Greetings terran,

Yes, the title is a joke, syke... I'm super serious, I'm #1, and you should think that way too!

So hi, name is Starke and I was a League of Legends player that was top 30 NA (you can check in some websites like lolking still... I think) somewhere before they allowed EU transfers, this was over 3 years ago. Then I got fed up with Riot Games bull and left, sold my account for 500 euros and the dude got permabanned one month later (because he was raging in games, not because he bought the account, that's just the reason why I can freely talk about it). The rest of my professional career is irrrrrrrrreleevant.

Anyway, all this to say, what I was better than most people at, surprisingly was not playing, but making correct analysis of a character's value and usefulness, I was an amazing player many times but I definitely had my share of games where my team probably lost because I performed poorly, I wasn't the superhero of mobas, that's for sure, still ain't, but creating builds and evaluating the true potential of a character very quickly, that's what I am really good at, usually dominating with characters that people considered underwhelming, I had over 75% win rate on Ezreal the day TheOddOne made a video saying how trashy Ezreal was, all this you can probably check on my old replays on lolreplay, pretty sure some of them are still up there (I re-watched one about 2 months ago).

To sum it up, this guide will cover what I consider to be the current tier list, and the vital points to win games covering the biggest mistakes I see people do on HoTS right now so, let's get it started.

F.A.Q.

Q: Why is X champion not S tier?
A: S tier is reserved to absolute top picks, well, more like top bans, consider them A tier but, the best out of A tiers or just blatantly overpowered (buffs and nerfs might change this, of course), any champion can be used to do amazing things, these just do amazing things more often or have a better kit, simply put, they usually make a huge difference but to be fair, usually end up banned, Tier 1 heroes are seriously not that far below, they probably only have one champion that performs above them in what they do, but they do have someone who does what they do better! As such, Tier 1 and S Tier are the one who should change more between eachother, Tier 1 is definitely THE list to look out for.

Q: What? X weaker than Y? Are you out of your damn mind?
A: Yes, I am, click that [X] on the upper right corner or check another guide, this isn't a debate, it's my opinion. Consider that S tier doesn't exist, S tier is supposed to be the top picks from Tier 1, that's all there is to it, they can range from slightly better than the other options, to much stronger than the other options.

Q: What do you base your evaluation on?
A: Overall average character performance, premade, ranked, quick matches.

Q: This guide used to have talents, what happened?!
A: Every time they change talents and the characters, I'll have to analyze if the characters still belong in whatever tier I put them, and re-do their talents, too much work, tiers only it is!

Kael'thas - Nerf incoming, his DPS both on minion waves as in heroes is freaking ridiculous, he has the best wave clear late game, pretty terrible vs neutral creeps tho. Living Bomb can do a stupid amount of AoE damage, spreads, it can be applied to heroes via Flamestrike, and Flamestrike has a pretty huge area when used up in combination with Verdant Spheres, often you will see the entire enemy team dying one after the other in quick succession, even when they seem they are ahead of the fight since his damage doesn't apply instantly in some cases, damage starts spreading and ends up wiping one after the other. Pyroblast is superior to Phoenix in a million ways, unless they got someone who can stun you across the map or make a character invulnerable or avoid your attack some other way, sadly, some top tier characters do exactly that and very smart players will dedicate themselves to it so if you're facing Anub'arak, Uther, *insert smart player with good character here* etc, take Phoenix. Let's face it, 90% of the times you'll take Phoenix because your opponent is not ******ed, but Pyroblast is better on paper, maybe in combination with a Joahanna that takes the heat off of you and cramps the opponents together or a crazy wombo combo team, Pyroblast will make you climb the ranks of ladder.

