Another is any game that adjusts comeback mechanics during the course of a match, because I’ve never understood punishing someone for playing well

The idea behind it is aiming for a close ending for a variety of skill sets by trying to balance things as the last minute, but it certainly feels like punishing anyone who does well early on.

Some implementations are kinda fun when they seem like actual balancing, but only if they are early enough for the winning team/person to be able to address and not some unstoppable surprise on the last lap/few seconds of a match like a blue shell in Mario Kart.