Warning - text barf - TLDR is at the bottom::: Even if she isn’t OP and the meta will eventually catch up - she still isn’t fun to play against.
She does burst damage that is difficult to avoid(thus removes the evasion fun), penetrates minions, walls, and other heroes. She has a really fast “pull” - seems harder to dodge than Sonya - and can use it extremely effectively as a quick escape anywhere. Her burst combo refreshes quickly, and because she has solid vamp - she endures as well. Whether she sucks or not - she’s just annoying.
Add the political correctness affirmative action “strong ethnic prideful female” basically being able to take down anyone anywhere - that has zero lore in the blizzard universe whatsoever - doesn’t add anything. The game has been demeaned. Like I’m playing a child’s safari game - very G rated stuff.
You combine this with the recent movement speed buff (which I welcomed) - things are getting increasingly shallow.
Maybe its just the game itself needs to upgrade - a “hots sequel” - where there is some revolution in the fundamental mechanics.
To be clear, the MOBA genre has been pretty much rigid like this since 2003 and the very first capture the flag maps on Warcraft 3 season 1 (the very beginning of the engine!!!).
I remember when I first played this game in late 2014 - all the characters had a distinct, classic role - like you were playing chess. Each one was extremely unique from all the other characters. The way they meshed together was very asymmetrical and produced creative gameplay. Perhaps they focused on adding too many characters, not giving them enough distinction, not fundamentally upgrading the gameplay.
I can say that two lane maps were a very bad direction to take for the MOBA - maybe 1 two lane map would’ve been okay - but not so many. It feels like ARAM - and HOTS ARAM isn’t fun IMO - especially when you don’t know whether you’re going to get a two lane map or not.
Why not revolutionize the MOBA genre with new maps that keep the game fresh - instead of trying to add and dilute characters. Maybe 4 and a half lane maps- you can weaken minion waves, change their speed or rate, change the tower dynamics - make objectives larger scale and more dynamic. BRAWLS do not satisfy this as they are meant for very quick games as opposed to long games. They don’t seem polished or consistent.
In season 1 of HOTS - you could pick a healer and play them like a damage character - you could pick a tank and play them like a spec - there were hidden talent synergies. By calcifying roles - now they’ve forced loose QM comp match ups - when before - it was far more randomized and diverse - and comp imbalances would just be fixed with people selecting different talents to change their role. Now you enter a match - they feel stale - you feel extremely dependent on the team - you’re completely stuck in a single role and single gameplay avenue.
TLDR::::: Qhira represents broader unfun game mechanics, demeaning of game theme and maturity, a dilution of distinct characters, a calcification of character roles, problematic random two lane and three lane maps, lack of innovation in MOBA genre for 16 years despite the capacity to do that with new maps and modes(that brawl doesn’t satisfy).