HoN Tour Hero Power Rankings 12/04/12

A lot has changed in the world of HoN since the last Power Rankings. [coL]compLexityGaming finally showed some weakness, [tdM]Trademark eSports got everyone talking about the tanky push lineup of the older days again, and we got to see a number of heroes that aren't too common make the starting lineups for a few different teams. With the HoN Tour Cycle 1 starting and a successful DreamHack Winter 2012 in the books, I figured it was time for a Hero Power Rankings update.



Again, this list reflects how I feel certain heroes rank in terms of how important they are to HoN Tour. You’re going to disagree with the list for sure, and that’s great because I want to hear your thoughts as well. For instance, I completely agree that I made a huge mistake in leaving Engineer off the rankings entirely last time. I honestly just totally forgot about him, but that’s what you guys are here for!



So let’s get into the second HoN Tour Hero Power Rankings. As always, your feedback is much appreciated and encouraged!



Removals:



Jeraziah, Torturer, Prophet, Cthulhuphant, Witch Slayer







These five heroes have found their way off the ranking for a number of different reasons. In Jeraziah, Torturer, and Cthulu’s case, they just haven’t been played all that much. I think Jeraziah will likely return to the list as the Tour goes on, and hopefully Prophet as well, but for now these heroes needed to take a hike to make way for some new heroes making a splash lately.



Honorable Mentions:



Magebane, Balphagore, Tremble, Moon Queen, Wretched Hag







We’re going to have quite a change at the lower end of the rankings this week as a bunch of different heroes saw some significant playtime recently. Magebane just isn’t really being picked up anymore, and even when he is, he hasn’t performed all that well. Tremble and Moon Queen have made it apparent that they are viable carry options, but their climb up the rankings depends on how they continue to fare as the Tour kicks off.



Balphagore made a splash when Trademark eSports, winners of both DreamHack and the HoN Tour Qualifiers, showcased a tanky/push start. It’s hard to say if he’s going to be a flavor of the month or if Balph is slowly changing the Meta, so for now he’ll remain an honorable mention.



Sorry Hag, you get to spend another week here. You haven’t shown anything to warrant moving up the list, but at the same time you get played enough that I can’t quite kick you to the curb yet. I’ll be watching you..





