He can be bursty when he needs to be
It’s about time the Blademaster hit Heroes of the Storm.
As one of the first heroes that many Warcraft III players experienced (the Orcs kicked off the campaign), he’s a natural fit. That goes for his aesthetic, combat style, and place in the meta.
Samuro is relentless. If he attacks an enemy, he passively gains extra movement speed, which can be chained with Wind Walk, an ability that makes him invisible temporarily and grants more speed, that in turn chains well with his whirlwind heroic, that works while moving. If you really want to catch someone off guard though you can trigger Mirror Image (which creates two more weaker versions of himself to soak and deal damage), and Critical Strike to burst even the sturdiest tanks down. He’s one of the most effective duelists in the game if you use your abilities correctly.
He’s squishy, but he can adapt. Wind Walk is an obvious choice for an escape (and with its bonus movement speed, a good opportunity to juke abilities like Kael’thas’ Flamestrike), but he also has several different builds that enhance his defensive capabilities off of Mirror Image, like the optional spell block at level four. Then there’s Illusion Master, a heroic that gives you a Lost Vikings-esque control over his images, and even lets you swap places with them. It’s one of the more technical heroics added to the game since its launch, and if you’re quick, you can issue orders to block off every possible escape and teleport to any of them to finish someone off.
Because of his easy escape and high damage output, he’s a great choice for newcomers, but be wary of counters. If someone can aim skillshots correctly and predict his Wind Walk path, you’ll die very frequently. The same goes for players who are a bit too eager and jump into a fight outnumbered, relying too much on his only escape. It’s always fun to see a new hero jump into the fray and watch where they end up on the winrate charts, but Blizzard has been on a roll lately when it comes to crafting heroes that just feel right.
Samuro is slated to enter the live version on October 17, along with the new Brawl game mode. Until then, both are playable in the PTR.
