Blizzcon 2023 was a great success, with tons of new content announced for the first-person shooter Overwatch 2; there’s much for players to be excited about.
After Mauga was announced at Blizzcon 2023, fans got the chance to play him over the weekend. Despite this upcoming Tank being scheduled to release in Season 8, which is still a few weeks away, this weekend gave us a great insight into what we can expect from Mauga in Overwatch 2.
At first, many fans may have thought that this hulking tank is all brawns and no brains, especially after his character trailer showed him destroying enemies with his twin miniguns and chained ultimate. However, after playing Mauga over the weekend, it looks like there’s much more to this tank than what meets the eye.
1. Know when to retreat
Despite looking like a gigantic and menacing hero, Mauga isn’t invincible. Unlike some other tanks in the roster, such as D.Va or Roadhog, this upcoming hero can’t last long by themselves.
It’s for this reason that knowing when to retreat is crucial to your survival and the team’s success. One ability that can be useful when regrouping with your teammates is Overrun; this allows you to charge at speed and stomp to launch enemies. While running, you are entirely unstoppable, meaning it’s the best solution if you’re stuck in a sticky situation surrounded by the enemy team.
Once you’re back with your supports, you can reengage in the fight and hopefully push the opposing team back to their spawn.
2. look out for your supports
Another reason why Mauga isn’t great on his own is because, despite having a health boost ability, this tank can be quite vulnerable during team fights. The ability Cardiac Overdrive does mean that nearby allies take reduced damage while you get healing by dealing damage, not unlike Reaper’s passive ability.
However, this ability won’t keep you alive if multiple enemies are ganging up on you. That’s why keeping close to supports is very beneficial for Mauga. If this tank has various streams of healing, then it becomes challenging to kill him off. In return, using Cardiac Overdrive can give your healers some much-needed protection.
Mauga is a support best friend if played correctly. This co-dependent relationship will not only ensure that you stay alive long enough to try and kill off the enemy team’s Tank, but it will hopefully act as a good distraction while your DPS is diving into the backline after the opposition’s healers.
3. Keep an eye on cooldowns
Unfortunately, you can have all the healing in the world, but if you encounter an Ana and her Biotic Grenade, you’ll likely be sent straight to your grave. The Biotic Grenade prevents targets that are hit from receiving any healing, and as Mauga doesn’t have any shield to protect himself with, teams can whittle him down rapidly.
This vulnerability is why Mauga players must keep an eye on enemy cooldowns. Bastion’s turret mode is a similar obstacle that needs to be overcome, so it’s essential that players have a good knowledge of cooldown times and enemy resources. Once Ana uses her Biotic Grenade or a Bastion comes out of Turret Mode, you should engage in a fight immediately and try and take out both of these threats.
The requirement for greater match knowledge and cooldown timings is why Mauga is a hero with a surprisingly high skill ceiling. However, while this may be difficult at first, it does mean that players will be able to improve alongside this hero and hopefully come up with some awe-inspiring and unexpected moves in the long term.
4. get creative with your ultimate
Even after only a few days, we are already seeing some incredibly creative finishing kills, many of which are thanks to Mauga’s simple yet satisfying ultimate, Cage Fight. This ultimate deploys a barrier that traps Mauga and enemies; you also get unlimited ammo while you're inside.
Using this ultimate as intended can be great for crowd control, especially when allies are also deploying other finishing moves. For example, Genji’s Dragonblade or Sorjourn’s Overclock would really benefit from having the enemy team trapped in a fixed place. However, you can do so much more with Cage Fight.
While many of these creative kills are limited to specific maps, they still show what is possible for this ultimate. For example, the well map in Illios is the perfect place to trap your enemies; with the help of a Mei Ice Wall, you can place your Cage Fight right in the middle of the well, and once the Ice Wall breaks, it will drag you and everyone else in the cage to their deaths.
Mauga is an exciting addition to the Overwatch 2 roster. In time, it looks like he will be an even better addition to the meta, providing more creative ways for players to engage in skirmishes.
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