Mauga’s a massive wall of flesh with two guns to match and countering him can be quite difficult. Here’s how to counter Mauga in Overwatch 2.
Best Mauga Counters for All Roles in Overwatch 2
Mauga is a brawler tank that excels at one thing: pumping out a lot of damage. And when he’s able to ignite you or your teammates, that can spell disaster in the form of a quick death. Fortunately, he has quite a few counters.
Best Tanks to Counter Mauga in Overwatch 2
Mauga’s a miniboss with the amount of firepower he can put out, and he’s particularly effective against other tanks. But there are a handful that counter him.
- Sigma
Sigma is a hard counter to Mauga for two reasons. His Experimental Barrier and his Kinetic Grasp. Both delete Mauga’s damage. Experimental Barrier can be used to protect long lines of sight and the rest of the team, and Kinetic Grasp takes advantage of Mauga’s barrage and gives Sigma overhealth.
Likewise, if you end up burnt by Mauga, you can play around both of Sigma’s abilities to wait out the effect and prevent criticals. It’s also very easy to hit Mauga with Accretion, and it can be used to knock him after he uses his very long, very telegraphed Charge attack. Disrupting his aggressive barrage after this charge is essential, as you can’t depend on your stunned team to immediately get on their feet and counter him.
Here’s the rub: Sigma performs best against Mauga at very close range. You need to be able to eat up his bullets and prevent Mauga from stomping your supports, which any half-decent Mauga will do.
- D.Va
Mauga’s a brawler, but his charge is very telegraphed, making D.Va a diving, damage-eating menace. But it’s not a perfect matchup. D.Vas have to be cautious diving Mauga from the front. Instead, the ideal way to play D.Va is to dive and poke, using a combination of good angles, vertical advantage, and Micro Missiles and Defense Matrix to eat away at his health.
Her Boosters also ensure that she can avoid Overrun, and unlike Mauga she never has to reload. But where D.Va really excels is against an aggressive Mauga who uses his Overrun to dive. D.Va is a fantastic backline babysitter who can easily punish a Mauga who goes out of position.
But if your backline proves to be more than capable of taking care of themselves, D.Va can also devastate Mauga’s backline, as he’s not going to be there to peel for them. Take advantage of that to kill their squishies like healers and DPS who prefer long-range battles, like Ashe or Widowmaker.
Best Damage to Counter Mauga
Damage should have a field day charging their ults and stats with Mauga’s giant hitbox. But there are some Damage heroes that simply excel.
- Bastion
Sometimes one giant minigun is stronger than two giant miniguns. And, somehow, that’s the case with Bastion. There’s no massive secret here, Bastion can simply take advantage of his higher DPS and Mauga’s giant hitbox to delete Mauga from the match for ten seconds and however long it takes for Mauga to walk from spawn.
- Mei
It might seem odd to see Mei on this list, but a tactical player can use Mei to great advantage. Ice Wall should be reserved for blocking a charging Mauga from the rest of his team. Or, alternatively, ensuring that you or a teammate don’t die to focus fire.
Meis that get burnt or focused can easily Cryo-Freeze to remove the status effect. Likewise, this ability can be used to avoid being hit by a Charge or to wait out Mauga’s Ultimate. And Mei’s ultimate, Blizzard, is a similar radius to Mauga’s Ultimate, Cage Fight. But now it’s a fight that Mei is almost guaranteed to win.
Likewise, Mei can hit Mauga from a distance with her alternative fire.
Best Supports to Counter Mauga
Supports have taken on a powerful role in Overwatch 2’s latter seasons. And they’re particularly powerful against our favorite Samoan.
- Ana
Mauga does a lot of damage, but he also takes a lot of damage. Even Ana’s with middling aim can land a Biotic Grenade or Sleep Dart on Mauga’s massive hit box. Landing both almost ensures that Mauga turns into Ultimate Fodder and is given an expedited ticket back to spawn.
Alternatively, Ana’s capable of pumping out a ton of healing by using her Biotic Grenade defensively and keeping her front liners alive with her Biotic Grenade. Her Sleep Dart can also be used defensively when an aggressive Mauga charges in, leaving him vulnerable and out of position.
- Kiriko
Kiriko earns her place on this list because can remove half of Mauga’s kit with her Protection Suzu.
The Protection Suzu will remove Mauga’s burn and get your teammates back on their feet if they get knocked to the ground by Mauga’s charge. Likewise, it can save teammates who are about to get deleted by Mauga’s focus fire, and temporarily prevent a teammate from getting obliterated in Cage Fight, though you should avoid being in Cage Fight as much as possible. The fact that Mauga has a massive hitbox and headbox also makes it easy for Kiriko to land those Kunai hits, ensuring she gets her Ultimate even faster.
But if Kiriko isn’t your style, then Zenyatta is a great choice.
- Zenyatta
After Zenyatta’s adjustments, it can be hard to keep a Discord on Mauga, as they’re prone to ducking into cover. But sometimes, the best defense is a good offense.
Zenyatta’s high damage and Discord Orb will help destroy Mauga’s health pool, making Mauga much more defensive. Zenyatta’s position in the backline will also mean that you can get out of the way of any Charge attack or simply duck into cover when Mauga’s trying to delete you.
However, a Mauga’s determined to get up close and person to you will destroy you. Zenyatta simply doesn’t have the ability to run away.
Zenyatta’s Transcendence might be the ultimate counter to Mauga’s Cage Fight. Just wait until your team is love within the Cage, step inside, and Ult. Mauga’s 90% of the time will stand there looking sad, and that’s always a highlight.
