Season 12 of Overwatch 2 will include the highly anticipated space girl character.

It's been quite a while since I've seen an Overwatch community so excited about a new character as much as Juno. Her trailer has more than 2 million views on YouTube - more than the Overwatch 2 Launch Trailer - and my X feed is full of posts from accounts that are counting down the days to her departure. Everyone wants the spacegirl to come home. She will next week, when season 12 begins Aug. 20.

The season's title "New Frontiers" is misleading. It will not be themed around Juno's planet Mars or space. The majority of the new cosmetics and skins will be based on ancient Egyptian gods. Reaper, the god of Death, will receive a Mythic skin.

Juno is the real reason for logging in. She's a support hero that brings a little Overwatch 1 to Overwatch 2. She's like an enchanted puppeteer, pulling your team in different directions while she glides overhead. Her Mediblaster cannot even headshot which allows her to focus on leading her team. Since Overwatch 2, no hero has been as reliant on teamwork and strategy as Juno. I'm looking forward to seeing what clever team synergies the players come up.

Season 12 will debut Clash, an easy-to-understand game mode in which both teams attempt to capture a series objectives that move farther into the opposite side of the map. I played a few games during a season 10 playtest and it was a mix between king of the hills and Overwatch 1’s assault, or 2-CP, mode. Team fights are fast and get harder as the winning team moves closer to the enemy's spawn. Clash, unlike the other modes, seems to be about running into each other. At least, on the Hanaoka Map that was available in the preview. Next week, a second map based on Overwatch 1's Temple of Anubis will also be available.

Season 12 will also bring a few other notable updates, including:

• Reset your competitive ranking mid-year
• You can prioritize players by using a list of people to avoid as teammates
• Health reductions for mobile support heroes and damage heroes
• Support hero Lifeweaver with improvements that also make it easy to counter his mobility
• Game Pass members can receive 30 Mythic prisms when they log in for the first time, and several free skins.

Overwatch 2 may not have been able to convince people that it was a sequel in the past few years, and it will be returning to 6v6 soon for some experimental modes, but it is still one of best hero shooters available. Blizzard's decision to add Juno to Overwatch suggests that it is now more willing to take a step back and reimagine the game when it does not have to support an esports league. Blizzard would never admit it, but I believe season 12 marks the beginning of a shift in updates that make it more enjoyable for everyone rather than just its most competitive players.