Overwatch 2’s Mauga is coming under criticism from players who say that his kit is a little one-dimensional and even “boring” to play against.
Overwatch 2’s tank roster grew in Season 8 with the release of Mauga. The Samoan did have a weekend for players to get to grips with during BlizzCon, but at that time he was quite weak. However, with his full introduction to the game, he saw some enormous buffs, making him much more viable.
Some might even say too powerful. While debates rage as to whether Mauga is overpowered or not, it’s clear he’s shaken the game up. This is not a Lifeweaver situation where he’s arrived in a weak state. If you don’t respect Mauga, he can run you over with his enormous damage potential at short range.
It’s clear he has a viable place on the roster, but is he any fun to play against? Some fans aren’t so sure, even going so far as to call him boring.
Is Mauga too one-dimensional?
In a Reddit thread that has garnered 1.8k upvotes at the time of writing, user Falcrus wrote a sarcastic title, saying “Mauga is a peak Overwatch gameplay. So fun to play against him, will definitely try more!”.
In the post, they shared a video of a Ramattra facing off against Mauga inside Mauga’s Cage Fight ultimate. It’s a fairly uneventful fight with Ramattra standing there, forced to take the Samoan’s frontal assault until he whittles away and dies. It highlights just how sometimes, there is nothing you can do against the tank.
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One user argued, “Peak Mauga gameplay is just boring. Even if he hadn’t Ulted, the fight would be similar. He’s just Bastion with no tempo and way to disengage.”
Another player thinks Mauga has brought back a hyperfocused energy. They said: “All Mauga has done since release is give everyone “FOCUS THE TANK” energy instead of take out the healers and DPS and it’s kinda funny”
However, others think the interaction is perfectly reasonable. A poster sarcastically posted, “I didn’t survive getting solo Ulted, Mauga broken blizzard pls fix”, imitating the original poster.
Others pointed out that other heroes are getting a chance to shine because of this. In particular, the once notoriously weak Lifeweaver. A user said: “Lifeweaver is getting his shine these days. Easy to yank the tank out this Ult”
It’s hard to say how Mauga will be viewed in the long run. He does feel a little one-dimensional right now but as strategy, counters, and balance changes evolve, perhaps some more nuance will to the fore. Here’s hoping, that after he’s had some time to settle, players can find more fun ways to interact with the big guy.