#415 - Into the Nexus: “Is Mal’Ganis Good?”
• Garrett • Kyle • NotParadox or Guest
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https://dts.podtrac.com/redirect.mp3/
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Intro: Welcome to Into the Nexus! The Heroes of the Storm podcast!
Garrett and Kyle are cursed! Solo games are great, but their duos suffer. After a brief recovery, CCL announcements abound! Season 4 is on the way along with some changes to the player draft and format. And why aren't players taking camps?! Stay tuned.
Hey we got mentioned on Destructoid!
Piece is titled: Heroes of the Storm is still alive and well
Thanks for the spotlight Chris Carter!
https://www.destructoid.com/heroes-of-the-storm-2022-resources-updated/
Patreon Mention: Patreon.com/ITN
Thanks to our Patreon producers Shawn B & Mike R!
Patron Thanks Doc for keeping track
CCL Season 4 Information
Hello, CCL Fans and Friends!
We are incredibly excited to share the plans we've put together for HeroesCCL Season 4.
There's a lot of information to share, so we'll do a TL;DR breakdown up front with the details below for further clarification, including some notes from Commissioner Jules Scott.
If this is the first time you've heard about HeroesCCL, you can refer to the links below to read about the past formats and changes of CCL.
Season 1’s Format: https://heroeshearth.com/b/julesrpg/read/ccl-season-1-survival-guide-everything-you-need-to-know-part-2/
Season 2’s Format:
https://heroeshearth.com/b/ccl/read/heroes-ccl-season-2-format-and-details/
Season 3’s Format:
https://heroeshearth.com/b/ccl/read/heroes-ccl-season-3-format-and-details/
Without further ado, welcome to the CCL Season 4 Patch Notes!
Overview
HeroesCCL Season 4 is a 13-week long Heroes of the Storm league composed of Masters-plus players from any region.
HeroesCCL is owned and operated by Wisdom Gaming Group d/b/a Heroes Hearth and not affiliated with or administrated by Blizzard Entertainment, Inc. in any way.
The eight (8) Orgs from Season 3 will continue to be a part of CCL and those Orgs are selected by CCL Admin. Orgs are responsible for drafting their team, managing their rosters and paying Players their monthly stipend and prize money.
Summary of Changes in Season 4
The Details
Teams
Eight (8) Organizations (Orgs) were selected by HeroesCCL for the league.
Organizations in CCL Season 4:
Roster Changes
Season 4 will not have a player draft. The teams may choose to release players from their current roster and will fill the open spots through working directly with the available players in the Free Agent Pool.
There will be no mandatory roster releases in Season 4. Teams will be permitted to release players or make 1-for-1 trades between Organizations from the end of Season 3 (January 22, 2022) to the roster release deadline of March 24, 2022.
Season 4 will continue with a closed Free Agent pool as in previous seasons. Free Agent Player applications open February 22, 2022 and close March 21, 2022. Applications will not re-open again during the season. You can find the Free Agent Application form here: https://wsdm.gg/Free-Agent-Application-CCLS4
After the roster release deadline, Orgs will fill their open roster spots with Players who have signed up to join the closed Free Agent pool. The Orgs will be required to lock their rosters by April 20, 2022.
All Players who are released from their rosters must sign up* for Free Agency again for Season 4 to be eligible to be selected for a roster.
*Any Player who is released from a roster after the Free Agent Pool closes will be given the option of entering the Free Agent pool to be signed by another Organization. This is the only exception for entry into the Free Agent pool after the deadline passes.
Commissioner's Note: After three seasons of CCL, we have learned a great deal about how the teams approach roster creation and what our Players value most. We feel that Season 4 is a great time to experiment with removing the Player Draft from our format and see how the teams perform in a scenario where they can build the rosters they most want to create.
However, this doesn't mean that the draft format will be gone forever. We will be closely watching the process and the teams’ performance throughout the season to assess how this change affects the competition and skill level of the league as a whole. It is very possible that the draft may return in any future season formats, and we want to prepare you for that upfront.
