While first excited about those changes I really started to dislike them.
In short here are the reasons I prefer HotS over LoL.
-game length
-strategic depth/ importance of objectives
-no surrender button
-multiple maps
-importance of draft
Many other reasons (like no all chat, shared resources, etc. which don't matter with the nexus anomaly)
How those are affected by the nexus anomaly:
I love HotS for its fast paced games. Draft well and you can outplay the enemy team and lead your team to a quick victory. They are dumb enough to lock too many AA heroes, get blinds and drive in that sweet sweet 10 minute victory.
Now everything has become a dumb siege fest. In case it matters I'm playing in Diamond. I had more games over the 40 min mark within the last week than in the past 4 years simply because no team was able to end the game or able to take any keep at all. All those game basically (between 2 teams of equal skill) because waiting for the first major mistake to happen. It's incredibly frustrating to just not be able to end the game on either side because it's so easy to defend. It's even more frustrating to lose a game after being ahead for 35 min, then one mistake and you lose instantly since at that time everyone is about lvl 28 - 30. But not even about losing. Even having to play 40 minutes to win is simply not fun. In HotS it was always more important to be quick and decisive and decisions mattered more. In League its just 2 teams clashing into each other over and over again, running down mid over fighting over dragons/barons. The team who fucks up first loses. Mid inhib is down, yet people still run down mid to fight and end (which usually doesnt happen before 30 min.) Take top or bot inhibitor as a team? Nah! just brainlessly run down mid. In all my years of League this has never changed which is why I eventually quit and chose HotS instead. Now HotS feels the same to me. It's just a braindead siege. No matter who got the first second and third punisher. Just get the first obj. after Lvl 25 and you can end.
I want a team based strategy game where its about drafting well, playing to your strenghts and playing the map accordingly. Now its about which team has a big misplay first at the 40 min mark... then you end it. This is not fun.
I always liked that there is no surrender button here. Your Team drafted poorly or just plays bad? Well at least it's over fast and you can go into the next game without wasting too much time. There was never need for a surrender button. And those assheads who sit in base after 5 min because "its over" hopefully get permabanned. If you were 100% losing play it like a decent human being and it will be over fast. Perhaps there is even a chance for a comeback but at least when being murdered by the enemy team it was over after 10 - 15 miin. No matter the odds I still play to the end. But it's good that if you are absolutely getting obliterated the end comes quick. Now it doesn't anymore. And yes while technically this allows more comebacks even if you manage to hold your own for a while then the game still draggs out to lvl 25+ and there is still a chance to lose. I rather take a 15 min defeat than a 35 minute defeat.
This anomaly also affects the draft. Now it feels like one person can defend 1 vs 3 forever. It was nice to tactically dive. Lets say they were fooling enough to draft double mage as their first 2 picks. This means I would punish them with Anub'arak. He used to be one of the best divers in the game and a good anti-mage. Now while still strong if you fight a mage in the open he is utterly useless in a siege situation since basically all he can do is AA a structure, not using any ability so his beetles don't pull aggro. He has gone from one my the best divers to one of the worst tanks due to his low healthpool. His good diving ability made up for that. A lot of heroes have gotten this treatment. It's nearly impossible to take out a Chromie or Raynor now if they just hide behind their turrets. Heroes like Tracer, Zeratul and some assassins and a lot of tanks got nerfed by this. While others got buffed by so much its not even funny. Basically whoever drafts Sylvanas, Arthas or Gazlowe now has a better chance at winning. In League Champion Balance was not a thing. There were always top tier picks and stuff that was utterly useless. Take a look at Skarner. He is and stays shit. One of the most useless designs, since ever new champ that gets released is affected by powercreep. Then look at Dehaka. Great on some maps, useless on others. Every Hero had his spot. Even unpolular things like Probius. They have their niche in which they shine. When Heroes got reworked its mostly because the niche was too small, not because they were weak. It League there is simply good and bad. In HotS there was always more depth to it. Not every Hero was good on every map. Some shine on Dragonshire, while other are great on Braxis. Now basically Sylvanas is great everywhere and Anub turned to shit. This reminds me of League too much and I hate it.
Objectives became too weak. Overall splitpush is more important now than ever. I don't mind splitpush since it is part of the strategy of a moba. But it was only strong on certain maps. Splitpushing on cursed hollow was always a good tactic. Splitpushing on Battlefield of Eternity? Not so much. The objective would simply run you down. Now you can play/win pretty much every map by splitpush.
TL;DR: Knowing when to hold a structure and when its better to give it up and soak elsewhere was an important part of the game. Now you hold forever while outnumbered. Winning an objective like the punishers was key. Now it's just useless. Having a quick defeat was fine. Now you watch your team lose over 40 min. Every draft was important, now there are just simply bad picks and OP heroes. This reminds me of League and I hate it.
Please Blizzard undo those changes with the next patch. Or change them in a way. I read many good suggestions on this sub. I love HotS but this changed it too much.
