EPTNew Blood
A look at the European Metagame
This is a small personal blog from Kaelaris, known for his casting at ESL over the last several years in StarCraft II who is now doing Heroes of the Storm casting as well. It comes from Kaelaris' facebook and I thought it would be nice to have a discussion for it here on TL.
-Heyoka
Heroes meta here in the EU is in a rather interesting and fluctuating place at the moment. Where to begin, there is so much. There are actually quite a few ways to play this meta currently so I cannot possibly cover everything, but here are just a few of my thoughts as things stand. I actually tried to prioritise them in terms of significance, but that completely fell apart when I began to critically think about how interwoven they truly are, so a priority system is impossible at this point. This blog will only cover 1 small part of the meta, the newest members. I will do follow up writings later.
The competition in Europe is FIERCE at the moment, with a capital F. Right now I feel the meta is volatile. All you need to do is look at the way in which the top 4 teams in Europe have been dealing with this meta as of late. From the previous meta, I would consider Team Liquid, Gamers2, Na'Vi and Kinguin to have been the top dogs, with others not so far behind. Is this true now? maybe, but even a team as previously invincible as TL aren't looking so untouchable right now.
Disclaimer - I could probably write pages about each of these heroes and how they suit each map and composition, but for the sake of not writing an entire book, i’m going to keep it a bit shorter than that. So if there are points you think i’ve overlooked, understand I don’t want to write ALL day.
The New Blood – The Lost Vikings, Sylvanas and Kael’Thas.
Let us continue with the 3 most recent Heroes to be released, which have had significant influence over the meta, ignoring Johanna for now who we can speak about later and haven't seen her in proper games just yet. These three right now see the most bans, and first picks in Europe. Of course older heroes also make their way in as they’ve also stood the test of time for bans and first picks, but we can go into those later. Also depending on the map, these picks and bans are indeed interchangeable.
The small change to Kael'Thas and his chain bomb made very little difference regarding his true potential at the top level, but I can only imagine that the next patch will bring changes to him to put him in line with the other Assassins. Once he gains level 13, Flamethrower and then 16, Ignite, he becomes a god. One Flamestrike in the right place can basically win a fight or even the game in extreme instances. Regardless of it it even hits or not, it’s enough to strike fear into your opponents, as the poke potential is tough to rival. Combine him with the heavy focus of space control at the moment (we’ll get to that later), it makes for an extremely deadly combo, that has too much burst damage in it's current state. A tweak to the damage is something I wouldn’t think out of the question. I theorised recently what Kael’Thas would be like without gathering power, but very rarely do I see a Kael’Thas without 5 stacks so I cannot really judge. Also Flamethrower range increase is the most obvious choice at level 13, dwarfing the other talents at that junction. For example, Pyromaniac at 13 is an extremely interesting talent when you couple it with Verdant Sphere, double Living Bombs, and the prior lvl 1 Mana Addict that you need to keep it going, Alas we will never see use of it while Flamethrower is in it’s current form.
Some might say, “well, technically Jaina has an increase on her Blizzard range but it’s never taken! So why is Flamethrower so good?”. Well, Storm Front requires you to sacrifice quite a bit of survivability at lvl 13, and I would also argue you need to take Snowstorm at level 4 to get anywhere close to the same kind of zoning and poke potential. There is still one occurrence that I suppose you could make an argument for Chain Bomb, which could be against Vikings on maps where objectives are in tight areas, Cursed Hollow for example. BUT even then, Flamethrower is still amazingly strong.
Of course we should mention that Kael’Thas, unlike the upcoming 2 heroes, doesn’t have much of an early game, and no proper escape until Bolt of the Storm at level 20, so there is some justification there for him being truly a glass cannon.
