Our only goal is to make you a better Mei player
If you are an experienced player, just jump to the bottom for the Tips and Tricks. If you are a new Mei player, then welcome and start right here.
Mei is one of the least played Heroes in the game. That said, her win rate in competitive play near 50%%. This is great news for Mei players since a) Your hero is awesome and b) many players won't have much experience dealing with her. Mei is all about delaying the enemy. Whether it’s using her Ice Wall, or her ultimate ability to freeze a large area, she’s all about buying you and your team time. It’s a role that’s often unappreciated and misunderstood. She can cause huge problems if left unchecked as she can quite comfortably take on most enemy Heroes 1 on 1.
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Pros |
Cons |
|---|---|
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Amazing zoning potential thanks to her Ultimate ability and Ice Wall |
To be at her best she has to be at close range, risking her own life |
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A nuisance Hero that can delay for lengthy periods |
Her Ice Wall takes skill to use effectively |
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Capable of easily taking on many Heroes 1 on 1 |
She’s predominantly there to help others secure kills |
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Can delay many objectives for lengthy periods of time |
Her role and its value is often overlooked |
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Has a flexible kit that's useful in most situations |
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Story
Though many blamed the planet's escalating, unexplained climate phenomena on the advent of new technologies, the rapidly growing omnic population, and drastically increased consumption of resources, the true cause remained unknown. To find a solution, Overwatch established a series of eco-Watchpoints at remote, critical locations worldwide.
Mei-Ling Zhou was a member of this multi-year initiative. A peerless climatologist, she had introduced cutting-edge innovations in the field of climate manipulation that protected at-risk areas in Asia and beyond. She was assigned to the program's monitoring station at Watchpoint: Antarctica when disaster struck: a sudden, catastrophic polar storm battered the installation and cut it off from the outside world, leaving the facility damaged and the scientists stranded. As their supplies dwindled, they entered cryostasis in a last-ditch effort to survive until a rescue attempt could be made.
But that rescue never came. It was years later when the team's cryogenics chamber was finally discovered. Mei, still in hibernation, was the only survivor. The world Mei awoke to had gone through considerable changes: Overwatch was no more, the serious climate issues had worsened, and none of the eco-watchpoints were in operation. Any clues that they had uncovered were lost.
Mei decided to continue her work on her own. Equipped with a portable version of her climate-manipulation technology, she traveled around the world, hoping to re-establish the eco-network and track down the causes of the threats to the planet's ecosystem.
At some point Mei rescued nest of endangered arctic wildlife from a collapsing glacier using her technology. Her deeds were reported on by Olympia Shaw.
Abilities
Endothermic Blaster - Providing Mei with one of the best crowd controls in the game, Endothermic Blaster has both a left click and right click functionality. Her Left Click provides a continuous stream of cold that chills enemies it hits, slowing them before eventually freezing them. It takes around 2 seconds of continuous exposure to freeze someone completely.
Tip - Mei cannot freeze enemies protected by Barriers. Wait until they've dropped.
Her alternative fire allows Mei to fire an icicle from the gun, dealing very high damage but with a delay. As far as her “combo” is concerned, you should be aiming to freeze players before following up with an alternative fire (or two) at their head. If that doesn’t finish them off, usually a fist will. It should also be noted that the projectile and reload speed of her icicles are fast. You can send out multiple in a very short space of time and should you need to poke from afar, use them as often as possible.
Cryo-Freeze - Providing Mei with invulnerability and an ability to heal herself over time, Cryo-Freeze is invaluable. Not only will it save your life, but you can also use it to buy yourself time so that while you’re in your ice block, your other skills can come off cooldown. Clever use of this skill can not only allow Mei to bait skills from opponents, but it can also ensure that you can quite comfortably take on 2 players at once. I will forewarn however that misusing Cryo-Freeze can leave you particularly vulnerable and the enemy can capitalize on this by waiting next to you, until you appear.
Tip - Cryo-Freeze is amazing at allowing Mei to avoid all Ultimate abilities - make use of this when you hear Heroes should their Ultimate ability
Ice Wall - One of her strongest zoning skills, Ice Wall allows Mei to place one anywhere she wishes. It lasts several seconds or until destroyed and is invaluable at blocking paths or trapping enemy players to prevent them from escaping. Although you can use your Ice Wall in front of an escort vehicle, it will crumble if the payload runs through it. It’s best to use your Ice Wall to seperate out single players or defend against ranged attacks. I’ll also add that Mei’s Ice Wall is perfect for allowing her to reach areas she normally can’t. If you place it below your feet, you’ll rise with the Ice Wall. Practice doing this, to reach balconies and walkways, gives her a much greater ability to flank and be a nuisance for the enemy.
Tip - Ice Wall can be used to block some Ultimate abilities such as Roadhog's or Reinhardt's Earth Shatter.
Blizzard - Probably one of the strongest Ultimate abilities in the game, Blizzard allows Mei to zone a large portion of a single area. Once Blizzard activates (around 1 second after you launch the capsule) players caught in the area will be frozen after 3 seconds of exposure. They’ll remain frozen until the skill expires and it’s at this point that you and your team should capitalize and burn them down as quickly as possible. Unsurprisingly and due to the nature of Blizzard, it’s best used in close quarter environments or where the enemy team are grouped together. It’s particularly strong on Payload where the enemy team tends to stand on the moving vehicle. If you place your Ice Wall on the side of the Blizzard where the enemies are trying to escape it, you can deny them their freedom.
Fun Fact - Using your primary fire on enemies in the Blizzard will freeze them faster, you don't have to just wait for them to freeze.
Strategy
Mei is strongest when she’s isolating enemies. Ice wall can very easily separate one enemy from their team, allowing you to kill them quickly. Enemies will have to clump very close to avoid being singled out by an ice wall, and clumping as 6 is very a great idea. When the fights start, you can freeze priority targets such as Lucio, or Zenyatta to take them out of the fight early.
