With Sombra hitting the PTR, we are now able to more accurately judge her performance levels. We know that her bullet damage is 8, with 20 rounds fired per second. This results in 160 DPS, with 480 total damage possible per clip (assuming no headshots). This article will focus on Sombra’s interactions with the other heroes in Overwatch, from synergies and 1v1 performances to meta affects as a whole. Notes of effective approaches to dealing with heroes will help prospective Sombra enthusiasts be more lethal on the battlefield.
If you haven't read part one, you can find it here.
Offensive Power: Sombra versus other DPS heroes
The comparisons here are made based off of tests and data available for the heroes. Testing data was drawn from three tests described below.
Test 1
Two players (Sombra vs DPS hero) go head to head in 5 rounds against each other with spectators observing the accuracy and health of the skirmish.
Test 2
Sombra vs DPS hero + Lucio. 5 rounds were played with Lucio standing in range on healing aura. DPS and Sombra must fight to the death once engaged.
Test 3
Sombra vs DPS hero + Lucio. 5 rounds were played with Lucio standing in range on healing aura, use Amp It Up when/if ally DPS hero falls below half health. Test 3 is conducted only if Sombra passes Test 2.
Commonalities:
- No health packs can be used
- DPS and Sombra must fight to the death once engaged, outside of Sombra Translocating or using Camo
- Lucio can only move to stay in healing range of DPS hero
- Sombra cannot target Lucio
- Sombra and the DPS player had similar accuracy and skill with all heroes
Goal
The goal is to explore Sombra's advantages and disadvantages against other DPS heroes. Spectators were instructed to observe the average accuracies, health results, duration of each round, and general movement of each hero. The Lucio addition closer represents a professional engagement. Soldier: 76 and Sombra output a stream of damage that is battling against the health pool of their target and Lucio’s AOE healing, which hurts their effectiveness. It was expected that reaction times to Sombra reappearing from Camo would be quicker than real scenarios. This is due to the audio queue being more noticeable and players being ready for Sombra in 1v1 scenarios.
Offense & Defense
VS 
- Balanced
McCree vs. Sombra is the first one to address with McCree being the “anti-flanker.” McCree is most definitely at an advantage.
- Any time a flashbang hit, McCree quickly won - often with more than half of his HP without Lucio. With Lucio, McCree could leisurely take body shots and still easily win.
- McCree can pivot around and flashbang Sombra, but Sombra's hack range exceeds flashbang's. Simply Hack from maximum range.
- It is not advisable to Hack McCree because his abilities aren't what pose a threat to Sombra - his damage is the threat.
- There is a perfect engagement range in which Sombra's primary weapon's spread encompasses McCree's hitbox (10-15m). If you average 0.25 seconds of free fire time before McCree reacts, Sombra often landed 30-50 damage before McCree was able to pivot around and fire back.
- With 160 DPS out of Sombra and 1.5 seconds required for McCree to hit three body shots, Sombra was able to win outside of McCree headshots - especially if crouch spamming.
- If it’s a straight shootout, McCree always wins. Sombra needs a surprise damage headstart to make the engagement more balanced.
I think of this matchup akin to Genji vs McCree at the highest levels: raw mechanics decide. Overall, the tests indicated that the engagement is decided by mechanics and that neither character have a solid advantage.
VS - Pharah wins
- Sombra can track Pharah well as the spread encompasses Pharah's hitbox with good tolerance for air movements, but it isn't enough.
- Pharah simply uses Jump Jet, concussion blast to further knock the Sombra away, and shoots rockets after her.
- Pharah is able to usually launch 2-3 rockets before needing to retreat.
- With a Lucio, a full clip and extra is doable before Sombra's damage threatens her.
- In most cases Pharah had around 5 seconds, or just over 1 Sombra clip, to land rockets or inflict enough splash damage to force Sombra to retreat or kill her.
If you are in Sombra's golden zone, where the spread encompasses the target's hitbox, Sombra is usually able to bring Pharah down to 50 HP. Staying long enough to do this, however, usually resulted in Sombra's death.
VS - Genji wins
- Genji should Swift Strike Sombra immediately and shoot from afar if Sombra gets the jump. If you cannot locate her immediately you must Swift Strike away before she can complete a Hack.
- Its easy for Sombra to hack Genji and shoot him down since he doesn’t have an AOE attack to reliably interrupt Hack. The most successful technique was to pivot and Swift Strike Sombra.
- If she Hacks Genji, even if Genji wins the duel, he’s just a squishy immobile target for her entire team.
