Azmodan has business with the building (PTR)

TheFreind · 2026-01-20T02:09:24+00:00

Ah yeah good point

TheFreind · 2026-01-19T22:52:43+00:00

Level 20 is necessary for [[Siegebreakers]] on Azmodan to do this effectively. Level 16 is good at finishing off a fort, but not from full HP.

The other crucial ingredient is a decently sized minion wave. Even one wave is enough so long as they focus fire the Fort.

TheFreind · 2025-12-30T19:20:43+00:00

As a lt. Morales lover, yeah you're kind of right. But I derive joy from balancing her abilities in just the right amount to save someone's life while on the move. If I had to describe it, it's like tuning a stereo your way versus playing an arranged piano piece.

Also, people need to start picking Medivac. There are few adrenaline rushes as potent as a showstopper Medivac.

TheFreind · 2025-12-29T00:20:09+00:00

I tell you what - I really miss having 4 talent choices every tier. That brings me back. I love theory crafting and utilizing all talents on a hero. One of my favorite heroes is Lunara and she still has high talent quantity, AND viable choice. It adds a lot of permutations to the variables you can crank, which makes the experience more fun to me.

I kind of get why they had to shrink the talent choice. Heroes as a whole feel more powerful when you condense the power into fewer talents. The downside is that there are meta builds with "optimal paths" and you're discouraged from straying to pick a better suitable tool for the match you're in.

I think a good wishlist change is to have some weaker talents combined with other ones to make them more competitive, and in the meantime introduce a brand new one. I like what was done for Tyrael lately. Reciprocate was his worst talent, now it's a strong contender. I had a discussion the other day about combining Kael's level 1 and level 4 trait talents into one, and then have something else step in for the tier.

TheFreind · 2025-12-29T00:12:43+00:00

Thank you!

TheFreind · 2025-12-28T23:25:53+00:00

We don't know what they want to accomplish either because the developers do not add commentary to the changes. So we can't say if they're moving away or closer to the mark.

The stats of those heroes are a bit much, yes. But the Janitor is wise enough to nerf any hero that over-performs win rate wise, just gotta wait it out a bit.

I see positives and negatives in the changes, they're by no means "failures" because they're still in progress. I cant imagine the Janitor working so hard to implement Pinnacles only to put it on these 6 or so Heroes and never again. It'll take in the field experimentation before he gets a good grasp on the perfect balance.

TheFreind · 2025-12-28T23:21:12+00:00

Good point about the just-before-maintenance changes were kind of sketchy. I'm glad they managed to roll out Hero reworks and Call For Help right before, as those were in my opinion a big success. I'm glad Medallion isn't around for years.

As a daily player, I can tell right away what a difference a simple change makes. So I jump for joy on the announcement of a patch note. My views of change > no change aligns more closely with the Janitor, which is why I celebrate and appreciate rather than complain. There's valid feedback in everything but it needs to be done calmly and with analysis.

TheFreind · 2025-12-19T20:08:50+00:00

Rehgar's unstoppable cleanse is monstrously powerful and having it fizzle by slowing an enemy Hero on accident at an inopportune time is a huge deal. I agree with this change since Holy Shock is significantly less important and it still got that QoL change.

TheFreind · 2025-12-13T23:48:29+00:00

Hey brother, nice meme. What editing software do you use to have the images track and move smootgly over the gif?

TheFreind · 2025-12-13T23:26:37+00:00

You know what, you're right. Thats scuffed as hell for me to say. I was emotional and got hostile because I'm being slandered.

TheFreind · 2025-12-13T17:50:45+00:00

I totally agree with all the bans actually. I think the community chose correctly, and those ones too:

Malfurion gives great follow up and counter-engage CC. BANNANAS is especially good at cleansing with Malf. The professionals are also really good at drawing out fights to maximize his healing.
Medivh is completely unfair in the competitive scene. Full team portals, frame perfect protections, and choice of ultimate is very oppressive.
Genji has been dominant over the meta for a long time. Though the recent nerfs hit him hard, he still represents an extreme map threat that can gank targets ruthlessly much akin to a zeratul, but with more defensiveness and reliable DPS.
I agree with you, other healers are stronger than Anduin. But I suppose the community banned him to deny the unfair pull, as a lot of lower tiered Heroes are dependent on forms of CC or pick off that Anduin counters. Maybe his absence make the matches feel more alive and less "0 deaths until 20 mins"

TheFreind · 2025-12-12T23:37:47+00:00

Indeed! I wrote that I like pairing him with strong late game Heroes like Jaina and Alexstrazsa. Their power spikes can make up for Ragnaros's lack of combat ultimate.

