Heroes of the Storm

It’s hard to believe that just two short weeks ago Gen.G was named the 2018 Mid-Season Brawl Champions at Dreamhack Summer in Sweden. HGC fans wanting their weekly dose of action will have to wait no further, as league play resumes this weekend! The caster rotation for Phase 2 will be identical to Phase 1, with Jaycie "Gillyweed" Gluck joining Josh "JHow" Howard for the first five weeks and Wade "Dreadnaught" Penfold tagging in for Gilly for the final five weeks before the HGC Finals.

As Phase 2 begins, team records have been reset to 0-0, players have swapped rosters, and the next mountain to climb is within sight: the HGC Finals. With this blank slate in mind, here are the important matches you don’t want to miss during Week 1.


Gen.G vs Team BlossoM - Friday June 29 at 4:00 a.m. PDT / 1:00 p.m. CEST


After retiring a year ago, Tae Jun "merryday" Yi is returning to HGC Korea as Team BlossoM’s Support player. However, his debut also brings a steep challenge: his former team Gen.G. Hot off their Mid-Season Brawl win, Gen.G is the team to beat in not only Korea, but the entire world. Although rare, Team BlossoM has taken maps from Gen.G in the past, and nearly qualified for the Mid-Season Brawl themselves. If BlossoM takes a page from Team Dignitas’ playbook, they could put give Gen.G a tough homecoming.


Fnatic vs Team Liquid - Saturday June 30 at 11:00 a.m. PDT / 8:00 p.m. CEST


A year ago, Fnatic won the 2017 Mid-Season Brawl. This year they knocked out Method 3-2 in the lower bracket before being sent home by Team Dignitas 3-1. Fnatic has made some significant roster changes with the departure of team captain Dob "QuackNiix" Engström and the return of Simon "scHwimpi" Svensson. This shuffling will be put to the test right away in Week 1 against Team Liquid on Saturday. Always the bridesmaid, Team Liquid failed to qualify for both the Western Clash and Mid-Season Brawl in 2018. Keep your eye on this marquee matchup from Europe to see which team kicks off Phase 2 on the right foot.


LFM Esports vs Team Octalysis - Saturday June 30 at 2:00 p.m. PDT / 11:00 p.m. CEST


At the beginning of May, LFM Esports successfully defended their spot in the HGC by defeating XD 4-2 in the Crucible. While they ultimately ended Phase 1 with a 2-12 record, LFM showed sparks of potential, taking maps off Tempo Storm and HeroesHearth. They lacked consistency in the first half of the year but gained veteran Warrior player Manny "Fury" Medina for Phase 2. Will his guidance be enough to challenge the reworked Team Octalysis? They will be challenging a familiar face in Nicholas "Drated" Broyles, a former LFM player now on Team Octalysis.

Don’t forget to pick up your tickets to the Western Clash! Be sure to tune in live here at playheroes.com/esports as Phase 2 begins this weekend. Matches kick off with Supernova making their HGC debut against Feliz on Friday June 29 at 2:00 a.m. PDT / 11:00 a.m. CEST.

The HGC roster change window has closed, and while teams could swap up to five players, no team swapped more than three. Teams not listed here (e.g. Team Dignitas or Tempo Storm) made no changes. Without further ado, here is how the cookie crumbled for North America, Europe, and Korea.


*Tricked Esports has relinquished ownership of their HGC team to Alexander "Remmerballer" Remmerswaal. The roster formerly known as Tricked Esports will play under the name Monkey Menagerie starting in Week 1 of Phase 2.




*Gale Force Esports has relinquished ownership of their HGC team. Blizzard has awarded the ownership of the roster to the quorum of remaining players in accordance with section 4.2 of the HGC rulebook which can be found here. The roster will play under the name Team DJ starting in Week 1 of Phase 2.

We’ve just released a new Heroes of the Storm patch to apply a number of balance changes and bug fixes.

Quick Navigation:

• Battlegrounds
  
• Heroes
  
• Bug Fixes

Battlegrounds

Ranked Battleground Pool

• Volskaya Foundry has returned to the ranked play Battleground pool.

