Heroes of the Storm free hero rotation and sales for November 17

It’s that time of the week again. Heroes of the Storm discounts many heroes and skins as well as rolling out 7 new heroes you can play for free during the week. Joining the ongoing Nexus brawl this week is Cho’gall, the (in)famous two-headed Ogre who will be played by two players — one for each head. If you attended BlizzCon in person or bought a virtual ticket, you’ll automatically get Cho’gall.

Even if you don’t have a Cho’Gall of your own, you can play as one of the heads if someone in your party has him — and if you win two matches with Cho’gall, you’ll unlock him for yourself. Otherwise, he’ll unlock for purchase for everyone after January 1st. However, the other new BlizzCon heroes — Greymane and Lunara — still don’t have a release date, but if Heroes follows its usual schedule after Cho’gall, we’ll see the next one in three to four weeks.

Until then, let’s talk Cho’gall and see what’s in store with the free hero rotation for the next seven days.

If you’re not caught up on the latest Cho’gall news, his cinematic trailer and ability preview video have been released:

Now, on to the rotation, starting off with our now-traditional selection of poetry. This week, our resident poet has competition, as Dan has offered up a limerick about this week’s rotation:

There once was a hero named Kael’thas,

Who used to end games with a hair toss,

But he got hit with the nerf bat,

And is a bit of a sad cat,

Thank the god he still has his nail gloss.

But Mitch is still on point:

Careful with Butcher, whose charge is deadly,

Help control heroes with strong ETC,

Or maybe healer Rehgar is more your style.

Going DPS? Kael’thas will kill with a smirk or a smile.

Ask Johanna to tank,

Li Li to heal,

Lane push with Zagara, and go for the steal.

So who wins in this battle of the poets? I think it’s too close to call.

Now on to this week’s free heroes:

• Li Li
• ETC
• Butcher — check out our guide to the Butcher
• Zagara
• Johanna — check out our guide to Johanna
• Rehgar (Available after you reach player level 12)
• Kael’thas (Available after you reach player level 15) — check out our guide to Kael’thas

If you need a starting point, check out our Assassin guide, Specialist guide, Support guide, and Warrior guide for quick rundowns on each hero.

If you’re in the market for new heroes or skins, here’s what’s on sale this week:

• Kharazim — 4.99 USD | 4.99 EUR | 3.69 GBP — check out our guide to Kharazim
• Jade Dragon Kharazim Skin — 3.74 USD | 3.69 EUR | 2.70 GBP
• Ranger-General Sylvanas Skin —  3.74 USD | 3.69 EUR | 2.70 GBP

And now, our team’s thoughts on this week’s free hero lineup:

Anna: Rotation, schmotation. This week is going to be all about Cho’gall.

Liz: Everyone learning Cho’gall does seem likely to throw the game into chaos. Chaos!

Matt: What is this, support week? Li Li is a strong support champion to pick up. If you’re learning how to support for the first time, I’d suggest Rehgar instead for an easier learning curve as you develop your skills. Kharazim can be built into an offensive role or a support role offering greater flexibility.

Anna: I have been playing Li Li quite a bit, since they revealed that she has one of the highest win rates in the State of the Game panel at BlizzCon. Her smart heals are easy to use, and she provides good DPS support with her Dragon.

Matt: Butcher is incredibly fun if you can time your abilities and attacks just right. Be careful, and don’t over extend especially without your team to back you up. Johanna is a great entry level tank hero for those just getting started as well.

Anna: Kael’thas is fantastic, but fragile. Recent nerfs made it so that he doesn’t personally end matches when he hits the level 16 talent tier, but he still does fantastic DPS. Also every time I play him since Blizzcon I imagine myself as Quel’fabulous‘ Muppet Kael’thas cosplay, which doesn’t make a huge gameplay impact, but definitely improves my outlook.

Liz: Anyone who doesn’t adore muppet Kael’thas has no heart.

Anna: /looks pointedly at Matticus

Liz: /looks pointedly at Matticus

Matt: Actually, it’s the other way around: anyone who has no heart doesn’t adore muppets.

This week’s freebies and sales should go live on Tuesday afternoon at 2:30 PST / 5:30 EST — until then, we’ll see you in the Nexus!