VIDEO TUTORIAL (PT. I): http://www.hitbox.tv/video/577454
VIDEO TUTORIAL (PT. II): http://www.hitbox.tv/video/577455

Anub'arak - Want to find out if a tier list is good? Check where this guy is, anywhere below S tier and the list is trash, move along. Some people can only play casters and or play safe, this is NOT that guy, Anub'arak gets in there, he has longest / best initiation in the game with Burrow Charge, and then a line stun with Impale which often hits 4~5 members of the enemy team, he also can't be hit while traveling to you, so the CC is very hard to prevent, and then he Locust Swarm and does so much damage and gets so much sustain, why God why! Love playing with him, hate playing against him, best tank in the game, period. By the way, most people that think this guy is trash plays him the Beetle way, I know right? Silly them. Spam your CC, Rewind spam again, make them stay in Locust Swarm forever. Does NOT win games by himself, but has a HUGE impact towards winning the game if played correctly.

VIDEO TUTORIAL: http://www.hitbox.tv/video/577472/description

Sylvanas - Broken, period. I always get Paralysis which changes 1 second stun to 2 seconds, yes I know, Envenom is amazing but remember the judging a fish for his ability to climb trees? Well, she's also a DPS but Paralysis helps immensely doing creep camps specially Bruiser ones with great safety, which means you can alternate attacks and stun an entire Bruiser camp and take 0 damage while you do it, personally I use it because I take advantage of this strength of hers and do camps as soon as possible, when I run Sylvannas it's like whole map is the color of my team, ultimately it's your choice, I wouldn't condemn you if you took Envenom, late game Paralysis isn't that required anymore but, late game Envenom is also "meh", too. Decent to heavy burst, good to great mobility and possibly the best creep killer in the game (including neutrals, not just waves).

Uther - Paladins, right?! Right?! Holy Light far as fawk burst heal on someone, Holy Radiance line heal. His stun hits considerably far and it's not a skillshot, and both his ultimates are kinda viable depending on the situation, if he dies, he becomes a healing machine. Heavily recommended for noobs, you can shine in any team and all you need to do is follow the guy that is doing great, babysit him and be careful with your positioning.

Valla - Best physical DPS in the game (which is not saying a lot in this game) which is mostly through right clicks but don't think for a second this makes her skill cap lower than let's say, Jaina or Kael'thas. Positioning is key and you want to stay in the team fight as long as you can instead of weaving in and out so, experience with ranged physical carries is crucial. You can burst down almost every character in the game and almost by yourself, her initial burst is not as high but her sustained DPS is unrivaled. Vault can/should be used to reposition on the team fight or escape, but don't be afraid to use it offensively, it just requires better judgement, be careful not to put yourself on a terrible position. Rain of Vengeance is her only ultimate, and the only one you will ever need.

Muradin - Tankiest character in the game? Likely. Definitely has a scary health bar at late game, decent CC and decent initiation which are important to have combined, so right off the bat we have initiation (gap closer), crowd control and tankiness. He doesn't massively deblitate the enemy team, but an initiation with Dwarf Toss followed up by Stormbolt and Thunderclap usually means, you have to fight him there and now or risk taking potshots and dying anyway, add his Avatar with the annoying stun that can constantly cancel your channels and you more than likely, won't be able to kill him before his team catches up to yours. His damage is not irrelevant like Johanna's which puts him one step ahead of her. Take Infused Hammer in combination with your passive Second Wind to survive the laning phase.

Rehgar - Greatest single target heal, AoE heal, amazing mobility, pretty decent mana consumption, doesn't get dismounted if hit, decent AoE slow with a sadly low range... I mean, what else do you want from this dude? You can almost not fight and just enter Ghost Wolf to amplify Chain Heal from the back while shielding your main DPS with Lightning Shield and using Ancestral Healing when required. He's extremely versatile for any map and always a great pick, very good mobility and creep clear abilities (neutrals included) play a big part in that.

