Warcraft’s Medivh will be a game changer in the HotS competitive scene.
Friday, Blizzard announced the next heroes coming to the Nexus. The first one is Chromie, a gnome/dragon coming from World of Warcraft, she will be a ranged combo mage using time manipulation and sand powers. She will be released on the 18th of May. The second one, Medivh, one of the first Warcraft character, will also be coming out on an currently unknown date (rumors says June 14th). This character looks as intriguing in HotS as he looked back in Warcraft games. People who knows the character will think, like most of us, that he should be another assassin since he is one of the most powerful mages in the whole Warcraft universe. Well, we were all wrong about that! Medivh will be a versatile specialist who is not only badass looking, but will most likely shape a whole new meta on the very next day following his release.
The abilities
Just his trait shows how this hero is gonna be feared in the Hero League, but even more in Team League. Transformation: Crow will him the ability to transform into a crow (no?) instead of mounting up. In this form, Medivh will have the possibility to pass through any terrain, giving him unblocked vision, and will be untargetable and invincible, however, his vision will be slightly reduced. This can give his team a huge advantage as he can stay in this form as long as he want, only going back to human form to cast spells. This trait will not only give him important intel on enemy rotations and help him check objectives without danger, it will also help him get into position for his most important spell: Portal (his E). This will create two linked portals that last for six seconds, at a pretty huge range (say about a screen-width range) on a 20-second basis. These portals can be used on both sides by teammates to instantly move to the other point. Also, the other team can do nothing to stop those, nor can use them. This ability can bring back heroes with a lack of mobility or forgotten ultimate to the meta since it gives your team the ability to appear right next to the enemy team instead of having to walk, jump or fly into it.
Another super useful ability is his W, Force of Will, this will give an ally a 1.5 second shield which blocks all incoming damage and it goes on a very low cooldown of 5 seconds. This spell is the perfect combo with Portal since the first one puts team members in an overextended position and the second makes you invulnerable for a short amount of time, giving you time to wreck havoc into enemy lines. A well used Force of Will can also give an aggressive teammate the time he needs to finish off heroes in the back-line, blocking key heroic abilities targeting him
His last basic ability, Arcane Blast is short range skillshot that loses cooldown if it hits an enemy. It can be useful, but compared to his other spells, I see a regular ability with no real impact on a game. Finally, his heroics are Polybomb and Ley Line Seal. Two key spells that will disrupt the momentum of the opposing team. The first one polymorphs an enemy hero and can then chain to other heroes in the surrounding, the second one is a slow skillshot that puts heroes of the other team in stasis for four seconds on impact. Given the impact a well placed Brightwing Polymorph can have, I can’t even imagine what a 5-man sheep stick will do!
My impressions
The only weakness I can see for Medivh on paper is his huge lack of damage. Since both his heroics as well as 2 of his basics won’t do any damage, his only source of damage will be Arcane Blast. Given his utility, I can see why Blizzard decided to go down this path: map awareness, movement, protection, CC; this guys has got everything a team needs in Heroes of the Storm.
I can admit that this hero gave me so much excitement, but thinking about him also gave me chills. Let me explain myself here, if you ever threw lanterns with Thresh in League of Legend or have already been in a Bane’s Nightmare in Dota, you know how it can be frustrating to have to rely on an ally to click on something special to save you or even him. Most of Medivh’s spell will require a huge amount of coordination and communication to be used to their maximal potential, meaning he might not be so strong in solo queue. It’s a whole other story if you are in a 5-stack, favorizing fast and unexpected plays on your side.
The impact on high-level strategies will be enormous; there will be comps built only around him and others to directly counter him. He will always be in the mind of team captains as the draft goes on, and will change the way players think about drafting.
Since I did not play him, I can’t assure you that all what I am saying is totally true, but I thought it was necessary to talk about the first impressions the community and  I had about the character. About that, I’d love if you could share your thougths and impressions on the hero, as well as the strong impact he will have on the game with us.