When it comes to dealing with tanks, Mei’s role is to simply CC them rather than take them on 1 on 1. Although she can comfortably strafe around Reinhardt and keep Roadhog frozen, she can’t burst either down quick enough by herself. You’re best dealing with all tanks alongside your team and if you do find yourself alone with one, quickly freeze them, annoy them and stay out of their damage range.
Finally, try to always save your Ultimate ability for maximum impact rather than just securing one kill. Mei is particularly powerful on King of the Hill maps because of the enemy team grouping up on the objective. Using it at the right time can make or break a match, regardless of your opponents.
Matchups
Heroes listed here are particularly challenging for Mei. While those listed can still be killed, they pose a particularly difficult challenge for her so be sure to take extra care.
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Hero |
Threat |
|---|---|
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Pharah: Unsurprisingly Pharah is difficult for Mei to deal with because she will spend the majority of her time in the air, rather than on the ground. Her range, combined with her mobility makes it near impossible for you to pin her down. Even if you do begin to freeze her, she’ll simply jetpack into the sky and bombard you from avoid. The only good thing Mei can do against Pharah is use her alternative fire at her when she begins to cast her Ultimate. As a stationary target, it’s super easy to pop her out the sky. |
9/10 |
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Genji: His speed, combined with his ability to attack you from ranged makes hitting Genji very tough. Even if you do send projectiles his way, he can deflect them. Although you stand a good chance of freezing him in a close quarter environment, a skilled Genji will easily slip away. |
7/10 |
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Tracer: Probably the hardest Hero to kill as Mei, Tracer is simply too quick. Her movement is so fast you’ll never reliability hit her with your alternative fire and she teleports too often to freeze her completely. Even if you use your Ice Wall, she can often rewind past it or zip out of the way. She’s a real nightmare and the only chance you stand at killing her is for someone else to intervene. |
10/10 |
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Roadhog: Purely because of his ability to heal himself, he can survive most of what you throw at him. If he hooks you, although you can Cryo-Freeze to defend yourself you’ll then be in a repeat pattern where you freeze him, he heals - rinse and repeat. More often than not Roadhog will come out on top simply because his hook/cannon combo is guaranteed to kill you and if he lands it when your Cryo-Freeze is on cooldown, it’s game over. |
7/10 |
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Reaper: Primarily due to his ability to make himself temporarily immune, Reaper is a real challenge. Although you can often freeze him, if he happens to have Wraith Form available you’re going to be in trouble. Even with Cryo-Freeze to avoid his burst damage, he’ll then reposition to be able to attack you once you reappear. Considering Reaper is also strongest at close range, just a few rounds from his pistols will kill you. If you get the drop on him, force him to use Wraith Form early and then wait until he appears. You can then freeze him again. |
8/10 |
Tips
This list of tips and tricks are just a handful of things we think will help your Mei play. We'll continue to add to the list as required and if you have any tips you'd like to share, let us know in the comments below and we'll place them here.
Great Wall Jumps on Dorado.
Edits4Hire trickery, this time on Numbani.
Wall jumping on Temple of Anubis
Learn how to melee effectively
Mei Guide by Dibz
Acting as a Tank / Contesting as Mei
1. You can rotate your wall 90 degrees before placing it by pressing the E button again. Use this to divide your opponents.
2. Her strongest combo is to freeze an opponent, use her alternative fire at their head (as much as possible) before using a melee attack, if they’re still alive.
3. Your Ice Wall is as much use for defense as it is offence. Blocking out a player from retreating, or trapping them in a room with you is Mei’s biggest strength.
4. Your Cryo-Freeze is invaluable at not only healing Mei, but buying her time so that her other skills come off cooldown. Make use of this when you’re fighting 1 on 1.
5. With enough practice you can exit Cryo-Freeze and place an Ice Wall between you and your enemy before they even react. This allows you to escape quite easily but relies on you perfecting the cancellation/Ice Wall.
6. You can cancel Cryo-Freeze at any time by pressing the Left Mouse button. This is particularly useful when you want to take your enemy by surprise.
7. Using your alternative fire when poking from afar is viable but it’s also very hard to land, the fact that it is a projectile, combined with the delay before it fires, leaves a style of shooting that you will need to practice with.
8. Only ever use your Blizzard ability when you can freeze multiple enemies. It’s a complete waste to just freeze a single opponent.
9. Blizzard is best used on Control Points or against a Payload. It’ll significantly increase your chances of freezing multiple foes.
10. Use your Ice Wall to single out Heroes like Reinhardt from the rest of their team, making them easy kills.
11. By rotating your wall sideways you can often split the enemy team in half giving you an advantage for a few seconds.
12. Your Ice Wall blocks D.Va's ultimate.
13. Your Ice Wall blocks Reinhardt's charge.
14. Your Ice Wall will knock your teammates out of Zarya's utlimate if placed properly.
15. Block an enemies line of sight by throwing a wall up in front of them. Especially useful versus Bastions, Torbjorn Turrets and snipers.
16. Ice Wall can be used to lift yourself or a teammate to a better position.
17. Use your Ice Wall to block Ana's line of sight keeping her from healing your opponents.
18. Ice Block will stop an enemy Reinhardt's charge.
19. Be careful around enemy Symmetra players as they can charge their weapon off your wall.
20. If you get stuck in a Junkrat trap look down and melee OR throw a wall at your feet. Both will break the trap and destroy the mine if there is one.
21. You can stall the enemy team for about 10 seconds by walling yourself into a corner on a point and then using your Ice Block when the wall fails.
22. Use your wall to allow your team to move through points uncontested. You can block or divide your opponents easily and often.
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