Jetpack Cat's kit in Overwatch is already causing mayhem

Sombra's about to have competition as the most-banned hero

Overwatch's Jetpack Cat debuts when the revamped hero shooter's new season launches on Feb. 10, but she's already proving herself a complete monster. A handful of Overwatch streamers had a chance to play all five upcoming characters at Blizzard's Irvine, CA, campus after the Overwatch Spotlight, and without fail, she turned every match on its head — and fulfilled Blizzard's promise to encourage and reward more thoughtful team compositions.

Most of the chaos comes from Jetpack Cat's tether ability, which lets her carry an ally through the air with almost no restrictions. Folks quickly discovered how useful it is for making position-based ultimate abilities nearly unstoppable, like throwing D.Va's exploding mech behind cover or giving Cassidy an aerial view of the battlefield during Deadeye targeting.

Overwatch streamer Frogger had Jetpack Cat take his Reinhardt behind enemy lines so he could cast Earthshatter without anyone noticing. You might wonder how the opposing team missed a large flying man with a hammer going over their heads, but Cat's tether is surprisingly hard to spot. The sky(box) is literally the limit to how high she can fly, so if you don't see the initial grapple happen, you probably won't realize what's going on until it's too late. Which is how Frogger managed to pull off several lethal sneak attacks with Reinhardt.

The possibilities are almost endless. Soldier 76 activates Tactical Visor and can see everyone. Wrecking Ball drops mines from the sky. Wuyang puts Tidal Blast on an ally Cat tethered, so she can drop them into the middle of an enemy group right before the wave detonates. Think you escaped from Orisa's Terra Surge? Not for long. Cat's well-timed ultimates, which let her tether an enemy hero, have enormous potential for saving teams, too. Moving Orisa away, for instance. Or safely escorting a Ramattra in Annilihation mode off the edge of the map. Or tethering Reaper mid-Death Blossom, so he can't hurt anyone. Shoot, if you're really good, you could even tether Reinhardt mid-charge and pull him off course.

Cat can change the course of a fight in small ways, too. Overwatch streamer SejFinn discovered Jetpack Cat is a capable assassin during a Circuit Royal match. They flew off the edge of the map and through a side window in the casino building, waited for a lone enemy to appear from the spawn point, and mugged them. A quick combo of laser shots and Cat's scratch ability quickly sent them back to spawn before they even knew what happened.

In a match during YouTuber Aspen's stream, an enemy Cat pulled Domina out from behind her shield so their team could swarm in without having to dismantle every piece of the shield. Later, Aspen, playing as Cat, dragged her team's Domina from the spawn point to the middle of a clash, so she could drop her shield and save her struggling team. And a few minutes after that, Aspen hid above the enemy spawn point with Domina (and her fully charged ultimate) tethered. Once the enemy team left the spawn, the still-unseen Domina cast her ultimate and trapped everyone in sight. Sure, they could still move, but were they focused on reaching the objective anymore? Nope.

Jetpack Cat is the ultimate distraction bait. Every time Cat appeared, at least one teammate (usually more) broke off to try and shoo them away, even if it meant leaving their team unsupported. It's a real split-second risk-reward evaluation. Jetpack Cat might not have the damage output of Sombra or Tracer, but she throws a big enough wrench into plans that allowing her to fly around unbothered poses a big threat to your team.

So abilities that hinder have suddenly become a heck of a lot more important than they were before. Mauga's cage match ultimate cancels the tether and prevents Jetpack Cat from using it until the cage disappears, and Cassidy's flashbang and Mizuki's Binding Chain keep Cat from escaping. Which, it turns out, is surprisingly essential. In most of the clips from the event, the only time Jetpack Cat players were eliminated was after getting hindered or by a Jetpack Cat from the opposing team. Even Emre players struggled to hit the critter, despite using his high-powered hitscan rifle designed to deal with flying characters.

If the way Blizzard has reworked Sombra’s kit over the last few years is any indication, Jetpack Cat seems destined for nerfs and changes. If they do happen, though, I hope they're minor. Jetpack Cat's chaos is the catalyst for new team strategies and different ways to think about what your favorite heroes can do — the same goal Blizzard rebuilt Overwatch around in 2025 that helped get the struggling game back on its feet.

We'll find out soon enough, either way. Jetpack Cat will be playable on Feb. 10, when Overwatch season one starts.