Edge-Boosting: Trimping in Overwatch

Seasoned demoknights know that ‘trimping’ in Team Fortress 2 is the act of charging at an angle in such a way as to send you flying through the air significantly farther than you normally would. It’s a core ability of the demoknight that sets him apart from any other class in the game, and if you’ve never heard of it, iReima has a bunch of them in the videos on his channel:

I wrote an article about trimping a while back at the behest of a fuzzy pink fluffball. While I confess I’ve never really gotten the hang of the movement myself, as I never play Demoman without the Sticky Launcher or Sticky Jumper, I can appreciate its utility in the field. I’ve also had Demoknight friends who dislike how slow everything feels in Overwatch, considering Lucio is somehow the fastest class in the game.

Luckily, as people get better with Genji, they’re starting to find a lot of nifty movement tricks to keep opponents on their toes. Even with the multiple nerfs to try and keep his mobility in check, the tactic of “edge-boosting” is alive and well at the time of this writing, and it utilizes a pretty similar tactic to Team Fortress 2’s trimping:

By hitting an edge at a slight angle, Genji can combo his wall-climbing ability with his swordstrike to project himself through the air. This can be amazing for reaching the backfield of the enemy lines, or for escaping in a pinch. I watch Seagull’s stream, and he regularly uses this tactic to great effect, in a way that I can’t help but remind me of the Demoknights of yore.

Will it last? No way to know for sure. Blizzard so far has been targeting the poor cyborg ninja in much the same way as Valve targets the Demoknight, as the complaints of the deceased outweigh the desire of the killers for exploit-induced high skill ceilings. They also have a proven track record of murdering any unintended mechanics the playerbase finds in the base abilities, and Genji in particular has lost a lot of bizarre synergies that increase his mobility. Perhaps an express ticket to the backfield for Overwatch’s most deadly flanker isn’t something Blizzard is interested in leaving in the game. But for the time being, if there are any demoknight mains who have avoided Overwatch because they thought Reinhardt was the closest thing to their favorite knight, maybe this will give you reason to mull it over.

Update: It dead. Hope you enjoyed it!