http://www.heroesfire.com/hots/talent-calculator/kaelthas#h9W9
We used to think Zagara was the queen of lanes, well, the real queen is here now. Sylvanas is an absolute menace in the current meta. Both early game and late game. Her tool-kit is one of the most powerful in the game right now. To start things off, her laning is aided by having very few mana problems, as her Withering arrow costs no mana, and her other abilities have very little cost in relation to how often you need to use them. Constant lane presence is hers. Next at level 4 comes Envenom, which gives her great kill potential in the early game. Without it she doesn’t have much kill potency in the beginning of the game to be honest. It is also very powerful because, ideally roaming squads want to shut her down, which in previous metas comprised of Kerrigan's and Arthas’, who also had envenom. Now though, that isn’t the case, so you better land those skill shot stuns. Blood for Blood later in the game adds even more to her chunking ability. Many teams have fallen away from the use of Follow Through at level 7, and are instead prioritising Unstable poison to further increase her deadly pushing power. It’s very rare you will ever see a Sylvanas not have control of the laning phase. The experience lead it creates can allow for brutal snow-ball if it’s a top-tier team that isn’t going to drop the ball and risk things later, and it doesn’t end there. Wailing Arrow can be fight winning, it’s potential to completely turn fights, in a similar way to Kael’Thas’ post 13 Flamestrike, is devastating. The Heroic itself is so versatile, be it to secure solo kills, disengage or gain the perfect engage off of a Void Prism, Devouring Maw, any stun, clump up or slow.
Haunting wave provides her with excellent mobility, and there are even strong niche plays such as level 7 Shade form, to make it much harder for Polymorph or targeted disables to deny the activation of the wave. Indeed that takes away from some pushing power, but increases her survivability in the right situations, against the right teams. When you have a hero who can put on massive pressure during the laning phase as well as the team fight phase, you know you cannot go wrong with her. Wailing Arrow can outright counter an entire team. Right now if you see a Sylvanas go through the ban phase on a map like Haunted Mines, something weird has happened. On a map like that, she is almost meta-dictating in certain scenarios. The team that has her at high level, regardless of map will almost always get ahead, and you MUST respect her power. In my mind she is absolutely the best first pick right now in this meta.
http://www.heroesfire.com/hots/talent-calculator/sylvanas#hXyi
- Evasive Fire and Blood for Blood are interchangeable with Spell Shield and Cold Embrace, depending on your requirements and setup around you.
Ban them, or deal with them, it’s your choice really. The Lost Vikings add something to Heroes of the Storm that is difficult to replicate with any other Hero. The problem for many teams doesn’t come directly from the engagement, but rather the lack of it. On bigger maps with objectives such as Cursed Hollow and Sky Temple, Vikings can spread well, soak all the lanes and basically make it extremely difficult to keep pace on level. They basically force the opposing team into working twice as hard as the Vikings team, as you need to either go for the “poor mans vikings” Abathur to get some extra soak yourself (via body, abathur hat and locust last hits), or you can use something like a Zeratul with Gathering Power, farm them early and make for a powerful foe very early on to other Heroes. They force an uncomfortable position for your opponent, especially if you’re keen enough to ban out Abathur on the bigger maps like previously mentioned. At level 4, having Spin to Win gives the Vikings fantastic wave clear capabilities, which then in turn gives him powerful pushing power. Unless you’re going to kill all three of them in this situation, is it worth heading up there and attempting to shut them down? Well map-aware Vikings will Go Go Go! right out of there.
You better shut down some of their lane soak and push early, because when they hit level 7, Jump! gives them that extra spring-in-their-step they need, to get away from your gank.
Then we come to Longboat Raid! Is one of your Viking’s low on health? No problem! Is your opposing team out of position and rooted? No problem! Is it just an every day team fight? No problem! The amount of damage it does forces your opponents to either run away, or completely turn their attention to it. You can pop it to save a Viking, and that’s important! because it one dies, that diminishes the effectiveness of the Longboat by quite a bit. Then when Ragnarok and Roll! kicks in, you’re having the best of times with damage out-put and space control.
The Lost Vikings also have the fantastic ability of being able to secure things like a Garden Terror, becoming a whole member of the team in a push or team-fight, but also having the other lanes being soaked at the same time.
http://www.heroesfire.com/hots/talent-calculator/the-lost-vikings#pHap
- This is THE build. Any deviation from it is pretty much just inferior at top level play.
Ok i’m stopping at 3 pages about just 3 heroes, and this doesn’t cover anywhere NEAR what I could say about them, as well as other heroes about their place in the meta!
