heroes Qhira Meta Tier List (September 2019)

[Oxygen 446]

Our twenty-eighth Heroes of the Storm Meta Tier list for the month of September is here!

The latest meta tier list for September 2019 is here!

Welcome to another Icy Veins's Meta Tier List for the August 8 patch, including the following August 28 balance patch. The goal of this list is to try and detail game's current metagame state. The prime goal of such lists is to inform players regarding popular and trending team composition drafting strategies (i.e. the drafting metagame).

Using the list

Spoiler

Although tier listings are generally the product of balance, many factors come into play when discussing the relative perceived strengths of heroes, including player regions, maps, play style, skill level, and, of course, personal perception. As such, any tier list—including this very one—should never be interpreted as gospel, but rather, as a guide to better grasp what to expect with regards to typical drafting experiences. One useful application of such lists is to allow you know which heroes to look out for in terms of practice and counterplay, ultimately improving your knowledge of the game.

As stated above, tier lists are easy to mistake for gospel. As new strategies are discovered and experimented with, so changes the perception of the relative strengths of each hero. Tier lists still prove to be useful as a snapshot of player expectations in terms of drafting. Although it is generally considered preferable to focus on high tier heroes (Prime and Core tiers), it is important to note that Heroes of the Storm's wild character and map designs make it so that any given hero's tier position is prone to fluctuate depending on the situation at hand.

One classic example of such is that of Kerrigan on the Infernal Shrines map. Although we currently judge her to be a mid-tier hero, her drafting priority shoots up to first-pick or first-ban material on this specific map due to the nature of its objective. Certain heroes also synergise so well with each other that the sole fact of having the opportunity of drafting them together is generally enough to increase their potential. Tassadar and Tracer, for instance, are generally nightmarish to deal with for many. There are too many examples of these interactions to reasonably produce here, but we invite you to consult our guides to know exactly where and when each hero shines. The guides have been linked in the lists below for your convenience - just click any of the hero names to access them.

A ↑ next to a hero's name means its tier list position has increased since the previous month whereas a ↓ means just the opposite. Additionally, a + or - sign indicates short-to-medium term predictions (which is to say, about a month) for tier increase(s) or decrease(s), respectively. These are often updated after significant balance patches and/or when clear trends are emerging. The (ban) comment is a ban recommendation; Meta heroes should be picked and banned first, though heroes from other groups should be considered as well depending on how team compositions are shaping up.

If you're newer to the game, also consider visiting our glossary for a comprehensive list of discrete Heroes of the Storm terms.

 

Current ranked mode map rotation (updated)

 

• Alterac Pass
• Braxis Holdout (added)
• Battlefield of Eternity
• Cursed Hollow
• Dragon Shire
• Garden of Terror (removed)
• Hanamura
• Infernal Shrines
• Sky Temple (added)
• Tomb of the Spider Queen
• Towers of Doom
• Volskaya Foundry (added)

 

Meta picks

Tank	Bruiser	Fighter	Stalker	Marksman	Mage	Support	Healer
—	—	—	—	—	—	—	Ana (ban)

 

High-tier generalists

Tank	Bruiser	Fighter	Stalker	Marksman	Mage	Support	Healer
Anub'arak↓ (ban)	Chen↑↑ (ban)	Alarak↑ (ban)	Zeratul	—	Jaina	Abathur↑	Anduin↑
E.T.C. (ban)	Imperius	Qhira (new) (ban)			Kael'thas		Brightwing↑
Diablo (ban)					Sylvanas↑ (ban)		Deckard↑
Garrosh (ban)
Johanna

 

