Support mains are fed up with waiting over 10 minutes to queue up for Overwatch 2 matches this week, and they’re pointing the finger at Illari, the new support hero.
Usually, when a new hero arrives, whether in OW2 or any other game, they become the most-played character because players are excited to test out their kit and determine whether they’re a viable champion or one they’d like to add to their pool. This has been the same in Overwatch, where the support role has been booming since Illari joined.
While it’s typically one of the most underrated and stigma-ridden roles, it’s exciting to see so many people trying it out. But for support mains, it’s become a nightmare, with many demanding something be changed as queue times climb.
This issue hasn’t popped up for other roles; tanks can get into a match in under one minute and damage in under five. The problem only increases with every rank too, meaning it could take supports over 10 minutes to get into one lobby.
If OW2 is your after-work or school guilty pleasure, you may only have a little time to wait around in a queue to play one or two matches before you have to call it a day.
The issue has gotten so bad that Overwatch players are demanding changes to the queue system again, or at the very least, for Blizzard to change something.
You may be wondering why this is happening, and there’s a logical reason—Illari. Ever since Illari launched in August, the pick rate for the support role skyrocketed and is almost neck-and-neck with the damage role, according to Overbuff, one of the top OW2 stat trackers. Mercy is still the most picked support hero too, so the rising queue times may also be a result of the Elon Musk and Amber Heard Mercy roleplaying reveal (though that’s less likely).
Hopefully, once everyone has had a chance to play Illari, things will return to normal, and we’ll get decent queue times.
Until then, if you’re a support player in Overwatch 2 casual or ranked play, you may just want to consider switching to tank or damage or choose another time to play. Bet you’d never expect that to pop up as an issue.
