Tanks: Diablo, Garrosh, Johanna

Diablo : New Didzablo Devil's Due Black Soulstone increases the effects of Regen Globes and Healing Fountains by 2.25% per Soul. Souls to the Flame Fire Stomp grants 1 Soul every 3 times it damages an enemy Hero, and heals for an additional 1.3% of its damage dealt per Soul. Eternal Flames When Diablo stuns an enemy Hero with Shadow Charge or Overpower, reset the cooldown of Fire Stomp and Diablo gains 35 Mana. Lightning Breath After 0.5 seconds, become Unstoppable and Channel for up to 4 seconds, dealing 50 damage every 0.25 seconds to enemies in front of Diablo. Enemies affected are Slowed by 4% for 2 seconds, up to 40%. Hellfire Each enemy Hero hit by Fire Stomp grants 2% Spell Power for 10 seconds, up to 30%. While at maximum stacks, Diablo deals 17 damage per second to nearby enemies. Overpowering Nightmate Gain 2 additional charges of Overpower, with a 2 second cooldown between uses. Hellstorm Lightning Breath lasts 200% longer.

Garrosh : Didzarrosh Warbreaker Quest: Stun Heroes with Groundbreaker. Reward: After Stunning 5 Heroes, Groundbreaker deals an additional 165 damage over 3 seconds to Heroes. Reward: After Stunning 15 Heroes, permanently reduce Groundbreaker’s cooldown by 2 seconds. Indomitable Activate to become Unstoppable for 1.5 seconds. Into the Fray Activate to throw a nearby ally and grant them 25 Armor for 3 seconds. Deals 91 damage to nearby enemies upon impact and Slows them by 30% for 2.5 seconds. While in flight, allied Heroes are Unstoppable. Warlord's Challenge Silence nearby Heroes and force them to attack Garrosh for 2 seconds. Defensive Measures Pulling a Hero with Groundbreaker grants Garrosh a 350 Shield for 6 seconds. Earthshaker Wrecking Ball Stuns enemies near the impact area for 0.5 seconds. Titanic Might Wrecking Ball now throws the 2 closest enemies.

Johanna : Just Johanna Laws of Hope Activate to heal 30% of Johanna's maximum Health over 4 seconds. Passive: Regenerate 1.5 Health per second. Sins Exposed Shield Glare marks enemies for 4 seconds. The next time any ally damages them, they take 90 extra damage and the mark is removed. Blessed Momentum Basic Attacks reduce your Basic Ability cooldowns by 0.5 seconds. Blessed Shield Deal 114 damage and stun the first enemy hit for 1.5 seconds. Blessed Shield then bounces to 2 nearby enemies, dealing 57 damage and stunning them for 0.75 seconds. Blessed Hammer Activate to create 2 hammers that spiral outward from Johanna, dealing 84 damage to enemies hit. Hitting Heroes with Shield Glare reduces the cooldown of this Ability by 8 seconds. Holy Renewal Every enemy Hero affected by Shield Glare restores 114 Health. Indestructible Upon taking fatal damage, Johanna gains a Shield equal to her maximum Health for 4 seconds.

Solo Lane: Dehaka, Sonya, Blaze

Dehaka : Didzhaka Tissue Regeneration Regeneration Globes grant 10 Essence. Repeatable Quest: Every 50 Essence collected permanently increases Health Regeneration by 4, up to 40, and maximum Essence by 1, up to 10. Hero Stalker Increases Essence gained from Takedowns by 100%. Hitting enemy Heroes with Dark Swarm grants 1 Essence. Feeding Frenzy Basic Attacks reduce Drag's cooldown by 2 seconds. Isolation Launch biomass that hits the first enemy Hero dealing 200 damage, silencing and slowing them 30% for 3 seconds. Only allows them to see a very short distance for 6 seconds. Primal Rage Gain 1% increased Attack Damage per Essence stored. Elongated Tongue Increase Drag range by 20%. Contagion Isolation hits all Heroes near the first target.

Sonya : Just Sonya Tough As Nails Every 12 seconds, gain 75 Physical Armor against the next enemy Hero Basic Attack, reducing the damage taken by 75%. Stores up to 3 charges. Charges refresh 200% faster while Fury's Movement Speed bonus is active. Hurricane Reduces the cooldown of Whirlwind by 2 second and Whirlwind removes all slows and roots on Sonya. Battle Rage Activate to instantly restore 10% of Sonya's maximum Health. Stores up to 2 charges, 8 second cooldown. Passive: Sonya deals 25% more damage to Mercenaries. Wrath of the Berserker Increase damage dealt by 40%. Reduce the duration of Stuns, Roots, and Slows against you by 50%. Lasts 15 seconds, and extends by 1 second for every 10 Fury gained. No Escape Increases the Movement Speed bonus from using Basic and Heroic Abilities to 20%. Nerves of Steel Activate to gain 25% of your maximum Health as a Shield for 3 seconds. Usable while Whirlwinding. Ignore Pain Activate to gain 60 Armor for 4 seconds, taking 60% less damage. Usable while Whirlwinding.

