I’ll avoid playing him in QM for fear of disaster comp scenarios.
If I get anywhere near Varian I’m dead. Not looking forward to the game specifically matching Rag against him. And it’s not like Rag can beat any of the bruisers on the list in-lane. (He’s never been a great solo laner.)
High waveclear, high sustain, pretty good damage, nice survivability. He’s a bruiser, he was always played as one.
I think he needs a minor hp buff, he’s more lane clear than bruiser until his Q build turns on w more self sustain.
He is definitely not a bruiser at all if you go meteor.
blastwave somewhat.
In both Q build and E build he doesnt actually become a bruiser until his self sustain is buffed at 13. Up until that point he’s just wave clear/solo lane and the occasional core.
All fairness, bruiser is loosely determined if the hero is durable, can keep their HP up, solo lane, provide waveclear and so on. Rag can actually beat some bruisers into the ground given the chance to fight them.
High sustain? !?!?!
Explain
Explain a lot.
If you play Ragnaros, you are THE target during teamfights.
Which ones?
Thrall, sonya (from what I’ve heard) dehaka, just to name some.
His Q + the globe quest at level 4 is a really really good sustain.
You know who is the target during teamfights, right? The hero who is out of position. Why are you playing so far up that the enemy team can just collapse on you?
How exactly would you beat Thrall? He can poke you with Q from out of range of all your abilities. He can root you for a kill, completely negating your E. And wind fury moves faster than Blast wave…
I think you MIGHT be able to beat a Lvl 1 Sonya. But with poisoned spear and nerves of steel, She wins. With ignore pain, even if you’re full health and she’s not, you will never beat a Sonya with a Rag. He’s just an annoyance to her.
I’ve played both a lot of Dehaka and a lot of Rag. And I always win 1 vs 1 if I’m Dehaka. Reguardless of which Heroic I picked.
Eehhh, debateable on the bruiser aspect. One of the definitions of bruiser is someone who is capable of filling the role of tank, but is best suited for killing. Ragnaros definitely can’t fill the role of tank.
Where did they say that?
That’s always been the case since League of Legends.
Just an FYI: This isn’t LoL
Rag’s Q is less sustain than any other solo laner can get. Catching fire is a must have for Rag because you’re so easy to kill. But a 3 second 25% reduction still doesn’t turn you into a frontliner.
The target is the best target that can be reached. You don’t need to be out of position to be in range of damage
What would you say is the position of a bruiser during a teamfight?
You use the term tank and that came from War3 Dota, I see no problem.
Q is a huge sustain both in lane and teamfights. It is also pretty good damage.
You’re not a frontliner, you’re a bruiser 
Every bruiser plays differently, some like to go in the backline, some play behind the tank, you just need to learn by playing every single one of them.
If you are stepping up to AA or Q people you are playing Rag wrong. You should poke with W and use your E to help your tank engage, then you can go in.
ImO. If you’re in the backline most of the time, then you’re not a bruiser. I honestly don’t know of any bruisers that hang in the backline, except a Pilot mode D.Va.
I almost exclusively play with shifting meteor because Rag is such a sitting duck. I don’t even know why Sulfuras Hungers is in there as a talent. It just gets people killed. Again, because he sucks as a bruiser.
I only step up to secure a tank kill once I have Giant scorcher, or when there’s no CC in sight.
I’s not a very interesting playstyle, and your contribution to teamfights is very low.
Rag plays just like Thrall. Thrall also dies really quick if he gets focused on. How do you play Thrall? You keep poking with Q until you see an opportunity to step up to W/E/R. Rag is the same playstyle. With Rag you just have a little bit more macro and stall gameplay, while with Thrall you have more teamfight control.
Q quest is what increases your Q damage to a whole other level and is what makes you get pretty good sustain in lane + teamfights. You heal based on your Q damage, so doing more damage = more heal.
HoTS definition of bruiser is “tough fighters that can also dish out damage.”
Just because Ragnaros may need tweaks to buff his capability to stay in fights longer doesn’t mean he isn’t a bruiser.
When I play Thrall, I can use my W as a get out of jail card by rooting people and getting the hell away with a 30% move speed. Also, Thrall’s Q is targeted, so the damage is guaranteed. Ragnaros’ meteor is easy to juke, You can never get full damage out of it, even if your target stands still.
Since I’m not planning to spend that much time on the front line. I don’t want to pick a talent that I’ll never get full value out of.
How does that make sense? If he really is a bruiser, then why would he need tweaks/buffs?
And how exactly do you define “tough fighter”? it’s completely suggestive.
Even then, why would that leave other heroes out, like Thrall, Kharazim, Malthael, Valeera, or Illidan? They are all tough in their own ways and would be labeled bruisers as such.