[HotS] First Impressions: Genji Text by TL.net ESPORTS Graphics by Shiroiusagi

Genji First Impressions Analysis and Pro Opinions by Midseasons



Once the carefree youngest scion of the Shimada clan, Genji was cut down by his own brother for refusing to take part in their illegal ventures. Grafted into a cyborg body by Overwatch, Genji walks his own path as one who fights for what's right.



Table of Contents Strengths and Weaknesses



Abilities



Talents



Professional Opinions





A crowd-pleasing hero in Overwatch, Genji was a prominent feature of the original



Flashy and difficult, Genji already has a reputation as a pub stomper. But after his first week, his win rates landed just shy of "good" near the 46% mark. Even in Quick Match, Genji only rises above 51% at Diamond and higher. Strong individual play with him requires a fairly high skill floor, but Genji’s best results have been in Team League where players can coordinate around his advantages and give Genji the support he needs.







Strengths and Weaknesses Strengths

Impressive mobility



Finishing potential and kill secure



Huge playmaking potential

Weaknesses

Extremely vulnerable to CC



Needs another damage dealer on his team



Poor waveclear



Abilities



Trait

Cyber Agility

Activate to jump to target area. 10 second cooldown.

Modified by talents: Agile Dismount (1), Pathfinder (1), Cyber Shield (7), Double Jump (13)





Basic Abilities

Shuriken (Q)

Throw 3 Shuriken in a spread pattern, each dealing 65 (+4% per level) damage to the first enemy hit. Stores up to 3 charges. Shuriken's cooldown replenishes all charges at the same time. 12 second cooldown.

Modified by talents: Shuriken Mastery (4), Shingan (13), Nanosteel Shuriken (20)



Deflect (W)

Become Protected for 1.25 seconds. Any damage blocked during this period causes Genji to throw a Kunai toward the nearest enemy, prioritizing Heroes and dealing 55 (+4% per level) damage. 16 second cooldown.

Modified by talents: Dragon Claw (4), Augmented Guard (7), Perfect Defense (7), Reflect (16), Zanshin (20)



Swift Strike (E)

Dash forward, dealing 215 (+4% per level) damage to all enemies in a line. Enemy Heroes that die within 2 seconds of being hit with Swift Strike cause the cooldown and mana cost to be refunded. 12 second cooldown.





Heroic Abilities

Dragonblade (R)

Unleash the Dragonblade for 8 seconds. While active, Dragonblade can be reactivated to lunge forward and slash in a huge arc, dealing 240 (+4% per level) damage. If enemy Heroes are killed within 2 seconds of being hit by Dragonblade, Swift Strike’s cooldown is reset. 80 second cooldown.

Storm Talent: The Dragon Becomes Me Each time Dragonblade hits an enemy Hero, the duration of Dragonblade is increased by 1 second.



X-Strike (R)

Perform two slashes dealing 135 (+4% per level) damage. The slashes detonate after 1.25 seconds causing an additional 270 (+4% per level) damage to enemies in their area. 80 second cooldown.





Continuing the Overwatch trend, Genji is built to be mobile and has a unique auto attack function. Like Lúcio, Genji’s auto attacks come in short bursts of threes—three shuriken tosses at range, or three strikes of his sword in melee. Unlike Lúcio and Tracer, Genji cannot freely attack while moving. Instead, Genji has his own stutter step rhythm: while he must be stationary to begin his attack animation, once the animation has begun with the first attack, Genji can move during the next two without canceling. The rhythm of Genji’s three attacks is consistent and seamless between ranged and melee, to the point that Genji begins an attack animation at range and moves into melee during it, he will switch from shuriken to sword without issue.



Genji’s killing potential is very focused on diving weakened targets, but he is neither a sustained nor burst damage dealer—he thrives on finishing what his teammates started. In teamfights or ganks, Genji’s chasing capability is designed to secure killing blows and escape back into the fog of war. But while Genji can secure the death of a low-health target, he needs his teammates to bring down the enemy health first.



