Good day! It’s Librarian Husky. Season 12 has arrived, and it mostly comes with a bunch of health nerfs to DPS, combined with Juno’s release and some really decisive changes to supports and tanks. The meta is once again up in the air, so let’s dive into the best tanks this season. With no radical changes, this patch offers a pretty clear-cut tier list.

Roadhog’s Decline in the Meta

Starting in D tier is Roadhog. It’s been expectedly going downhill for him after getting his healing nerfed three times in a row. There are few compositions that don’t have the damage to just focus Roadhog for an easy win. When he’s not healing, he’s super vulnerable and easy to force back.

Challenges in the Current Meta

There are a few maps where Roadhog has great cover and angles to keep fishing for hooks, but the meta for ground-based brawl tanks has a pretty high damage output right now. It’s easy to focus on Roadhog while mitigating more damage, so you have to hope the enemy team has an optimal composition for you to play into. However, that can be rare these days.

Armor and Durability Factors

Any tank with armor is extra durable against Roadhog’s poke, including Winston and Wrecking Ball. The one thing you can rely on is the short cooldown of your hook. With many heroes now at 225 HP, you can secure more one-shots easily, and even if you don’t get the kill, you can keep disrupting positioning and bursting targets.

Holding Space with Roadhog

You’ll still be effective at taking and holding space for your team. Even though Roadhog faces more challenges, you can use his hook ability strategically to create opportunities and impact the flow of the game.

Doomfist: A C Tier Tank

Next, we’re moving up to C tier with Doomfist. He can be really strong in the right hands but still suffers from being highly counterable. Other dive tanks have an edge in duels or diving engagements, and most other tanks shrug off his damage while shredding him in return.

Doomfist’s Key Weaknesses

First off, Doomfist has no armor and gets poked out easily. He also has limited damage into armor and no way to block stuns and boops from tanks and supports. Every other dive tank applies more reliable pressure than Doomfist can, making him struggle in certain situations.

Abilities and Comparisons

Winston’s bubble and D.Va’s Matrix have always been superior defensive abilities due to their strength and versatility. Power Block is just a way for Doomfist to avoid getting bursted when he runs out of mobility. While disruptive at times, his abilities don’t have enough burst or sustained impact.

Wrecking Ball: A B Tier Tank

On to B tier, Wrecking Ball sits in a similar spot. He’s improved this season, but after testing out his upgrades, it’s clear that while he can be played effectively, there are still limitations to his overall impact.

Challenges of Playing Wrecking Ball

It’s just way too difficult to make Wrecking Ball work consistently. You have to play a zero-mistake, constant-value style, dueling, disrupting, and slamming rotations while making perfect setups with your grapples to keep up with the fight’s tempo. It’s a cool playstyle, but even a single missed grapple or overstaying in a fight will result in you being bursted down quickly.

Risks and Limitations

Even if you don’t die immediately, you’ll be forced out until you can heal back up, leaving your team without constant pressure. Wrecking Ball can quickly burst down heroes with less health, but many of his counters have gotten stronger this patch. Sombra’s upgrades and Torbjörn’s additional armor make him harder to play effectively.

Comparisons to Doomfist

Just like Doomfist, Wrecking Ball’s playstyle isn’t easy to master. If you really enjoy playing him, you can push yourself to the limit, but if you’re more focused on ranking up, there are much better options available this season.

Mauga in B Tier

Next in B tier is Mauga. He can have a much higher impact than Wrecking Ball or Doomfist, but like them, it’s not easy to achieve in ranked matches. Mauga’s playstyle remains simple, but after the overdrive duration nerf, the timing of your engagements is far less forgiving.

Competitive Impact of Mauga

Many tanks can now out-spam Mauga with their defensive abilities and long-range capabilities. This change makes it difficult to use him as effectively as before, but he still holds potential in the right hands.

Mauga’s Sustain Challenges

Now that Mauga’s sustain is limited to only 3 seconds, it’s really hard to consistently make him work. His only real strengths are long-range hitscan pressure, high sustain during Overdrive, and his slam. The area of effect and stun of his Overrun are powerful, but with only 3 seconds of survivability after slamming in, you can easily die right afterward.

