Never Underestimate The Power Of Murky In Heroes Of The Storm

Even if they’re a level behind, you might think that two of the best characters in Heroes of the Storm could take out the notoriously easy-to-kill frog thing Murky. Think again.

That pufferfish attack, paired with his hero-ensnaring-beating-over-the-head-with-a-large-fish ult! Amazing positioning. Or terrible positioning, depending on who you’re talking to.

My guess is that the Jaina and Sylvanas players here had a bad case of tunnel vision — likely because Murky’s health was already fairly low, and they would have only needed one more hit to finish him off. As Will O’Neil argued last week in an essay on Murky, tricking players into thinking you’re almost dead so they overextend themselves and start to act recklessly in a vain attempt to secure the kill is one of many powerful mind games you can play with your opponents as Murky.

If you ever find yourself playing against Murky in a position like this, remember two key things about the Murloc:

1. Whenever you’re attacking him, assume that he’s going to activate his bubble shield once his health drops dangerously low. Don’t just chase after him if he starts running back towards his allies (or his base) before or during the bubble spell — that’s probably what he wants you to do. The only Murky players that cast they’re bubble shield before they’re almost dead are, usually, very bad Murky players.
2. If you’re close to one of his pufferfish bombs when he first drops it, attack the thing! It takes a long time to charge up before exploding — a time window that exists to give you a counterplay option.

Rad Murky play by Bronze Joe via Reddit