Why was Competitive Mystery Heroes removed from Overwatch 2?

At its core, Overwatch 2 is a game that rewards players for mastering its ever-evolving character pool.

Mystery Heroes takes things to another level for players who are able to flex this muscle, think fast on the fly, and make the most out of the comps that they’re dealt. With this RNG-filled formula, its fans have seen Mystery Heroes go from a quirky limited-time mode in the original title to having its own full-on ranked queue at the start of season three.

Amid the addition of the Stranded Spawns system, major ranked changes, and the latest meta-defining hero balancing wave, however, Blizzard Entertainment removed the Competitive Mystery Heroes queue unannounced with the launch of season four. Here’s what you need to know about the state of the popular mode.

Overwatch 2’s Competitive Mystery Heroes removed in season four, explained

The reason why Competitive Mystery Heroes was abruptly axed was that it’s one of Blizzard’s “seasonal rank modes,” according to Overwatch 2 server engineer Morgan Maddren on Twitter.

“I miss it too,” Maddren said. “MH was one of our seasonal rank modes, but it looks like we didn’t communicate that well. Given how much fun it was, I imagine it will come back at some point.”

At the time of writing, the Competitive playlist contains just the standard Role and Open queues.

For season four, players are invited to try out the new three-vs-three deathmatch LTM B.O.B. and Weave, which centers around Overwatch 2’s new support hero. In May, players will also get a new four-vs-four mode called Starwatch: Galactic Rescue, as well as see the Battle for Olympus event return with a TDM twist.

As for Mystery Heroes and those looking for similar alternatives to the staple Competitive offerings, it remains to be seen just if and when a new development will occur.