Here’s why Illari cannot be played in ranked games.

Overwatch 2 has removed Illari from its competitive mode. Read on for the details plus screenshots indicating why the support hero is being investigated by the Overwatch 2 team.

Update: Illari is now back in the game.

Illari cannot be selected in ranked games (Image via Blizzard Entertainment)
Illari cannot be selected in ranked games (Image via Blizzard Entertainment)

Overwatch 2 removes Illari from ranked games

Competitive Overwatch 2 players cannot select Illari as a support hero at the moment. This is because Blizzard removed her from ranked games. According to community manager Kaedi, the Overwatch 2 team is investigating an issue with Illari's ammunition.

Kaedi acknowledges Illari's removal from Overwatch 2 (Image via Blizzard Entertainment)
Kaedi acknowledges Illari's removal from Overwatch 2 (Image via Blizzard Entertainment)

"Illari has been disabled for [competitive play] as we investigate an issue with her ammunition not resetting correctly," the post stated.

A video posted by content creator mL7 showcased this Illari issue. Typically, when an Overwatch 2 hero uses up all of their ammunition, they go through a brief reload period. However, mL7's video showed the support hero's infinite ammunition.

Illari with negative and infinite ammunition (Image via mL7)
Illari with negative and infinite ammunition (Image via mL7)

"So Twitch chat is telling me that there's a bug right now with Illari in which you get infinite ammo," mL7 said. After mL7 took 16 shots as the hero, Illari received negative ammunition. The content creator then left his desk as the Illari continued to fire shots without reloading at all.

The content creator leaves his desk (Image via mL7)
The content creator leaves his desk (Image via mL7)

Blizzard acknowledged this bug through the aforementioned post on the Blizzard Forums. The bug arrived following the patch on Jan. 9, which featured updates to Mauga, Orisa, Roadhog, Sojourn, Sombra, Ana, Lifeweaver, and Illari herself.

Mauga is a highlight in the Overwatch 2 patch notes for Jan. 9 (Image via Blizzard Entertainment)
Mauga is a highlight in the Overwatch 2 patch notes for Jan. 9 (Image via Blizzard Entertainment)

As of Jan. 10, Illari still cannot be selected in ranked games. However, we will update you here if this changes soon.

That's all for now. Stick around on esports.gg for more news and updates.