- Once Genji dashes away, he can go back in and land the Genji combo to finish her off.
Genji saw a majority win rate against Sombra with health normally above 70HP. Once 2-3 shurikens land at range, the Swift Strike is ready again and Genji dives back in to finish her with the combination.
VS - Tracer wins
Tracer has an easy time with Sombra. In a 1v1 duel Tracer should win every time.
- Tracer has a health regeneration ability. If you assume she recalls around 50 HP, Tracer can fight Sombra with 250 effective HP.
- Tracer has 240DPS, compared to Sombra's 160 DPS. While Sombra has a large clip, Tracer has a slim profile. The whole clip was usually needed to even force Tracer to Recall.
- Sombra has a significant advantage if she engages Tracer at range. However, Tracer can get closer or retreat easily.
- Sombra cannot spare moments to hack Tracer. Tracer can blink away, simply kill Sombra with the 240 maximum bodyshot DPS from her pistols while being Hacked, or rewind if Sombra attempts to hack Tracer.
- Tracer is ridiculously vulnerable if hit by Sombra’s ultimate. With no Rewind and 150 HP, Tracer is easily killed.
- Tracer’s high fire rate and spread are good to spam around you to try and reveal a Sombra using Camo.
With Tracer's high mobility and high damage, Sombra cannot easily kill her. Since Sombra relies on outputting a stream of damage on to opponents, Tracer blinking around will minimize the amount of time Sombra can keep her crosshairs on Tracer. The time it takes to readjust the crosshairs is time Tracer is able to damage Sombra but not vice versa.
VS - S:76 wins
Soldier: 76 does not struggle with Sombra. Sombra is essentially a lower damage Soldier: 76 with a larger spread, and therefore has an inate disadvantage.
- Sombra cannot out damage Soldier: 76 because of Helix Rockets.
- The biotic field will be enough to sustain through Sombra’s damage output and kill her in return.
- If Soldier is Hacked first he won’t be able to use Biotic Field, but you can pivot and shoot the Rocket at Sombra quickly to interrupt the Hack. Pinpoint accuracy is not needed due to AOE damage.
- Sombra may be able to Translocate away unless she is bursted by a direct Helix Rocket and headshots.
- If the proposed damage buff goes through as well, Soldier: 76 will be even better at handling Sombra.
VS - Sombra wins
- With 250 health, Sombra cannot kill Reaper before he can Wraith. If Reaper Wraiths, Sombra chooses to teleport back or try and fight. Ideally, widen the distance and reengage.
- Reaper loses every time if Sombra engages at range. He doesn't have any tools to get closer safely. Wraith form can be used, but Sombra simply uses Camo and widens the distance to her favor.
- Her Camo can easily be revealed with Reaper’s high spread shotgun blasts. Therefore, Sombra cannot Camo to disengage.
- Sombra’s best bet if she cannot retreat with Translocation is to force Wraith Form and then Camo away as quickly as possible.
- The best approach is to Hack Reaper and immediately Translocate away, then engage him at range before Hack runs out and he can use Wraith form.
Essentially, Sombra is able to handle Reaper at most ranges and can disengage at will using Translocator. The spread and damage of Sombra's primary is a very real threat to Reaper. Often times the forgiving spread led to Reaper's death quickly at range with Sombra above 150HP. Unlike Soldier: 76, Sombra does not have to be as accurate due to her spread and large clip size.
VS - Mei wins
- Mei is similar to Reaper with Health and an invulnerability ability, but she should win against Sombra.
- Sombra cannot interpret the use of Cryo-Freeze as a free chance to Camo, as Mei can end her self heal ability early and start spraying.
- Sombra has to be particularly careful to Translocate away before being frozen.
- Sombra is able to damage Mei from a range Mei’s primary cannot freeze her. Icicles are still a potent threat, but the low rate of fire allows Sombra to Translocate away if the first one does significant damage.
Sombra cannot kill Mei reliably. Mei can freeze Sombra close range and Icicles are a threat long range. Sombra doesn’t have the DPS to kill Mei before Mei can land the Icicles necessary.
VS - Sombra wins
- The most important aspect for Sombra is when to engage, don't run into a Hanzo who has already scouted and prepared for you with his Sonic Arrow (showing you even when invisible).
- Hanzo’s biggest threat is the Scatter Arrow. If Hacked, he has to rely purely on headshotting Sombra close range.
- If Sombra gets up close and spams crouch, she easily wins against Hanzos once they’re Hacked.
- Sombra has the most success being as close as possible to Hanzo. Allowing any distance for Hanzo to aim resulted in her quick death.
