2015: Heroes in Review

[Sir Andy]

So the end of the year is upon us, and as was announced at Blizzcon, we've had a wonderful assortment of heroes released this year. From the quirky play style of the Lost Vikings to one of the most popular Assassins in the game to some of the most dominant Warriors, there's been a lot worth celebrating.

Seeing as the year is about over, I think it would be fun to rank the heroes released this year in terms of the impact they've had on the game. How consistent they are, how powerful they once were and perhaps how low they have fallen. So, here goes my stab at it:

1. Kael'thas: Incredibly popular and powerful Assassin. Picked or banned in most every tourney since he was released. As powerful after his Ignite removal if not more so.

2. Johanna: Up there with Muradin for most durable damn thing in the game. Immediately cemented herself as a dominate Warrior, and she still is.

3. Leoric: Repeated nerfs have brought him down from his lofty throne, but he's still great. Downright scary when he first came out.

4. Kharazim: He was out for a while before he really took off. Pushed Rehgar to the brink of extinction. Probably the second most popular support in competitive after Uther.

5. Sylvanas: Minion killer extraordinaire and dat silence. Possession still blows.

6. Vikings: Once upon a time, these guys were incredibly popular. Not so much now, but they definitely change how games are played.

7. Morales: The rescaling of early levels makes her great in the beginning stages of a game. Still a solid support, capable of making certain heroes into nightmares with Stim Drone.

8. Thrall: Thrall's balls, anyone? Once a juggernaut, Green Jesus was beaten into flameworthy-pick status. Making a bit of a comeback now.

9. Rexxar: Solos bosses and guards the Dragon Shire shrines like a boss. And Misha is adorable.

10. Cho'gall: Oh Cho'gall... Amazing what happens when you get two people who have never played with each other before and have no means of communication to operate a two player, one hero unit. Add on to the fact that he's a liability in basically every pick except #8 and 9 and Cho'gall frequently finds himself a glorified punching bag to any assortment of stunlock, Giant Killer, Blood for Blood, Seven Sided Strike, Drain Hope......... Raid bosses never felt so squishy.

11. The Butcher: Unlike Thrall, this guy never really shined. He's picked every now and then, but the most recurring thing you hear about The Butcher is "Wait, you can cancel Ruthless Onslaught?" Oh, and that kick ass combo NaVi played with Butcher and Falstad.

12. Artanis: Speaking of heroes who never really shined, this guy was pretty much dead on arrival. A rework is coming soonTM, so we'll see how Arty holds up afterwards.

[Mormolyce]

Yeah frankly I think KT is still OP. Leo and Johanna aren't really OP but they are really strong picks, to the point that IMO some of the older tanks need to be brought up to their level.

I wonder if they will ever revisit Possession.

Did the changes to levelling negatively impact TLV? Used to be the XP lead they got you at early levels was massively beneficial, probably less now.

Morales is a nightmare in QM! Always a more than decent chance your team is too derpy to counter her.

Thrall is a solid hero still, I think people really underestimate him. The Butcher is great, though probably gets counterpicked heavily in constructed. Also QM queues are full of tanky characters these days which marginalises ganker heroes.

I think Cho'Gall will transform a lot once the events have cooled down and only dedicated Cho'Gall players are using him.

I hear Artanis can be good, I've seen a few strong Artanis players. Trouble is, outside of a clutch phase prism he doesn't bring much to the table other warriors don't, and better. His ultis are decent though.

IMO the weakest of the new heroes by far is Rexxar. If soloing camps was a big thing in HoTS, maybe he'd be better. But it's not because doing so is essentially taking a big risk for not that great a payoff - if the enemy team realises he's MIA they'll often check camps, kill him or drive him off, then take it themselves. At the moment he's relegated to the Gazlowe trash pile.

[Wrathonia]

lolwut. Butcher never really shined? My friend, you have terrible memory. People were crying for nerfs the first month. The finally started to learn how to counter him, but until that happened, he could tear full teams apart. Rexxar was pretty broke at launch. His orb gathering talent just didn't work unless he personally got them, not if misha did. Misha could pick up collectables but couldn't turn them in. (ie spider butts and blackheart coins) Also his extra range talent for basic attacks just didn't work. Morales was damn near a free kill when she first launched. Super low health and people not used to positioning FAR in the back would just die to stuns.

[Sir Andy]

lolwut. Butcher never really shined? My friend, you have terrible memory. People were crying for nerfs the first month.

Butcher is a nonentity in the vast majority of Hero League games and really doesn't see play competitively except for combo comps like Gust+Lamb.

Him being a pain to QM derps doesn't really cut it. Unless I'm mistaken, he hasn't been nerfed since his introduction (in fact, he's been buffed). He's not bad by any means, but his impact on the game has been pretty minimal.

[Mormolyce]

Well you can say a hero is shit in HL which applies to several heroes. But I bet if you looked at how many HL games get played vs how many QM, it's probably hugely in favour of the latter. So I think it's foolish to discount QM.

[Stormcall]

Well you can say a hero is shit in HL which applies to several heroes. But I bet if you looked at how many HL games get played vs how many QM, it's probably hugely in favour of the latter. So I think it's foolish to discount QM.

