For those who have waited, patiently or otherwise: the time is nigh. A new hero and a new battleground will be released early this week to the HoTS closed beta.
As announced on Blizzard's Heroes of the Storm twitter feed (and on their official forums), next week heralds the arrival of Sylvanas and the Tomb of the Spider Queen. New content has been released relatively slowly throughout the alpha and beta phases of HoTS - the last release was in early February. All told, however, this is a big one. With a new battleground in the pool and a new Specialist hero in the mix, we're likely to see a shift in the landscape of the game.
A new map brings with it opportunities for specialized team compositions. When Sky Temple was released in January, we saw a surge in popularity for heroes like Gazlowe, with his zone-control potential, and for abilities like E.T.C.'s Stage Dive, affording crucial global presence. We'll certainly see this kind of resurgence and resettling again as players explore and adapt to the new battleground.
In the same vein, the addition of Sylvanas is set to be a refreshing development. You can watch a video to familiarize yourself with her kit here. Suffice it to say, the combination of good mobility with a ranged AOE silence will put a thorn in the sides of healers and illidans across the Nexus. As always, remember to manage your expectations and reserve your full judgment until the community has had ample time to learn the ins and outs of the new Hero - underdogs like Jaina have a way of rising to prominence, and pub-crushers like Thrall become magnets for the nerf hammer.
As of now, Blizzard intends to release their new content early in the week (read: tuesday). Until then, bide your time dreaming up mind-blowing Sylvanas plays to come.
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