Hanzo may or may not be entering the nexus in this week’s Heroes rotation

Heroes of the Storm players are eagerly awaiting the 2018 Gameplay Update, but the waiting game continues — it isn’t expected to release until next week, and hopefully, the Winter Veil event will accompany it. Unfortunately, nothing particularly thrilling is happening in Nexus this week. At the time of this post’s writing, we’re not even sure Hanzo will be releasing today.

While Hanzo’s hero spotlight was released yesterday, which usually heralds a hero’s imminent arrival in the nexus, the PTR also received a new balance patch yesterday which included damage tuning for Hanzo. Whether or not that means anything is anyone’s guess.

As for this week’s rotation, one of my favorite characters is free-to-play, but so are some of his hardest counters. Chen is a blast, assuming he can get away with drinking uninterrupted. If he can’t drink, he can’t do much of anything. Johanna, Dehaka, Auriel, Anub’arak, Tychus, and Gazlowe can all shut Chen down with stuns and interrupts. Tychus’s Minigun trait can also chew up a drinking Chen in no time.

Considering Nova’s gameplay is changing completely with the changes to Stealth in next week’s patch, Nova being on the rotation this week is an odd one. You can try her this week, sure — but try her knowing she won’t be the same character come next Tuesday.

Free Hero Rotation

• Malfurion
• Valla
• Gazlowe
• Johanna
• Thrall
• Dehaka
• Auriel
• Greymane
• Tychus
• Xul
• Anub’arak (Slot unlocked at Player Level 5)
• Chen (Slot unlocked at Player Level 10)
• Kel’thuzad (Slot unlocked at Player Level 15)
• Nova (Slot unlocked at Player Level 20)

Weekly Brawl

• Heroic-difficulty Escape From Braxis