The Correct Way to Play Moira in Competitive Games

Moira is one of the few main healers in Overwatch. She has the highest pick rate in competitive matches due to her easiness to play and the huge contributions she can give to her team consistently. Below are a few tips on how to use her effectively and what to avoid in competitive plays.

Moira is a healer, not a DPS

If you have been playing competitive matches, you would have noticed that some players who play Moira would go fully offensive and engage aggressively without concerning too much about the health of their teammates. That’s when people keep complaining their teams having a “DPS Moira” that doesn’t heal. Well, though Moira can actually deal a ton of damages (sometimes even getting the Gold damage medal), that is certainly not the correct way to play Moira.

Like mentioned, Moira is a main healer. Your primary job is to make sure your teammates get healed up when they are low on health. When you are sure your teammates aren’t hurt, you can spend your free time right-clicking enemies to charge up your heal.

As a Moira, you should never flank your enemy unless your team has a different plan. You risk your own life and the life of your teammates doing so. Remember, you are a healer, if you are dead, your team is most likely down with you as there will be no sustaining heals for any fight anymore. A flanking Moira is a failed Moira.

So, as a Moira, in short, you stay back and use your left-click and Biotic Orb to heal. If your teammates are fine and you have nothing to do, use your right-click to contribute damages and consistently charge up your healing juice. Then, use your ult to help win the team fight. Also, remember that your ult should first target low health teammates before targeting your enemies.

When do I go full offensive?

When your enemy team is retreating and your teammates are advancing to clearing them up, you can go full offensive by right-clicking an enemy and throwing a decay orb.

When you are flanked by a flanker such as a Genji, you can aggressively throw a decay orb and right-click him to death (only when you are flanked by him; do not flank a Genji).

You can also do the same decay orb + right-click combo when you catch an enemy’s healer or DPS left alone by their teammates and try to pick the kill.

Healing or Decaying Biotic Orb?

Most of the time, you should only be using your Biotic Orb in healing mode to further increase the amount of heals in your team. It is especially useful and important when you run out of Biotic Grasp healing juice. Besides, it is also your only ability to heal yourself when you are hurt.

Though not recommended, you can sometimes throw your Biotic Orb in decay mode to dealing extra damages to your enemies when their heals are weak or dead. You can also pick enemy who are low on health and out of reach by using a decay orb.

Positioning as a Moira

Similar to most healers, position yourself behind your tanks, preferably behind your DPS as well if they are not snipers who have to stay further behind. This way you can have a better view of your teammates’ health and efficiently AOE heal them up on time without wasting too much of your juice healing one by one. But in most cases, you would see yourself right behind your tanks as your Biotic Grasp healing range is limited and kind of short, and it is totally fine doing so.

When do I use Fade?

Moira’s Fade is pretty much self-explained. You basically just use it when you are in endanger or are flanked by a flanker. You can also use it to dodge delay damaging abilities such as Dva self destruct, Doomfist’s Rocket Punch, Hanzo’s Dragon Strike or Genji’s Dragon Blade when you hear the sound of them charging up or casting their abilities.

Fade is also one of the only few abilities which can escape from AOE offensive ults such as Zarya’s Graviton Surge and Sigma’s Gravitic Flux. Use it as soon as you get caught by any of these AOE ults.

Summary

Moira is one of, if not the best healer in Overwatch due to the amount of heals and damage he can contribute to the team. No other healers can contribute as much damage as Moira as a main healer (maybe beside Zen). She can also easily protect herself from flanks or escape with her fade. She can even sometimes kill the flankers on her own which I believe no other healers can do so as easily as her. She is definitely the best pick for both new and intermediate players in competitive matches.