Because Genji is so defined by his mobility, crowd control hits him particularly hard. Even inconveniences like movement or attack speed slows can feel crippling. When given space to move, though, Genji’s kit shines as cohesive whole. There is no feeling in Heroes of the Storm quite like getting three or four Swift Strikes in rapid succession except maybe Li-Ming resets.



All of Genji’s abilities require precision timing. Before diving on a target with Swift Strike, Genji needs to them to be weakened at range or he might miss the chance for a reset and be caught out of position. Shuriken is his best poke, but the damage offered by a single hit is low. If all three shots on Q hit the same target, the damage is significant, especially if multiple charges are used rapidly. However, the spread on the Shuriken is high enough that it requires melee range against most enemies. A steady player will balance their Shuriken usage to get the most out of each charge.



Deflect is a channeled ability that makes Genji immune to damage at the cost of being unable to do anything else during the channel except move. Offensively, a well-timed Deflect can be Genji’s highest damage ability, but done poorly, it can leave Genji without any defensive capabilities and far less damage. Defensively, the Protected status from Deflect can be like Taz’dingo in an ideal situation, but any stun or silence interrupts the channel and leaves Genji without options. If you were relying on Deflect to survive a risky encounter, sorry—a crowd controlled ninja is a dead ninja.





Genji in his youth, before becoming a cyborg.



Each of Genji’s Heroic options interact with his traits in different ways. The iconic Dragonblade from Overwatch briefly transforms him into a melee Hero, replacing Shuriken with a wide strike that gives Genji higher sustained damage and can hit multiple targets. This shores up some of his weaknesses while losing none of his strengths, and provides options for even more Swift Strike resets. But the switch to melee damage makes Genji even more susceptible to crowd control, and the dramatic activation can make him a target. The other option, X-Strike, doubles down on the strengths Genji brings by offering more of the same: an incredibly mobile ability that can strike down fleeing targets or dodge high impact abilities with its invincibility frames.



Talents

Genji’s talent tree has a wide variety of effects. While most tiers center on a theme, such as mobility at 1 and defense at 7, there is no level where Genji players are simply offered a choice between between three different upgrades to the same button. Level 4 talents, for example, iare themed around increasing Genji’s damage, each talent focusing on one of his basic abilities.



Throughout the tree, Deflect talents tend to offer the most raw power, and a full W build turns Genji into a burst assassin. But Deflect is a difficult ability to use, and every upgrade taken for it demands even finer timing to get the most value. Upgrades to Shuriken are more popular, as Genji’s Q is no less important to his kit, and its multiple charges allow those talents to trigger more frequently. Most likely, Genji players will find themselves with a variety of upgrades for each skill, even within a standard build.



Pre-20, Genji’s own damage is weak and reliant on his team to bring targets low enough for him to pick off. But with each talent, Genji’s damage ramps up, and at 20 his teamfight presence increases significantly. All of Genji’s Storm talents make him a terrifying AOE damage dealer, with options to upgrade either Shuriken or Deflect instead of the Heroic abilities. The Dragon Becomes Me can extend long enough to make Dragonblade permanent, while Living Weapon makes X-Strike a spammable ability that combines with Swift Strike for even more resets. Nanosteel Shuriken is simple enough on its own, but can be devastating with earlier upgrades on Q. Zanshin is a game-long W quest, and can be planned for from earlier levels. If players can complete it, Zanshin’s payoff is huge, and since Shuriken and Deflect’s damage upgrades don’t compete with each other, Genji can build up both skills simultaneously and choose the best capstone for the situation. Whichever talent is chosen, Genji gains the ability to apply consistent damage to the enemy team throughout an engagement, without losing his threat of hunting down anyone that tries to escape.







Professional Opinions

bLaDe, Team expert

I haven't played him too much. I think that he is the hero with the highest skill cap ever though. Like, if you play him perfectly, he's super OP probably, and you can carry teamfights pretty hard with him if you do the right things at the right time. His mobility is just stupidly good and his damage isn't bad either. So yeah, he's good at fighting/ganking/moving around the map but not at sieging or doing camps. I haven't played him too much. I think that he is the hero with the highest skill cap ever though. Like, if you play him perfectly, he's super OP probably, and you can carry teamfights pretty hard with him if you do the right things at the right time. His mobility is just stupidly good and his damage isn't bad either. So yeah, he's good at fighting/ganking/moving around the map but not at sieging or doing camps.