Blaze : Just Blaze Neural Stimpack Activate to gain 40 Mana and cause Basic Ability cooldowns to recharge 100% faster for 5 seconds. Adhesive Petroleum Enemies standing in Oil Spill when it is ignited are slowed by 35% for 3 seconds. Additionally, Basic Attack splashes Ignite Oil Spills. Crossfire Hitting an enemy with both streams of Flame Stream deals 139 bonus damage. Bunker Drop After 0.5 seconds, deploy and enter a Bunker with 1435 Health. Blaze and his allies can enter (after a .5 second channel) and exit the Bunker at will. While in the Bunker, occupants gain access to Flamethrower, dealing 170 damage to enemies in a line. Exiting the Bunker grants 25 Armor for 2 seconds. Bunkers last 10 seconds, or until destroyed. Fuel Leak Jet Propulsion creates Oil Spills along Blaze's path. If Jet Propulsion impacts an enemy Hero, an additional Oil Spill is created underneath them. Thermal Protection Each enemy hit by Jet Propulsion grants to 10 Armor for 3 seconds and reduces its cooldown by 1.25 seconds. Fortified Bunker Occupants can cast Oil Spill from Bunker Drop every 6 seconds. Additionally, Bunker Drop's Armor bonus exiting is increased by 25, and its duration by 1 second.

Assassins: Greymane, Jaina, Fenix

Greymane : Didzmane Viciousness Increases Inner Beast's duration to 4 seconds, and causes Ability damage to also refresh its duration. Eyes in the Dark Disengage grants Stealth for 4 seconds. Wizened Duelist Every 6 Attacks against an enemy Hero increases Greymane’s Basic Attack damage by 1%, up to 30%. Gain triple benefit from attacking in Worgen form. Half of these bonuses are lost on death. Go for the Throat Leap at an enemy Hero and shapeshift into a Worgen, slashing 3 times for 437 (+4% per level) total damage. If this kills them, the Ability can be used a second time within 10 seconds for free. On the Prowl Inner Beast increases your Movement Speed by 30% once it has been active for 3 seconds. Eager Wolf Increases the Attack Speed bonus of Inner Beast by an additional 40% after it has been active for 4 seconds. Hunter's Blunderbuss Human Basic Attacks splash for 100% damage behind the target.

Jaina : Just Jaina Fingers of Frost Quest: Gathering Regeneration Globes increases Jaina's Mana Regeneration by 0.1 per second, up to 2 per second. Reward: After gathering 20 Globes, the damage bonus from Frostbite is increased by 10%. Arcane Intellect Dealing damage to a Chilled target returns Mana to Jaina. Basic Attacks return 5 Mana and abilities return 25. Ice Lance When Frostbolt hits a Chilled target its cooldown is reduced by 1.5 seconds and you regain 10 Mana. Summon Water Elemental Summon a Water Elemental at target location. The Water Elemental's Basic Attacks do 78 damage, splash for 25% damage and Chill. The Ability can be reactivated to retarget the Water Elemental. Lasts 20 seconds. Ice Barrier When Jaina does increased damage from Frostbite, she is shielded for 25% of the total damage dealt. This Shield lasts 4 seconds. Northern Exposure Enemies damaged by Cone of Cold are also afflicted with Vulnerable, increasing the damage they take by 20% for 2 seconds. Wintermute Increases the cast range of Water Elemental by 50%, and the Water Elemental will now mimic your Basic Abilities for 50% damage.

Fenix : Just Fenix Arsenal Synergy After hitting enemy Heroes with Basic Attacks 3 times while Repeater Cannon is active, the next Basic Attack with Phase Bomb deals 150% more damage and splashes in a 50% larger area. Emergency Protocol When Shield Capacitor's Shield becomes depleted, gain 25% Movement Speed for 5 seconds. Combat Advantage Plasma Cutter deals 35% more damage to Slowed targets. Purification Salvo Channel for 1.5 seconds, sweeping a laser in front of Fenix that locks onto enemy Heroes. Once Channeling finishes, fire 5 missiles at each locked Hero, dealing 86 damage each. Deals 50% increased damage to Slowed targets. Auxiliary Shields Permanently reduce Fenix's maximum Health by 30%, but increase Shield Capacitor's Shield by 40%. Basic Attacks regenerate Shields equal to 10% of the damage dealt. Offensive Cadence Every 3rd Basic Attack against Heroes while Repeater Cannon is active deals an additional 6% of the target's maximum Health as damage. Unconquered Spirit Upon taking fatal damage, Shield Capacitor regains 800 Shields.