Zeratul - A better Nova at least until late game where Nova really shines at picking off targets, probably the best real "assassin" in the game. Never pick if Tassadar is in the other side, if that happens in a quick match and he reveals you, get out instantly! Zeratul is the type of character where you have to roam the entire game to pick off unaware players who over-extend or don't play safe, a combination of Cleave, Singularity Spike and a few auto-attacks does a lot of damage or just puts your lanes ahead in the harassing game vs the enemy team and makes the enemy team play very defensive. I always go for Void Prison as it allows to take a few members of their team out of the time for 3 whole seconds which is A LOT, it also might allow you to zone the enemy team out of tribute range in the tribute map or stall while your team arrives, finally, it can be used to hold the enemy team in place while your team gets ready to wombo combo them and I'm pretty sure we'll see a lot of that in pro play. Highly dependent on Wormhole, seriously, Wormhole competes at level 13 with Giant Killer and Assassin's Blade and still wins by a looong margin, Zeratul really, really needs this talent.

Illidan - Beast, just got nerfed, not as good but still kinda beast, one of my favorite characters in the game specially when paired with Brightwing or Uther or anyone that can keep him alive really I.E. Rehgar. He has a lot of sustain during a team fight while doing crazy damage to their main DPS and whoever follows, if a team fight is going your way, usually he lets no one escape, not even characters with long blinks like Sylvanas, he will catch up to you with Sweeping Strike and Dive and fighting him back, specially when low HP is usually a terrible idea, specially when Metamorphosis is on. Blood for Blood, Sixth Sense and First Aid can make him do much more damage and soak up much more damage than you'd expect, be very careful when 1vs1'ing Illidan, if that's possible. Can quickly reposition in a team fight which is awesome, very hard to escape from, sadly when the focus is on him, meh, he can get bursted down quickly.

The Butcher - If you're playing him at low leagues, he's S tier. He's squishy, yes Blizzard we get it, that's his downfall, he can't go in the middle of an enemy team and wreck them all by himself, unless they already used the CC and he gets free hits with his Butcher's Brand to stay alive foreeeever, Ruthless Onslaught almost ensures he will get to your main DPS and pretty much destroy him and if you use Furnace Blast you make popcorn! Many talents in Hamstring, yes? Like 4 of them yes? Invigoration, Cheap Shot, Brutal Strike and Crippling Slam for much damage, very DPS, enemy team dead no time. New Illidan to some extent (minus constant mobility). (Still studying how good Enrage is).

Jaina - Her slow and damage amplification with Frostbitten and Northern Exposure talents might put her on par with Kael, consider them the steroids she needs but you need to inflict it on a good number of enemies and your team has to capitalize on it so it's a bit more situational, she has about the same ability to clear waves and same ****tiness clear of neutral creeps, she can still burst enemies down like Kael'thas but it's a bit harder / less linear. She can kite way better than Kael'thas and she can turn an escape situation into kills sometimes. better disengage at least. Summon Water Elemental es perma slow, muy caliente, Ring of Frost good for wombo combo but worst 80% of the times. Removing the nikes from her talent tree reaaally hurt her.

Brightwing - Polymorph is OP, he can take one person out of battle instantly but only for a few seconds, both his ults are not amazing as other characters are but they are pretty good, I mean, he has a "disengage" which does average damage and you can move while using it or you can just improve the team's position in a team fight, like getting the enemy team away from your DPS, or canceling some channels like E.T.C's Mosh Pit, so, if there's a lot of use for a interrupt, you can pick this, otherwise I suggest Blink Heal because 1) Blink and 2) Heal. his Arcane Flare is kinda garbo but makes him not be absolutely terrible at clearing waves, it becomes much better if later you get the Sticky Flare talent but that means you'd be sacrificing Phase Shield and Sticky Flare ultimately, it's your choice, still, 3 seconds of 30% slow is nothing to laugh about, AoE at that, sadly it's a slow traveling skill shot. His Z skill aka mount skill is special, it makes him be available anywhere in the map quickly, he can die in a tribute fight early game and still come back in time to finish the fight, he can soak for a bit longer and then join the team, that's what makes him great, playing passive in lane with his passive, and being in any lane, that's it.