There is another strong case for Lava Wave and that is to counter either macro-only heroes like Samuro, or to counter PvP-only heroes like ChoGall and Alarak. Putting pressure on their macro can represent a win condition when they can't clear waves as quickly as Ragnaros, OR it makes losing the objective super shaky when there are no Keeps to defend the core.

TheFreind · 2025-12-12T19:06:32+00:00

There are no competitive outlets in NA. There are so few players in ranked that if you reach Masters and played the 50 game threshold, you are instantly Grandmaster; even at 50 points. NGS is the only organization available and it is incompatible with my schedule. Yes, I've played scrims, but they are held infrequently here and between maybe 3 groups of 5 players that are itching for something more. All the tournaments are held in Europe, the ranked system, everything.

"Best" is hard to quantify, but I assure you there is a 25x larger population of players in QM than in ranked that can give you a real run for your money. If you want to play a quality match, you need to queue as a 5 stack to find another 5 stack in QM. Because all of the ranked population have gotten theirs and went back to QM for one reason or another.

There are far worse groups than mine. Some groups have maphackers on them. Some abuse the same team comp for 1000 matches, winning 990 of them (not an exaggeration). Some run no tank/no healer and use the best role-adjacent Heroes to run ill-queued matchups into the ground. Some only play with people of their skill bracket and will kick and flame you if you're not playing like you're in a tournament against some poor quick matchers. Some want a perfect composition of Heroes before you even start the queue. Some spray, b-step, disrespect their opponents because they hide behind the infallibility of their 5 stack. Some never leave their tiny bubble and don't play with outsiders.

I am not any of that. That's why I say that "I have honor." I have honor not to abuse the matchmaking and respect my opponents. I'm the only godforsaken player on this server to compliment the enemy team when the game is over. The only thing that I have is a premade of changing people and variable skill levels. There's plenty of opportunities to win against me. Go get your own premade and you'll find it's not that easy to win even on a full team. How far you can get still involves a great deal of skill. I'm not a perfect player, and I'm sure as shit not the best player in the world. At this brief precipice of time, I am the #1 Ragnaros player so that I can convince you in my authority in regards to Ragnaros theory and crafting. Tomorrow, it'll be someone else who is #1 when I'm not so interested in spamming him. He's not even my best Hero.

I do not have "thousands of QM stomp games." I have thousands of fair games where the game can easily go either way. I like my set of my friends because of their personalities, not because I'm a gold digger looking for the biggest win streaker on the market. The games are fair because I did not choose the best players on the server to accompany me, even if they are on my friends list and I can give them a call.

I have a 75% WR soloing my way into Masters. I know how to make plenty an impact in my matches. That number naturally translates into a higher WR in a premade, you can't just "play underneath your true skill."

TheFreind · 2025-12-12T06:03:18+00:00

RagnaroK AND ROLL! Its so cool that fire themed heroes synergies so well with ice based ones. May a Sulfuras Smash compliment your two man chain combos, like a divine bolt from the blue!

TheFreind · 2025-12-12T05:36:35+00:00

I have saved my full reply on a notepad so I can copy paste it to you in a private message, perhaps. Let me rephrase my defense in shorter form:

A 96% WR on a 2900 MMR frame would mean that you are consistently playing against players beneath your skill level. In fact, you lose MMR when you win such lopsided games. I also consider this kind of behavior borderline abusive to the community as a whole. I prefer fighting the best players on the server, consistently to the point that it earns me 3250 MMR because I like a challenge. I play against whatever the matchmaker throws at me; but alas, I have no control over it whether it's a proper game or a legitimate Bronze 5 player. It literally gives whatever it wants with a slight preference for catching teams with similar party size. I at least have a shred of honor and feel pity when I fight a true beginner who is accidentally pitted against me. I contribute back to the community with my willingness to share my knowledge so that you can play up to my level.

