Hero Win Rate Win Rate Change Win Rate Error (95% CI) Popularity Popularity Change Blaze 49.4% +2.0 p.p. ±1.17% 18.9% +0.4 p.p. Brightwing 51.3% +0.5 p.p. ±1.02% 27.4% +2.0 p.p. Hanzo 47.3% -2.1 p.p. ±1.04% 58.9% +4.2 p.p. Sgt. Hammer 52.3% -4.1 p.p. ±2.27% 5.8% -0.3 p.p. Sonya 49.9% -2.6 p.p. ±0.94% 36.8% -11.2 p.p. Sylvanas 51.4% -1.2 p.p. ±1.00% 45.8% -2.8 p.p. Tyrande 48.5% +2.9 p.p. ±1.90% 6.1% +0.8 p.p. Valeera 45.6% +4.6 p.p. ±2.40% 4.9% -0.4 p.p. Xul 48.8% -1.7 p.p. ±2.16% 5.0% +0.1 p.p.

Hello again! After each balance patch, I've taken it upon myself to track how the balance changes have affected the Nexus. It's become something of a habit for me, and I thought it might be fun to share my data with the community.In case you've forgotten what changed in the last patch, here's a link All data provided in this post was collected from Hotslogs , which is a database of player-submitted games. Data was collected between 3:30 PM and 4:30 PM EST each day, using the special filter "Last 7 Days (Current Build)" and focusing exclusively on Hero League data (with the exception of heroes like Cho'Gall, whose unique nature requires pulling data from Team League). As usual, keep in mind that my numbers may differ slightly from Hotslogs's "official" figures as the site regularly updates older information as more games are added. Therefore, our data may not match up perfectly, but it should give a generally accurate view of how the week progressed. Here is a link to the spreadsheet with the data I've collected. The spreadsheet contains all of my original data, split into two categories: "Composite" (which represents all data across the entire week) and "Daily" (which represents data from each individual day). It also contains a number of graphs showing how each hero is performing in both win rate and popularity. If you'd prefer a summarized report, read on!The seven-day analysis is below. Please note that while I try to cover all heroes, not all heroes are in need of in-depth analysis of their changes, so some heroes may have short summaries or may even be omitted entirely. Also, be aware that the contents of this section are primarily my own opinion of the changes, albeit backed with data. If you disagree, feel free to explain why in the comments below."Feeding the Flame" at Lvl 4 (5.3% PR, 47.8% WR) now has an improved win rate and competes better with other talents in the tier, although "Adhesive Petroleum" (57.5% PR, 51.3% WR) is still the top in that tier (+52.4 p.p. and +3.5 p.p. respectively vs "Feeding the Flame"). I will not be entirely suprised if that talent is eventually removed and baked into his base kit, since it often feels like such a key pick. Unfortunately, the changes made at Lvl 7 and 13 were not enough to diversify those tiers, as "Grill and Kill" (66% PR, 51.6% WR, +44.6 p.p. and +5.3 p.p. vs next highest talent respectively) and "Fuel Leak" (71.7% PR, 52.1% WR, +56 p.p. and +3.9 p.p. vs next highest talent respectively) still dominate their respective tiers. Finally, "Juggernaut Plating" (13.9% PR, 51% WR, -16.5 p.p. and -2.6 p.p. vs next highest talent respectively) now has a more appreciable win rate, but still lags behind its competitors. Hopefully we'll see some additional tweaking to Blaze's talents in the weeks to come, since his talents are all fairly interesting and provide distinctive changes to his kit and play style. It would be a shame if they could not be balanced out.His actual pick rate is down from last week's by 3.53 p.p., but an increase of 7.73 p.p. in his ban rate has driven his popularity upwards overall. It seems that despite the nerf having a measurable impact, it wasn't enough to convince the Hero League crowd to let him through the ban phase. Unsurprisingly, "Sharpened Arrowheads" (55.9% PR, 49.4% WR, +24.6 p.p. and +5 p.p. vs next highest talent respectively) maintains the highest pick and win rates at its tier, and will likely need further nerfs. Of course, this could have been avoided if the previous changes had never been made in the first place, as I argued in a previous post. Guess we're stuck with it now, though. I fully expect a second nerf to this talent in the weeks yet to come.This has to be frustrating for Blizzard at this point. Their last nerf to "Poisoned Spear" (66% PR, 51.1% WR, +48.6 p.p. and +2.2 p.p. vs next highest talent respectively) wasn't very big, and had no effect. This one was considerably more heavy-handed, and yet it still lingers at the top of the charts in its tier. On the plus side, "Nerves of Steel" (80.3% PR, 54.6% WR, +71.2 p.p. and -0.3 p.p. vs next highest talent respectively) is a little bit better balanced against its competitors now (though it may still get tweaked further) and her overall win rate has dropped off a bit closer to the 50% mark. With her popularity in decline, maybe they'll leave her alone for a while to see how these changes settle....but don't be too shocked if "Poisoned Spear" ends up getting whacked again some time down the road.Tyrande's change was relatively minor and it's honestly a bit surprising she saw this much of a shift from a 2.5% damage buff. While Tyrande players are likely thankful for whatever they can get, I can imagine they're no doubt disappointed that this is all they got. Tyrande's changes were always somewhat controversial, with some being very much in favor and others against. But since those changes, her place has pretty much been on the bench, with people hoping to see some changes to bring her back into the meta one day. But it is not this day.Similarly, as a Valeera player myself, I can't help but express disappointment at these changes, despite a modest win rate increase. These changes ultimately do nothing to resolve her core problems and are merely meant to triage some of her problematic talents, akin to slapping a bandage on an arterial wound. For example, the buffs to "Relentless Strikes" at Lvl 4 (26% PR, 49% WR, -23.3 p.p. and +3.1 p.p. vs next highest talent respectively) and "Mutilate" at Lvl 7 (29.2% PR, 49.3% WR, -23.6 p.p. and +4.3 p.p. vs next highest talent respectively) were meant to bring her Sinister Strike build up as a viable option....and now it is theearly-game build to have a win rate approaching "normal", with her other talents in those tiers dramatically underperforming by comparison. Similarly, the changes to "Blind" (17.6% PR, 42.4% WR, -5.2 p.p. and -4.8 p.p. vs next highest talent respectively) have made it no more successful by comparison to either of the alternatives. It is definitely frustrating to see Valeera in this position when there is such potential, but it seems we'll have to wait for a rework to get the kind of change we need.Despite only changing two talents, Hammer seems to have shifted downwards in win rate overall, pushing her down from what was starting to look like a pretty high win rate. The win rates on both "Regenerative Bio-Steel" (77.5% PR, 54.1% WR, +66.1 p.p. and +1.5 p.p. vs next highest talent respectively) and "Graduating Range" (65.7% PR, 52.2% WR, +36.2 p.p. and -0.5 p.p. vs next highest talent respectively) are down from last week's figures, though they still remain some of the most successful talents in their tiers. We'll have to wait and see if Blizzard is satisfied with this, or if further changes are needed.As a side note: the HGC has finally begun! I've recently posted an article covering the action we saw in Week 2. You can find that article here. I would really appreciate your input on the piece, as I'd like to make sure that I'm covering all of the details you want to see!Hope to see you again next time!