Risks and Playstyle Limitations

Other tanks aren’t as explosive but are much less risky and provide more consistent value. Mauga has to choose between a slow, pokey playstyle where he retreats or committing everything with a slam and Overdrive. Both are good options, but being forced to fully commit makes him predictable, and it doesn’t take much creativity for opponents to counter him.

Moving Up to A Tier

In the A tier, which is packed with tanks, Zarya is the first to stand out. Her damage has increased significantly, allowing her to dominate certain tank matchups. Although heroes like Sigma and D.Va are more versatile than Zarya, she can force fast fights that they struggle to handle when she’s at high energy.

Zarya’s Strengths and Weaknesses

Getting to high energy is more consistent nowadays, but Zarya is still at the bottom of the A tier. While she’s received much-needed upgrades, they come at the cost of 11-second cooldown bubbles. You can sometimes get away with this against unaware enemies, but a single misused bubble can leave you overwhelmed by the right compositions.

Managing Zarya’s Energy and Counters

If you get high energy, you’ll quickly run out of bubbles while trying to match the enemy team’s abilities. Many shields counter Zarya, like Ramattra, Winston, and her strongest counter, Reinhardt, with his 1600 HP. Managing her bubble cooldowns is essential, but challenging against shield-heavy compositions.

Reinhardt’s Role in A Tier

Reinhardt is up next in A tier, with a solidified role. He’s amazing at holding corners and blocking entire backlines with his shield. Reinhardt can handle a lot of poke thanks to his high armor and shield, although not as effectively as Sigma, especially when facing heroes like Ashe, Junkrat, or Pharah.

Strengths and Limits of Reinhardt

Reinhardt’s shield is good, but playing too slowly means it gets broken constantly, leaving your team vulnerable to poke damage. Lucio or Juno are must-picks for speeding Reinhardt in, but overall, his brawl playstyle is more comfortable with Juno’s presence. Despite his limits, Reinhardt remains a solid pick, especially at lower ranks.

Junker Queen’s Threat in the Meta

Moving on to Junker Queen, she’s become much scarier with her high sustain. She deals significant damage, even to armored tanks, and her knives pose a big threat. Her ultimate has also become harder to counter, as there are fewer shield or matrix abilities available to block it.

Junker Queen’s Utility and Counters

Despite being counterable, Junker Queen’s unique speed boost from Commanding Shout provides a significant advantage before the enemy can force you out. She isn’t the best pick for slow-paced games, so make sure to coordinate with your DPS picks to maximize her impact.

Engagement Options for Aggressive Playstyles

If you can engage hard, Genji, Venture, and Tracer are solid fast-engaging options, while Ashe and Pharah are much slower, leaving you to gradually chip away at stronger frontlines and hoping not to get punished. Although slows and stuns disrupt her tempo, her damage has increased significantly, and with more heroes at 225 health this patch, she can secure fast kills and snowball effectively.

Junker Queen’s Snowball Potential

Junker Queen can snowball her self-healing from bleeding effects and roll over entire teams with Carnage. Her ability to capitalize on fast kills makes her a real threat in aggressive team compositions. Timing your engagements with the right DPS heroes can be key to maximizing her impact.

Orisa’s Lethality After Javelin Nerf

Moving on to Orisa, a small but impactful nerf to her Javelin’s direct hit damage has made her more lethal at ranges again. The extra 20 damage bumps the initial hit to 80, so even if you don’t pin your target into a wall, you’re still dealing more damage than before, which improves her overall lethality at range.

Orisa’s Utility in the Current Meta

Orisa also benefits from no falloff on her primary fire, giving her decent spam and burst potential again. Although her cooldowns aren’t as strong as they once were, her Spin and Fortify abilities still make it nearly impossible for heroes like Reinhardt or Ramattra to get through immediately. Her Javelin adds even more knockback and stun to disrupt enemies.

Impact on Squishies and Armor Adjustments

While Orisa’s poke damage has suffered due to new armor changes, her higher damage spear makes her better at picking off squishier targets again. This shift in her playstyle gives her more utility in disrupting enemy backlines while providing steady frontline pressure.

