Overwatch 2 players lose their minds over hilarious “ZenYeeta” kick buff

Zenyatta now has the power to quite literally ‘yeet’ his opponents off any given map in the Overwatch 2 Beta thanks to some hefty buffs in the May 5 patch. Just hours after the change rolled out and players are already loving everything about his new kick.

After struggling to find his footing early in the Beta, Zenyatta buffs arrived as part of a May 5 update. While a number of changes were made to the popular Omnic, a new passive ability has stolen the show.

Put simply, Zen can now kick harder than any other hero in Overwatch 2.

A unique passive known as ‘Snap Kick’ was designed to “help him create space,” Blizzard explained in the patch notes. While the devs outlined how this new ability “significantly increases knockback” for Zen’s kick, no one was prepared for just how significant the buff really was.

With just the tap of a button, Zen mains can send their opponents flying. Regardless of whether it’s a smaller target like Mei or a giant Tank like Reinhardt, Zen doesn’t care. His robot boot hits just the same and players are captivated by the change.

In announcing Zen’s upgrade, the official Overwatch Twitter account labeled it a “superkick.” With an example attached from content creator Stylosa, we see poor Tracer flying to her demise in the practice range, all as a result of one simple kick.

Diving into the new update themselves, players in the Overwatch 2 Beta soon realized the potential. This knockback effect applies to everyone, even Tanks with their increased knockback resistance can still be launched off their feet.

“This is the new meta: Zen floating around looking for environmentals,” players joked after seeing the wild buffs in action.

For some, this adjustment is more than welcome. Various Support mains chimed in to call it the “best change in a long time.”

Not only were experienced Zen fans pleased by the buffs in general, as many argued he’s “needed something for a while,” but others were relieved the kick didn’t come at the expense of any other abilities.

“As a Zen main I’m very very glad they understand that giving him a generic escape ability would be uninteresting and lazy,” Reddit user ‘Rhannmah’ said. “Good job Blizz design team for tackling the problem without touching the character’s core design principles.”

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With many now hoping this sticks for the long run, players in the Beta are even suggesting more improvements for Zen’s new powers. 

“Zenny should have a foot instead of a fist in the kill feed,” one player suggested. Perhaps that’s something we’ll see in the next update, assuming this buff stays in effect.

It’s still early days yet so there’s no telling if Blizzard intends to keep Zen’s kick around for the long run. Heroes will likely see multiple balance changes and ability reworks over the next few months, so there’s no telling how any fan favorites will look by the time Overwatch 2 releases in full.

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For now though, if you have access to the Beta, kick-happy Zen is live for you to experiment with. If you missed out on early Twitch drops though, there’s still a final chance to earn your spot.

Be sure to brush up with our rundown on all there is to know about the Overwatch 2 Beta.