College Overwatch team’s 900 IQ strategy is the craziest Widowmaker counter yet

Michael Gwilliam
Widowmaker with a bunch of text books

Overwatch players at Illinois Wesleyan University showed they’re more than just book smart when they pulled off one of the greatest counters to Widowmaker in the history of the game.

On April 3, the Overwatch Collegiate Championships took place and Illinois Wesleyan was matched against St. Mary’s University in a first-to-two series.

With Wesleyan already ahead 1-0, all they had to do was emerge victorious on King’s Row to move on and they kicked the map off with one of the craziest players ever.

King’s Row is widely considered to be the best map in the game. The London map’s narrow corridors and long sight lines can make it a bit of a Widowmaker playground if the sniper hero isn’t kept in check. (Timestamp 1:53:17 for mobile viewers)

Luckily, Wesleyan had a plan up their sleeve to take Widowmaker out of the game right off the bat and they did so with a little help from a Symmetra and a Reinhardt.

Ever since her second rework, Symmetra has become much more popular in organized play thanks to her new and improved Teleporter.

Serving as a means for vertical mobility, the college squad was able to place the Teleporter right on top of the statue by the first point. It was there that Flashfatal on the Reinhardt charged through.

Bastion on King's Row statue
Statue Bastion with a shield is a nightmare.

Seeing a Reinhardt score a pin on Widowmaker is extremely rare, considering how far back the sniper plays compared to the brawly tank.

If that wasn’t enough, Wesleyan even put a Bastion on the statue while the friendly Sigma player left his shield in front of the sentry mode hero to protect him while raining down fire.

The rest of the attack ended up being super impressive, and the school completed all three points with a whopping 4:50 time bank. They’d go on to win the map and series 2-0 after holding St. Mary’s just before Point B.

Next time you’re on King’s Row, this trick may be worth trying, especially if you expect a Widowmaker or another sniper hero to be waiting in that spot.

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About The Author

Michael Gwilliam is a senior writer at Dexerto based in Ontario, Canada. He specializes in Overwatch, Smash, influencers, and Twitch culture. Gwilliam has written for sites across Canada including the Toronto Sun. You can contact him at michael.gwilliam@dexerto.com or on Twitter @TheGwilliam