Competitive Play Strategy - Pt.3 - Drafting

This is third and the last in the series of Competitive Play Strategy guides made by our HotS boost employees, check our Pt.1 (Micro) and Pt.2 (Macro). Learn how to pick and draft in HotS draft mode.

Drafting a good team comp is extremely important for such a team-oriented game. There are a few heavily contested picks that are either first picked/banned (shown on the next page). But with each draft you should ask the following questions:

● Who is strong on this map?

● Does my opposing team have any one-tricks?

● From their first few picks, what comp are they trying to run? First pick is contested pick; 2nd/3rd are strong picks that make the comp 4th/5th pick counter the opponent’s comp and finish your comp.

With the low number of tanks/healers in this game, competitively drafting usually involves banning/denying these so your opponent gets sub-par tanks/healers. Priority draft strategy for our HotS boost employees. Your draft should reflect the needs of your composition & the strengths/weaknesses of the opponent’s composition.

Heavily contested picks

● Zeratul - His void prison potential to set his team up, along with his ability to delete squishies and have huge map pressure makes him first ban/pick worthy.

● Jaina - Solid assassin with soft cc on every ability, even useful when dead with water elemental buffs. She has outplay potential with heavy damage, iceblock and bolt. Low cooldowns too.

● Kael’thas - Hard cc, most damage hero from level 16, good wave clear. Great on maps that last longer.

● Johanna - Her trait is super strong, she’s the best solo tank in the game and has good waveclear with ‘Knight takes pawn’ along with great cc in her kit & the potential to do good DoT.

● Abathur - Global presence and the ability to pressure/soak empty lanes whilst team fights are happening. Works well with most heroes and can force the enemy to play a different playstyle with the continuous pressure.

● Zagara - Creep vision is good for objective control & she’s a super strong 1v1 laner

● Uther - Good burst heal, has cleanse and a really solid ult. His passive is a safety blanket so he’ll still be useful even if he dies.

NOTE: This list was made during Butcher Patch.

Before the game begins.

Simply, go through P.E.L.T.S to determine how you should play the game.

Power Spikes - When are we strongest, when are they strongest?

Enemy Composition - What’s the weaknesses of the enemy team?

Laning setup - Who will go in what lane?

Talent Builds - What build will we likely be going?

Specific - What is my specific job this game? Who should I be targeting/protecting etc.? Any HotS booster should know this!

Early Game

Objectives early games are generally worth less than xp soak. IT IS FINE TO LEAVE AN OBJECTIVE IN FAVOUR OF FARM. Just make sure you on the same page as your team! The way Heroes differs from other competitive mobas is that comebacks are far more possible due to the follow reasons:

● Limited vision-control means catching people out is always a possibility

● Teams that are behind are rewarded more xp for getting kills

● Objectives/Mercenaries scale in difficulty/damage, putting more pressure on the team doing them late game (one root on a squishy and R.I.P.)

And so early game you can afford to play more conservatively on most maps if your comp is weak. It may be boring to just stand under turrets soaking, but it’ll pay off in the long run.

Good solo early game heroes include: Kerrigan; Jaina; Tychus; Arthas & Zagara; Anub; Good combo heroes early include: Muradin; Tyrande; Uther; Butcher; Kerrigan

We prefer to perform HotS boost services with both early and combo heroes, depends on how many of us are in the team.

Mid Game

Assuming you came out even in the early game, you’ve reached level 10 and now you’re ready to fight. What do you do?

Mid-Game is where objectives become hugely important and any deaths can result in a boss and huge swings in tempo for either team. The first team to get level 10 can be more aggressive (as most maps are set-up to have an objective happen around this time). Don’t panic (unless it’s the mines) and soak/push lanes. NEVER contest pre-10. You can however pressure and catch out a squishy, as the xp gain from a kill will give you 10 instantly.

You do NOT have to force a fight at level 10 that’s out of your favour. Human error dictates that at some point the enemy will mess up positioning wise, facecheck the wrong brush and get a muradin hammer to the face. The snowball potential of one catch is huge, so be patient, be alert and observe the enemy.

Late Game

The fact you’ve made it to late game shows the game has unlikely gone one-way completely. