Overwatch Genji Nerfed
via blizzard.reactor.cc

Was Genji Nerfed to the Ground?

Aug 21, 2016
-10.3k
10330
via blizzard.reactor.cc

That’s right, Genji was nerfed and the community is throwing a fit. “He’s useless!”, they say. “An effective pile of cyborg trash!” they claim. Looks like the community is no longer sane…

But is he really that bad now? What’s up with Genji, and was he really nerfed to the ground?

Changes

Genji Nerf Overwatch
“Genji was a little too difficult to pin down”

Basically, Blizzard reduced the Dragonblade (Ultimate) duration while Swift Strike and Dash bugs were fixed. But most importantly, his jump reset, a.k.a. his third jump, was also removed.

Jump reset

Honestly we can just forget about the other nerfs because we all know (maybe just subconsciously for some of you plebs) that we would still play him if those were the only changes.

Removing the third jump is a huge deal. It completely alters Genji’s movement set. Seagull, a prominent DPS player for NRG, expressed similar thoughts on the day of the update. Basically, Genji can’t navigate around maps as effectively as he used to. Also, it forces him to fight on the ground now that his dash is more important.

Community reaction

Shocked Overwatch Community reaction
via photobucket

Many casual players welcome the changes, while professionals think that it was a massive mistake.

Genji needed the nerf on the casual side of the equation. Aiming at a Genji flying in and out of combat was too hard for less mechanically skilled players and especially on console.

That’s right, console.

Patched for console play?

It seems very likely that this update was geared toward console play. Excuse me while I clean up the spew on my desk, but is that for real?

It’s immensely challenging to balance the game for multiple platforms with different input formats. These challenges are best met by balancing the game for the PC version, since that’s what the competitive scene uses. Console balance issues should only be addressed if the change is also necessary for the PC version, or if console becomes the competitive standard (which won’t happen). Granted, this approach considerably limits console patching options, but it’s still the best way to fuel Overwatch’s esports presence.

My reaction

This Tweet by Last Stock Legends’ PapaPaint summarizes my reaction to the update.

And it’s really true. Blizzard loves to interfere with character balance. In a big way too. From top to bottom tier in one fell swoop has been the fate of other hero favorites in the past.

In an article discussing a recent Ana and McCree patch, I proposed that Blizzard should take a step back to have a better understanding of patching needs. Well, let’s just say that it didn’t happen. They removed Genji’s jump reset just a couple weeks later.

Again, it would be so much better to have more time between patches. Give players the space to properly understand character interactions and they’ll stop excreting nonsense feedback en masse.

You May Like

Was Genji nerfed to the ground though?

Although the changes made Genji significantly worse, he’s still competitively viable. He’ll be more predictable, but his skill set is still good enough to be at least a situational pick.

It was a sad day for Genji, but it really wasn’t as bad you might have thought. The jump change wasn’t deserved, but he’ll survive.

Overwatch World Cup
Aug 16, 2016
967
Ana Guide
Aug 14, 2016
2378
Overwatch Summer Games
Aug 7, 2016
1836
Aug 6, 2016
1224
Martin Stuessy
41 POSTS
TFT mourner. CS:GO addict. Philosophy at Ohio State. English/German/Spanish/French in order of ability. Culturally diverse. Writes about Overwatch, CS:GO and other topics. Follow @MartinStuessy on Twitter.
What do you think?
react-1

ayy lmao

react-2

Nice.

react-3

Meh.

react-4

No.

react-5

Whoa!

Previous articleRogue Reinforce: “I’m Just Setting My Team up for Success”
Next articleEichenwalde: Thoughts and Implications