Based on what they have openly said thus far the release schedule will likely be Butcher -> Leoric -> Monk. They have released too much info on Leoric for him to not come soon (that passive is potentially crazy) and already noted that the Monk needs a fair amount of development time still.
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“Your body is not a temple, it's an amusement park. Enjoy the ride.”
― Anthony Bourdain, Kitchen Confidential
I will always firmly stand by the belief that Magic is a game first and a collectable second.
Played one game of it last night and it was pretty fun. We were so behind at one point they got our core down to 21% but we managed to fight back and win eventually (one of the reasons I love HoTS over other mobas). I love how Diabloesque it is. Kind of reminds me of haunted mines in a sense.
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Be sure to check out my podcast, Magic with Zuby! Your resource for all things Magic the Gathering!
Yeah, I have played it a few times on the ptr and a few games last night. So far it looks like abby, syl, gaz, and zagara are strong choices on the map.
Brightwing got nerfed pretty hard, the lost vikings got nerfed really hard - not sure they are even playable now. Overall I think that all the healers got nerfed. They got buffed in a few ways but overall, they got nerfed because of the loss of conjurer's pursuit.
The butcher is awesome, played with, as, and against him. He is good, but not op, just have to kite him - especially when he brands you and he falls pretty quick.
Gotta agree the new map is just awesome. Kudos for a map that is both not too Warcraft-ish and feeling so damn epic like that, plus, it's not a 3-lane map
Haven't seen the nerfs myself (since I haven't played the so-mentioned nerfed champs), but no Conjurer's pursuit anymore? Well... that IS big news...
Love the aesthetic of the map, they did a really good job of making it feel diablo-esque, but I'm not a fan of the mechanics.
Of course, it might be because my regular team hasn't been on all week and people I get don't understand concepts such as KILL THEIR DEMON BEFORE THE ANGEL DIES.
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Oath of the Gatewatch; the set that caused the competitive community to freak out over Basic Lands.
Actually the defense tactic has merit. The goal if going on defense is bait them into your immortal's aoe and then score a kill or two before going on the attack. My play group has been doing this regularly with high success.
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“Your body is not a temple, it's an amusement park. Enjoy the ride.”
― Anthony Bourdain, Kitchen Confidential
I will always firmly stand by the belief that Magic is a game first and a collectable second.
As I don't play PvP, I thus need to ask the feasibility of that defend-your-immortal tactic if your opposition are the likes to be able to snipe/siege (especially Azmodan and maybe Sgt. Hammer). I mean, theoretically, if both or either team play the defend-your-immortal game, but the opposing team has lots of way to shoot from really, really far anyway, wouldn't it be a loss for you to sit it out?
And speaking of ranged combat, how feasible is it to compose a team with only melee characters? I reckon that such a team may need to include the likes of Illidan, Zeratul or Kerrigan as they have gap-closer, but otherwise is an all-melee team a good idea?
Actually defending is the better option imo, but honestly it depends on your team comp and the enemy team comp.
For the most part though my team will time our middle mercs with the immortals when they spawn. We'll also have one or two people soak lanes (characters with good wave clear) while 3-4 players defend.
Once we get either a level advantage or a talent advantage we look for a fight. If we get a pick - we definitely go all in on attacking their immortal. We back off once they all respawn, heal up and re engage.
Characters that are great on that map: azmodan, zagara, murky, sylvanas, abathur, jaina, kael'thas, tychus, and falstad.
Azmodan/abathur can split push, zagara gives you vision, murky can split pus, annoy and secure kills, sylvanas can make you immortal push further, tychus has his laser, falstad is very mobile, jaina/kt are the two strongest assassins in the game - great burst, wave clear, strong pokes and utility not to mention fantastic burst damage.
Speaking of Jaina, I just recently fell in love with playing her as something of a push-siege. Level 1 talent increase Chill duration, level 4 talent Arcane Intellect to regain mana from Chilled victims, and the next thing I knew my Jaina practically NEVER ran out of mana. Probably not the most optimal play, I know, but that felt awesome.
Turns out Artanis is the one being slated for Starcraft hero as a super-Zealot. That makes me think that if Fenix ever shows up, he probably will be a Dragoon.
And another new map coming soon. Gotta wait for it now
It would seem that is a good possibility, I'm more excited by the medic, although artanis looks fun too. A teammate of mine is really looking forward to the medic, since his favorite character is illidan and medic is likely to make illidan relevant again.
So I love when your team has NO idea what it's doing.
Just got out of a game where a Gazlowe (Pull Ultimate) and Sylvanus (Arrow Ultimate) were complaining to me about our lack of burst because I took Earthquake (Thrall) over Fissure, and that's a terrible Ultimate.