CavalierGuest, Content Creator and Caster

Mobility with mostly "finishing" style damage makes Genji the ultimate janitor able to clean up on the chase. Deflect has a lot of burst potential but also a lot of counterplay, so there is going to be huge variance in how effective it is, not just because of player skill but because of opponent skill. Hitting "H" or "S" as a trick to stop attacking is going to be a big deal.



I absolutely see him [being played] in Korea. They love mobile brawls and diving fragile back line heroes. Certain Chinese teams will be excited to run him as well because their laning phase often emphasizes big rotations for just one pick. Not sure about NA and EU.



For comps, he doesn't provide anything but that chase damage. No solo laning, no camps, no waveclear. We've seen mobility without lockdown before—Illidan, Tracer, etc. These type of heroes always favor maps where "safety" is as far away as possible. Towers of Doom will end up being his best map I think, but any split objective maps with long lanes are going to favor him.



I'm also not sure you could run him as a solo ranged because that normally requires the ranged to have poke, which means you have to build the entire comp to cover all the things you need before even considering Genji.



Genji really rewards patience. Kills aren't as valuable in the early game, so his ability to secure them really matters more and more going into the late game. When he has all his tools unlocked, his playmaking potential is really high, but outside of Deflect he is very squishy, so you are really running on a razor's edge with him. Mobility with mostly "finishing" style damage makes Genji the ultimate janitor able to clean up on the chase. Deflect has a lot of burst potential but also a lot of counterplay, so there is going to be huge variance in how effective it is, not just because of player skill but because of opponent skill. Hitting "H" or "S" as a trick to stop attacking is going to be a big deal.I absolutely see him [being played] in Korea. They love mobile brawls and diving fragile back line heroes. Certain Chinese teams will be excited to run him as well because their laning phase often emphasizes big rotations for just one pick. Not sure about NA and EU.For comps, he doesn't provide anything but that chase damage. No solo laning, no camps, no waveclear. We've seen mobility without lockdown before—Illidan, Tracer, etc. These type of heroes always favor maps where "safety" is as far away as possible. Towers of Doom will end up being his best map I think, but any split objective maps with long lanes are going to favor him.I'm also not sure you could run him as a solo ranged because that normally requires the ranged to have poke, which means you have to build the entire comp to cover all the things you need before even considering Genji.Genji really rewards patience. Kills aren't as valuable in the early game, so his ability to secure them really matters more and more going into the late game. When he has all his tools unlocked, his playmaking potential is really high, but outside of Deflect he is very squishy, so you are really running on a razor's edge with him.



Goku, Superstars

Genji’s kit and design excel in mobility, poking the enemy team and looking to pick off anyone that is low health. His kit is similar to Li-Ming where you poke the enemy team and look to get kills during teamfights to reset cooldowns after each kill. I believe Genji skill potential is similar to Zeratul where, in the hands of a good player, Genji can be devastating. It'll require time and practice and understanding your limits to truly master Genji



It's difficult to say if he will pop up in any region due to the current meta where double support or double tank is hard to deal with when playing a melee assassin, but with the potential to reset, I can confidently say he'll pop every now and then in each region.



Genji doesn't have a bad map. He's very similar to Zeratul where he can be played in every map, and that's because his mobility allows him to rotate easily without being pressured at all, and his poke damage is just barely strong enough to put pressure on the enemy team. if anything, his worst map would have to be Braxis Holdout. Genji’s kit and design excel in mobility, poking the enemy team and looking to pick off anyone that is low health. His kit is similar to Li-Ming where you poke the enemy team and look to get kills during teamfights to reset cooldowns after each kill. I believe Genji skill potential is similar to Zeratul where, in the hands of a good player, Genji can be devastating. It'll require time and practice and understanding your limits to truly master GenjiIt's difficult to say if he will pop up in any region due to the current meta where double support or double tank is hard to deal with when playing a melee assassin, but with the potential to reset, I can confidently say he'll pop every now and then in each region.Genji doesn't have a bad map. He's very similar to Zeratul where he can be played in every map, and that's because his mobility allows him to rotate easily without being pressured at all, and his poke damage is just barely strong enough to put pressure on the enemy team. if anything, his worst map would have to be Braxis Holdout.



