Genji Sneaks into the Heroes 2.0 Beta!

If you’ve been awaiting another Overwatch Hero to emerge in Heroes of the Storm, the wait is now over. Genji, everyone’s favorite cybernetic ninja, has snuck into the Nexus to lay waste to his foes. 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 now walks his own path.

As an assassin, Genji utilizes his high mobility and range to take down opposing Heroes. In the right hands, he can be the most brutal gnat on the battlefield. Why is that the case? Well, let’s examine his abilities:

Trait
• Cyber Agility (D): Activate to jump to target area

Basic Abilities
• Shuriken (Q) : Throw 3 Shuriken in a spread pattern dealing each damaging the first enemy it hits. Stores up to 3 charges. Shuriken’s cooldown replenishes all charges at the same time.

• 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 damage.

• Swift Strike (E): Dash forward, dealing damage to all enemies in a line. Enemy Heroes who die within 2 seconds after being hit by Swift Strike cause the cooldown and Mana cost to be refunded.

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. If any enemy Heroes are killed within 2 seconds after being hit by Dragonblade, Swift Strike’s cooldown is reset.

• X-Strike (R): Perform 2 perpendicular slashes that deal damage and ignite after 1.25 seconds, dealing additional damage to enemies in their area of effect.

As you can see, Genji is a very mobile assassin, but will require a highly skilled player to take full advantage of his kit. From the eSports oriented players I’ve spoken with, most feel he’ll be quite the hassle to deal with in the Nexus. How imbued in the meta he’ll be, we’ll just have to wait and see.

If you wish to get your hands on Genji, you can now test him out in the Heroes 2.0 beta – available in the Blizzard launcher.