Support: Alexstrasza, Malfurion, Rehgar

Alexstrasza : Alexstrasza'Didz Live and Let Live While Alexstrasza is above 75% health, Gift of Life's cooldown recharges 100% faster. Exuberance While above 75% Health, gain 15% Movement Speed. Lifeblossom While Alexstrasza is above 75% Health, Gift of Life creates a Lifeblossom at the target's location. Alexstrasza can collect the Lifeblossom to make her next Gift of Life cost no Health. Life-Binder Bind Alexstrasa's life force with an allied Hero. Both her and her target are healed for 480 over 2 seconds. Afterwards, the Hero with a lower percentage of Health is healed to the same Health percentage as the other Hero. Pacify Activate to Slow and reduce an enemy Hero's damage by 50% for 3 seconds. Healing a Stunned, Silenced, or Rooted ally reduces Pacify's cooldown by 30 seconds. Draconic Discipline Increase Dragonqueen's duration by 7 seconds. Ritual of Life Life-Binder activates 3 times over 6 seconds.

Malfurion : Malfurididz Rejuvenation Malfurion gains 100% base health regeneration for every active regrowth. Vengeful Roots Entangling Roots spawns a Treant that deals 58 damage per second and lasts 10 seconds. Repeatable Quest: Hitting enemy Heroes with Entangling Roots permanently increases the Treant's damage per second by 7. Nature's Cure Activate to remove all Stuns, Roots, and Slows from allies affected by Regrowth. Tranquility Heal nearby allied Heroes for 80 Health per second for 8 seconds. Allies affected by Regrowth within Tranquility's area gain 10 Armor. Nature's Swiftness Malfurion gains 6% Movement Speed for each active Regrowth. Moonlit Harmony Increase Moonfire's heal by 15% per ally affected by Regrowth. Serenity Each enemy Hero hit by Moonfire reduces the cooldown of Tranquility by 3 seconds. Increase Tranquility's healing by 10% per ally affected by Regrowth.

Rehgar : RehDidz Electric Charge Increases the radius of Lightning Shield by 25%. Heal for 30% of the damage it deals to enemy Heroes. Stormcaller When Lightning Shield hits any enemy it restores 4 mana, up to 100. Blood and Thunder Ghost Wolf attacks reduce Basic Ability cooldowns by 2 seconds. Ancestral Healing After 1 second, heal an allied Hero for 1180 Health. Earth Shield Lightning Shield gives a Shield that absorbs damage equal to 12% of their maximum Health for 3 seconds. Rising Storm Casting Lightning Shield on an ally also casts an untalented version on Rehgar. Every time Lightning Shield damage an enemy Hero, increase that Lightning Shield's damage by 10%. Stacks up to 15 times. Storm Shield Activate to give all nearby allied Heroes a Shield for 20% of their max Health for 3 seconds.