KendricSwissh, Commentator and Host

In my opinion, Genji’s kit is a well designed mix between poke and burst damage. While his Shuriken allow him to damage from afar, they become deadliest if used in melee range with all three shuriken hitting the same target. His outstanding mobility is worth mentioning as well, which allows Genji to dash in and out of combat very quickly. All in all, I think that Genji’s got a fairly high learning curve, which makes him comparable to heroes like Illidan or Zeratul who can become lethal assassins in the hands of a veteran player but will probably remain relatively unimpactful in the hands of a beginner.



I think Genji will see quite some play across all regions, but if I had to guess one region that will probably pick him up sooner than others, it would be Korea. Teams there seem to be a bit more willing to experiment compared to Europe or North America. Moreover, top Korean players usually have superior mechanical skills and decision making during teamfights, which is key to making Genji shine.



So far, I think Genji thrives on maps that give him enough space to outmaneuver his opponents, such as Hanamura, Sky Temple, or Towers of Doom. I don’t like him as much on smaller battlegrounds that focus a lot on lane aggression and team rotations such as Braxis Holdout or Tomb of the Spider Queen, as his laning presence is rather underwhelming. In terms of compositions, I think he synergizes well with at least one burst healer like Uther who can keep him alive in dangerous situations (which Genji might find himself in often).



From an esports-viewer point of view, I really really like Genji’s flashy gameplay. He can be a real playmaker, getting reset after reset, if he is played well. He looks and feels just as cool as he does in Overwatch, and there is a reason why he’s a fan favorite there. Also, I do want to highlight how much I endorse the idea of getting more and more Overwatch heroes into game. Many players seem to have been annoyed by two Overwatch heroes in a row (Genji and D.Va) and an Overwatch battleground at that. But we shouldn’t forget that Overwatch is one of the most important titles for Blizzard right now. It’s got an enormous fan-base and as such many potential new players for Heroes of the Storm as well. Furthermore, I find every Overwatch hero in Heroes of the Storm to be a very well designed copy of its Overwatch counterpart. Up to this point, I think that there hasn’t been any Hero as well designed and transitioned to Heroes of the Storm as Lucio. So from a marketing as well as from a Hero design point of view, I really hope that we’ll see further Overwatch hero conversions soon! In my opinion, Genji’s kit is a well designed mix between poke and burst damage. While his Shuriken allow him to damage from afar, they become deadliest if used in melee range with all three shuriken hitting the same target. His outstanding mobility is worth mentioning as well, which allows Genji to dash in and out of combat very quickly. All in all, I think that Genji’s got a fairly high learning curve, which makes him comparable to heroes like Illidan or Zeratul who can become lethal assassins in the hands of a veteran player but will probably remain relatively unimpactful in the hands of a beginner.I think Genji will see quite some play across all regions, but if I had to guess one region that will probably pick him up sooner than others, it would be Korea. Teams there seem to be a bit more willing to experiment compared to Europe or North America. Moreover, top Korean players usually have superior mechanical skills and decision making during teamfights, which is key to making Genji shine.So far, I think Genji thrives on maps that give him enough space to outmaneuver his opponents, such as Hanamura, Sky Temple, or Towers of Doom. I don’t like him as much on smaller battlegrounds that focus a lot on lane aggression and team rotations such as Braxis Holdout or Tomb of the Spider Queen, as his laning presence is rather underwhelming. In terms of compositions, I think he synergizes well with at least one burst healer like Uther who can keep him alive in dangerous situations (which Genji might find himself in often).From an esports-viewer point of view, I really really like Genji’s flashy gameplay. He can be a real playmaker, getting reset after reset, if he is played well. He looks and feels just as cool as he does in Overwatch, and there is a reason why he’s a fan favorite there. Also, I do want to highlight how much I endorse the idea of getting more and more Overwatch heroes into game. Many players seem to have been annoyed by two Overwatch heroes in a row (Genji and D.Va) and an Overwatch battleground at that. But we shouldn’t forget that Overwatch is one of the most important titles for Blizzard right now. It’s got an enormous fan-base and as such many potential new players for Heroes of the Storm as well. Furthermore, I find every Overwatch hero in Heroes of the Storm to be a very well designed copy of its Overwatch counterpart. Up to this point, I think that there hasn’t been any Hero as well designed and transitioned to Heroes of the Storm as Lucio. So from a marketing as well as from a Hero design point of view, I really hope that we’ll see further Overwatch hero conversions soon!



