Kali was brought in as a niche alternative to Thatcher. A weaker gadget and a very specialized primary weapon. On paper this was a smart move, Thatcher was and still is one of the most banned operators in both Pro League and Ranked so it makes sense to create an operator that fills a similar role utility wise. Twitch is a decent alternative, but requires a lot of finesse and time to maneuver the drone safely into the site to destroy the gadget. Kali doesn’t make you do that.
The LV Lance is a gadget which was supposed to have flexibility. It’s a gadget that can both destroy bulletproof utility as well as go through reinforced walls. In practice this meant you could destroy Bandit batteries or Kaid claws and prevent denial, allowing hard breachers to open those oh so critical reinforced walls. Due to this, Kali was immediately seen as a discount Thatcher first and foremost, especially because of how limiting her primary weapon was. A sniper in a game like Siege simply isn’t going to be a fun time. But it wasn’t just Kali’s overall kit that made her a worse alternative to Thatcher, it was also the limitations of the Lance.
The Lance can destroy gadgets through reinforced walls, but the blast radius is small, you have to know where the denial gadgets are to destroy them. Aiming at the center of a reinforced wall gets you nothing so the gadget is already a little more hands on than Thatcher’s blue softballs of disabling. But the Lance also had a tight window of time for your hard breach to actually open the wall. If someone was actively trying to trick the reinforced wall, hard breach ops have a much smaller window of opportunity to act on with Kali compared to Thatcher. This is in part due to the nature of the Lance’s explosion, which destroys gadgets on both sides of the reinforced wall. Too early and your Thermite charge gets blown up with the Mute jammer. But it’s also just a tight timing to act on regardless. But the biggest hit to Kali’s viability was Kaid.
Kaid claws are versatile gadgets thanks to how large their radius is. Being able to electrify 3 walls means your placement can get pretty cheeky when you’re only electrifying 1 or 2. There’s no better example than on Clubhouse CCTV/Cash. As Kaid you can deny CCTV wall without the Kaid claws being physically close to the wall. This can even mean being through a solid wall that can’t be shot or destroyed in any way. Naturally that means that Kali’s Lance is simply not going to destroy the Kaid claw and the reinforced wall will stay reinforced. This one fact absolutely ruined Kali. She can’t even prevent denial like she’s supposed to against one of the most popular wall denial ops, making her exceptionally situational. Come Operation Brutal Swarm Kali’s entire purpose is brought into question due to new secondary utility.
The impact EMP is the biggest addition to Siege from Brutal Swarm. Normally an operator is the most impactful since it’s a whole new character but…yeah. In practice the impact EMPs are used like weaker Thatcher EMPs. You need to know where the Defender denial is specifically to disable it, otherwise the wall stays reinforced. With only 2 EMPs per op and a smaller window of time to work with, the team has to be more coordinated to open the hard walls with the gadget, making Thatcher a superior option without invalidating the gadget.
Now if this sounds oddly familiar that’s because it is. The impact EMP is pretty much Kali’s primary gadget but better. They have around the same area of effect, having to be aimed at the Defender denial, and both have a small window of time to work with. The only differences are that the impact EMPs go through walls. They aren’t dependent on an explosion to destroy the denial like Kali’s Lance. This means that they can disable those Kaid claws on CCTV clubhouse. Given this, Kali’s primary gadget is pretty much a worse version of a fairly accessible secondary gadget. Sure, you can also destroy bullet proof gadgets, but other operators like Flores get more mileage.
Where does this leave Kali? As far as utility is concerned, she is irrelevant at a competitive level in her current iteration. The impact EMP is simply a superior option unless teams have a specific strat they’re using with the op. Add in that her primary weapon is a liability in a close quarters game like Siege with a 1 shot headshot and Kali is in the unenviable position of all her kit being unwanted. Unless someone’s having a good time in ranked you’re unlikely to see Kali simply because there is no other reason to bring her. Need a shield destroyed? Bring a Zofia. Need to open a wall and Thatcher is banned? Impact EMP. In the current game of Siege, what purpose does Kali actually serve?