It was a usual day in the GosuGamers Heroes of the Storm crew chat. Talk of the latest tournaments, viable off-meta builds and Hero League frusterations spurred the usual discussions until eventually the topic of Greymane came to surface. As one of the most unique assassins to enter the game, it's hard to pinpoint exactly what Greymane does in a team composition or what heroes we might be able to compare / replace him with. One of our writers, Butcherwrites, seemed keen on comparing him to the queen of blades her self, Kerrigan:
Butcherwrites: His play style seems really similar to Kerrigan only more mobile.
ManMode: What? No. He’s nothing like Kerrigan.
ManMode: Like at all.
Butcherwrites: Really? why is that?
ManMode: He shares none of Kerrigan’s play style
ManMode: He is more like Valla.
Butcherwrites: People are playing him focusing on Human form?
ManMode Yeah, but even if you build worgen he has nothing that makes him like Kerrigan. He has no crowd control, he’s not durable...
Butcherwrites: But he has the ability to stick to a target in a 1v1 situation with his Q refresh talents.
Razor Swipe (Q)
- Swipe towards the area in front of you for 349 (166 + 4% per level) damage.
Visceral Attacks - 13 talent
- Worgen Basic Attacks reduce Razor Swipe's cooldown by 1 second
Butcherwrites: Though it seems like he’d get dumpstered going melee in any situation other than a duel though.
ManMode: No…
Butcherwrites: And Kerrigan definitely has more team fight presence with CC, but when I tried him, his worgen formed seemed pretty buff as far as stats are concerned.
I’d compare him more to Zeratul. Dark flight is an engage ability, not a chase ability.
ManMode: But he’s not sticky at all! He can't stick to a target and gets kited. He just has good engage.
Butcherwrites: His Q refreshes in 2 auto attacks at 13…
ManMode: His Q pushes him about an inch forward.
Butcherwrites: His Darkflight pushes him about a mile forward.
Darkflight
- Shapeshift into a Worgen and leap at an enemy dealing 193 (92 + 4% per level) damage.
ManMode: He’s literally nothing like Kerrigan dude, I’d compare him more to Zeratul. Dark flight is an engage ability, not a chase ability.
Butcherwrites: Mmm, he is probably more like Zeratul than Kerrigan
ManMode: I think he is fairly strong.
Butcherwrites: How would you play him?
ManMode: He has a high skill cap and a lot of play making potential with Go for the Throat.
Go for the Throat
- Leap at an enemy Hero and shapeshift into a Worgen, slashing 3 times for 822 (390 + 4% per level) total damage. If this kills them, the Ability can be used a second time within 10 seconds for free.
ManMode: I’d play him with this hybrid build:
ManMode: You whittle people down then engage with worgen when HP bars are low. If they peel from you, or you get low, you disengage.
ManMode: Because again, he can’t chase very well. He will get kited.
Butcherwrites: Right, so more of a burst and disengage hero. Seems apt.
ManMode: I wouldn’t really say burst since it’s all auto based besides his heroic. I’d more call it finishing.
Butcherwrites: Ok, finishing their health pools quickly. His heroic seems pretty integral to the kit.
ManMode: Yeah.
Butcherwrites: His level 4 talent is to good not to abuse.
Eyes in the Dark - Level 4 talent
- Disengage grants Stealth for 4 seconds.
ManMode: I wouldn’t even call it burst. Burst implies 100-0 someone. he can’t really do that. It’s more execute style.
Butcherwrites: I think burst is pretty succinct, doing large damage in short period. But, if you want to clarify yeah, an executor is a good title. Not a duelist.
One of our other writers interjects with the following question:
So talent builds aside, what kind of team comps do you think Greymane would thrive/fail with and against?
ManMode: He'd be good with Kael'Thas; someone who can dish out lots of aoe damage so he can capitalize on random low healthbars.
I wouldn’t even call it burst. Burst implies 100-0 someone. he can’t really do that. It’s more execute style.
ManMode: He can finish off targets so well, I'd like to see him with Kharazim as well for a dive buddy.
ManMode: Not sure about heroes like Sonya, maybe he goes well with a hero that must be answered by the enemy team, someone else to draw focus away from him.
Butcherwrites: I think Heroes like Kael'Thas, Raynor, and Valla- a team fight that specializes in being offensive and forcing team fights.
Butcherwrites: Zagara, Thrall or ETC to make sure team fights go well. Those and a hard tank.
Butcherwrites: I think he'll thrive in comps with extremely high damage so he can constantly poke people down before fights. He will swiftly pick off members and disengage, stealth, identify a new target and do it all over again with better positioning.
ManMode: He's just a standard assassin. Like a Valla or Raynor pick.
Butcherwrites: You think he has that level of sustain damage?
ManMode: No, but he makes up for it in different ways. Such as his Q doing fairly high damage and his auto attack steroid being basically limitless.
BUtcherwrites: Yes, but Valla and Raynor both provide high sustained damage, waveclear, etc. Can Greymane can stand up to that? Or does he fit in more with a Thrall pick?
ManMode: Yes, Greymane does plenty of damage. He's just different. You can't really compare him to Valla and say "oh he's weaker, Valla has this and that.
ManMode: Because you're only comparing half of his kit.
ManMode: He's flexible, you have to take the entire hero into account. Both forms.
Butcherwrites: I understand -- heroes like those typically fit into a different niche than heroes that just have extremely high overall damage output. I'm not saying one is better than the other. I'm just trying to identify where Greymane fits in.
ManMode: Do you remember old school Tassadar? Back then, Tassadar was just a pick that you threw in to make an already good composition stronger.
ManMode: That is Greymane- he's just a good assassin.
Butcherwrites: He adds an ability to finish team fights to an already establish composistion.
ManMode: Greymane is a Valla with less burst that whittles people down before turning into a Zeratul to seal the deal.
Butcherwrites: Highly opportunistic hybrid assassin, a melee finisher with a ranged capability.
