“Half-man, half-Zerg? A Monster.” - Stukov, Infested Admiral

In the 25th century of Earth’s History, the United Earth Directorate Expeditionary Fleet was dispatched to reign in the Terran Colonies of the Koprulu Sector. Over time, these expatriate colonists that were once loyal had wavered in their allegiance, threatening the fabric of government which had been sewn across the galaxy. Of those tasked with this imperative endeavor, Vice Admiral Alexei Stukov was second in command.

During the violent campaign in that system, developments ensued that would eventually cast Stukov in a traitorous light to his superiors. Having been found to be in violation of a direct order to destroy the powerful Psi Disrupter, Stukov was subsequently executed for his disobedience. Unbeknownst to the UED at the time, their ranks had been infiltrated by a powerful shape-shifting alien entity that sought to sow confusion about the importance of Stukov’s mission. After his death, Stukov’s corpse was later recovered by the Zerg, who wanted to infest human leaders and mutate them into leaders of their own colonies. As the first of their attempts to blend their genetics with that of humanity’s, the once lifeless husk of Stukov was reanimated into something at once both more and less than human.

The infested Admiral known as Stukov has now entered the Nexus as a formidable melee support, ready to spread his healing pathogens and deadly disease across the battleground.

Talent Highlights:

One Good Spread… – After Stukov’s Healing Pathogen has spread throughout several allies, some of his mana is restored and the ability’s cooldown is reduced. After choosing this talent, Stukov can continue to effectively support his team with prolonged and continuous heals, especially when his allies remain grouped. The Long Pitch - Doubling the range of Weighted Pustule, ‘The Long Pitch’ enables Stukov to continue providing pressure to the enemy team by spreading his damage and slowing effect while remaining safely in the backline of his team. Virulent Reaction – This talent keys off a well-timed Weighted Pustule detonated while an enemy is also affected by his Lurking Arm ability. Applying a root in addition to the effects of both of these abilities, Virulent Reaction rewards careful timing with a significant burst of damage and some added utility.

Friends and Foes:

Works well with:

Keeping your enemies inside your Lurking Arm is paramount, and Leoric’s large area slow and Entomb heroic greatly assist that. His large health pool and Drain Hope ability also work well with Stukov’s heal over time style of support. Cassia is notoriously vulnerable to spells, while very strong against Basic Attacking heroes like Raynor or Valla. Stukov can account for these weaknesses with the silence from his Lurking Arm. Cassia is also a solid mid-range hero that mostly stays near her team, which helps Stukov spread his Healing Pathogen. If you can communicate well with your teammates, a Hook + Gorge + Massive Shove combo can displace an enemy Hero almost entirely across a map.

Struggles Against:

Stukov struggles against dive heroes who don’t care very much about being silenced. He has no hope of outrunning an Illidan, and needs to land a very good Massive Shove to push the assassin a safe distance away. In similar fashion, Zeratul can quickly combo his abilities on Stukov before the infected Terran can even get a Lurking Arm silence going. Zeratul’s blink ability tends to counter both of Stukov’s Heroic Abilities as well. With no inherent mobility, Stukov can do little to dodge Artanis’ Phase Prism, and cannot get away from the dash of his Twin Blades. Likewise, Artanis’ Purifier Beam is all but guaranteed to get decent value on Stukov.