Orisa’s Javelin Power and Falloff

If you hit the wall pin with Orisa’s Javelin and can follow up without your damage being blocked, you’re almost guaranteed a kill. The zero falloff on her primary fire is extremely effective in action. However, Orisa can still be poked out more easily than the top frontline tanks, as she lacks the extended staying power without Fortify, requiring her to play more cautiously to avoid consuming all of her team’s healing resources.

D.Va’s Matrix Nerf and Armor Strength

Moving on to the top two in A tier, we start with D.Va. Her Matrix nerf was well-deserved, as she had reached a point where she could function as a one-size-fits-all dive tank, easily boosting and bursting enemies or peeling with Matrix. The nerf should make it easier to poke D.Va out of fights now, but her significant armor and strong toolkit still make her formidable.

Impact of Defense Matrix Changes

The Defense Matrix nerf was essentially a revert to her previous state, removing the extra half-second that made it constantly available. D.Va wasn’t struggling in previous patches, and this slight adjustment brings her back to a more balanced form. She still deals high burst damage, with a tighter spread allowing her to hit from safer distances, making it easier to sustain both her armor and Matrix.

Ramattra’s Position in A Tier

Finally, in A tier, we have Ramattra. He’s a solid choice once again, but he falls short of S tier due to Orisa’s improvements. Ramattra suffers from being surrounded like most brawl tanks, but his Nemesis form’s punch damage makes aggressive pushes worthwhile. Despite his limitations, Ramattra remains highly effective in the right circumstances.

Ramattra’s Consistency in Tanking

There’s now more of an option to keep Ramattra off the enemy team, but forcing your way past the other tank when they engage is tough. Ramattra is better suited for slowing enemies and pushing with his team rather than playing aggressively. With his slow shield and piercing punches, he remains one of the most consistent tanks for rushing and controlling frontlines.

Ramattra’s Effectiveness in Combat

His slow is always effective against anyone caught in it—tanks get forced out, and anyone else risks getting one-shot by the follow-up damage. He combines offense and defense well, making him a safe pick on most maps that don’t heavily rely on high ground. Ramattra can spam block abilities, soak heavy damage, and stall while setting up kills, maintaining a solid performance.

Top S-Tier Tanks: Sigma

For the top-tier tanks this season, Sigma is first. Thanks to his armor-breaking damage, he can handle even his counters fairly well. The only issue Sigma faces is with stronger shields like Reinhardt‘s, but Sigma wins the spam game with his consistent poke and high damage output.

Sigma’s Strength in Frontline Fights

Sigma brings heavy burst damage, range control, and shields that enable teammates and block abilities. He’s an S-tier hero when it comes to frontline battles. Teams that can rush quickly still have to contend with Sigma’s 120-damage Accretion and the constant poke from his team. With Sigma, a few simple swaps, like adding Ana, Ashe, or Mei, can completely shut down any rush or hard dive attempt.

Controlling the Space

It’s much easier to deal with enemies walking into your space when playing Sigma, as his toolkit allows for precise area control. His ability to maintain pressure and protect his team makes him an indispensable pick in most situations where defense and sustained damage are required.

Winston: The Top S-Tier Hero

Winston stands as the top tank in the game right now. His armor, reliable mobility, and historically impactful bubble have merged to make him an optimal pick at any rank. Despite not being popular in lower ranks, Winston wins more tank duels than ever and excels in blocking and stalling multiple players at once, providing significant support to his team.

Winston’s Strengths in Duel and Dive

Winston can’t sustain fights for too long, but he can delay two or even three backline members long enough for his team to capitalize. His consistent zap damage across the map makes him highly effective at setting up dives. His secondary fire can help in flank duels or prevent flying heroes from advancing, while his upfront landing damage combined with his bubble makes him a formidable force.

Optimal Playstyle for Winston

To make Winston work effectively, focus on surrounding the enemy team and maximizing the value of his bubble without dying. Blocking sightlines or interrupting abilities is key to his success. With additional team abilities like Dynamite or Biotic Nade, you can coordinate some powerful burst kills early in the fight, allowing Winston to dominate the battlefield.

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