During an Overwatch League (OWL) qualifier match between the Florida Mayhem and the Paris Eternals, Mayhem pulled off a galaxy-brained strategy that was so innovative it was deemed an ‘illegal maneuver’ by the OWL.
The aforementioned illegal maneuver involved using Mei’s Ice Wall and Symmetra’s Teleporter at the start of Mayhem’s push on the new escort map, Circuit Royal. After Mayhem player (appropriately named) Checkmate positioned an Ice Wall on the top of a building, his teammate Hydrone immediately followed it up by placing a Teleporter on top of said ice wall, allowing his team to pounce on the opposition. The OWL commentators, taken aback by the strategy, noted that there was no way the Eternals could’ve expected Mayhem to push through the point like that. This was apparently for good reason because Mei walls aren’t supposed to do that.
Mayhem’s Mei’s Ice Wall placement was deemed an exploit on the new push map as Ice Walls are only meant to work on flat surfaces like the ground, as opposed to the curved rooftop of a building in Monte Carlo. The awkward nature of Mei’s Ice Wall placement on the rooftop during the match between Mayhem and Paris Eternals clearly goes against this.
Although Mayhem would win the match thanks to their Mei/Symmetra strategy, the maneuver was deemed illegal during a 20-minute broadcast delay following the play. The match was then restarted after the ruling and the Mayhem won yet again albeit without any Mei wall trickery.
Overwatch League head Sean Miller, although acknowledging the play was fun to watch, doubled down on why it was ruled illegal in a Twitter post.
“While we understand this was a fun play, the ruling here is that using a Mei wall to reach unusable locations with the Symmetra teleport is an exploit and has never been allowed in OWL matches,” Miller said, adding that this rule was shared with every Overwatch League team before the start of the season. The official Mayhem account replied to Miller’s tweet with a screenshot of a Twitter DM apologizing for the ruling in a single word.
Overwatch League gimmick plays between Symmetra and Mei aren’t new to the OWL. During a 2020 match between the Los Angeles Gladiators and the Houston Outlaws, the Outlaws pulled off a similar wall teleporter combo on King’s Row, though their feat relied upon expert ability timing rather than new map jank.
This pro-level Mei/Symmetra play probably won’t see the light of day come Overwatch 2’s official release later next year thanks to Mayhem’s flaunting of it in front of the Eternals, the Overwatch devs, and God. So, like with all game-winning strategies we’ve lost thanks to numerous patches, nerfs, and reworks, let’s have a moment of silence for Mayhem’s Mei/Symmetra maneuver. Truly, you were gone too soon.