Kaelaris, Commentator and Host

It’s rather evident that Blizzard is now attempting to push the skill cap of the game with each new hero release. Genji’s high mobility and potential for more playmaking moments feels like yet another strong step in that direction. That being said, while he seems to bear some situational talents, he does feel a tad limited, as it feels like some choices tower over the rest. In regard to his Heroics, I’ve seen plenty of discussion back and forth about which may be the best. For me, Dragonblade has the most impact from a purely solo, playmaking sense. I can see the appeal of X-Strike when combined with other heroes, but Dragonblade gives you the freedom to smash the back line after you’ve dashed in and are looking for a reset.



I enjoy using



If you’re looking to go Zanshin, you’re basically playing the game on a razor’s edge. Having intimate knowledge of every other hero lets you do this and can give you a huge Level 20 power spike.



I’m very excited to see how Genji will be incorporated into pro play. Especially with Dragonblade, he feels like a true “highlight reel” hero. It’s rather evident that Blizzard is now attempting to push the skill cap of the game with each new hero release. Genji’s high mobility and potential for more playmaking moments feels like yet another strong step in that direction. That being said, while he seems to bear some situational talents, he does feel a tad limited, as it feels like some choices tower over the rest. In regard to his Heroics, I’ve seen plenty of discussion back and forth about which may be the best. For me, Dragonblade has the most impact from a purely solo, playmaking sense. I can see the appeal of X-Strike when combined with other heroes, but Dragonblade gives you the freedom to smash the back line after you’ve dashed in and are looking for a reset.I enjoy using Snitch’s standard build , as it gives you some very strong burst in close quarters. The majority of the time you’ll be wanting to flank or dive the squishy casters or support, so it can make the difference when you take Shingan at 13 and build it up with Shuriken Mastery at 4, thus gaining the ability to stand close to them and gain extra damage.If you’re looking to go Zanshin, you’re basically playing the game on a razor’s edge. Having intimate knowledge of every other hero lets you do this and can give you a huge Level 20 power spike.I’m very excited to see how Genji will be incorporated into pro play. Especially with Dragonblade, he feels like a true “highlight reel” hero.





