Forget Pharmercy: Overwatch 2 has a new duo wreaking havoc on the competitive ladder

We’ve all experienced those Overwatch 2 matches where our team’s hitscan DPS just isn’t quite up to snuff. The combination of Pharah with a Mercy to pocket her is a classic pub stomping tool for many players ranked any lower than Platinum or Diamond, but now we have a second lethal combo to look out for—Reinweaver.

Reinhardt’s melee damage makes him a scary force to reckon with in competitive matches, and at lower ELOs, it seems like the only thing that gets in the way of a Reinhardt player is his own recklessness. Or at least, until now, as one May 18 Reddit post demonstrates.

With the addition of Lifeweaver to the OW2 roster, Reinhardt players have found that they have a little bit more free reign to charge in and go for extra spicy, aggressive plays thanks to Life Grip.

Related: Overwatch 2 player finds out what it takes to get play of the game as Lifeweaver

While the common perception of Life Grip is that it’s most useful for saving overextended tanks, players have started to realize that there are many situations where a Reinhardt can occupy some unconventional positioning to catch enemies off guard without fear of dying.

By coordinating with Lifeweaver, Reinhardt players can sneak around and go for otherwise impossible-to-survive charges that lead to environmental kills and early fight pickoffs.

Meanwhile, a combo of Lifeweaver’s Petal Platform and Life Grip has the ability to slingshot heroes, including Reinhardt, setting up dive plays with characters that are otherwise not known for their dive potential. Slingshotting a Reinhardt into enemy lines for a surprise Earthshatter is among the popular highlight reel plays that Lifeweaver is capable of doing.

Lifeweaver still isn’t necessarily a heavily selected character on the competitive ladder. His throughput isn’t quite strong enough to keep up with other main healers, and his large hitbox makes him weak against dive heroes like Sombra, Tracer, and Genji.

But in the right situation, he still shows some potential that makes people believe at some point, with the appropriate tuning, the Reinweaver combo could get mentioned in the same rarified air as Pharmercy.