#25 Demented Shaman

#24 Monkey King

#23 Moraxus

#22 Zephyr

#21 Nymphora

#20 Pharaoh

#19 Parasite

#18 Forsaken Archer

#17 The Dark Lady

#16 Engineer

#15 Fayde

#14 Tundra

#13 Magmus

#12 Draconis

#11 Plague Rider

#10 Pollywog Priest

#9 Ophelia

#8 Pebbles

#7 Tempest

#6 Silhouette

#5 Bubbles

#4 Glacius

#3 Keeper of the Forest

#2 Wildsoul

#1 Aluna

(+1)Moving slightly upwards as a key part of the tank/push lineups we might see a lot of going forwards. Can crush a suicide laner by himself, which allows for teams to really set up aggressive lanes elsewhere.(+2)Had a feeling that Monkey King would be seeing some more playing time. He only saw a little bit of playtime, but when he did it was destruction. Look for more teams to find ways to get him into the lineup.(-2)Dropping down a few spots, Moraxus definitely had his moments, but overall just left me lacking. I don’t think he’ll be leaving this list anytime soon, but for now he’s dropping down to make way for some new heroes on the scene.Popping onto the rankings from out of nowhere comes Zephyr. Will Zeph continue to climb upwards, or was he just a two-hit wonder? The better question might be, “Can other teams equally imitate what Trademark has done with this hero?”(-4)Nymph dropping quite a few spots due to not seeing a whole lot of playtime lately. She’s still extremely powerful thanks to her ultimate, and the change to striders/post haste could help her see a slight resurgence going forward. For now though, I have to move her down a bit.(-2)Pharaoh has slightly fallen out of favor in the suicide role to some much better options, and his slide down the rankings reflects that. Pharaoh offers too much early/mid-game utility to fall much further though.(-4)Don’t get me wrong, this hero is still insanely powerful, but Parasite just didn’t make too much of an impact lately as teams went with more “standard” lineups with every game meaning so much. I guarantee Parasite will be climbing these rankings as the Tour kicks off.(-4)Forsaken Archer drops down a bit thanks to some other heroes emerging as carry options. Where she ends up depends a lot upon the staying power of those other carries like Monkey King, Moon Queen and Tremble.(+2)The Dark Lady continues to show just how insanely powerful she can be when the match reaches late game. She will be a perennial mainstay on these rankings, and will probably slowly climb upwards if the performance continues at its current level.Yea, I know I missed on him big time. And frankly, this is probably still too low. But I’m going to throw him in right near the middle, and we’ll see how he plays out going forward. If he continues playing anything near what he has been, he has a spot waiting for him in the top ten for sure.(+1)She gets a slight bump upwards thanks to that sexy new avatar… Err, sorry, I mean she’s been played pretty well lately. The Striders/Post Haste change could make her absolutely scary to deal with mid-game and beyond.(-5)Yes, he’s very powerful. But, nobody has shown that recently. I can’t really see him falling too much further on this list, but I don’t really see him getting phased out of playing time like he has been recently. Definitely a hero to keep an eye on going forward.(+10)Another one I missed hugely. Magmus has shown game after game how incredibly powerful he can be at any stage of the game. He’ll most likely start seeing significant banning and locking going forward now, and for good reason. I want to put him in the top five right now, but before I started writing these, I gave myself an unwritten rule of not moving any hero more than ten spots, so this list is more about performance over periods of time, not just placing heroes at a whim. Expect Magmus to move up significantly next time as well.(-9)Maybe the Draconis phase is dying out. Probably not, but it was obvious that I placed him a bit higher than I should have. He’s certainly incredibly strong, but as more and more carries are becoming viable options, his importance to HoN Tour consequently drops as well. Again, how the other hard carries perform will help dictate where this dragon ends up.(+1)Up one spot due mostly to the fact that a couple of the heroes that used to be in the top ten have dropped out. Plague will continue to be a powerhouse in the suicide lane and will probably hover around this rank for quite a while.(No change)Polly didn’t really impress, nor did he really disappoint. He already had a nice place in the game, and that was before the possible new love affair with a pushing strategy came to light. If that Meta takes off, Pollywog will fit in perfectly, and could see a bump up the rankings.(-3)Didn’t really get to see a whole lot of her lately. When she did get into the game, it was hardly noteworthy. But again, she falls right in line with a push-heavy lineup. She could easily be climbing back up the rankings next time.(-6)I guess I was right, and Pebbles was a bit high last time. But he definitely still deserves a spot in the top ten; it’s just that he was really unimpressive to me since the last rankings. If he is played like he has been, expect another significant drop down the ranks.(+6)Tempest saw a ton of play as the HoN Tour qualifiers neared the end, as well as over at DreamHack. And most importantly, Tempest performed extremely well in most of those games. Also an incredibly powerful pusher, he could somehow become even more valuable to teams than he already is.(+2)Silhouette has solidified her place as a carry of choice over the last few weeks. However, I have a feeling that she’ll start to receive a similar treatment to what Magebane and Dark Lady went through in terms of being constantly banned. Other carries are starting to emerge, so Silhouette might need to enjoy her time at the top while it lasts.(+2)There’s really nothing bad that can be said about Bubbles. He’s performed extremely well and he’s pretty much the suicide laner of choice as soon as Keeper and Wildsoul are banned. One of the safest picks in the game, it’s hard to see Bubbles leaving the top ten anytime soon.(+1)As perfect as Bubbles has been in the suicide role, so has Glacius been in the support role. Pretty much every team loves playing this hero, and there’s nothing to argue with them about it.(+1)Keeper was an incredibly powerful hero even before the push strat revelation struck HoN. It’s almost a little scary how well he fits in with those lineups. Keeper could become a double blind ban in the near future.(+9)I wouldn’t say I really missed on this hero last time—more like it’s just been absurd how well teams are utilizing Wildsoul now to explain his huge jump up the power rankings. I expect an awful lot of blind banning coming Wildsoul’s way in the near future. Otherwise, I could definitely see him overtaking our reigning number one hero…(No change)Only Glacius comes close to being as safe a pick as Aluna. She just brings so much to the table, and gives teams so many options. I was very, very close to putting Wildsoul at number one, but I feel the only thing that gives Aluna the nod here is teams won’t ban Aluna just because they value her so much. You can ban Wildsoul and still pick up another hero that gives you close to the same thing, but there really is nothing equal to what all you get with Aluna.Will Aluna hold onto that top spot for a third time? It’s hard to say because the gap between the top five heroes is razor thin. It’s up to you, the HoN Tour players, to help shake this list up. With the first cycle of the Tour going on, I know for a fact these ranking are going to look incredibly different the next time around.Good luck to all of you taking part of this amazing experiment known as HoN Tour. I’ll be looking for someone to give me a reason to sneak Blood Hunter onto the next set of rankings!-Speidel