Hey hey, JoyK here. I’m back with a tierlist focusedon tanks and bruisers. This tierlist is based on what I see picked in the everyday master/grandmaster ranked play and the pick priority that we see coming out on tanks and solo laners within tournaments such as HeroesHype, DivisionS and Mastersclash.

Tier S: Tanks and bruisers that are good regardless of map choice and team composition.

ETC: ETC is a very strong all-round tank. He is good at peeling with his Face Melt and can set up kills with Powerslide. If he has solid follow-up to further lock a target down, Mosh Pit remains a very threatening heroic ability that has to be countered by the enemy draft. ETC also has potential as a global solo laner if you pick Stage Dive. He is also impossible to gank due to his sustainability, escapes, and of course Face Melt is the best 'NO' button in the game.

Garrosh: The warchief demands respect! Garrosh is great at punishing players that are out of position. Players that don't respect a Garrosh on the enemy team will definitely feel that when they walk up to him and get thrown into the enemy team. He can also be drafted to focus the enemy's frontline because of his amazing isolation potential.

Johanna: A great tank for peeling for the backline. Johanna is a beefy meat shield that can solo frontline and punish heroes with her Blessed Shield. Draft her against CC heavy teams because of her trait that makes her unstoppable.

Tyrael: Dive heavy tank that empowers his auto attack assassins. His movement speed at 7 and slow at 4 help his team engage on the enemy super quickly. Combine that with Sanctification and his team can dive pretty safely and not have to worry about a possible counter-engage. He is good against Garrosh, because he is very mobile himself and can trick the enemy by teleporting away with his sword. He also provides a lot for his team in the form of shields and movement speed.

Chen: The panda is OP! Ever since Chen got his rework he has been first pick and first ban material for the solo lane. Winning the matchups with great damage numbers Chen also has great contribution to your teamfights and can hold his own on brawling points.

Leoric: Leoric is a good choice into a frontline heavy composition. He can double soak lanes very fast with Kneel Peasants! and has an amazing late game. Entomb remains to be one of the most oppressive late game heroics in the game.

Tier A: Tanks and bruisers that are good in the current meta and have a high pick rate, but are more dependant on the map choice and team composition.

Blaze: Blaze has amazing CC with his slow and stun that are fairly easy to hit. With a good E, Blaze can set up perfectly for his team. Bunker is a budget Sanctification (Tyrael’s heroic) that can help his team cleanse and sustain through most burst damage like RIPtire or damage over time effects from heroes like Gul'dan. It also grants everyone that leaves the bunker a significant amount of armor. Blaze is seen to be more in a maintank role lately, but is also strong in the solo lane.

Diablo: Diablo is a tank that wants to engage. The more souls Diablo gathers, the tankier he gets. He can sustain quite well by himself but lacks a bit of a disengage unless granted something to charge out on. Apocalypse and Lightning Breath are both amazing heroics for engage or to control fights with.

Anub'arak: A dive heavy tank that can punish out of position heroes. Cocoon can turn the fight in the allied team's favor very quickly and can also be used to isolate a player. His double stuns sets up an easy kill for the rest of the team. The beetle had a high pick rate for a while because he faired exceptionally well into Garrosh and Diablo when they were very dominant in the meta. But now that Johanna and ETC have taken those spots, Anub’arak is back to being a quickly punished and unforgiving tank to play.

Imperius: This angry angel has self-sustain for days but lacks the waveclear to actually push a lane and apply pressure on the map. Like Chen, he can contribute well in teamfights with damage and CC and can take good point brawls.

Rexxar: Rexxar and Misha are the neverending story of ‘you will never capture this point.’ Draft Rexxar on brawl point maps and he will get great value for his team. I’ve put him on tier 2 because he isn’t as oppressive as Chen, but he is definitely an amazing solo laner who provides CC, damage, and waveclear. Rexxar can be ganked if Misha isn’t in position to help him, so try to surround him to make him into your prey.