E.T.C. - Would be S tier if not for Anub'arak... well, his initiation is not as good, but if he's able to cast Mosh Pit in the correct team members, he becomes better than Anub'arak, which is very situational and won't happen often specially with the time that **** takes to kick in, Tour Bus kinda mitigates that and improves him a lot, he can be shut down before he initiates, and he can be shutdown during his ult, anyone who is remotely smart will instantly stun you so be careful how you initiate, you don't want to Powerslide, get shot back by a Raynor, and pre-emptively press R to stun a tree, which will be the only thing inside your AoE, play smart, also can you stop freaking using Mosh Pit after you use your Facemelt? Jesus Christ that sh*t is downright infuriating.

Tassadar - Apparently a support... yeah, right. He can fight anyone 1vs1 on a lane so he is someone to consider for mid if required, and he is also stupidly hard to gank because of his kit, late game becomes a mix of a mage and an amazing support with an amazing shield, great clear abilities, and great zoning and burst damage in team fights with the right Psionic Storm talents like Overload, Static Charge and Second Strike, do NOT take Resonation, it's 1 second, 1 second is nothing, less than nothing, it's definitely no competition to a second Psionic Storm cast for free! Can't heal but prevents damage unless you take Leeching Plasma which only a handful of heroes can take advantage of and is generally not worth it, or maybe with an Abathur in the team so you can get 25% attack damage on an already fast physical DPS, I don't know... He can tank maybe better than any other support, and probably has more damage than any other support. Instantly becomes S tier if the enemy team has a Zeratul and/or a Nova due to his Oracle which is useful nonetheless in team fights if they don't, 7 seconds is a lot of time, if they do, it's pretty much a shutdown.

Johanna - The only reason why I don't consider her S rank is because I'm afraid I'm too in love with her right now and it's clouding my judgement, it probably is because her gap closer is, well, there isn't one unless you get the ****py ult, she just has ways to move faster. Her Falling Sword has a huge cast time and she has below average for tank DPS. I still have no idea how people can consider her to be so low in most tiers list being Tier 3, what..? Okay, first of all, it might look like her talent tree is tricky, but it's not, if you look at it you have at most 2 picks per rank, keep in mind you're going for tanky, CC, and cooldown reduction with additive minion focus / kill specially in maps with a lot of creps or mines where you can one shot a full group of skelletons with a Condemn. Her entire kit is amazing, she can have a 80%!! AoE!! 3 second slow with Punish and Subdue, she can blind with Shield Glare and her Condemn is just stupid good, specially if you follow up with Blessed Shield. Requires a very strong team so don't expect to carry when your team is performing poorly, she makes everyone else shine, but it's not the best at shining by herself like some/most tanks. Noobs play her horrrribly.

Zagara - No idea why people rate her so low, stupid lane power.

Li Li - Good healer, okay CC vs characters like Valla.

Arthas - Low mobility and semi-weak initiation is the reason why I don't consider him above, other than that, late game he can do a pretty stupid amount of DPS for a tank, severely deblitate the enemy team with slows and roots, and be an amazing body to stop skillshots which is something most people disregard with huge health pool characters with no CC like Azmodan, he is a decent initiator but lacks hard CC, however, his Summon Sindragosa specially if boosted by the Absolute Zero talent is a very nasty initiation tool, especially if he is able to keep you around his Frozen Tempest for 4~5 seconds after that. That's it, he's great but his extremely lackluster mobility and heavy CC reaaaally hurt early game.

Kerrigan - Her DPS is nice and she has a gap closer, she is a very "in your face" with a moderately high health pool type of assassin, right...? Well, no, you play her like a tank, but she doesn't tank as well as a tank, and you DPS like a DPS, and that's it. Her Maelstrom is counter-intuitive and makes her look like a caster, the fact that Impaling Blades and Primal Graps are skill shots doesn't help, and her Assimilation passive generates a shield, sooo, when to pick her? When your team kinda needs a bit more of DPS and kinda needs a bit more tankiness too, which is ****ed up because you should just pick a tier 1 tank and tier 1 DPS and go. No, for real tho, she's good.