Heroes

Assassin

Cassia


Talents

• Level 1
  
  • Seraph’s Hymn (W)
    
    • New functionality:
      
      • Reduce Blinding Light’s cooldown and Mana cost by 33%. Basic Attacks against Blinded enemies deal 100% bonus damage.
        
• Level 7
  
  • Impale (E)
    
    • Bonus damage threshold increased from 50% to 60% of the target’s maximum Health.
      

Fenix


Stats

• Health scaling reduced from 4.25% to 4% per level.
  
• Health Regeneration scaling reduced from 4.25% to 4% per level.

Abilities

• Shield Capacitor (Trait)
  
  • Shield scaling reduced from 4.25% to 4% per level.
    
  • Shield Regeneration scaling reduced from 4.25% to 4% per level.
    
• Planet Cracker (R)
  
  • Damage increased from 108 to 112.
    

Talents

• Level 7
  
  • Combat Advantage (Q)
    
    • Damage bonus reduced from 40% to 35%.
      
  • Warp Warfare (E)
    
    • Attack Speed increased from 125% to 175%.
      
• Level 13
  
  • Adanium Shell (E)
    
    • Armor received after Warping increased from 40 to 50.
      
  • Rapid Recharge (Trait)
    
    • Shield recharge amount increased from 40% to 60% of healing received.
      
  • Auxiliary Shields (Trait)
    
    • Shields regeneration amount reduced from 15% to 10% of Basic Attack damage dealt.
      

Greymane


Abilities

• Gilnean Cocktail (Q)
  
  • Cooldown reduced from 10 to 9 seconds.
    

Talents

• Level 1
  
  • Perfect Aim (Q)
    
    • Mana refund increased from 35 to 45.
      
• Level 13
  
  • Visceral Attacks (Q)
    
    • Removed.
      
  • Unfettered Assault (Q)
    
    • Now also causes Worgen Basic Attacks to reduce Razor Swipe’s cooldown by 1.5 seconds.
      

Maiev


Abilities

• Warden’s Cage (R)
  
  • Warden Avatar duration reduced from 7 to 5 seconds.
    

Talents

• Level 1
  
  • Pursuit of Vengeance (W/E)
    
    • Cooldown reduction per Hero tethered increased from 1.5 to 2.5 seconds.
      
• Level 13
  
  • Shadow Armor (E)
    
    • Armor duration increased from 2.5 to 3 seconds.
      
• Level 16
  
  • Cruel Chain (W)
    
    • Damage bonus per stack reduced from 40% to 30%.
      
    • Maximum damage bonus reduced from 200% to 150%.
      
  • Vengeful Knives (Q/E)
    
    • Bonus damage per Hero hit increased from 1.2% to 1.5% maximum Health.
      

Developer Comment: These changes are directed towards fixing some of Maiev’s lower win-rate talents. We also wanted to address the duration of Warden’s Cage. We like that it is a big moment for Maiev, but we don’t feel it needs to linger quite so long.


Tracer


Stats

• Basic Attack damage reduced from 28 to 27.

Abilities

• Blink (Q)
  
  • Cooldown increased from 8 to 9 seconds.
    

Zul'jin


Talents

• Level 4
  
  • Amani Rage (Active)
    
    • Amani Rage is now part of Zul’jin’s baseline kit.
      
    • Cooldown increased from 20 to 30 seconds.
      
    • No longer grants Armor.
      
  • New talent: Amani Hide (Passive)
    
    • Reduce Amani Rage’s cooldown by 10 seconds and gain 10 Armor while regenerating Health.
      

Developer Comment: Amani Rage has become a staple in almost every build for Zul’jin. We love that it creates meaningful moments and synergizes with his kit, so we made it a baseline ability but had to take a little power out of it to compensate. We’ve created Amani Hide as an upgrade for it that brings back the armor functionality players are accustomed to.


Specialist

Nazeebo


Abilities

• Plague of Toads (E)
  
  • Damage per tick reduced from 18 to 17.
    