A crowd-pleasing hero in Overwatch, Genji was a prominent feature of the original Nexus Challenge in 2016. Now, Genji has become the face of Heroes 2.0, spearheading the game’s relaunch and an accompanying second Nexus Challenge Flashy and difficult, Genji already has a reputation as a pub stomper. But after his first week, his win rates landed just shy of "good" near the 46% mark. Even in Quick Match, Genji only rises above 51% at Diamond and higher. Strong individual play with him requires a fairly high skill floor, but Genji’s best results have been in Team League where players can coordinate around his advantages and give Genji the support he needs.Continuing thetrend, Genji is built to be mobile and has a unique auto attack function. Like Lúcio, Genji’s auto attacks come in short bursts of threes—three shuriken tosses at range, or three strikes of his sword in melee. Unlike Lúcio and Tracer, Genji cannot freely attack while moving. Instead, Genji has his own stutter step rhythm: while he must be stationary to begin his attack animation, once the animation has begun with the first attack, Genji can move during the next two without canceling. The rhythm of Genji’s three attacks is consistent and seamless between ranged and melee, to the point that Genji begins an attack animation at range and moves into melee during it, he will switch from shuriken to sword without issue.Genji’s killing potential is very focused on diving weakened targets, but he is neither a sustained nor burst damage dealer—he thrives on finishing what his teammates started. In teamfights or ganks, Genji’s chasing capability is designed to secure killing blows and escape back into the fog of war. But while Genji can secure the death of a low-health target, he needs his teammates to bring down the enemy health first.Because Genji is so defined by his mobility, crowd control hits him particularly hard. Even inconveniences like movement or attack speed slows can feel crippling. When given space to move, though, Genji’s kit shines as cohesive whole. There is no feeling inquite like getting three or four Swift Strikes in rapid succession except maybe Li-Ming resets.All of Genji’s abilities require precision timing. Before diving on a target with Swift Strike, Genji needs to them to be weakened at range or he might miss the chance for a reset and be caught out of position. Shuriken is his best poke, but the damage offered by a single hit is low. If all three shots on Q hit the same target, the damage is significant, especially if multiple charges are used rapidly. However, the spread on the Shuriken is high enough that it requires melee range against most enemies. A steady player will balance their Shuriken usage to get the most out of each charge.Deflect is a channeled ability that makes Genji immune to damage at the cost of being unable to do anything else during the channel except move. Offensively, a well-timed Deflect can be Genji’s highest damage ability, but done poorly, it can leave Genji without any defensive capabilities and far less damage. Defensively, the Protected status from Deflect can be like Taz’dingo in an ideal situation, but any stun or silence interrupts the channel and leaves Genji without options. If you were relying on Deflect to survive a risky encounter, sorry—a crowd controlled ninja is a dead ninja.Each of Genji’s Heroic options interact with his traits in different ways. The iconic Dragonblade frombriefly transforms him into a melee Hero, replacing Shuriken with a wide strike that gives Genji higher sustained damage and can hit multiple targets. This shores up some of his weaknesses while losing none of his strengths, and provides options for even more Swift Strike resets. But the switch to melee damage makes Genji even more susceptible to crowd control, and the dramatic activation can make him a target. The other option, X-Strike, doubles down on the strengths Genji brings by offering more of the same: an incredibly mobile ability that can strike down fleeing targets or dodge high impact abilities with its invincibility frames.Genji’s talent tree has a wide variety of effects. While most tiers center on a theme, such as mobility at 1 and defense at 7, there is no level where Genji players are simply offered a choice between between three different upgrades to the same button. Level 4 talents, for example, iare themed around increasing Genji’s damage, each talent focusing on one of his basic abilities.Throughout the tree, Deflect talents tend to offer the most raw power, and a full W build turns Genji into a burst assassin. But Deflect is a difficult ability to use, and every upgrade taken for it demands even finer timing to get the most value. Upgrades to Shuriken are more popular, as Genji’s Q is no less important to his kit, and its multiple charges allow those talents to trigger more frequently. Most likely, Genji players will find themselves with a variety of upgrades for each skill, even within a standard build.Pre-20, Genji’s own damage is weak and reliant on his team to bring targets low enough for him to pick off. But with each talent, Genji’s damage ramps up, and at 20 his teamfight presence increases significantly. All of Genji’s Storm talents make him a terrifying AOE damage dealer, with options to upgrade either Shuriken or Deflect instead of the Heroic abilities. The Dragon Becomes Me can extend long enough to make Dragonblade permanent, while Living Weapon makes X-Strike a spammable ability that combines with Swift Strike for even more resets. Nanosteel Shuriken is simple enough on its own, but can be devastating with earlier upgrades on Q. Zanshin is a game-long W quest, and can be planned for from earlier levels. If players can complete it, Zanshin’s payoff is huge, and since Shuriken and Deflect’s damage upgrades don’t compete with each other, Genji can build up both skills simultaneously and choose the best capstone for the situation. Whichever talent is chosen, Genji gains the ability to apply consistent damage to the enemy team throughout an engagement, without losing his threat of hunting down anyone that tries to escape.