I make it personal whenever a Genji is on the enemy team. Just like you, I died to Genji so many times in Overwatch 2 that I want to make sure anyone using him against me pays for all the times the others dived and destroyed me.
Genji has always been one of Overwatch’s most annoying heroes, and Overwatch 2 players in every role are always looking for the best ways to counter him.
In Overwatch 2, Genji is reclaiming his throne as one of the franchise’s strongest damage heroes. He can simply outpace most other heroes, especially now that crowd control abilities have been mostly relegated to tanks. If your tank is unable to catch him or prevent him from diving into the backline, which he excels at, your team could be in serious trouble.
If you’re tired of dealing with obnoxious Genjis, read on for the best ways to counter him in Overwatch 2.
How to counter Genji
Genji is a difficult hero to play against because of his high dive potential. That means his high mobility lets him bypass slow frontline tanks like Reinhardt and just jump on the face of squishy DPS and support heroes in the backline to destroy them with his Swift Strike and his fan of shurikens.
Heroes like Zenyatta and Widowmaker are what Genji has for dinner every day.
Also, Genji’s Deflect can send projectiles right back at their users and negate damage of melee attacks such as Reinhardt’s hammer.
So the best way to counter Genji in Overwatch 2 is to use heroes that can hinder his mobility (or match it) and whose main attacks can’t be deflected or negated. That makes tanks like Zarya and DPS like Symmetra great picks, because Genji can’t deflect or negate beams. Pharah’s extreme vertical mobility makes it very hard for Genji to reach her without using terrain, and Brigitte’s disruption can help hinder his offensives in the backline.
All Genji counters in Overwatch 2
Zarya
Many of the heroes on this list are powerful against Genji because they use non-projectile beam weapons, which means he can’t deflect them. Zarya is already a powerful hero in the game’s meta right now, and her power over Genji only makes her more valuable. She can use her Particle Barrier shields to protect teammates Genji is chasing with Dragonstrike, and he can’t do anything to stop her primary fire. While Zarya’s primary job shouldn’t necessarily be targeting Genji, she can do a great job keeping him at bay as she protects her team.
Winston
Like Moira, Winston can rule the roost with his auto-lock beam weapon. His Tesla Cannon primary fire hits everyone around him as long as he’s in range and deals a small amount of sustained damage. Winston is great at pursuing small, highly mobile heroes like Genji because he has mobility of his own: he can follow Genji into a backline using his Jump Pack, making it harder for the cyber ninja to escape. While the Tesla Cannon’s damage isn’t very high, it’s high enough to make a difference in cases where Winston can follow Genji like Genji follows other heroes.
Symmetra
Like Zarya, Symmetra’s beam passes through Genji’s Deflect, continuing to damage him even as the ability progresses. The longer her beam stays in contact with an enemy, the more damage it deals, making it a great way to capitalize on a Genji who has been stunned by a tank. Symmetra’s Sentry Turrets—which can be just as annoying as Genji himself—are a great way to slow him down and reduce his overall agility.
Echo
Echo is an all-in-one Genji killer. Not only does she have hyper mobility and can fly to get away from him, like Pharah can, but her finishing move Focusing Beam can’t be deflected, allowing her to finish him off as long as she can track him. Her other abilities are mostly projectile-based, so it can be difficult to hit him with them. But that doesn’t really matter if Echo can avoid him anyway; she can just focus her fire on other heroes on the enemy team.
Pharah
Rather than being able to truly counter Genji, Pharah is simply good at staying away from him. While Genji’s mobility is extremely high, it’s still not as high as Pharah’s. She can stay in the air for extended periods of time and fly out of his range if he gets close, and her long-range rockets deal splash damage to a Genji close to their impact point. Attempting to deflect a rocket is useless and his shuriken generally can’t reach her when she’s in the sky, making Pharah a great choice if you just want Genji to leave you alone.
Moira
Moira is one of the best counters to Genji, but it comes at a cost. She has a beam weapon similar to Zarya’s and Symmetra’s, but Moira’s beam auto-locks to nearby heroes, meaning even if they shift left or right, you can still deal continuous damage to them as long as you’re reasonably close and maintain line of sight. Genji can’t deflect Moira’s beam, and even if he jumps or climbs up a wall, she can remain locked onto him and deal continuous damage. Because Moira is a support rather than a damage hero, her beam doesn’t do quite as much damage as other heroes.
There’s also a cost-benefit decision to be made when pursuing or protecting against a Genji as Moira. When Moira is attacking a hero with her primary fire, she can’t heal her team at the same time. She’s meant to be an off-healer, so if you have a main healer on your team, they’ll feel the impact less. If you’re running double off healer, though, make sure you aren’t abandoning your team to pick off a meddling Genji.
Brigitte
Brigitte is a different kind of counter to Genji. Yes, her flail attacks and Whip Shot can also be blocked by Genji’s Deflect if you hit him from the front, but she has a decent toolkit to slow him down when he is attacking.
She can use her Shield Bash to push him and deal decent damage. She can Whip Shot to keep him away from her allies (and do decent damage again). She can even stun Genji during his ultimate with her Shield Bash if she’s using Rally.
While Genji is diving your backline, Brigitte will trigger Inspire by hitting him, helping to keep her teammates alive while he pokes them. If Genji has no support, you’ll quickly see him back away until he’s ready to try another dive. You will probably not kill him, but you will help your team stand its ground and survive until the next fight.
