Overwatch Hero 33: Why Mauga is a Perfect Fit

Overwatch Hero 33 is the next hero up after Echo was announced as the 32nd hero in the game.
Overwatch Hero 33 is the next hero up after Echo was announced as the 32nd hero in the game. / Image courtesy of Blizzard

Overwatch Hero 33 is the next hero up after Echo was announced as the 32nd hero in the game.

While there are certainly some options in the air for who will be the next hero, one stands apart from the rest. His name is Mauga, and you may have heard of him. That's because he is apart of Talon, and is the old friend of Hero 30, Baptise. He also was already meant to be in the game as Hero 31.

Who is Mauga?

Mauga is a member of the organization Talon that rivals Overwatch. He and Baptise worked together before Baptise left and Mauga was forced to chase him down. After reuniting much later, the two fought and Baptise defeated Mauga and seemingly killed him. But, he knew deep down Mauga survived. A revenge tour would make for quite the short story, which Overwatch thrives off of.

Overwatch Hero 33: Why Mauga is a Fit

Simply based off his connection with a hero that is already in the game, Mauga already checks off one reason why he could and should be added. This is because Echo was introduced earlier in Overwatch as having a connection with McCree and the organization itself.

Image courtesy of Blizzard

Also, Talon operatives are continuously added into the game, and with Mauga already confirmed as a member, the trend will likely continue. Plus, with how things ended between Baptise and Mauga, a story line seems due to be wrapped up or continued. Mauga being brought into the game will do just that.

He also already has had his weapons and abilities discussed in Baptiste's short story, "What You Left Behind." He wears heavy armor, dawns two machine guns and has an energy shield used to protect him and his teammates. All of those match up with the majority of tanks already in the game.

And as mentioned earlier, he was meant to be Hero 31 right after his former friend Baptise. However, the build for Hero 31 did not truly fit Mauga, so Jeff Kaplan and game developers decided to take another route with Sigma.

“We really didn’t want to betray the character of Mauga and we didn’t want to betray the game design,” Kaplan told Seagull on his stream at Blizzard HQ. “So we started brainstorming ‘well what is a character that makes more sense for the abilities that are going on here?”

So it is clear that the Samoan tank will be brought into the game eventually, as Kaplan and game developers hold him to a high standard since they are willing to put extra work into his character before his release.

When Will Hero 33 Be Released?

Overwatch Hero 33, who should be Mauga would be released in July or early August, we hope. It will depend on the release of Overwatch 2, as we know there will not be another new hero before the release of the new game. Whether that means Mauga would launch with Overwatch 2, or even be known as Hero 33, is unclear. But what's obvious is this hero should be included somehow, someway.