While Blizzard Entertainment's team-based hero shooter Overwatch came out in 2015, die-hard fans continue to find new ways to take advantage of its maps and underlying systems for flashy or easier victories. For example, an ambush strategy using a Lijiang Tower perch was recently pointed out on Reddit, and last week another player took to the social media site and let fans know about a clever trick to deal with Mei.
Mei is one of the original Overwatch characters, and her focus on utilizing ice-based attacks and abilities to freeze opponents or guard her team has long been considered annoying to deal with. Blizzard has nerfed Mei as recently as April 2020 as a result. One ability she is well-known for is Cryo-Freeze, which encases the Chinese Hero in an invincible block of ice for up to four seconds, healing herself and potentially obstructing pathways in the process.
However, Reddit user bluebey posted a simple solution for dealing with Mei's Cryo-Freeze to the r/Overwatch subreddit on November 24 that uses another of the game's original characters: Junkrat. The Overwatch character is able to toss out a steel bear trap as one of his abilities, which immobilizes and deals damage to an opponent that comes into contact. Much to the surprise of many, bluebey showed this trap can be placed on top of Mei's ice, thus latching onto her as soon as she ends the ability.
I find it amusing that you can put a junk trap on top of Mei's head while she's an ice cube from Overwatch
This post has nearly 13-thousand upvotes as of this writing, with comments from players who say they have gotten gold or diamond borders (the latter earned when players reach level 2,401, according to the Overwatch Wiki) saying they never knew about the trick. The original poster said they only found out about it by accident, but with major competitive events like the Overwatch Contenders 2020 Gauntlet starting up it should be interesting to see whether professional-level players use similar tactics to win.
Though Mei has a contentious place in the gameplay history of Overwatch as a whole, many players have latched onto her character in spite of these frustrations. Last year, fans used Mei as a symbol of the Hong Kong pro-democracy protests, as Blizzard was in hot water for its controversial banning of Hearthstone player Ng Wai "Blitzchung" Chung.
Whether or not Mei remains an infamous character upon the still-nebulous release of Overwatch 2 remains to be seen, but if she does tricks like this Junkrat steel trap placement may continue to be solid counters. Some feel the Overwatch League Season 4 start date may tease Overwatch 2's release, but fans will likely have to wait until BlizzCon 2021 to find out more about the anticipated sequel.
Overwatch is available now on PC, PS4, Nintendo Switch, and Xbox One.
Source: Overwatch Wiki