Conclusion

A new season of Hero Storm is upon us, and with that comes a fresh start. Often I get asked what heroes people should pickup and learn, and so this will be a list of heroes who I believe are great for climbing in rank. Mind you, this is my personal list, we will have difference in opinion. Some heroes that could (or should) be on this list are not, I am aware. With that being said, lets get to it.Diablo can carry a team with his playmaking ability and immense survivability. Devil's Due paired with W (Fire Stomp) build keeps you consistently alive with HP return and mana, while Lightning Breath and spell power increase at 13 allows you to annihilate squishies. Shadow Charge and Overpower allow you to manage the enemy's poor positioning, initiate with ease, and body block from escaping. There are times I'm close to top damage on my team with this build, and when playing Hero League, you take everything you can get out of your pick in order to win. Diablo offers a ton at the tank position, and could be considered the best tank in the game at this moment.Similar to Diablo, Garrosh has playmaking ability and survivability in spades. Being able to spam Groundbreaker (once your level 1 quest is complete) gives plenty of opportunity to toss enemies, and once that happens, it's close to a guaranteed kill. His trait that grants bonus armor based off lost HP can bait the enemy to overextend, thus allowing you to re-engage with Bloodthirst (so you don't die) and getting another pick. Warlord's Challenge and Earthshaker (his 16 talent) provide even more CC for easy picks. If he isn't banned, there's few reasons why he shouldn't be picked up early in your draft. No matter what rank, people will always play out of position and misjudge their distance from Garrosh.Unlike the other two, Johanna has superior waveclear in place of playmaking ability aside from Blessed Shield. Strong waveclear is necessary for solid gameplay. No other tank can manage lanes better than Jo; being able to force the enemy to respond to lanes pushing into towers and losing soak is excellent. Survivability is built into her kit, as you can just activate your trait and walk away from most situations (with the ability to talent into additional survival options.) Being extremely simple to pickup and learn, I highly suggest adding her to your pool if you haven't already.In terms of what a character can do, Dehaka could be the best in Hero Storm. His trait gives insane burst heal, he can clear lanes with ease via Dark Swarm, CC lock a target down with Drag/Isolation, avoid spells with Burrow, and can travel across the map with his Z giving him global presence. Unique to the solo lane, it's. Dehaka's ability to survive a gank is almost unrivaled. Being the ever adapting and evolving beast that he is, he can be locked into just about any draft and map.The spin to win is alive and well in Hero Storm. Too many times have I seen Sonya solo a team, all through the heroic Wrath of the Berserker. Snap engage with Ancient Spear on a squishy, followed by a Seismic Slam, and then spin to win. Rinse and repeat. She has great self-sustain, strong damage output, waveclear, and tools to survive tricky situations. A strong solo lane bully, she handles most matchups well and can take camps with ease.Almost always a safe option for the solo lane, Blaze has an immense health pool, waveclear, strong CC engage (which can also be used to escape,) and the ever so unique heroic that is Bunker Drop. Throw your oil, light it, sit in it to heal, and clear a wave without problem. If played properly, your Jet Propulsion can be like a mini Dragon Arrow, stunning three to four enemies at a time. Despite the nerfs it's received over time, Bunker will always be value. Cleanse any damage over time, Last Rites, dodge Pyroblast, Ring of Frost, Tracer's Pulse Bomb. The list goes on.The first character that comes to my mind when I think assassin, Greymane's kit has everything to fit the role to a T. He can switch between ranged and melee, poke with Gilnean Cocktail, finish off enemies with Go For the Throat, and then quickly disengage. While getting kills is extremely satisfying, being able to clear lanes and camps from the very start of the game makes him exceptionally strong.A burst mage with oodles of slows, Jaina wields outstanding CC/waveclear while sustaining her mana pool and scaling. Being a frost mage, wielding slows in all of your abilities makes peeling/chasing much easier as an assassin. Depending on the matchup, she can use either heroic for the big plays (Ring of Frost,) or for peeling/chasing (Water Elemental.) For a mage, she has options for increasing her survivability. Frost Armor at 4, shields at 13, blink at 20, and her built-in quest which gives Ice Block.What could also be placed in the solo lane category, Fenix is a monster if gone unchecked. Having a replenishing shield allows you to win trades with ease (if played correctly.) Shield gone? That's fine, just teleport away. Enemy on low health almost escaped? Don't worry, toggle to Phase Bomb and get the finishing hit (don't you dare snap pick Planet Cracker for that low health snipe.) Salvo at 10 wins teamfights when paired with a slow (oh hey Jaina.) There's a reason why Fenix is played everywhere, and his ability to annihilate while getting away alive seems good.Arguably the strongest support in HL, Alexstrasza can incinerate the enemy team in Dragonqueen while saving teammates from the jaws of death. When she isn't a dragon mama, she can clear waves with E, and her Q build grants tons of healing at no cost. No health, no mana, every few seconds, as long as you're above 75% health (forcing you to practice playing safe/good positioning.) Another strong tool to her kit is Pacify at 13, a talent like Shrink Ray that's been removed from most heroes. Pacifying Genji or Maiev when they're in the heart of your team feels great. I find it strange she isn't as relevant as she once was, but be mindful that she's still as great as ever.Everybody knows this guy. This is the guy that helps negate all the free damage your teammates take from their poor positioning. Making your heal a skillshot requires a ton of focus, as well as maintaining your Regrowth on the teammates that you know will be taking the most damage. Speaking of skillshot, you've got a root that can secure kills. Either heroic is excellent, whether you need something to stop the enemy from diving with Twilight Dream or you need even more healing with Tranquility. He doesn't have waveclear or any damage, but for pure healing, he's probably the best in the game (rivaled by Deckard and Alexstrasza.)Dog boy has become relevant again with the new updates. The new lightning shield build gives a ton of mana, shielding, and damage output at 16. The 7 talent can be played between Blood and Thunder and Cleanse depending on the situation. Having CD reduction with dogo bite means you can expend all that mana you've got. Despite the Ancestral Healing nerf, I still believe it's the only option. He can't put up numbers like the other two supports I've written about, but his ability to waveclear and solo camps is where he thrives. In ranks taking camps is ignored, you can pickup Rehgar and do it for them.When I came up with this list I realized there were three things that came up every time., and. While there are other attributes that define heroes, I felt like these were the most important when thinking about which heroes we play in ranked. There are heroes that we love to play but often don't have a strong mixture of these attributes, which could be creating difficulties in climbing. Instead of people simply labeling heroes as meta, I want people to think about how they're. When you can analyze heroes by yourself, looking at them with the characteristics that I mentioned, you can understand and see why pros and grandmasters love and play certain heroes. I hope this read helped you reconsider what you play and pushes you to think critically about what each hero brings to the table. Thank you for reading, and have a great day.