Overwatch Hero Bans and Map Voting Explained (2026)

Every Overwatch Competitive match now starts with two votes before anyone picks a hero: one on the map, one on which heroes nobody gets to play. Both systems have changed several times since they arrived in 2025, most recently with Lobby Bans in June 2026 and new map-vote rules on 6 October 2026. This guide walks through the lobby in order as it works on 2 November 2026: how the map vote picks a map, how ranked-choice bans are counted, what your Preferred Hero does, when a Lobby Ban happens, where to check the rules and data, and how to use both votes well.

What happens before the versus screen

A Competitive lobby runs in a fixed order. Blizzard put Map Voting "before Hero Bans in Competitive Play, since the winning map will be displayed in the top right of the Hero Bans screens", and the Ban Phase comes "before the Versus Screen is displayed".

1. Map vote.

   In Quick Play, Competitive and Mystery Heroes since 24 June 2025.

2. Hero bans.

   In Competitive modes only, since 22 April 2025. You see the map you'll play while you vote.

3. Versus screen, then hero select.

   Banned heroes can't be picked by either team for the match.

Blizzard's events use the same steps: the Team Drives weekends in Season 4 and Season 5 ran with hero bans and map voting.

Map voting step by step

Each player votes for one map, or passes. Blizzard's own example from June 2025: with nine votes for King's Row, one for Eichenwalde and none for Paraíso, "there is a 90% chance King's Row will be selected, a 10% chance Eichenwalde will be selected, and no chance that Paraíso will be selected." Every vote is a ticket in that roll. The rules added since:

New and Reworked maps

Some maps carry a New or Reworked tag in the vote. Since 14 April 2026 those maps give "an automatic +10 Competitive Points in Competitive Play", and the penalty for losing on them is reduced; in Quick Play they give bonus Battle Pass XP. Blizzard doesn't say how big the reduced penalty is, but if your team is comfortable on a tagged map, it is the low-risk vote.

Hero bans: the basics

Hero Bans arrived in Competitive on 22 April 2025 with these rules, all still in place:

• Simultaneous and ranked-choice. "Bans are simultaneous, with each team banning 2 Heroes with a Ranked Choice system." Your first choice carries the most weight; your second and third count for less.
• Your team only. You can talk to your own team during the phase and see your allies' choices on the left of the screen, ordered from their highest priority on the left. You can't see or talk to the enemy team.
• Optional. "Players aren't required to choose any Heroes to ban; they can pass by pressing the Ready button." Reset clears your picks, or you can swap one choice at a time.
• Role limit. "Only 2 Heroes can be banned per role."
• Results at the end. Bans are calculated when the phase ends. A tie goes to the hero more players voted for, then to a random pick.

A note on the number of bans: Blizzard's April 2025 notes say each team bans two heroes ("you can remove up to two Heroes per match per team"), and the June 2026 notes call the Lobby Ban "a 5th ban slot", which fits two per team plus one shared slot. No 2026 patch restates the two-per-team figure, so the Hero Bans tab in game is the place to confirm it.

The 2026 vote maths: 7, 5, 3 and the Preferred Hero

Since 16 June 2026 the ban screen shows the votes behind each choice: 7 for your first, 5 for your second and 3 for your third. The same patch gave the Preferred Hero real weight. Your Preferred Hero is the first hero in your Roster by default, and it now casts 3 negative votes in your own team's ban vote. In Blizzard's words, that "would nullify one player's 3rd place vote" and prevents most cases where one teammate could ban your hero alone; "if two players on your team want to ban your preferred hero they'll still be able to out-vote you though."

