Since Overwatch’s earliest days, Genji has been one of the community’s favorite heroes. The cyborg ninja and brother of Hanzo just exudes coolness about him at every turn. That being said, playing him can be very difficult if you don’t know what you’re doing. Here is a breakdown of how to play Genji in Overwatch 2.
Related: Overwatch 2 Junker Queen guide – Tips, Strategies, Counters, and more
All Genji abilities in Overwatch 2
- Passives
- Like other Damage heroes, Genji receives a small temporary boost to his reload speed after earning an elimination.
- Genji can also climb up walls and double jump.
- Deflect (Ability 1)
- Genji pulls out a sword and deflects incoming projectiles in front of him where he is aimed. It also blocks melee attacks.
- Swift Strike (Ability 2)
- Dash forward while slashing enemies in your path. Getting any eliminations will reset the cooldown.
- Dragonblade (Ultimate)
- Genji unsheathes a sword that significantly damages anyone in range of his slashes. He can combine this with his other abilities.
Genji’s two firing modes make use of shurikens. His primary fire throws a burst of three in a row that are very accurate but slower. The secondary fire throws three that spread out for a faster fire rate.
How to play Genji in Overwatch 2
Genji is a character that wants to dive and jump around most enemies as he hits them with shurikens and uses his abilities. Using just one of his tools alone will not get the job done. You need to utilize every facet of his game fully.
Try to reserve Swift Strike for moments when the enemy is low on health. After dealing the killing blow, the ability is reset, and you can instantly use it again. Never lead into a fight with it unless you know you can finish them off. Deflect should also be used when you think the enemy is going to fire projectiles so you can direct it back at them or a weakened target.
Genji’s Ultimate can be one of the hardest in the game to get good use out of. Because it temporarily makes him into a melee hero, you need to strike everyone in your way. Use Swift Strike to cut down distance on enemies, and don’t be afraid to use Deflect to protect yourself when needed. Always prioritize lower health enemies first.
Good teammates to play with Genji in Overwatch 2
Because Genji is probably best used in a dive team comp, Tracer, Winston, and D.Va are great teammates. He can keep up with them and finish off low-health enemies alongside them. As for Supports, Ana’s Nano Boost is a classic and great combo with Dragonblade, but she can struggle to heal a Genji jumping around. Zenyatta’s healing orbs can stay on him, and Lucio’s area of effect healing can constantly bring him up in close situations.
All counters and who to counter with Genji in Overwatch 2
The strongest counters against Genji are those with moves that avoid his Deflect. Winston and Moira both can lock onto Genji with their fire, making his job much harder. Zarya and Symmetra have beam attacks that will melt him if they can maintain the connection. Reinhardt and Roadhog can withstand his attacks and hurt him pretty well if they avoid his Deflect as well. Doomfist used to be a stronger counter as well, and still arguably is, but his damage dropping with the move to the Tank class makes it so he no longer one-shot kills him.
As for characters you want to use Genji to counter, Zenyatta, Ana, Mercy, and Baptise are all Supports that Genji can carve up if he is unchecked. Ashe, Sojourn, Hanzo, Widowmaker, and Soldier 76 can also have problems unless they hit accurate shots between his Deflects. You never really want to aim down Tanks with him, but he can speed around Orisa in certain situations. Also, now that Hack locks off your abilities for only a second, Genji can defend himself much better against Sombra.
