Okay, so everyone’s been talking about Mauga since he landed. Big guy, big guns, big trouble, right? When he first showed up, I jumped straight into games, thinking my usual picks would handle him. Man, was I wrong.
First Attempts – Total Fail
My first thought was, mirror match? Nah, didn’t have him unlocked or just didn’t feel like it. So I went with some tanks I usually play. Tried ramming him with Reinhardt. Felt like hitting a brick wall that just healed itself back up. He’d pop that Cardiac Overdrive thing, light me up, and his supports would keep him topped off. My shield? Melted. Me? Melted.
Then I figured, okay, maybe burst damage? Switched to Reaper. Got close, unloaded the shotguns. He’d just Overrun away or pop his Cardiac again and face-tank it while shooting back. If I got caught in his Cage Fight ultimate? Forget about it. Trapped in there, he just doesn’t die easily one-on-one, especially with his lifesteal going.
I spent a good few matches just getting rolled, honestly. Trying different DPS, different tanks. Nothing felt consistently good. He just seemed to sustain through everything I threw at him. It was getting pretty frustrating.
Figuring Things Out – What Started Working
Then I started thinking less about pure damage and more about stopping him. What stops healing? What stops him shooting? That led me to try Ana.
Bingo. Landing a good Biotic Grenade on him when he’s trying to heal himself or during his ult? Huge difference. Suddenly he wasn’t immortal. Sleep Dart was also great for interrupting his Overrun charge or just taking him out of the fight for a second. This felt like the first real breakthrough.
On the tank side, I gave Sigma a go. His Experimental Barrier could block some damage, sure, but the real winner was Kinetic Grasp. Absorbing all that bullet spam from Mauga felt good, and it built up shields for me. Accretion (the rock) could also knock him out of his Overrun or just disrupt him. It felt like I actually had tools to manage him.
also turned out pretty decent. Defense Matrix eats up so much of his damage output. You have to manage it carefully, but flashing it when he goes hard can save you or a teammate. Plus, her mobility lets you get angles or dive his supports.
Other Stuff I Found Useful
Playing around more, I noticed a few other things seemed to work okay:
- Bastion: In his assault form, he can pour out enough damage to sometimes overwhelm Mauga’s healing, especially if Ana hits him with an anti-nade first. But you need protection, Bastion’s a big target too.
- Zenyatta: That Discord Orb is nasty for Mauga. Makes him way easier to burn down for the whole team. You gotta position well though, Zen is squishy.
- Sombra: Hacking Mauga is annoying for him. Stops his Overrun charge, stops him popping Cardiac Overdrive. It doesn’t completely shut him down, but the disruption helps a lot.
So yeah, that was my process. A lot of getting stomped, then trying to think smarter, not just shoot harder. For me, the big counters ended up being heroes who could deny his healing or abilities, rather than just trying to out-damage him directly. Ana and Sigma became my go-to picks when facing him. Still takes teamwork, though. You can’t just pick a counter and expect an easy win, but it definitely makes dealing with Mauga feel way more possible.
