There are many Heroes fans out their that weren't around when the game was still in it's true infancy. Back when there were barely any tournaments and a few powerhouse heroes dominated the meta. Some of the most popular heroes today were barely picked in the previous patches, and using our stats page, we can gain some insight on why.
Technical alpha patch #6
The 6th patch during Technical Alpha was about the time competitive Heroes of the Storm became something worth taking note of, and some of the patch changes were huge.
As you can see, Arthas, Falstad, Uther and Tychus were among the most picked and contested heroes in the game, and for good reason. Old Arthas did more damage on all of his abilities, had a Rune Tap talent that healed for a whopping 6% Hp every third strike, and still he had access to Envenom. All of this made him one of the tankiest warriors with the surprisingly high burst damage.
Falstad did considerably more damage than he does today. He had access to Gathering Power (before it was nerfed and went up to 25% bonus damage) Rewind at level 13, and Hinterlands Blast did more damage. His insane damage was only rivaled by Tychus, who before nerfs, was the tankiest ranged assassin in the game. Odin used to grant a "2nd hp bar" that when destroyed, would allow Tychus walk way with whatever HP he had before the heroic was used. This coupled with Stone Skin and First Aid granted allowed a skilled Tychus player to rarely, if ever die.
And Uther has always been Uther. Only back then, he was able to walk through obstacles while dead, cast heroics and spells while dead, and his divine storm did more damage at a bigger radius.
Trivia: Did you know LiLi's Healing Brew used to grant mana regeneration as well? She also used to have access to the Envenom talent.
Technical alpha patch #7
Though only for a short period of time, this patch is noteworthy as it represents the brief window where Chen was considered among the best warriors in the game. Old Chen had the best CC in the game at level 13 with his talented Flying Kick granting 100% immobilization and on top of that, his Storm, Earth, and Fire heroic used to have 0 delay on it's cast time, immediately granting full invulnerability.
Once these were taken away from here (along side of a huge number of tiny nerfs throughout the games history) chen fell from grace.
Trivia: did you know Wandering Keg used to grant a insane amount of shields when cast?
The closed beta patch
The meta that most people were first introduced too - closed beta. King Stitches was at the height of his power, accompanied by Valla, Uther,Tassadar, Illidan and ETC. Valla used to be even more deadly when she had access to Battle Momentum, and the power level of Illidan finally started to surface. Uther remained the best support in the game by far.
Those who don't remember Stitches in his prime are lucky. The Slam build was disgustingly powerful and used to grant a mini-stun at level 16, essentially shutting down any team with channeling heroics or abilities. Not only was his slam powerful, but his Hook had a considerably lower cool down, making engaging on an enemy Stitches in a team fight virtually impossible.
Trivia: Did you know that Thrall, when he was first released during the closed beta patch, was considered to be one of the strongest heroes in the game and was immediately nerfed the following patch?
The Sylvanas patch
The Sylvanas patch might as well been called the Jaina patch, as it was the patch that truly made her rise as one of the best heroes in the game. All damage on all of her abilities were increased and her Chill passive could now be applied on buildings and bosses, substantially increasing her PvE damage. Over night, Jaina skyrocketed as one of the most most picked heroes, even beating out the steady front runner Valla in the most contested spot.
This was also the first patch where the new hero turned lived up to the hype. Sylvanas still enjoys much competitive play, with only minimal nerfs to her abilities.
Trivia: Before this patch, Azmodan's Taste for Blood talent had no damage cap. You can thank Tempo Storm's Arthelon for showcasing just how powerful the talent can be, causing Blizzard to cap it's damage at 500.
The Current Meta
As it stands now, Jaina is the only hero that as truly stood the test of time in terms of overall competitive popularity. While Zeratul has always been a strong hero due to Void Prison, his new Focused Attack + Follow Through gives him the burst damage he previously loss with nerfs to his Double Bombs and Gathering Power talents. Johanna is another new hero that has lived up to her potential and ,while still a niche pick, The Butcher also looks to also be a success.
Take note, that this is the first time Malfurion has surpassed Uther. Nature shall rise against you!
Triva: Malfurion is one of the first heroes to receive a massive Talent rework that actually rose his competitive value.
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