An Overwatch Contenders support player was able to take advantage of a very specific detail on Lijiang Tower to save the point and win the game for his team.
Overwatch 2’s KOTH maps can create some of the tightest matches with both teams fighting for control of the objective on three unique areas in a BO3.
In order to make the maps fair, they’re “mirrored” on both sides so neither team has any sort of edge, but it turns out that that isn’t always the case and even the smallest detail can pay dividends.
In a Twitch stream, Trick Room’s James ‘MagicM8Ball’ Macpherson showed how during his team’s lower-bracket match with WISP, a piece of map geometry on spawn made the difference between winning and losing.
Unique map geometry gives Overwatch teams an edge on Lijiang
In the match, the first map on Lijiang Tower Night Market was nearing its end with Contenders‘ WISP in control of the point and inching towards a 100% of the objective.
After respawning, the Lucio player made a mad dash for the point to contest and was able to get to it in the nick of time, but only due to a special piece of the map only found on one side.
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During the rollout from spawn, the Lucio player performed wall rides and jumps to get back fast and there’s a piece of geometry you need to use to get back quicker. The catch is that while the blue side can use it, the red side cannot.
“This is so stupid. Look at this thing,” he said, pausing the replay to show that an object he wall rode on wasn’t available on his opponent’s side. “You can’t do the rollout here. The only reason we win is because we’re on blue side.”
The pro later said that he hoped that someone would bring this up with the developers, adding that it’s “very important” for the balance of the game.
It’s wild to think that something so minor can change the outcome of a whole game, but it likely did, as Trick Room ended up securing the W in the match 3-2, but it wouldn’t have happened if his team was on the red side.