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- Mar 19, 2016
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Genji Shimada
Let's breakdown this... CYBERNETIC NINJA? AM I READING THAT RIGHT!
The Kit
Cyber-Agility
Genji's passive is Cyber-Agility, similar to Hanzo's passive this allows Genji to wall climb at 7.8 m/s. ADDITIONALLY, this allows Genji to double jump as a secondary effect of the passive.
Shuriken
Genji has two forms of his shuriken throwing abilities, the first being him throwing 3 shuriken in a straight line one after another at 60 m/s dealing 28 damage per shuriken totaling a possible 84 damage (168 damage with all headshots). This accurate burst damage gives Genji decent ranged damage that allows his playstyle to flourish.
Secondly, Genji has 3 shuriken thrown all at once in a spread. Dealing the same amount of damage as the first allows Genji higher DPS at close range as the rate of fire is .2 seconds faster than the first. This gives Genji a high close-range burst potential as a great alternative to the primary.
Swift Strike
Genji's swift strike does 50 damage at 50 m/s in one direction. This ability deals damage to each opponent it hits up to 6. This ability has a unique characteristic apart from any other Overwatch ability, upon an elimination the cooldown resets. This allows Genji to dash multiple times in a single fight dealing massive amounts of damage to grouped targets.
Deflect
For 2 seconds Genji uses his sword similar to a Star Wars lightsaber and sends any projectile that hits in front of him in a 1-meter radius back in the direction you are aiming, from Widow shots to Zarya's graviton, Genji can deflect every projectile in the game.
Finally the Ultimate
Dragonblade
Genji's ultimate is Dragonblade in which Genji puts his shuriken away in favor of a massive katana that deals 120 damage per slash. This ultimate lasts for 6 seconds and throughout its duration, Genji still has the ability to use both Deflect and Swift Strike. Generally comboed with damage amplifying abilities and ultimates such as Mercy's damage boost, Ana's nano, or Orisa's supercharger.
Personal statement
Before going into this, I have over 1500 hours on Genji in Grandmaster+ SR ranges with over 250 hours on 4.4/4.5 rated teams playing Genji. I have been playing Genji almost daily since season 2 dominating the public ladder. (This is going to be more ladder based because Genji's playstyle is very different in a team setting)
As a player in the top .1% of deflect damage/10 minutes, I would strongly say that deflect is Genji's most overlooked ability in how strong it truly is. Genji has one of the most versatile kits out of the DPS lineup, but when should you pick him?
Most people compare Genji and Hanzo when it comes to solo queue for their solo carry potential and having similar mindsets but opposing playstyles. Up close and personal is not favored for Hanzo players but Genji does most of his damage in close-quarters fights, at the same time, Genji can "poke" at long range. Genji's dash helps a lot with getting out of bad situations.
Genji's ability to farm his high kill potential ultimate is unmatched by any other hero with multiple combos from dash-melee to right-click dash dealing upwards of over 80 damage with each. While thriving in dive-centric metas Genji has also seen play on the ladder in nearly every other meta purely due to his versatility. One of the most overbearing classes in the game has to be snipers, Genji's ability to hard counter each and every one of them will cause him to always have a place on the ladder.
At the end of the day, Genji is easily countered by anything from a Sigma ult to a sleep dart. Without a team behind him, Genji becomes a glass cannon which currently leads many higher-rated players to pick tracer instead. At lower ranks if you can't play tracer well the best flanking alternative would be Genji, he is an incredibly fun character with insane team fight potential, and let's be honest, POTGs are always fun to get.
In the current metagame, I would only pair Genji with a larger threat like Widowmaker, if you don't have something else to draw enemy attention I would say Tracer is a better pick.
If you like these breakdowns and want to see more leave your feedback in the replies! Any questions or comments I am happy to respond and answer below!