• Gargantuan (R)
  
  • Attack damage reduced from 150 to 140.
    
  • Health reduced from 2,185 to 2,000.
    

Probius


Talents

• Level 20
  
  • Probius Loop (W)
    
    • Required number of Heroes hit to create a new Warp Rift reduced from 2 to 1.
      

Zagara


Stats

• Basic Attack damage reduced from 82 to 80.

Abilities

• Hunter Killer (W)
  
  • Damage reduced from 68 to 65.
    
• Infested Drop (E)
  
  • Roach damage reduced from 29 to 27.
    
• Nydus Network (R)
  
  • Cooldown increased from 100 to 120 seconds.
    
  • Cooldown reduction per Basic Attack while on Creep decreased from 0.75 to 0.5 seconds.
    

Support

Ana


Abilities

• Shrike (Trait)
  
  • Now also applies Doses to Structures.
    

Deckard


Talents

• Level 20
  
  • Morenadoes! (R)
    
    • Cooldown reduction increased from 5 to 6 seconds.
      

Rehgar


Abilities

• Chain Heal (Q)
  
  • Cooldown reduced from 9 to 8 seconds.
    
  • Healing increased from 240 to 260.
    
  • Mana cost reduced from 65 to 55.
    
• Ancestral Healing (R)
  
  • Healing reduced from 1475 to 1180.
    

Talents

• Level 4
  
  • Spiritwalker’s Grace (Q)
    
    • Mana cost reduction decreased from 20 to 15
      
  • Stormcaller (W)
    
    • Maximum Mana restoration increased from 40 to 100.
      
• Level 7
  
  • Farsight (Active)
    
    • Area reveal duration reduced from 10 to 5 seconds.
      
    • Enemy reveal duration reduced from 4 to 3 seconds.
      
    • Cooldown reduced from 30 to 16 seconds.
      
    • Size of reveal area reduced from 10 to 7.
      
• Level 13
  
  • Earthliving Enchant (Q)
    
    • Healing per second increased from 40 to 45.
      
  • Tidal Waves (Q)
    
    • Cooldown reduction decreased from 1 to 0.75 seconds.
      
• Level 16
  
  • Rising Storm (W)
    
    • Damage bonus per stack increased from 10% to 15%.
      
    • Maximum stacks reduced from 20 to 15.
      
• Level 20
  
  • Farseer’s Blessing (R)
    
    • Healing bonus increased from 50% to 75%.
      
    • Nearby allies healed increased from 50% to 75% of the healing done by Ancestral Healing.
      

Developer Comment: By increasing the healing potential of Chain Heal, Rehgar will feel more dynamic before level 10. He will also rely less on Ancestral to create the healing output needed from a healer. The cooldown reduction will also make Tidal Waves, Earthliving Enchant, and Blood and Thunder more attractive picks on their respective tiers. We’re reducing the healing of Ancestral some to compensate for his stronger base kit. During internal testing prior to making this change, we found the extra healing it offered frequently resulted in overhealing. As a result, we think this healing reduction won’t feel as impactful as it might initially seem.


Warrior

Anub'arak


Talents

• Level 20
  
  • Nullification Shield (Active)
    
    • Removed
      
  • New Talent: Hardened Shield (Active)
    
    • Activate to gain 75 Armor for 4 seconds, taking 75% less damage.
      

Developer Comment: Now that we’ve removed Anub’arak’s baseline Spell Armor, we’ve also decided to normalize his Nullification Shield Talent. Since Harden Carapace provides him with a healthy amount of Spell Armor, it now shares a lot of the same design space with Nullification Shield. We want to make the use case for his Level 20 Talent clearer, which is to simply press the button when in a lot of trouble to survive burst damage.


Blaze


Abilities

• Bunker Drop (R)
  
  • Cooldown increased from 50 to 60 seconds.
    
• Combustion (R)
  
  • Damage increased from 48 to 52.
    

