Return of the Sneaky Legend

Season 5 of Apex Legends was released Wednesday, bringing in a whole slew of changes to Kings Canyon, the guns and the Legends. While Loba’s introduction to the game is one of the larger changes players will notice, another Legend has surfaced; this is about the return of Mirage to the competitive scene.

Many avid players of Apex Legends will know that Mirage has seen better days. The Great Bamboozler had a kit that just couldn’t keep up with the rest of the roster. The one advantage that he had was a minor glitch where using his ultimate at the same time he was knocked down would allow him to shoot his gun while downed. His passive, becoming invisible while downed, only helped him in a losing situation. Mirage’s tactical, a decoy sent to a target location, would easily be spotted by the veteran eye. His ultimate, which created decoys and made Mirage invisible for a few seconds, was only helpful in the event where he could dodge between close buildings, but even then it was not very useful.

You Got Bamboozled!

A brighter future for the most handsome Legend is here! Respawn introduced an entire rework along with the rollout of Season 5. Mirage has a revamped kit which will definitely make him a more viable pick. Here is the rework direct from the patch notes.

• Tactical: Psyche Out
  • Pressing the character utility action button allows Mirage to gain control of his decoy.
  • When controlling the decoy, it will mimic Mirage’s every move.
  • Decoys now last for 60 seconds.
  • Releasing another decoy will remove the previous decoy.
• Ultimate: Life of the Party
  • Mirage deploys a team of decoys that mimic his every move (think “Emergency Dance Party” from DUMMIEs Big Day).
  • Cooldown 60 seconds.
• Passive: Now You See Me…
  • In addition to cloaking when downed, Mirage also cloaks while using a respawn beacon and reviving a teammate (the teammate is also cloaked).
• Mirage’s “You got Bamboozled” line will now trigger when you bamboozle an enemy, instead of when you release a decoy.

Even now, the Mirage pick rate has gone up across all platforms, and while it isn’t a huge change, there is still a noticeable increase. In these charts from DreamTeam, even in the run-up to Season 5, Mirage usage shot up. Pathfinder, on the other hand, took a serious nerf in the form of an extra 20 seconds on his grapple cooldown. His pick rate dropped a few points, and he might not a top tier insta-pick like Wraith.

Now with these new changes, it is possible that Mirage could be a much more viable pick. There is still plenty of time for the meta to shift around this rework. Hopefully, the Bamboozle King will be able to take a spot in the higher tiers of Apex Legends and I won’t get flamed for picking him in competitive.