Overwatch 2 is Officially Beating Marvel Rivals at Its Own Game

Overwatch 2 has been on quite the hot streak as of late. Sure, there have been some hiccups like a divisive change to Overwatch 2’s mythic skins, but since the launch of Stadium, more and more players have been flocking to Blizzard’s hero shooter. Season 20 is promising to be a big one thanks to the new hero, as leaks suggest she will have a massive impact on the hero shooter’s lore. Speaking of lore, a codex is being added so that players can catch up on all of Overwatch 2’s external storytelling directly in-game at any time, which could be a perfect way to kill time while waiting for a match. Add on some rewarding recent events as of late and Progression 2.0 adding more depth to the game, and it’s clear there’s plenty to celebrate.

While Season 20 is shaping up to be much more significant for Blizzard’s hero shooter than Season 19, the upcoming batch of content does have one special attraction that could keep the good times rolling. Said feature is Haunted Masquerade, the latest in a line of special Halloween LTMs that looks as if it could be a ton of fun. On the surface, it looks like just a fun gimmicky mode that sees Overwatch 2’s hero roster rocking large cardboard masks, similar to Marvel Rivals’ Giant-Size Brain Blast. However, Overwatch’s mode seems like it’ll have significantly more depth than Rivals’ basic big-head Team Deathmatch did, with a certain aspect of the special masks even encroaching directly on Marvel Rivals’ territory.

What is Overwatch 2’s Haunted Masquerade Mode?

While specifics of the way to win Haunted Masquerade matches are unclear as of now — perhaps maps will play just as they do in traditional Overwatch — the many masks offered within the game mode are poised to provide a massive shift in their own right. When loading into a Haunted Masquerade match, players will pick from a selection of 22 potential masks within the spawn room, each of which has its own effect. The revealed masks are as follows:

Masks	Abilities
Ana	Reduce all incoming damage by 15%.
Brigitte	Dealing melee damage to enemies heals nearby allies.
Genji	Gain the ability to double jump.
Hanzo	The further the enemy, the more damage dealt to them.
Junkrat	Enemies explode on death.
Juno	Holding jump lets you hover midair.
Lifeweaver	Deal additional damage while on petal platform.
Mei	Increase damage against nearby enemies by 25%.
Mercy	Increase your base health by 20%.
Moira	Constantly regenerate health. Eliminations increase regen rate for 10 seconds.
Orisa	Decreases debuff duration and knockback applied to you.
Ramattra	Slow any nearby enemies by 30%.
Reaper	Dealing damage heals you.
Reinhardt	Gain 50 armor and increase your melee damage.
Roadhog	Gain the ability to heal yourself by 100 health every 30 seconds.
Sojourn	Dealing critical damage generates 50% additional ultimate charge.
Soldier: 76	Increases your attack speed.
Symmetra	Substitutes 50% of your health with shields.
Torbjorn	Gain additional ability that applies armor to you for 10 seconds.
Tracer	Increases movement speed.
Winston	Melee damage now knocks enemies back.
Zenyatta	Applies a mini Orb of Harmony on self.

These masks could open up a whole new world of new strategies for the Overwatch 2 community, as there are some hugely powerful effects available. If masks can be changed during the match, it’s easy to imagine players picking the Orisa mask to quickly remove Ana’s anti-heal or Mauga’s fire when they see them on the opposing team. Reaper could be a menace with Mei’s close-range damage, while Ashe could wreak havoc with Hanzo’s long-range damage increase. Tracer with the Mercy mask’s 20% health increase or Moira’s constant regen sounds similarly terrifying.

How Overwatch 2’s Haunted Masquerade Throws Down the Gauntlet to Marvel Rivals

overwatch 2 season 19 haunted masquerade

While this mode has plenty of potential to be a hit, how exactly Overwatch 2 is beating Marvel Rivals with this addition may not be immediately clear. Sure, it’s more interesting than Rivals’ own LTM that altered the heads of the game’s character models, but that isn’t what’s so surprising about Haunted Masquerade. Instead, it’s that Haunted Masquerade will also feature lore-based team-up abilities. If that sounds familiar, it should, as Marvel Rivals’ bread and butter has been its hero team-ups. While Blizzard hasn’t revealed what these bonus buffs will be (outside of confirming that Brigitte can increase her shield size with the Reinhardt mask equipped just like she did in the Zero Hour animated short), there are some obvious possibilities based on the game’s lore:

Ramattra and Zenyatta
Junkrat and Roadhog
Symmetra and Lifeweaver
Genji and Hanzo
Reaper and Moira
Ana and Soldier: 76
Juno and Mei (seemingly teased in the Overwatch 2 Season 19 trailer)

Unlike Marvel Rivals, players can access these lore-inspired team-ups on their own, meaning there’s no need to beg someone on the team to switch to a certain character so that the team-up is triggered like in Marvel Rivals. This is significant, as though the team-up system keeps Marvel Rivals interesting and shakes things up each season, players rarely get to enjoy certain team-ups since they have to get an ally or two to agree to use a connected hero. This is easier said than done given just how toxic the Marvel Rivals player base can be, so it’s arguably for the best that each player essentially creates the team-up bonus themselves in Overwatch 2.

overwatch-2-brigitte-reinhardt-link — overwatch 2 brig rein shield link

While it’s true that Haunted Masquerade is currently just an LTM, and Overwatch 2 is only “stealing” Marvel Rivals’ main gimmick for a few weeks, if the mode is a hit it could end up inspiring a permanent addition. Players need look no further than Junkenstein’s Labaratory, which debuted in Season 13 and clearly inspired Season 18’s game-changing Stadium mode. Perhaps in a few Seasons’ time, Blizzard will add permanent hero team-ups that are even more comparable to the Marvel Rivals ones, letting Brigitte and Reinhardt link up their shields instead of just paying homage to that moment through a huge Brig barrier. Thanks to Haunted Masquerade, Marvel Rivals is in real danger of losing its most unique concept to the competition.