Mid-tier generalists

Tank	Bruiser	Fighter	Stalker	Marksman	Mage	Support	Healer
Arthas↓	Artanis↓	Kerrigan	Genji	Cassia	Azmodan↓	Medivh	Alexstrasza
Blaze↑	Dehaka	Maiev	Tracer	Falstad	Chromie	Zarya	Auriel
Mal'Ganis	Sonya	Malthael		Fenix	Gul'dan		Kharazim
Muradin	Yrel↑	Ragnaros		Greymane	Junkrat		Li Li
Stitches (ban)		Thrall↓		Hanzo (ban)	Kel'Thuzad		Lt. Morales
Varian		Varian		Lunara	Li-Ming↑		Lúcio
		Varian↓		Raynor↓	Mephisto		Malfurion↓
				Sgt.Hammer	Nazeebo		Rehgar↓
				Tychus	Orphea		Stukov
				Valla	Zagara		Tyrande↓
				Zul'jin

 

Low-tier generalists

Tank	Bruiser	Fighter	Stalker	Marksman	Mage	Support	Healer
—	D.Va	Gazlowe↓	Valeera	—	Probius	—	Whitemane↓
		Murky
		The Butcher

 

Situational picks (map, team composition, or counterpick)

Tank	Bruiser	Fighter	Stalker	Marksman	Mage	Support	Healer
Cho'gall (ban)	Leoric	Illidan	Nova	—	Cho'gall (ban)	Tassadar	Uther (ban)
Tyrael	Rexxar (ban)	Xul	Samuro			The Lost Vikings (ban)

 

Meta heroes define the metagame. They are very often banned or picked right away, as they generally dictate the pace of most drafts and matches.

Generalists form the core of your team and are generally picked after Meta picks have been distributed. They tend to work on most maps, and as part of and against most team compositions. Since this group includes most heroes, I elected to split it into three tiers. High-tier rankings are a result of performance (i.e. win rates) and popularity (i.e. pick and ban rates). This means that heroes with high win rates can be set in low tier; the opposite may also be true.

Situational picks shine on specific maps or as part of specific team compositions.

—

A couple words on Qhira

Though she came out swinging with some overtuned numbers and a small bug that further added to her damage, the recent fixes combined with players figuring out how to counter her (it involves moving a little bit) set her in a more reasonable spot. She still hits hard with a plenty of unexpected damage to catch players off-guard, making her a safe ban until everyone caught up with the importance of her bleeds. She'll continue to shine against teams with poor targeted crowd control.

The meta in a sentence (or two)

If you don't carry some form of reliable crowd control, you better have something else to show for; we're in the crowd control age. Expecting a heavier tank/bruiser meta to emerge in the upcoming months as a response.

[Valhalen 1,484]

I'd like to know more about the drops and rises in the tier list, like you used to comment before. Any chances you'll starting doing that again, @Oxygen?

[ExorionAether 11]

8 hours ago, Oxygen said:

we're in the crowd control age.

Reminds me of Overwatch.

That aside I don't get why some people say that Diablo is dead now since Devastating Charge got nerfed. From my experience Fire Stomp Build was the best to begin with. Maybe I'm missing crucial info here.

[Valhalen 1,484]

48 minutes ago, ExorionAether said:

That aside I don't get why some people say that Diablo is dead now since Devastating Charge got nerfed. From my experience Fire Stomp Build was the best to begin with. Maybe I'm missing crucial info here.

The Devastating Charge nerf didn't kill Diablo at all. Just made him slightly less oppressive, and actually made the wall-stun more benefitial for the entire team since it decreases armor. His playstyle is what makes him truly dangerous, regardless of the build.

[Varrick 15]

definitely not a tank meta. Re-name this ranked meta stuff to Potato-League instead ?. Literally everybody is queuing (in groups) and I am finding more fun from QM ? than banging my head against the wall trying to win in ranked

Edited September 5, 2019 by Varrick

[lChronosl 182]

Not that I am complaining of anything, since he is one of my mains, but how come Deckard is a high tier now?

[Valhalen 1,484]

13 minutes ago, lChronosl said:

Not that I am complaining of anything, since he is one of my mains, but how come Deckard is a high tier now?

He has been getting a lot of buffs in the latest patches. Blizzard realized they nerfed him way too much.

[Morcalivan 86]

About time Abby got some respect. :p

[CaperfinWoW 21]

this is a good write my dude ? keep'em coming!