Jowe: Dehaka will bring 'Split push gameplay back.'

What do you think of the new Heroes patch?

It is definitely a step in the right direction. It improves the ranking play experience by adding bans, reworking lobby and also by making a new map mode. In my opinion, this is necessary for the growth of the game and for the community.

What i dont like is that Blizzard seems to make level 4 tier talents pretty non impactful. Back in the days it used to be a power spike with envenom, protective shield, healing totem, and promote. Now level 4 talents are mainly mana based, cooldown reduction, range increase, or just focused on one not really important skill, like Lunara's wisp or Nova's decoy.

What are your thoughts on Dehaka?​

I think Heroes is lacking splitpush heroes/strategies. Old heroes that excelled at those things got that playstyle nerfed, for example, old E.T.C., Brightwing, and to some extent Leoric. From what i saw and hope, Dehaka might provide us that splitpush gameplay back. Also i like that it's a creature/beast/zerg, it should bring a refreshing look to the battlegrounds. I don't like that his talents are pretty underwhelming though.

Will Dehaka be viable in the competitive scene?

I think so. His basic skillset looks really strong. Of course it will all mostly depend on numbers, but I see two things that Dehaka brings that made other tanks really viable. He might be able to provide the splitpush style of old E.T.C., which might be really strong on a map like Sky Temple which has a lot of good bush places. On the other hand, Dehaka seems a little like Muradin with all the H.P. regeneration skills. Also, the possibility to burrow behind enemy backline is great!

Do you have anything to say about the buffed Illidan?

I never really stopped playing Illidan. His playstyle (melee assassins in general) in my opinion is both skillful and interesting to watch. But there's always the problem that if he gets buffed too much, he might simply be too strong. Im waiting to see how he will shake the new patch meta.

Who are you rooting for in the Spring Championships?

Dignitas. I am happy that they are one of the teams that will represent Europe there. This team is the best our region can offer at the moment. They have shown strong solid play and performances for the past two months.

Who do you think will win the championships?

I would say it is pretty much between Team Dignitas, Cloud9 and MVP Black. Every game and match from those teams against each other should be super interesting to watch.

What type of compositions do you think we will see in the Spring Championships?

Meta likes to develop on big/long tournaments and in scrims during those events. Even more so when we have regional clashes. It will be pretty interesting to watch that adaptation. I personally expect to see Zeratul being a thing, and probably a little more of double support meta, especially since Brightwing seems promising.

Which hero (heroes) are the strongest, game changing heroes?

Heroes that force enemies to play around and constantly make them think about them. This usually means big crowd control (CC) disrupt skills like Falstad's mighty gust, Zagara's maw, and E.T.C.'s mosh pit. These skills force specific playstyles, like splitting if you have too many melee heroes, approaching/flanking to avoid mighty gust, or forcing you to keep your CC as an answer. They are usually a big factor during boss fights. There are also heroes that provides splitpush and global presence and are able to achieve objectives and structures due to it, like The Lost Vikings or Falstad.

Do you have any personal tips to help an aspiring player improve?

If it's for improving ranked play, then what is most important is to be self critical. This means to pay attention to own mistakes, checking them in replays, and analysing them, realising what was wrong, and keeping it in mind for next time.

From a competitive standpoint, just play as many tournaments, leagues, qualifiers as you can, show yourself, make friends and be sure to show up on the leaderboards.

A big thank you to Jowe! We wish him all the best in his esports career!

Follow Jowe on Twitter @Jowehots.

Follow us on Twitter @GosugamersHotS for more Heroes of the Storm esports news.

QUICKPOLL Will Dehaka be viable in competitive play? Yes, victory to the Zerg!

Thank you for voting! No, he will be squashed.

Thank you for voting!