When it started
There was a time where Arthas, Tyrael, Anub'arak, and even Sonya were very underrated heroes. Korea started popularizing these heroes in double, and sometimes triple warrior compositions in order to combat fragile mages and teams vulnerable to heavy amounts of CC.
Even during our 2015 GosuAwards, Double / Triple Warrior gathered the most community votes for "Meta king of the year". The strategy was so popular and powerful, it seemed like it would be a mainstay of competitive heroes. You still see it sometimes, but ever since the scaling changes, these bruiser heroes have taken a back seat.
What is a bruiser?
A bruiser is an unofficial term for any warrior hero that seems more offensive than they are defensive. A bruiser deals large amounts of damage and is at their best controlling small amounts of space by threatening large bursts of damage if anyone gets close. They usually don't have reliable forms of CC, aren't extremely tanky, and have a hard time defending their fragile allies.
The classic example is Johanna vs. Sonya. Johanna will never be classified as a bruiser-- she is a tank through and through. She doesn't do large amounts of damage and she actually enjoys soaking large amounts of damage.
Sonya, on the other hand, is the most iconic bruiser in the game. She actually is responsible for the term bruiser as it was first developed as a way to explain to early alpha players that, while Sonya is technically listed as a warrior, it is usually a bad idea to expect her to tank, initiate, and peel by herself. She needs another warrior around to give her the freedom of chasing down enemy heroes avoiding the singular focus fire of the enemy team.
The return
The PTR patch notes are live and both Anub'arak and Arthas have received major changes. All of them make the heroes stronger, more resilient, and deal a lot more damage. Anub'arak, in particular, feels like a completely new hero, and some of Arthas's new talents allow for the same style of early game aggression we used to associate with Arthas compositions.
We may not see bruisers return to dominance with the Chromie patch, but I can all but guarantee Medivh will guide a new generation of squishy warriors into top tier tournament glory.
What's more, is that heroes like Sonya, Artanis, and even Rexxar are already very strong in competitive play. Take the power level of supports like Rehgar, the current dominance of Illidan, and the introduction of the new long distance mage, Chromie, and you can already start making a case for the return of double and triple warrior team compositions:
- Illidan doesn't like playing against multiple warrior heroes with multiple forms of CC. The newly buffed Arthas destroys Illidan especially when paired with another warrior.
- If Chromie is as powerful as she looks (she is) then teams with a heavy front line will be her ideal home. Double or even Triple warrior compositions with a solo Chromie + Support might become a standard strategy.
- Medivh isn't released yet but after playing with him extensively I can speak with confidence of his absurd power level when paired with multiple bruisers. Artanis + Medivh might actually be the most oppressive thing I have ever faced in my Heroes of the Storm career.
- Rehgar is already a strong hero and he loves healing for multiple warriors. Lighting Shield DPS on the buffed Arthas is a real threat.
- Arthas and Anub'arak have been buffed to deal significantly more damage. They have also been given talents designed to counter mages like Kael'Thas, who is currently seen in nearly every game.
Nerf to solo warriors
The latest PTR balance update was released just yesterday and some of the most powerful CC and stun effects in the game have been shortened. This is a big nerf to solo warrior compositions, as the relying on a single stun has effectively become harder. In order to get the same amount of lockdown, it is going to take more stuns.
The need for more CC means more teams drafting more warriors. The nerf might make the chain-stun strategy so weak it isn't used anymore, but this is doubtful. Some heroes (like Anub'arak) haven't had any their stuns changed as long as Tyrande still exists the threat of single target lock down will always loom.
All things considered, we look poised to enter a meta dominated by warriors and the squishy mages they are protecting. Chromie and Medivh are very powerful heroes and they both want bruisers by their side. That alone is enough to see significant changes in the upcoming weeks.
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