Here is how a team's votes add up. The ballots are invented to show the maths:

Player	1st (7)	2nd (5)	3rd (3)
Player 1	Widowmaker	Sombra	Pharah
Player 2	Widowmaker	Pharah	Mercy
Player 3	Sombra	Widowmaker	D.Va
Player 4	Passes (presses Ready)
Player 5	Bans nothing; Preferred Hero is Mercy (−3)

Hero	Role	Votes	Result
Widowmaker	Damage	7 + 7 + 5 = 19	Banned (1st)
Sombra	Support	5 + 7 = 12	Banned (2nd)
Pharah	Damage	3 + 5 = 8	Not banned
D.Va	Tank	3	Not banned
Mercy	Support	3 − 3 = 0	Not banned; Player 5's Preferred Hero cancels Player 2's third choice

The two teams' results then meet on the Ban Results page, which Blizzard updated in June 2026 "to help players understand the snake draft": the teams' choices are taken in turn, which matters when a role reaches its limit of two. Sombra counts as a Support in this example because she moved from Damage to Support on 6 October 2026.

Lobby Bans: the fifth slot

The June 2026 patch added a ban that belongs to the whole lobby. Blizzard's rules: "Lobby Bans are a 5th ban slot that can break the 2 hero Role Limit", and "unlike all other hero bans, Lobby Bans are calculated by adding together all votes from both teams". A hero is lobby-banned when both teams gave it at least one vote and it reached 10 votes in total.

• It takes very little. One player's first choice (7) on one team plus one player's third choice (3) on the other team already make 10.
• One team alone can't trigger it. Twelve votes from a single team don't count as a Lobby Ban, however high the total.
• It can go past the role limit. If two Damage heroes are already banned, a Lobby Ban can still take a third.

Blizzard's reason: Lobby Bans make hero bans "more responsive to player preferences" by "banning heroes that both teams prefer not to play against", and give players "a better reason than ever to vote if they want a specific hero banned."

Where to check the rules and the ban data

• In game: the Competitive Info page has a Hero Bans tab that explains the mechanics and rules; Blizzard pointed to it in the 28 July 2026 notes.
• Ban rates: since 12 May 2026 Blizzard's website shows Hero Ban Rates in Hero Stats (Heroes → Hero Stats), next to pick and win rates. You can filter by input, Competitive Role Queue, tier (Emerald included), map and region, and the figures are "pulled from the start of the most recent patch".

We don't print ban rates here: they reset with every patch, and the official page is always more current than any copy of it.

How to use the vote and the bans well

Our advice, built on the rules above:

1. Set your Preferred Hero on purpose.

   It is the first hero in your Roster. Put the hero you most need there, and one teammate's casual third-place ban won't remove it.

2. Ban for the map you just saw.

   The winning map sits in the corner of the ban screen. Ban the heroes that are hardest to play into on that map, not the ones you dislike everywhere.

3. Talk before you lock in.

   Team chat works during bans. When first choices are spread across many heroes, stray second and third choices end up deciding your team's bans.

4. Keep a second hero per role.

   Up to five heroes can go in one match, and two of them can come from your role. If your main is banned, you want a backup, ideally from another sub-role; our sub-roles guide lists them.

5. Use the map vote as a team.

   A Landslide needs 8 votes in 5v5, so your team alone can't force it. Vote for tagged maps you play well: +10 Competitive Points and a smaller loss penalty.

Help with the climb

If the bans keep taking your main, more heroes are the answer, and coaching is the option that stays inside Blizzard's rules. Two hours with a Grandmaster+ coach are $35.82 today, and five games with a Grandmaster+ teammate at Platinum $24.30, from the same engine as checkout. A duo teammate is in your group, so they vote and ban with you. Boosting conflicts with Blizzard's rules: its End User License Agreement forbids "account boosting or power-leveling, in exchange for payment", and an account can be actioned. Read the Risk Disclosure and is Overwatch boosting safe? first.

• Learn it: 1-on-1 coaching: ban plans, hero pool and replay review.
• Play it together: Pro Teammate (Duo Queue) on your own account, no login shared.
• Skip it: Rank Boost to any division up to Champion 1.

Related guides: every hero by role · sub-roles and perks · Competitive Points and rewards · Overwatch ranks explained