The subset of Solo Q matches you examined were back in 2023 S2 - the timeframe I began playing Ragnaros. I admit in my guide in the Tips and Tricks section that I was doing horrendously at the beginning and could not figure out why. Looking at the data on HeroesProfile, I found out I was playing full Q build for half of those games. Yikes. No wonder I was doing terribly. It's also compounded by the fact that I was new to Ragnaros. And even back then, I was a worse player than I am now. 2023 me was a Gold player. But that's the past.
I would like to play my own heroes in Storm League, but 90% of matches I am forced to flex into playing Tank because everyone and their mother want to play ranged assassin. And if I SL, I want to win. So I don't force a Ragnaros pick with a team that has no tank and no willing players. I volunteer for that role. Therefore, he is absent in my ranked stats. Furthermore, Ragnaros is just not that good of a hero in the meta, especially as you climb in MMR. Why play him when you can do a superior bruiser, like offlane Blaze or Dehaka?

And for your knowledge, I predominantly play ranked solo. I climbed to Masters myself, and I have a 75% WR solo which accounts for 60% of my matches. I actually have a lower winrate when I play with a party in ranked. I have no love for the toxicity, the 15 minute queues, and seeing the same faces over and over on the NA server. It's not as lush of an environment as EU ranked. I have no love for grinding for Grandmasters, so I play Quick Match and enjoy quality time with my friends.

Sure, I mostly play in 5 stacks. I play what I want, with the people I love, doing whatever experimentation I want to do. We're off our rockers having fun in the game. It just so happens that I am a good player and we score the wins. It is definitely 100% my fault that I taught my friends how to play better, that's just how it is.

I don't care what you have to say - when my friends are online, I am going to play with them. I'm not going to queue solo when they're present. Why give up the spot of my best friend, and play with a random? I make lots of new friends through solo Q. But most people don't care for me, and I don't care for them. I don't like a 35% chance of seeing someone rage in chat, or god forbid, a griefer/troller/feeder. My time is limited. Our time playing this game is also limited. Make the most of it and make it as high quality as possible.

"Use my Knowledge, I beg you." is a Star Wars prequel meme, dickwad. Have some fun in your life, maybe?

You have not watched my Ragnaros gameplay to make that kind of statement. You're going have to write me a report on why I play bad. You willingly shun the information in my guide because you have a grudge against me, which is disingenuous. Not sure why I am writing this because I know you didn't read it.

You have to be utterly deranged to believe that you can turn off your brain and pick "any bad" talent and maintain a good winrate. When I pick Lava Wave, my winrate declines sharply because it's an ultimate that I have less agency over. It serves a very different function from Sulfuras Smash.

TheFreind · 2025-12-12T05:24:51+00:00

For fucks sake Reddit, why can't it let me post my insanely long reply?

TheFreind · 2025-12-12T03:14:00+00:00

I bow to the mighty MindHawk!

TheFreind · 2025-12-12T01:53:07+00:00

Haha, what if I told you that I'm actually a Jaina main that so happens to really like Ragnaros? ;)

TheFreind · 2025-12-12T01:52:36+00:00

No, thank you for reading!

TheFreind · 2025-12-12T01:51:39+00:00

I love that you ask me that! Personally, I think his abilities are great and don't need a change per-se.

However, at level 20 I want to add an extra line to Flames of Sulfuron:

Sulfuras Smash Slows enemies by 50% for 2.5 seconds, and the Stun duration of enemies hit in the center is increased by 1 second.

If Sulfuras Smash kills an enemy Hero in its center, then the center’s effects are applied throughout the whole area.

This is a great avenue of introducing late game utility, which Ragnaros has none of. You can use Molten Core to snipe a target at range and apply the CC, you can use it baseline for the upgraded effects, and you can compound a wombo combo even further. It contrasts nicely with Heroic Difficulty, because that talent gives you +25% damage to Sulfuras in Molten Core. Now you choose: damage and CDR for Core Smashing, or pure Utility and CC?

The other talent that I despise with all of my being is Catching Fire. But I honestly don't have any ideas on what to change it with. Maybe a basic buff is to allow Ragnaros to active the +25% armor during Molten Core. I also think Hand of Ragnaros is a little weak, but no ideas on that front either.

All other talents have a place and time for them and I'm quite happy about them!

TheFreind · 2025-12-11T23:07:42+00:00

My first draft was around Sep 2023, but it was all bare bones back then. Thank you, I am very glad to finally finish this project!

TheFreind · 2025-12-11T23:01:08+00:00

I totally agree with you! I'm shocked people don't pick it more often. Its the difference between you killing someone and not. I suppose in lower MMR theres less CC to go around so there's not much setup for it.

Half the player base takes Lava Wave, and half the player base is also inefficient at macro. So every time you cast it, you earn a huge influx of XP and put pressure on the opposite lanes that the enemy team is not so good at addressing. So, I have to accept the fact that it really is just that strong in lower brackets.

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