VS - Sombra wins
- Junkrat poses a threat in his concussion mine and steel trap ability combination, and you need to heavily play around it.
- He may be used to prevent Sombra taking certain flank paths, but only outside of professional level play.
- The grenades are easy to dodge while invisible with heightened movement speed.
- Sombra simply comes out of Camo at long range and shoots Junkrat down while juking the bombs. If one happens to hit, she Translocates away and tries again.
- Junkrat poses little threat to Sombra.
VS - Sombra wins
- Due to Widowmaker's primary fire, its difficult to Hack her in close range as she sweeps with her primary to cancel the damage.
- Sombra should simply come out of Camo super close range and engage Widowmaker with her primary. If Widowmaker runs using Grapple hook, Sombra can easily chase her with Translocator.
- Sombra using Camo and Transponder brings light to a whole new way to counter Widowmaker, but you have to be aware of Infra-Sight.
- Sombra easily wins in close range against Widowmaker. The wider the distance of engagement the higher the risk of Widowmaker using Widow's Kiss.
VS - Torbjorn wins
- Torbjorn does well against Sombra due to his armor, fire rate, and turret.
- With his turret in play, Sombra has to first destroy that. Its too difficult in a 1v1 scenario.
- His hitbox is great for Sombra’s spread, but his left click has a high fire rate that kills Sombra too quickly.
- Sombra is effective at killing the turret, and has a chance against Torbjorn at longer ranges, but cannot beat both.
- When Torbjorn lost, Sombra was less than 25 HP.
VS - Bastion wins
- Bastion has no trouble with Sombra in both Sentry and Recon forms.
- Sentry form outdamages Sombra, and Recon form matches her DPS. With higher health, Bastion simply has the advantage.
- His ability to self heal and armor further increase his advantage.
- With Bastion’s strengths being his primary damage, Sombra’s Hack or EMP do not pose a threat to him. It prevents him from self healing, but that is very rare in professional matches regardless.
Sombra does not have enough DPS or health to finish most DPS 1v1 situations. Fighting Sombra is like defusing a bomb: you have a certain amount of time before her steady damage stream ends you. This rewards burst damage heroes like McCree, Genji, Pharah, etc since skilled players are able to hit their shots before that fuse runs out.
Teams should react to Sombra attacks by just directing the Lucio and one DPS hero to pressure her into retreating. Professional teams do not have to react the same with Sombra as a Genji or Winston dive. Expect Sombra's team to rush in when Sombra makes her play, so it's crucial to deal with Sombra calmly and keep focus on the enemy team.
Sombra seems to find herself outmatched at every range by another DPS. Sombra's advantage, however, is her ability to relocate to a range her opponent is ineffective in or quickly escape if outmatched. Her main strength comes from being able to abuse her 6 second cooldown abilities. As her movement skill ceilling is explored by professionals, her utility may make up for her lack of 1v1 brawling power.
Tanks & Supports
While Sombra struggles against some DPS heroes, she enjoys success against Tanks and Supports. Similar tests to the DPS 1v1 section were performed on the tanks and supports where applicable.
VS - Sombra wins
Sombra’s ultimate makes Reinhardt temporarily useless. Sombra does not force Reinhardt out of the meta however, because Reinhardt’s Barrier is still strong outside of the 6 seconds EMP is active.
- In close quarters, Reinhardt’s 200 armor allow him to take swings and prevent Sombra from using Camo to escape.
- Firestriking Sombra when she reveals herself is easy as well since she does not have heightened movement speed outside of Camo.
- With 480 damage per clip, Sombra is effective at helping shred Reinhardt shields. While her DPS is 160, her clip size is what makes the difference as she outputs 480 damage before needing to reload.
- Pivoting shield to interrupt a Hack is extremely easy.
VS - Winston wins
- Winston has a huge advantage over Sombra with his abilities.
- Getting the jump on Sombra will mean that she most likely won’t have Translocator set up.
- Winston will kill Sombra in a 1v1 situation just about every time.
- Winston can kill Sombra in the time it takes Sombra to fire one clip, which results in 480 body shot damage to Winston.
- Factor in the barrier projector, and Sombra’s best hope is to throw Translocator and Camo at a safe distance to run away.
- Sombra versus Winston without his abilities leaves Sombra a chance to win if she lands a majority of her shots as headshots.
VS - Sombra wins
Roadhog has issues with Sombra.
- Sombra can shoot him outside of hook range and does significant damage.
- Hog has little he can do besides try and move within hook range or simply hide.