Que us getting a Penta while trading for 1 (Sadly me). Due to me getting my Ultimate off (1 pulse of Earthquake gives 15% Max Health to shield) my team didn't lose any health, OH, and because they were 70% slowed the opponent couldn't get out of Gaz's combo, so got smacked by Pull, Arrow, and Time Bomb within a second.
And then we get into another teamfight where we barely scrap by (All of us down to 10% health) but Ace them. Good thing that giant shield + Slow didn't let us disengage when we needed to and soak extra damage.
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Oath of the Gatewatch; the set that caused the competitive community to freak out over Basic Lands.
@Slarg - yeah that is unfortunately part of the experience with solo que. A lot of people follow the meta a little too blindly or hear that x talent sucks or something.
The Reality is that while there is a meta - strategy and skill amount to more than the meta does.
I miss pre-nerf Brightwing but she will always be my main. <3
Does Morales look op to anyone else? On paper, she looks like everything BW used to be, but able to relocate the whole team across the map instead of just herself. I'm gonna pick her up when she comes out. I bet she is as awesome as it looks.
― Anthony Bourdain, Kitchen Confidential
I will always firmly stand by the belief that Magic is a game first and a collectable second.
Played one game of it last night and it was pretty fun. We were so behind at one point they got our core down to 21% but we managed to fight back and win eventually (one of the reasons I love HoTS over other mobas). I love how Diabloesque it is. Kind of reminds me of haunted mines in a sense.
Podcast
Brightwing got nerfed pretty hard, the lost vikings got nerfed really hard - not sure they are even playable now. Overall I think that all the healers got nerfed. They got buffed in a few ways but overall, they got nerfed because of the loss of conjurer's pursuit.
The butcher is awesome, played with, as, and against him. He is good, but not op, just have to kite him - especially when he brands you and he falls pretty quick.
Haven't seen the nerfs myself (since I haven't played the so-mentioned nerfed champs), but no Conjurer's pursuit anymore? Well... that IS big news...
Of course, it might be because my regular team hasn't been on all week and people I get don't understand concepts such as KILL THEIR DEMON BEFORE THE ANGEL DIES.
Podcast
― Anthony Bourdain, Kitchen Confidential
I will always firmly stand by the belief that Magic is a game first and a collectable second.
Podcast
And speaking of ranged combat, how feasible is it to compose a team with only melee characters? I reckon that such a team may need to include the likes of Illidan, Zeratul or Kerrigan as they have gap-closer, but otherwise is an all-melee team a good idea?
For the most part though my team will time our middle mercs with the immortals when they spawn. We'll also have one or two people soak lanes (characters with good wave clear) while 3-4 players defend.
Once we get either a level advantage or a talent advantage we look for a fight. If we get a pick - we definitely go all in on attacking their immortal. We back off once they all respawn, heal up and re engage.
Characters that are great on that map: azmodan, zagara, murky, sylvanas, abathur, jaina, kael'thas, tychus, and falstad.
Azmodan/abathur can split push, zagara gives you vision, murky can split pus, annoy and secure kills, sylvanas can make you immortal push further, tychus has his laser, falstad is very mobile, jaina/kt are the two strongest assassins in the game - great burst, wave clear, strong pokes and utility not to mention fantastic burst damage.
She is my ace. The great thing about jaina is there are several different ways to build her talents and she is highly adaptable in any composition.
Kerrigan, arathas, tyrande, are her best friends and lane partner/ roaming gankers.
And another new map coming soon. Gotta wait for it now
Mind you, I really want to see the Starcraft maps, but I'm happy with Diablo ones.
Just got out of a game where a Gazlowe (Pull Ultimate) and Sylvanus (Arrow Ultimate) were complaining to me about our lack of burst because I took Earthquake (Thrall) over Fissure, and that's a terrible Ultimate.
Que us getting a Penta while trading for 1 (Sadly me). Due to me getting my Ultimate off (1 pulse of Earthquake gives 15% Max Health to shield) my team didn't lose any health, OH, and because they were 70% slowed the opponent couldn't get out of Gaz's combo, so got smacked by Pull, Arrow, and Time Bomb within a second.
And then we get into another teamfight where we barely scrap by (All of us down to 10% health) but Ace them. Good thing that giant shield + Slow didn't let us disengage when we needed to and soak extra damage.
The Reality is that while there is a meta - strategy and skill amount to more than the meta does.
Does Morales look op to anyone else? On paper, she looks like everything BW used to be, but able to relocate the whole team across the map instead of just herself. I'm gonna pick her up when she comes out. I bet she is as awesome as it looks.
Hewo wittle fishy!