When new characters come to games like Overwatch 2, the most asked question is usually "How do I play as them?" The second most asked question is always "How do I fight against this new hero?" Kiriko can be elusive at the best of times, even if as a supporting character, she doesn't have a lot of health. However, she more than makes up for that with her powerful skills, of which can be deadly in the right hands. Still, you can take her down and her team with her if you know what you're doing.
Knowing your enemy is the best way to defeat them, so here's everything you need to know about Kiriko's attacks and abilities, and what you can do in order to stop her in her tracks and prevent her from helping the rest of the opposing team in the process.
4 Stay On The Move
Her primary attack is her kunai, which are quite weak. That is, as long as she doesn't hit you in the head. It's weak, small, and has a low fire rate, but it also causes three times more damage when she lands a headshot. That means you can't make your head an easy target if you are fighting her. Just moving in a straight line toward her might be your downfall, especially at close range.
Move around, use dashes or movement abilities if you have them, and maybe even crouch up and down to really move your head around. Jumping may work, but you will still get hit in your body, and jumping arcs are rather predictable, so someone with good aiming might actually hit you better because you're jumping. Be as mobile as you can while fighting her, as she'll only be able to do a third of her potential damage if she can't hit your head.
3 Stop The Ofuda
The Healing Ofuda is Kiriko's source of healing her allies, and it's a very powerful healing method - this makes sense since it's her only source of healing. It travels in a straight line, and once it reaches someone, the deed is done. There's not much you can do when the Ofuda starts flying around its target already (except for an Ana landing a quick Anti-healing Grenade). However, you can prevent them from ever finding a target, and preventing a healer from healing is one of the best ways of shutting them down.
For example, shields can block her healing. That makes Reinhardt, Sigma, and Winston capable of preventing such healing from taking place. Absorption abilities also work, so D.Va, Orisa, and Sigma can use them to stop the healing. You could also block the way with Mei's Ice Wall, who's an effective counter for Kiriko (more on that later), and even Genji, who can deflect the Ofuda, preventing the enemies from using it and even healing an ally if aimed properly.
2 Bait Her Or Kill Her First
One of the strongest aspects of both of Kiriko's main abilities, Swift Step and Protection Suzu, is that they both have extremely fast animations, making their use almost instantaneous. You can technically stun her after using her teleport, but the time window here is just too small to do reliably, meaning that's something you're more likely to do by accident. However, you can still push her around to isolate her or keep track of her allies, so you know where she can potentially run off to though. The only thing that truly stops Swift Step is a Graviton Surge, but an ultimate to trap a single character is rarely worth it.
As for the protection Suzu, no abilities can stop it once it's done. That means countering it isn't about your character or abilities, but about your strategy. The first option here is to get rid of her; a sniper headshot, a handful of charged-up Zenyatta orbs, or anything else that kills her fast, so she dies before using it in the first place. Or, you can use your basic attacks cleverly to force her into using her protection abilities, and then you or your teammates can proceed to use something actually threatening against her. That way, you know her ability will be at a cooldown, and she'll have no way to counter them.
A final tip, and one specific to the Reinhardt players out there; Earthshatter is a fantastic way to stop her in her tracks - even if it means getting fewer people trapped in your ultimate, it is better to take out a critical character like Kiriko than hold on to your ult for minutes waiting for the biggest possible group. Try not to ult only on her though, as that's quite a waste. And remember, even if you get a four-person Shatter, and she is still standing, then her Protection Suzu will save everyone you downed with your ability, so she is a primary target for such a skill. Or get rid of her beforehand.
1 Stopping A Kitsune Rush
This one is also complicated to stop due to its speed. Her abilities move quite fast when activated, so preventing it at critical points before it's deployed is the real goal. You could pull off a stun as she uses it, but again, the time window here is small and something only Overwatch League-level players can do even semi-reliably. Still, it could work, so if you are Ana and you think Kiriko is about to use her ult, shoot your shoot - you might get lucky. Even an EMP can annul Kitsune Rush if you time it perfectly, but it still is a difficult thing to do during chaotic games.
Still, there are some other options. Mei is perfect against the Kitsune Rush, for example. Her Ice Wall can prevent the fox from moving, thus decreasing the whole area around it. In fact, even Mei's Cryo-Freeze is big enough to block them from going forward, so you can stop it yourself if your Ice Wall is on cooldown. It won't fully prevent the ultimate, but decreasing its area is already a big difference. You can also use Blizzard to slow down or even freeze everyone - their speed boost won't matter if they can't even move. Even if they escape your Blizzard, you'll force them out of the Kitsune area.
Zarya can also help here, though not to the same degree. She can't stop the Rush, but she can trap everyone and gain some time for your team to fall back. Graviton Surge can trap them all together, and while this will stop them from pushing forward, the enemy team can still attack and kill you, so beware.
Finally, defensive ultimate abilities can also make a difference against the extreme firepower provided to a team by Kitsune Rush. Transcendence, for instance, can be a lifesaver here since its healing will be higher than the enemies' damage, even though they're sped up. It won't help you kill them, but it'll help your team endure and survive during the Rush.
Last, and maybe actually least, you could try countering Kitsune Rush with even more aggression of your own. The chances aren't in your favor though, since the enemies will be moving faster - but if you take them off-guard, it can sometimes work. After all, the enemies will likely be close to one another in the area of Kitsune Rush. That means offensive ultimates like Death Blossom, Pulse Bomb, and area attacks could take them down if they aren't coordinated. Kitsune Rush doesn't increase health, so it's possible.