Malthael: Malthael is a very oppressive hero into a lot of frontline. He will shred through any tank he finds which puts him high on this tierlist. He can also rotate around the map very quickly if he picks up 'On a Pale Horse' at level 1.

Thrall: The most flexible of them all. Thrall can be drafted as a strong solo laner with a fast rotation or in the 4-man because of his great teamfight potential and damage. With good pushing power and self-sustain, Thrall wins most of his match-ups or at least trades very well with the solo laners that are named in tier 1.

Tier B: Tanks and bruisers that are good if you pair them with other heroes or against certain heroes.

Arthas: The Lich King controls the fight pretty well with his slows and roots. He can sustain quite a lot on his own when picking Army of the Dead, which gives him the opportunity to create space for his team alone. He is your anti-dive tank with his kit to control divey melee heroes. However, Arthas lacks the potential to engage and disengage, which puts him in tier 3.

Stitches: Great for solo pick offs with his Hook! Land a hook, kill the target, and then engage with Putrid Bile to slow down most of the enemy team. Stitches is very dependant on the team composition around him in order to make him work, as he needs follow up CC for his hook and some form of burst damage. Otherwise, the kill will be hard to get once the hook lands. Because his hook is so important, he can be hard to play on all maps, but with the right set-up he does have amazing comeback potential when your team is behind.

Zarya: Zarya brings damage to the table and can be good into burst damage or to help Garrosh especially to shield him from taking too much damage while he has to run in to engage. If you pick up Speed Barrier for him, Garrosh can run into the other team to throw an enemy at you to kill.

Dehaka: With his global Brushstalk, Dehaka can get a lot of value where global pressure comes in handy. On maps like Cursed Hollow and Towers of Doom, Dehaka is still a powerful pick, but on more brawl-oriented maps, he falls out of favor. In terms of 1v1, he can sustain very well and push hard, but because he is so map dependent, he is on tier 3.

Sonya: Sonya is in an all-right place right now. Winning most of her matchups and having all-right waveclear, she's a good solo laner to have into your arsenal and can still cause the ocasional mayhem in the backline of your enemy.

Yrel: Yrel has the potential to be the fastest duo soaker in the game, given you pick up movement speed at level 4 alongside Divine Steed at level 7. She has a lot of defensive peel and survivability but loses several match-ups and doesn't possess the same threat as many other solo laners.

Tier C: Tanks and bruisers that are very situational.

Muradin: Muradin can engage on his own and lock a target down with his stun. However, Muradin is only drafted on certain maps, which puts him on this tier. He is good at disrupting the backline alone because of his Avatar heroic and has good escape with Dwarf Toss. A niche tank that has that 'playmaker' potential.

Mal'ganis: His sleep ability can be used for both engage and disengage. Sleep is amazing for setting up kills for your team with skillshots that would otherwise be hard to hit. He can be very disruptive in the backline and can get out with his Dark Swarm heroic. Draft him into melee heroes. He gets a lot of value there with the self-sustain that he gets from his Fel Claws.

Ragnaros: Ragnaros is used on specific maps to nullify a push or an objective with his trait or heroic ability. You often still see him on Braxis Holdout.

Xul: Previously a specialist and now categorised a bruiser. Xul is a sturdy lane pusher that in a small period of time even took the maintank role in some compositions.

Tier D: Tanks and bruisers that are very hard to get value from in the current meta.

Varian: In only very specific situations this guy can come in handy. He has good one man lockdown for a incredible one man burst comp, but often that is easily countered in draft.

Artanis: A very niche hero that doesn't see much play anymore. He doesn't have the best pushing power and now loses most matchups which simply put him at the botom of this list. So even if you're a 'swap god', you're going to have a hard time pulling him off in the current meta.

D.VA: D.VA remains hard to kill and is highly disruptive, but still doesn't bring much more to the table then just 'zoning potential'. That puts her very low on my list even though she's a very fun hero to play, even more fun when you pull of a nice self-destruct.

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