Welcome to the first in a new article series called “Quick Thoughts” where I chat with a Heroes Pro Player to get some insights on the latest Hero or Rework. To kick things off I talked a bit with Khroen to get his thoughts on the new Raynor rework from an HGC perspective, enjoy!

With Raynor recently reworked, and the rework patch going live in HGC Week 4, have you started trying him out to get used to his new kit?

I’ve played a little bit of the new reworked Raynor, enough to get a feel for what his strength level might be.

What are your overall impressions of new Raynor?

This reworked Raynor is definitely a lot better than old Raynor, his kit is more dynamic and interactive and his overall strength is increased significantly. I’m not sure if it will make him always a first pick or first ban hero, but it’s definitely heading Raynor in a good direction to be a viable hero.

What do you think of his new talent tree compared to his old one? Anything you were really sad to see go, or really happy was included?

The main thing I’m happy to see is the increase of strength of the Raider and the potential for good Raynor players to shine with microing the Raider effectively. Unless you’re a really good Raynor player, you won’t get the level of optimal impact that the heroic is able to get.

I like some of the talent diversity and situational talents such as the level 4 and level 16. You have talents to make him more survivable or to deal more damage if you’re not feeling like you need the extra survivability.

Do you see reworked Raynor as being viable in an HGC comp, or do you think he still lacks the needed mobility of some of the other popular assassins?

I think Raynor very well might be viable in an HGC comp, however he still has the same weaknesses as he did before with being an immobile backline assassin. He is prone to get dived on and if no one is helping him, he will fall pretty quickly.

What talent builds have you been gravitating towards and why?

https://heroeshearth.com/builds/Khroen/new-Raynor-standard-build/

Level 1 is overall the best, procs very often, level 4 to stop him from being bursted, level 7 for utility, level 10 because I think if micro’d properly it’s more impactful, and especially at 20 its OP. 13 for slight mobility, 16 for either more survivability if needed, or % hp damage if needed.

Any final thoughts? Do you believe this was a successful rework to one of the oldest Heroes in the game?

I do think this was a successful rework. It made a non viable and imo boring hero, into a stronger, more interactive assassin that feels fresh and more interesting to play.

Thanks to Khroen for his insights. You can follow him here on HeroesHearth and on Twitter and Twitch.