Talents

• Level 4
  
  • Feeding the Flame (Q)
    
    • Oil Spill cooldown reduction increased from 2 to 2.5 seconds.
      

Diablo


Stats

• Health increased from 2,618 to 2,670.
  
• Health Regeneration increased from 5.45 to 5.56.

Abilities

• Apocalypse (R)
  
  • Cooldown reduced from 100 to 90 seconds.
    
• Lightning Breath (R)
  
  • Cooldown increased from 60 to 70 seconds.
    

Talents

• Level 13
  
  • Cruelty (W/E)
    
    • Bonus Attack Speed duration increased from 5 to 7 seconds.
      
• Level 20
  
  • Dying Breath (R)
    
    • Cooldown reduction increased from 20 to 25 seconds per Hero hit
      

Johanna


Stats

• Health increased from 2,540 to 2,700.
  
• Health Regeneration increased from 5.289 to 5.625.

Talents

• Level 4
  
  • Eternal Retaliation (W)
    
    • Now also restores 2.5 Mana for each enemy hit by Condemn.
      

Yrel


Abilities

• Divine Purpose (Trait)
  
  • Cooldown reduced from 10 to 8 seconds.
    
• Avenging Wrath (E)
  
  • Damage increased from 150 to 225.
    

Talents

• Level 4
  
  • Aegis of Light (E)
    
    • Armor amount increased from 25 to 35.
      
  • Gift of the Naaru (Trait)
    
    • Healing reduced from 400 to 275.
      
  • Hand of Freedom (Active)
    
    • Bonus Movement Speed increased from 35% to 50%.
      
• Level 7
  
  • Righteous Momentum (W)
    
    • Yrel is no longer slowed while channeling Righteous Hammer.
      
    • Bonus Movement Speed reduced from 45% to 25%.
      
• Level 16
  
  • Templar’s Verdict (W)
    
    • Armor reduction duration increased from 2 to 4 seconds.
      
  • Divine Favor (Trait)
    
    • Cooldown reduction decreased from 2 to 1.5 seconds.
      

Developer Comment: We’ve seen Yrel trending upward strongly since her release, most likely due to players beginning to master her unique playstyle. We’ve seen a large difference between players who have a lot of experience as Yrel (Hero level 10+) and people who are still learning the Hero. This is likely why we’ve seen her rise from her initial winrate of 40% to her current 46%. That said, we would like her to feel a little more powerful and be countered by enemy picks a little less. We’ve increased Avenging Wrath’s damage so she gains a little wave clear (though she’ll have to use her escape to do so), while also allowing her to threaten enemy backlines. By reducing the cooldown of Divine Purpose, Yrel players won’t need to channel as frequently which will result in fewer interrupts. We’ve also made several Talent changes to buff a few that were underperforming, and to offset the lower Divine Purpose cooldown.


Bug Fixes

General

• Addressed an issue that could cause the game client to crash.

Heroes, Abilities, and Talents

• Alexstrasza: Casting Dragonqueen no longer reveals Alexstrasza’s location to enemies through the Fog of War until she is killed.
  
• Alexstrasza: An enemy Alexstrasza’s Dragonqueen model will no longer persist after she enters a vehicle in the Fog of War.
  
• Medivh: Placing an item, like a Turret or Biotic Emitter, during Raven Form channeling will no longer allow Medivh to cast Abilities in Raven Form.
  
• Thrall: The Feral Resilience Talent’s buff bar tooltip now correctly states that stacks grant 50 Physical Armor.
  
• Shields: Talents that deal damage versus Shields, such as Varian’s Shattering Throw, no longer also deal damage to the target’s Health.
  
• Yrel: Can no longer cast Bubble Hearth while she is being revived by Divine Palm.
  
• Yrel: Bubble Hearth is now placed on a reduced cooldown if casting is interrupted by Divine Palm.
  
• Yrel: No longer becomes permanently Invulnerable if she is revived by Divine Palm while casting Bubble Hearth.

User Interface

• Collection: Backstories have been restored for a number of Kerrigan, Leoric, and Rexxar skins.