I think i'll write more soon about other Heroes soon if you liked this
-Heyoka
Introduction
Heroes meta here in the EU is in a rather interesting and fluctuating place at the moment. Where to begin, there is so much. There are actually quite a few ways to play this meta currently so I cannot possibly cover everything, but here are just a few of my thoughts as things stand. I actually tried to prioritise them in terms of significance, but that completely fell apart when I began to critically think about how interwoven they truly are, so a priority system is impossible at this point. This blog will only cover 1 small part of the meta, the newest members. I will do follow up writings later.
The competition in Europe is FIERCE at the moment, with a capital F. Right now I feel the meta is volatile. All you need to do is look at the way in which the top 4 teams in Europe have been dealing with this meta as of late. From the previous meta, I would consider Team Liquid, Gamers2, Na'Vi and Kinguin to have been the top dogs, with others not so far behind. Is this true now? maybe, but even a team as previously invincible as TL aren't looking so untouchable right now.
Disclaimer - I could probably write pages about each of these heroes and how they suit each map and composition, but for the sake of not writing an entire book, i’m going to keep it a bit shorter than that. So if there are points you think i’ve overlooked, understand I don’t want to write ALL day.
The New Blood – The Lost Vikings, Sylvanas and Kael’Thas.
KAEL’THAS
Let us continue with the 3 most recent Heroes to be released, which have had significant influence over the meta, ignoring Johanna for now who we can speak about later and haven't seen her in proper games just yet. These three right now see the most bans, and first picks in Europe. Of course older heroes also make their way in as they’ve also stood the test of time for bans and first picks, but we can go into those later. Also depending on the map, these picks and bans are indeed interchangeable.
The small change to Kael'Thas and his chain bomb made very little difference regarding his true potential at the top level, but I can only imagine that the next patch will bring changes to him to put him in line with the other Assassins. Once he gains level 13, Flamethrower and then 16, Ignite, he becomes a god. One Flamestrike in the right place can basically win a fight or even the game in extreme instances. Regardless of it it even hits or not, it’s enough to strike fear into your opponents, as the poke potential is tough to rival. Combine him with the heavy focus of space control at the moment (we’ll get to that later), it makes for an extremely deadly combo, that has too much burst damage in it's current state. A tweak to the damage is something I wouldn’t think out of the question. I theorised recently what Kael’Thas would be like without gathering power, but very rarely do I see a Kael’Thas without 5 stacks so I cannot really judge. Also Flamethrower range increase is the most obvious choice at level 13, dwarfing the other talents at that junction. For example, Pyromaniac at 13 is an extremely interesting talent when you couple it with Verdant Sphere, double Living Bombs, and the prior lvl 1 Mana Addict that you need to keep it going, Alas we will never see use of it while Flamethrower is in it’s current form.
Some might say, “well, technically Jaina has an increase on her Blizzard range but it’s never taken! So why is Flamethrower so good?”. Well, Storm Front requires you to sacrifice quite a bit of survivability at lvl 13, and I would also argue you need to take Snowstorm at level 4 to get anywhere close to the same kind of zoning and poke potential. There is still one occurrence that I suppose you could make an argument for Chain Bomb, which could be against Vikings on maps where objectives are in tight areas, Cursed Hollow for example. BUT even then, Flamethrower is still amazingly strong.
Of course we should mention that Kael’Thas, unlike the upcoming 2 heroes, doesn’t have much of an early game, and no proper escape until Bolt of the Storm at level 20, so there is some justification there for him being truly a glass cannon.