The Lost Vikings - Not recommended for noobs and hence why their tier is really low, they can be S rank in a sense that, no one can do what they do, but that's in premade matches, most team can't capitalize in the quicker levels, faster level 10, etc.. Soak up EXP for all three lanes? Uh, freaking yes please, gather all them regen globes babay. 25% XP on death only? Uh, gimme. Force to be reckoned with late game with Longboat Raid! and above average neutral creep killer, very complete character overall, requires good multitasking and micromanagement to be used to full extent which well, please noobs don't. I don't need to say much about him, if you can play him, you understand why he's here and you shouldn't be reading this guide, players with a good base of RTS + MOBA will do wonders with these guys, but even tho they are extremely unique and the new player might feel inclined to do it, just don't, there's champions with far lower skill caps much more recommended for you. Free week is dreadful.

Diablo - Other tanks are better, his ult is easy to dodge.

Falstad - People play him like an auto-attacker, and that makes me cry, amaziiiing mobility.

Azmodan - People play him terribly, he's a pushing tank, he doesn't have CC but he blocks skillshots, stop playing him like a *****.

Tyrael - Can pull some fancy stuff off, you can Q a spot, go back to the fountain and then Q back (Dragon map comes to mind), most noobs don't know how to play him, E needs more range. Terrible without a good team.

Stitches - Good at picking up clueless targets at low ranks, Q's someone, that's one, and then ults someone else and that's two, great on paper, forces position out of you being too afraid to getting eaten. Slam is garbo and it's not useful even with his passive.

Tyrande - Lackluster heal in comparions to other supports, lackluster ult, amplifies damage for the rest of the team in one character, then stuns and that's it. Good stun tho, fast travel.

Nazeebo - Jack of all trades, amazing vs noobs or teams with no blinks, has his uses in high competition.

Malfurion - Been growing on me, very decent sustain. His Entangling Roots is easy to dodge and ends fast, most of the other supports have superior forms of CC like Uther, Tyrande, Brightwing, E.T.C, neither Regrowth or Innervate have instant effects which hurts in team fights, Moonfire makes Tassadar laugh his lungs off until/if he gets the slow talent. 10 second recovery? Ain't nobody got time for that.

Sgt. Hammer - Ultimate good on paper character, might do wonders at lower ranks but that phenom will stop like, instantly at higher ranks.

Tychus - Just... terrible damage in most situations, Odin takes way too long to assimilate, with a slow his Q becomes a pretty good catch up or disengage tool but that's it. His kit is decent but what he does, other heroes can do better.

Sonya - Why would you pick her instead of the vastly superior heroes?

Raynor - Noob champion for noobs who get caught out of position and then get saved by his GTFO kit, knockback plus low health heal plus movement speed. Stop picking Hyperion. Sylvanas is everything this noob wish he could be.

Nova - How can you NOT see her?! Noob slayer. Like S tier vs noobs.

Thrall - But dat nerf doe!

Chen - Amazing on paper but anyone with 2 fingers of forehead gonna interrupt your passive... I mean, they better or else it's game over.

Abathur - Just... no, okay? I don't consider him as bad as Tier 4, in fact, I believe some people play him as high as S rank, I just want to reinforce an idea, people can't position worth SH*T, dunno what to do with mines, can't talent him up, and often stick to a target where you should constantly be switching to where you're needed and during team fights use any of your ults (one to fight, one to split push) and only then, so your body presence isn't missed as much / your ult doesn't get instantly killed before it gets a good amount of stacks, overall, people need to stop playing him and leave him for pros who don't need tier lists.

Murky - Just, no. lol. Solo-Q will punish you for picking him, fast.

Gazlowe - His ability to "hold positions" doesn't make up for terrible stats. He has no place in solo-Q.

This area will be completed tomorrow as I am tired, so are most of the lazy hero descriptions above.