc with impunity.
EMP + Winston's Primal Rage: A more tactical use; EMP allows Winston to jump into the backline and use Primal Rage to cause chaos without fear of being stunned or slept.
Why It Works: EMP strips the enemy of their primary defensive tools, both active (abilities) and passive (shields).

2. Echo's Duplicate + Enemy Game-Changing Ultimates Echo's Duplicate is a unique and powerful tool for creating ultimate combos on the fly. The strategy is to duplicate an enemy hero with a powerful setup ultimate and use it to enable your own team.

Duplicate Zarya -> Graviton Surge: This is the prime target. You can build your Echo ultimate very quickly, duplicate the enemy Zarya, and use your own Graviton Surge to set up your team's Dragonstrike or Pulse Bomb.
Duplicate Reinhardt -> Earthshatter: A surprise Earthshatter from an Echo can catch the enemy team completely off guard.
Why It Works: It gives your team two of the same powerful setup ultimate in a single fight, overwhelming the enemy's resources.

3. Mei's Blizzard + Follow-Up Damage While not as instantly devastating as a Graviton Surge, Mei's Blizzard is a phenomenal area-denial and setup tool. It creates a large zone that slows enemies and eventually freezes them solid. This requires coordinated follow-up:

Blizzard + Soldier: 76's Tactical Visor: A frozen enemy is a guaranteed hit. Tactical Visor ensures every shot lands, quickly eliminating the frozen targets.
Blizzard + High-Impact Shots: This is also a perfect setup for heroes like Cassidy, Ashe (headshots), or Hanzo to land easy, lethal shots on key targets.
Why It Works: The slow and eventual freeze makes targets incredibly easy to hit, maximizing the value of precision-based damage.

The Defensive Counters: Shutting Down Enemy Combos

A crucial part of mastering ultimate combos is knowing how to stop them. Here are the best defensive team ability pairings and counters.

1. The Great Eraser: Zenyatta's Transcendence Zenyatta's Transcendence is the premier counter to any high-damage ultimate combo. It provides an immense 300 healing per second to all allies within its radius, making it nearly impossible for enemies to die to sustained damage ults like Dragonstrike, Death Blossom, or Barrage if Zen is positioned correctly.

Counter Combo: Transcendence directly negates Graviton Surge + Dragonstrike if Zen is not caught in the Graviton himself.

2. The Ultimate Denial: Lucio's Sound Barrier Lucio's Sound Barrier provides a large, rapidly decaying shield to all allies within line of sight. Its strength is in its instant application. It is the best counter to burst-damage combos that Transcendence might struggle with, such as:

Graviton Surge + D.Va Bomb / Pulse Bomb: The instant 750-overhealth can save your team from the initial burst.
Earthshatter + Deadeye / Barrage: Lucio can beat drop as the enemy ultimate is activated, saving his stunned teammates.

3. The Strategic Reset: Kiriko's Protection Suzu The newest addition to the support roster, Kiriko's Protection Suzu, is a powerful tool for countering setups. It makes allies invulnerable and cleanses negative effects for a brief moment. A perfectly timed Suzu can:

Cleanse allies from Zarya's Graviton Surge, allowing them to escape.
Make a key ally invulnerable to a stuck Pulse Bomb or the blast from a Self-Destruct.
Cleanse the freeze from Mei's Blizzard.
Why It Works: It requires precise timing, but a well-placed Suzu can single-handedly dismantle an enemy's entire combo by saving their primary target.

Putting It All Together: Team Composition and Communication

Knowing the combos is one thing; executing them in the heat of battle is another. Here’s how to make it happen:

Build Your Comp Around Synergy: If you have a Zarya, consider a Hanzo or Tracer. If you have a Sombra, a D.Va is a fantastic partner. Don't just pick heroes in a vacuum.
Ultimate Tracking: This is a high-level skill. Pay attention to the kill feed and how the enemy is playing. If you haven't seen the enemy Zarya use Graviton Surge in a while, she probably has it. Spread out to minimize its value.
Clear, Concise Communication: Use voice chat or the in-game communication wheel. "I have Barrage, ready for your Shatter" is all you need. Call the target location if necessary ("Grav on point").
Don't Force It: Sometimes, using ultimates separately ("solo ults") to win a fight or secure a key kill is better than holding them for a perfect combo that never happens. Be flexible.

Mastering these Overwatch ultimate combos and team ability pairings will elevate your gameplay to new heights. It’s about more than just pressing 'Q' at the same time; it’s about understanding the beautiful, chaotic symphony of abilities that is Overwatch. So group up, communicate, and go out there and create some highlight-reel plays of your own