http://www.heroesfire.com/hots/talent-calculator/kaelthas#h9W9
SYLVANAS
We used to think Zagara was the queen of lanes, well, the real queen is here now. Sylvanas is an absolute menace in the current meta. Both early game and late game. Her tool-kit is one of the most powerful in the game right now. To start things off, her laning is aided by having very few mana problems, as her Withering arrow costs no mana, and her other abilities have very little cost in relation to how often you need to use them. Constant lane presence is hers. Next at level 4 comes Envenom, which gives her great kill potential in the early game. Without it she doesn’t have much kill potency in the beginning of the game to be honest. It is also very powerful because, ideally roaming squads want to shut her down, which in previous metas comprised of Kerrigan's and Arthas’, who also had envenom. Now though, that isn’t the case, so you better land those skill shot stuns. Blood for Blood later in the game adds even more to her chunking ability. Many teams have fallen away from the use of Follow Through at level 7, and are instead prioritising Unstable poison to further increase her deadly pushing power. It’s very rare you will ever see a Sylvanas not have control of the laning phase. The experience lead it creates can allow for brutal snow-ball if it’s a top-tier team that isn’t going to drop the ball and risk things later, and it doesn’t end there. Wailing Arrow can be fight winning, it’s potential to completely turn fights, in a similar way to Kael’Thas’ post 13 Flamestrike, is devastating. The Heroic itself is so versatile, be it to secure solo kills, disengage or gain the perfect engage off of a Void Prism, Devouring Maw, any stun, clump up or slow.
Haunting wave provides her with excellent mobility, and there are even strong niche plays such as level 7 Shade form, to make it much harder for Polymorph or targeted disables to deny the activation of the wave. Indeed that takes away from some pushing power, but increases her survivability in the right situations, against the right teams. When you have a hero who can put on massive pressure during the laning phase as well as the team fight phase, you know you cannot go wrong with her. Wailing Arrow can outright counter an entire team. Right now if you see a Sylvanas go through the ban phase on a map like Haunted Mines, something weird has happened. On a map like that, she is almost meta-dictating in certain scenarios. The team that has her at high level, regardless of map will almost always get ahead, and you MUST respect her power. In my mind she is absolutely the best first pick right now in this meta.
http://www.heroesfire.com/hots/talent-calculator/sylvanas#hXyi
- Evasive Fire and Blood for Blood are interchangeable with Spell Shield and Cold Embrace, depending on your requirements and setup around you.
THE LOST VIKINGS
Ban them, or deal with them, it’s your choice really. The Lost Vikings add something to Heroes of the Storm that is difficult to replicate with any other Hero. The problem for many teams doesn’t come directly from the engagement, but rather the lack of it. On bigger maps with objectives such as Cursed Hollow and Sky Temple, Vikings can spread well, soak all the lanes and basically make it extremely difficult to keep pace on level. They basically force the opposing team into working twice as hard as the Vikings team, as you need to either go for the “poor mans vikings” Abathur to get some extra soak yourself (via body, abathur hat and locust last hits), or you can use something like a Zeratul with Gathering Power, farm them early and make for a powerful foe very early on to other Heroes. They force an uncomfortable position for your opponent, especially if you’re keen enough to ban out Abathur on the bigger maps like previously mentioned. At level 4, having Spin to Win gives the Vikings fantastic wave clear capabilities, which then in turn gives him powerful pushing power. Unless you’re going to kill all three of them in this situation, is it worth heading up there and attempting to shut them down? Well map-aware Vikings will Go Go Go! right out of there.
You better shut down some of their lane soak and push early, because when they hit level 7, Jump! gives them that extra spring-in-their-step they need, to get away from your gank.
Then we come to Longboat Raid! Is one of your Viking’s low on health? No problem! Is your opposing team out of position and rooted? No problem! Is it just an every day team fight? No problem! The amount of damage it does forces your opponents to either run away, or completely turn their attention to it. You can pop it to save a Viking, and that’s important! because it one dies, that diminishes the effectiveness of the Longboat by quite a bit. Then when Ragnarok and Roll! kicks in, you’re having the best of times with damage out-put and space control.
The Lost Vikings also have the fantastic ability of being able to secure things like a Garden Terror, becoming a whole member of the team in a push or team-fight, but also having the other lanes being soaked at the same time.
http://www.heroesfire.com/hots/talent-calculator/the-lost-vikings#pHap
- This is THE build. Any deviation from it is pretty much just inferior at top level play.
Ok i’m stopping at 3 pages about just 3 heroes, and this doesn’t cover anywhere NEAR what I could say about them, as well as other heroes about their place in the meta!
I think i'll write more soon about other Heroes soon if you liked this