Well, QM isn't a good indicator of anything, cause it's so random. Sure, Nova may look like a fucking GODDESS when she's going up against the QM team of Valla, Jaina, Sylvanas, Murky, and the Diablo who won't leave lane under any circumstances, with a total of 150 games played total between the 5, but that doesn't mean Nova is actually a super strong hero just cause she can stomp a team of random squishy inexperienced pubs.

[Wrathonia]

Butcher is a nonentity in the vast majority of Hero League games and really doesn't see play competitively except for combo comps like Gust+Lamb.

Him being a pain to QM derps doesn't really cut it. Unless I'm mistaken, he hasn't been nerfed since his introduction (in fact, he's been buffed). He's not bad by any means, but his impact on the game has been pretty minimal.

It's like you didn't read what I typed. When Butcher FIRST CAME OUT he was damn near unstoppable. A few nerfs and people finally understanding how to counter him and he is in a much more reasonable place.

[AeneasBK]

Does anyone else feel that if they upped the range by 10% and the travel time by 30% of Artanis' prism he would be much more competetive? Or is it still his lack of other control?

It seems like the difference between "free kill lolol" Artanis and "omg they got carried by their" Artanis is landing prisms properly... Maybe making that a little easier might make him better IDK. Maybe increase the slow from his lvl 7 (or is it 4, I know one is his AS) talent so once swapped they can't return as easily... I don't think anything he has needs to be changed, just some numbers tweaked. Sorry I know this isn't an Artanis thread

Looking forward to 2016

[Wrathonia]

Yeah, his prism is kinda shit at the moment. And a lot of his shield talents come too late I feel.

[ttak82]

Alot of the heroes mentioned are favorites for many people. And that's a great sign. considering that there are 3 upcoming heroes which people are looking forward to (Lunara, Greymane and Trtacer), HoTS has been very exciting.

Other noteworthy things (mostly from tourney PoV):

Muradin's been one of the top heroes through out the year in tourneys; Anub'arak has seen less picks as the year went by; Uther's been crazy involved in each game; And Sonya and Arthas have gotten some spotlight too. And ofc, people at blizzcon lost their shit when Murky showed up in one game.

Some heroes were changed which saw them become popular again. Stitches, ETC, Chen.

Just Gazlowe and maybe Tychus are the ones who've had a crappy 2015. Devs are liking the new changes to Gazlowe being tested for the next patch(es), but it remains to be seen what will happen.

[Sir Andy]

It's like you didn't read what I typed. When Butcher FIRST CAME OUT he was damn near unstoppable. A few nerfs and people finally understanding how to counter him and he is in a much more reasonable place.

What was nerfed about Butcher? I don't seem to remember any changes to him except the change to his Savage Charge talent at 13 doing % max health rather than remaining (a buff). As far as I can recall, he hasn't been touched otherwise.

And again, QM derps losing their minds over him means little when every other post on the forums is "Nova killed me. Nerf her."

[Nerraw]

What was nerfed about Butcher? I don't seem to remember any changes to him except the change to his Savage Charge talent at 13 doing % max health rather than remaining (a buff). As far as I can recall, he hasn't been touched otherwise.

Indirectly nerfed through Cleanse.

[Sir Andy]

Indirectly nerfed through Cleanse.

Which was nerfed later.

[RH92]

I think Butcher is rather strong, it is only dying on him is very punishing.

Butcher is weak at 0 stacks and very powerful at maximum stacks. Targeting Butcher is very effective strategy as it can force him longer out of a fight because he always has to regain his stacks to be truly effective.

*post*

Nah, the only thing he need is Zealot Charge baseline (Maybe with a slightly shorter range). He is the only melee in game without any movement increase, slow or gap closer baseline.

For more info you can check this thread.

[Nerraw]

Which was nerfed later.

It's still available to almost all supports which it wasn't before Butcher.

[Sir Andy]

I've played a whopping 5 games as Artanis. Damage and survivability seem to be there, mobility is an issue. And loath as I am to give more heroes Unstoppable, I feel Blade Dash could really use it.

[Ryme]

Blade dash just all over feels like a really weirdly designed ability, I'm consciously refraining from using the adjective "badly" here.

[Mormolyce]

Does anyone else feel that if they upped the range by 10% and the travel time by 30% of Artanis' prism he would be much more competetive? Or is it still his lack of other control?

It seems like the difference between "free kill lolol" Artanis and "omg they got carried by their" Artanis is landing prisms properly... Maybe making that a little easier might make him better IDK. Maybe increase the slow from his lvl 7 (or is it 4, I know one is his AS) talent so once swapped they can't return as easily... I don't think anything he has needs to be changed, just some numbers tweaked. Sorry I know this isn't an Artanis thread

Looking forward to 2016

Yeah that would help a lot.

Also if you could either stop Blade Dash at any point or talent it to not return.

[Deleted]

source about the Artanis reword coming soon? O.o

[Nerraw]

source about the Artanis reword coming soon? O.o

DBro's twitter. Nothing official, just that they're discussing options.