Genji is one of the heroes that were the most recognizable from Overwatch 1. Whether it be from the memes of ‘I need healing’ or the Reddit clips of crazy Genji plays, he has always been a high-skill hero. Here is a look at the top Genji players who defined the Overwatch 1 playstyle for many around the world.
Image courtesy of InvenGlobal
Whoru came out during the APEX tournaments days in Season 2. He has replaced Taejun ‘Leetaejun’ Lee as the DPS for Lunatic-Hai. He debuted at such a young age that many saw him as a prodigy. One of the most explosive gameplay that came from him was his Genji.
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His Genji was an assassin. He would dive into the back to harass the enemy team. This would then open up opportunities for the team to pick one of the other players. This Genji style worked for Whoru because there were plenty of other threats on the team that could put in the damage. It was his regular play with the basic tool kit abilities to get kills without his ultimate that made him stand out. His signature would be his dash resets where he would destroy low-health enemy teams. He prefers to use his ultimate in relation to his team’s ultimate economy.
Whoru was too young to join the Overwatch League with his fellow Lunatic-Hai team. Instead, he took to the Philadelphia Fusion’s contenders team. There he won and showed that he deserved a spot in the Overwatch League once he aged up. During this time he was loaned out to a few teams before joining the NYXL. After that season was done he announced his retirement but came out of it to play on the Shanghai Dragons where he is currently still under contract. Throughout all this time he continued to play Genji but also expanded out his hero pool to be more flexible in matches.
Image Courtesy of OGN
On the other side of the Genji scale is Haksal. While Whoru was on Lunatic-Hai, Haksal was on the equally popular Runaway team. His playstyle was more with the team than Whoru, but also is much more aggressive. He would farm up his ultimate and then Runaway would put their resources into Haksal to get those 5k or 6k team kills.
His game-style teams that there needs to be a strong shot caller to focus down their opponents as well as peel for Haksal. The biggest issue was that because of his aggressive style Haksal can get caught out of position, and he was the main damage dealer which would then have that attack cycle caput. The team heavily relied on Haksal’s damage to secure team fight wins.
From Runaway Haksal was on The Vancouver Titans and then the NYXL before retiring to be a content creator. He was on the NYXL alongside Whoru at one point. His Genji skills haven’t decreased, but without his Runaway squad supporting him he wasn’t as effective.
Courtesy of OGN
Arhan came before Whoru or Haksal. He was one of the original players that made a name on Genji when he was on Afreeca Freecs. He was so popular that he was voted as captain of the Overwatch World Cup 2017 team. His Genji style is feast or famine. Whoru tak4es after him more than Haksal as Arhan would rely on the basic tool kit to get most of the work done. His ultimates would either be amazing or not good, which came down to his timing of using his ultimate or doing the damage but not securing the kills.
AF Blue vs BK Stars – ft. ArHaN’s Genji and D.Va | OGN Overwatch APEX Semifinals Highlights
Arhan was on a few teams before the Overwatch League. He started out on MIG Frost but then move to the more well-known Afreeca Freecs where he started to make his name. Later he moved to Meta Athena where he stayed until he became the first Korean to join the Houston Outlaws. He retired and made his way into coaching; he is currently coaching T1.
Whoru and Haksal were able to refine what Arhan brought to the table. But all three of these Genji players were influential. They helped define the playstyle of one of the highest-skill heroes in the game. Through their contributions, many other players came after them taking and refining even more to leave a legacy of these three influential Genji’s.
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