- The spread of the weapon is great for Roadhog’s hitbox and the damage drop off isn’t significant outside of hook range.
- The DPS from Sombra allows Roadhog a chance to heal since its a steady stream of damage, but still kill him. This is great for Sombra because its 900 free points of ultimate charge.
VS - Zarya wins
Sombra struggles with Zarya.
- It’s not plausible to Hack Zarya as Zarya can 360 degree pivot with primary fire and interrupt the hack.
- Secondly, her shields will prevent you from hacking her or her shielded ally.
- At close range Zarya has the primary fire damage plus health pool advantage, and at long ranges Zarya has grenades and can choose to let her shields regenerate behind cover.
- While not an outright counter, Zarya isn’t threatened by Sombra outside of EMP.
- EMP absolutely guts Zarya as she loses 200 shields - half her total health pool. With no barriers as well, Zarya is just 200 points of ultimate charge waiting to be grabbed.
VS - D.Va wins
DVa has an easy time with Sombra because of her defense matrix.
- You can eat Sombra’s full clip with Defense Matrix, then fire back in return.
- The armor pool DVa has gives her an advantage against Sombra’s bullet spray type weapon, as each bullet’s damage is decreased.
- You cannot use Defense Matrix to eat the Translocator.
- The main weapon spread is useful to prevent Sombra from using Camo to escape.
VS - Sombra wins
- Sombra’s ultimate can be used specifically to counter Mercy resurrections should Mercy come back into the meta.
- With a huge AOE burst, you simply activate the ultimate when you know Mercy will be flying in.
- Assuming Sombra is being played by a professional, they’ll have to reaction time and communication from their team to pull this off.
- Alternatively, Sombra’s ultimate can be used to instantly EMP resurrected heroes and easily kill them again if you have the numbers.
VS - Sombra wins
- If Sombra appears in close range, outside of some lucky headshots, Zenyatta will easily fall to Sombra.
- Sombra's EMP guts Zenyatta, leaving him with just 50 health.
- Sombra has more success engaging Zenyatta as close as possible, which makes it difficult for him to fire back accuractely.
VS - Sombra wins
- Lucio has to blow his Amp It Up to survive against Sombra.
- Lucio was sometimes able to get the Sombra to around 100 HP, but Sombra still kills the DJ.
- With Amp It Up Lucio has a better chance and the fight is closer, with Sombra around 50 HP at the end of most engagements.
- Sombra's EMP completely removes Sound Barrier. This is a huge counter to Lucio's ultimate, but not enough to reliably shift him out of a meta.
VS - Ana wins
- Ana is safe from Sombra. Between the grenade and sleep dart, Sombra is hard pressed to Hack or significantly damage Ana.
- Ana is able to damage Sombra enough into retreating with Ana usually ending the engagement above 100 HP.
- With a Lucio involved, Ana doesn’t really sweat an assault from Sombra.
- Without the grenade, Ana is in significant danger. Sombra appears super close and makes it hard to reliably shoot her.
VS - Symmetra wins
- Symmetra’s primary fire easily wins in a 1v1, so stay away from her.
- Sombra's Camo and high mobility allow her to access the backline and search for teleporters easily and quickly.
- Symmetra can find out where Sombra may go to if the turrets are spread out in the flanks as they will interrupt her invisibily.
Current Meta effects and Closing Thoughts
It truly feels as though Sombra was designed to cause problems for the Beyblade (Nanoboosted Death Blossom) meta. Sombra's ultimate guts the two primary Tanks, Reinhardt and Zarya, and completely removes Lucio's Sound Barrier. Sombra does well against Roadhog, since she shreds him at ranges his hooks cannot reach her. Sombra does well against Reaper due to a range advantage. While Sombra is not a good assassin to kill Ana 1v1, in a team fight Sombra can wait for Ana to use her grenade, go in to kill her, and escape if she cannot. Sombra can pull the Ana grenade and Amp it Up out of Ana and Lucio by trading 2 abilities with short cooldowns, opening up an engagement potential for her team. If the PTR nerf to Ultimate charge rate goes live, smaller wins like these could be the new engagement conditions.
I personally believe Sombra helps augment the composition that is used in Beyblade, but does not vastly upset it by herself. Other changes to heroes present in the PTR may cause more widespread changes, but I am confident in saying Sombra does not upset Beyblade. She doesn't have an effective place she can take besides the flex DPS spot. If anything, she opens up more play variety to the stale Beyblade composition. EMP and Earthshatter will be a great new combination, along with Graviton Surge and EMP wiping out enemy Sound Barriers for more reliable team wipes.
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