Free Agency
On February 22, 2022, HeroesCCL will open Player applications to the Season 4 Free Agent Pool. You can access the Free Agent Application here: https://wsdm.gg/Free-Agent-Application-CCLS4
Player must achieve a Master Rank or higher at some point in Storm League 2022 Season 1 or 2021
Roster Finalization
The Orgs will be required to submit any roster releases on or before March 24, 2022 to allow any released Players the option to return to Free Agency. Orgs may negotiate 1-for-1 trades with other Organizations from February 22 to April 20, 2022. All trades must be approved by the HeroesCCL Commissioner before they are final.
The Orgs may speak with and try out any verified Free Agent. Once an Org has decided to offer a player a spot on their roster, they must provide a written offer to the Player and receive a written acceptance from the Player to submit to the HeroesCCL Commissioner for approval on or before April 20, 2022.
All rosters will be finalized after approval from the HeroesCCL Commissioner. The finalized Season 4 rosters for all teams will be unveiled during the Roster Reveal Show on April 30, 2022.
Each Org will be allowed a total of three (3) transactions in CCL Season 4 that may be used during Weeks 2 and 6 of the CCL Group Stage (May 9, 2022 - June 17, 2022).
Commissioner's Note: With the Orgs creating teams without a draft this season, now is your opportunity to reach out and let them know that you are interested in playing for them if you’re hoping for a shot in CCL. All of our Org leaders are located in the HeroesCCL Discord and on Twitter and they all want to hear from people who really want to compete for them. Bring your best and show them what you’ve got, Free Agents!
Commissioner's Note: There are some key dates you’ll want to mark your calendars for in Season 4, including some surprises! If you’re hoping to be picked up by a team as a Player, the Free Agent pool is open for one month and closes on March 21, 2022. If you’re a HeroesCCL fan, the Roster Reveal Day broadcast will give you the insider look into all the rosters, including analysis and predictions from the caster desk. And, of course, the first day of the new season is on May 7, 2022, so you don’t want to miss out on that!
Map Pool
Each season, the Players of CCL vote for their top 9 map choices to help us create that season's map pool. In Season 4, we will survey the 48 rostered Players after the rosters have been finalized.
We'll share the final map pool in a separate announcement after the survey results have been tallied.
Links
Strategy
Why Don’t Players do camps early
Text
Emails
Valkamer
Rank Decay feels too prolonged. If somebody plays GM games once a season, do we really want to see them drop potentially to D5? How would you update the system to improve low Diamond?
MarcoPolo747
I’m the conversation about Deckard this week you mentioned you thought it was strange that you aren’t rewarded late game for skill shotting potions. I’ve thought that same thing for a long time.
Maybe instead of the potions growing there could be a bonus heal if the potion lands on a hero
De La soak
How do you feel about your old boy Mal'ganis these days? His kit is still potent if a bit niche, and I remember you mentioning how his old talent of better sleeps when coming out of a bush was underappreciated.
In fact, a lot of his current non-meta talents seem pretty bad (echo of doom, for instance). How would you spruce up our tanky old batman?
Deelawn
Got another overpowered or fun topic: a yrel level 4 talent that restores mana when an enemy hero cancels one of your channels, 10 second cool down. Like anduin blessed recovery for mana. Exact numbers not sure but could be cool. Or add a small splash of armor with mana? What do you guys think
Taraz
Hey there Garrett, Kyle, possible guest (?),
Long time player on a hiatus and long time (still) listener (show's way too great to give up, y'all are awesome to listen to), listening to some of the more recent episodes, I have 3 Hot or Nots to propose tha have been inspired by discussions:
Finally, something personal that you might've guessed: Currently looking for something to bring me back into playing the game as much as I used to. Obviously I'm looking for a more personal reason rather than waiting for content or a patch. What brings you guys back into the game and keeps you hooked and playing during patchless/contentless periods of time as casual players (other than the Podcast discussion, of course). Would really like a KiyeBerries take on this as I'm a healer and long range burst mage main.
Love you guys, and I hereby promise to jump on that Patreon as soon as I get my first salary (should be coming soon as I'm about to get my first job).
Outro
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Thanks to Gorath for our intro music and briangriffithmusic.com (@briangriffith) for our outro..
Personal Stuff
Garrett
Kyle