If you haven't already, check out Artanis and his talents here.

Many of us are familiar with the basics of an Illidan composition. Take Illidan, pair him with Shields, burst healing, and top it off with Abathur (preferably with adrenal overlord) to create a 1 team wrecking machine. This works because Illidan has the pesky ability to survive large burst of damage thanks to Evasion, and as long as he continues to auto attack, Dive and Sweeping Strike allow him to avoid direct focus fire as Evasion's cool down finishes.

One look at Artanis, and it's easy to see how the same thing might be possible. his Q ability, Blade Dash, gives Artanis the mobility necessary to avoid damage in a team fight. While it's landing spot is somewhat predictable, it's instant and doesn't need a target, meaning AoE skill strikes and enemy heroics can be dodged easily.

His W ability, Twin Blades, instantly strikes the target twice. It's 4 second cooldown is what's most important here, as it's synergy with his Shield Overload trait allows for rapidly reduced cooldowns on Artanis's best defensive option. Does that sound like any hero already in the game? Perhaps a certain betrayer?


Abusing this trait will be integral to pushing Artanis to Illidan levels of scary. Take special note of how basic attacks lower the cooldown!
Phase Prism is his E ability and provides another movement option- swapping positions with an enemy. This gives Artanis another way to dodge harmful and chase down fleeing heroes. The Illidan comparison seems complete, but it isn't done yet:
Artanis has a get out of free card in Suppression Pulse and can help himself or a team recover from bad engagements.
Suppression Pulse is the heroic ability that seems the most effective with this particular style of Artanis play and should be best compared with the defensive utility of Illidans' Metamorphosis. Illidan can uses Metamorphosis as a "get out of jail free" card when he finds him self out of position. Suppression Pulse can be used in the same way, blind all enemies for 4 seconds giving Artanis the time he needs to get another Shield Overload active, or otherwise escape.

Suppression Pulse can also be used to protect allies, bringing him more in line with the warrior role of peeling for squishy allies.
Spell Shield has always been a good talent, but Sixth Sense is even better. Now, Artanis has his version.
Phase Bulwark is a level 13 talent that is almost identical to Illidan's level 13 talent, Sixth Sense. It reveals that the design team was purposeful in the Illidan similarities and also gives Artanis an identical power spike to better combat spell casters like Kael'Thas and Jaina. This is potentially even more powerful than Sixth Sense, because the following level 20 talent...
Is this real life? Infinite shields?
... allows for some pretty insane Shield Overload frequency.  Force of Will will makes every 3 auto attacks essentially refresh the cooldown of Shield Overload completely. This makes Twin Blades instantly reduce the cool down of Shield Overload by 12 seconds, and that ability is only on a 4 second cooldown!

It seems like it will get out of hand pretty easily.  Artanis already looks like he will do loads of damage, but when properly talented his combat based survivability looks insane. Your standard Illidan team composition will work perfectly with Artanis, with a special emphasis on Abathur. I thought Abathur and Illidan were a dream team, but the attack speed bonuses, shields, and sustained damage Abathur provides seems even better suited for Artanis. Blade Dash even allows for free symbiote poke damage!

Why not both?

Illidan and Artanis look like they have similar strengths and synergies, so why not place them on the same team? Kharazim, Illidan, and Artanis seems like a extremely start to an Abathur lineup, with huge power spikes at 20 with Hive Mind. 

Ultimately, Illidan players will enjoy playing as Artanis, as their similarities in playstyle and design seem purposeful. Artanis might be the first hero capable of dishing out the snowbally "Im-going-to-kill-everyone-now" only Illidan is currently capable of, and that is a pretty exciting prospect.

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