Genji has been one of Overwatch’s most iconic heroes since the game’s release in 2016. Thanks to the game’s latest patch, he’s back in the meta and more dominant than ever. Keep reading to learn how to win with Genji by taking advantage of his latest buffs.
A Short History of Genji
In the dive meta that dominated much of the game’s early competitive scene, Genji was dominant. He was a must-pick damage hero thanks to his ability to single-handedly win games with his ultimate ability, called Dragon Blade. Playing Genji in those days required a high level of skill. Those who did it the best became some of Overwatch’s earliest superstars.
However, Genji fell out of favor as Blizzard tried to free the game from its oppressive dive meta with balance changes. Gamers had to choose between paying the hero they loved or winning their games. This caused Genji to be one of the game’s lowest-picked heroes for more than a year. With its June 16th patch, Blizzard has finally brought the beloved hero back into the meta.
Genji Buffs
Blizzard made some major changes to Genji’s kit with its latest patch. These include:
- Shuriken damage increased from 28 to 30
- Secondary fire spread reduced from 12 to 9
- Deflect duration increased from 1.5 to 2 seconds.
- Deflect can now be canceled manually.
These buffs have immediately made Genji more viable at the top level of competitive play. Players at the Grandmaster level have picked Genji at a rate of 8.58% this week, which is the third-highest out of the game’s entire hero roster. During the six months before that, he was picked by the same players just 2.09% of the time.
How to Win with Genji
The best players in Overwatch are already using Genji’s new buffs to great effect, as players in Grandmaster have won 57.81% of their matches with him this week. Given that dominance, you may be wondering how to achieve similar results in your own games.
Winning with Genji now requires an understanding of how his recent buffs have changed the way he’s played. The increased damage per Shuriken hit is a huge factor here. Aiming with Genji’s throwing stars can be difficult, but accuracy is being rewarded more than ever.
Secondary Fire and Aiming
That means the first step to winning with Genji is spending some time in the practice range working on your accuracy. This is especially important given the changes made to Genji’s secondary fire spread.
The reduction should make aiming easier but will require some getting used to. Just an hour spent practicing these changes could make a huge difference to your results in Overwatch’s competitive queue.
Deflect Canceling
That being said, Genji’s newfound ability to cancel his deflect manually is the most impactful change to his kit by far. Before, it was easy for opposing players to simply time the length of the deflect and re-engage immediately after it ended. This made it difficult for Genji to come out on top in one-on-one battles against many other heroes.
Being able to cancel Genji’s deflect manually adds a new layer of complexity to his gameplay. Opponents will never know exactly when you’re going to re-engage. One of the keys to maximizing Genji’s new kit is understanding how to use this feature to your advantage.
Practicing is, once again, your best strategy to make improvements here. Spend some time in quick play focusing on keeping your opponents on their toes with carefully-timed deflection cancels. Doing so will make it much easier to win with Genji and dominate opponents when you return to the game’s competitive queue.
