Key Takeaways
- Genji’s best maps allow him to wall climb and jump around freely, without sightlines that are too long for him to comfortably close the gap on with his Swift Strike.
- Genji’s worst maps remove the ability to effectively use his mobility tools—without mobility, Genji is an easy target, and his poke damage output isn’t high enough to justify that type of playstyle.
- As a dive hero, Genji counters heroes with low mobility, such as Cassidy, by being able to control engagements and target weak enemy players.
- Genji is countered by heroes with beam weapons, such as Winston, due to his inability to use Deflect on beam damage. Genji also struggles against heroes which provide consistent AoE healing, such as Brigette, because Genji cannot reliably burst down enemy players that are topped up on health.
Table of Contents
Genji Quick Tips
- Genji has 200 total health, with no armor or shields.
- Genji has two unique abilities—wall climb, which is rare among the cast—and double jump, which is completely unique to Genji.
- Genji is one of the hardest heroes to master due to the mechanical ability required to play him well, and the game sense required to know when to get the most value from each of his unique abilities.
- Skilled Genji players may still struggle in Competitive if playing with random teammates who don’t know how to dive enemy players. Download the Z League app to find skilled teammates in your skill bracket who can play heroes like Winston and Lucio to help you overwhelm the enemy team at short range.
Genji Abilities Explained
Img via Blizzard Entertainment
Shuriken (Primary and Secondary Fire)
Each Shuriken deals 27 projectile damage. Using primary fire shoots three Shuriken in a straight line one after another. Using secondary fire shoots all three at once, with the middle one going straight and the two on the sides fanning out as distance increases.
Shuriken are difficult to hit due to their small hurtbox and relatively slow projectile speed. Skilled Genji players need to know when to use primary versus secondary fire to do the most damage with the ability—and be able to hit them with precise aiming based on predicting the enemy’s movements.
Swift Strike
When Genji uses Swift Strike, he moves forward very quickly and deals a flat 50 damage to all enemy players in his range. Every time Genji gets an elimination, the cooldown for Swift Strike resets (normally eight seconds). With this passive buff, Genji can do lots of damage and secure multiple kills. However, if Genji is counting on getting an elimination to reset Swift Strike and escape safely, a miscalculation can easily lead to the Genji player’s death.
Deflect
Deflect reflects hitscan and projectile weapons fired at Genji for a two second duration. The ability has the potential to reflect lots of enemy damage, but only if Genji both uses the ability at the right time (when enemy players are shooting) and is able to hit reflected shots on enemy players (all reflected damage is sent back wherever the Genji player’s reticle is pointed).
Dragonblade (Ultimate)
Dragonblade replaces Genji’s Shuriken with a sword that deals 110 damage per hit. Dragonblade is best paired with a damage amplification ability so that he can kill enemy squishies like Zenyatta with one slash and one dash, rather than needing to use two full slashes to get the job done. If used by itself, Genji players should be sure to either have Dash on cooldown, to get around the map quickly, or be in close proximity to a weak player, where securing the kill will allow him to reset Dash and continue getting value from targeting more players on the enemy team.
Recommended Overwatch 2 Streamers
- Shadder2k – This former player for both Team Liquid and Gigantti continues to top the leaderboard in Overwatch 2.
- Eskay – She is top 500 in every role and member of Dart Monkeys. Often plays tournaments on stream. May be seen streaming Tuesday – Thursday and on the weekend. She is often live by 5 PM ET.
