Genji Build Guide “Life and death balance on the edge of my blade.”

Genji is a highly mobile ranged Assassin whose kit also consists of explosive melee components allowing him to quickly dash in and out of combat. While his innate health pool is quite low, which makes him susceptible to enemy crowd control abilities, he does have several escape mechanisms that allow him to escape dangerous situations. If you are looking for a challenging high risk high reward Hero with tricky cooldown reset mechanics, Genji is the right choice for you.

Strengths

• Extremely mobile
• Flashy playstyle
• Cooldown resets on Swift Strike allow for devastating combos
• Decent poke

Weaknesses

• Weak waveclear
• Very high learning curve
• Low health pool
• Needs constant healing

Shuriken Build

Recommended

Level 1

Level 4 ?

Level 7

Level 10 ?

Level 13

Level 16 ?

Level 20 ? ?

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The Shuriken Build focuses primarily on getting the most out of your Shingan talent. The key to playing this build is to be as close as you can to your enemy target, shotgunning your shurikens to trigger Shingan. Zanshin allows for aggressive gameplay to finish off targets in close combat. If you cannot complete Zanshin any time soon, or, if you prefer cooldown reduction on your Heroic Ability, Living Weapon is a great choice, too.

Swift Strike Build

Situational

Level 1

Level 4 ?

Level 7 ? ?

Level 10

Level 13

Level 16

Level 20 ?

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Genji's Swift Strike Build is a high skill-cap Build that focuses on Genji slicing and dicing his way through the enemy team, aiming to get as many cooldown resets and Mana cost refunds on Swift Strike as possible. Timing is crucial when playing this Build, as Genji needs to make sure to quickly execute an individual target in order to get his combo rolling. Activating Dragonblade shortly after using Swift Strike usually allows Genji to deal a heavy amount of burst damage. However, remember that he is still very susceptible to enemy Stuns and Roots, as they can completely shut down his momentum. Consequently, wait until some of those crowd control Abilities have been used before recklessly diving deep into the enemy lines.

ARAM Build

ARAM

Level 1

Level 4

Level 7

Level 10

Level 13

Level 16

Level 20

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Genji's ARAM build is very cooldown-dependent and you likely want to wait with engaging until you have Deflect up. Due to the nature of ARAM games, it's very easy for Genji to secure kills and get out safely with Swift Strike resets.

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Genji synergizes with

Genji synergizes extremely well with Heroes who can provide both burst damage and some form of crowd control, such as Jaina or Kael'thas, who can help him take down individual targets very quickly in order to proc his cooldown reset on Swift Strike. He also pairs very well with burst Healers like Uther, whose Armor buffs and Divine Shield can greatly enhance Genji's own survivability.

Genji is countered by

Due to his very low health pool, Genji struggles against Heroes with strong crowd control that render him defenseless for a short period of time. Thus, abilities like Varian's Taunt or Malfurion's Twilight Dream can cause great problems for him. Furthermore, nimble ranged Assassins with great kiting potential such as Lunara can bait him into overextending only to get outnumbered by the enemy team. Keep in mind that any form of poison damage continues to tick after Genji's Deflect expires, which is another reason why Lunara is a dangerous enemy for him to face. Heroes with point-and-click CC such as Uther work great in countering Genji should he dive into the backline.

Genji's stronger maps

Genji's average maps

Genji's weaker maps

Genji excels on Maps like Cursed Hollow, Hanamura Temple, or Garden of Terror, on which he can utilize his superior mobility to quickly engage and disengage using impassable terrain to his advantage. Doing so allows him to surprise the enemy team's backline from an unexpected angle. On smaller Maps like Battlefield of Eternity or Tomb of the Spider Queen, that require good waveclear, Genji's options are rather limited and make him a suboptimal pick. On Braxis Holdout, however, he can use his superior mobility to gank the offlane. Furthermore, Deflect can be used to great effect against the Boss on Braxis Holdout, whose fast Attack Speed causes Deflect to inflict heavy damage against it.

• Set up ganks using the terrain to your advantage. Both Swift Strike and Cyber Agility can be cast to cross Walls and other impassable terrain.
• Choose your targets wisely when playing Genji. Focus on executing low health targets using Swift Strike to immediately gain a cooldown reset and Mana refund for this ability.
• Deflect can be used to protect Genji against Structure damage while diving deep.
• Genji is surprisingly Mana-hungry. Try to avoid committing to a team fight while below 25% of your total Mana.
• If used from point blank range, all three Shuriken projectiles hit the same target. However, doing so also exposes Genji to enemy counter attacks more.

Genji's biggest strength is his exceptional mobility that allows him to dodge almost any Ability in the game. As such, he poses a serious threat to the enemy backline, especially if Dragonblade was chosen at Level 10. Genji does, however, come with a significant weakness and that is his susceptibility to Stuns, Roots, and Silences. These crowd control effects will render him defenseless for a short period of time, unable to use neither Swift Strike nor Cyber Agility to disengage.

Mastering Genji will require more practice and experience than on many other Hero due to the fact that he entirely dependeds on timing his Abilities well, especially Deflect and Swift Strike. However, a well played Genji has the potential to single-handedly carry his team. To do so, he requires strong map awareness and swift reflexes to activate Deflect while focused by the enemy team's burst damage. Thus, we strongly recommend practicing Genji in Unranked and Quick Match first before using him in Hero League.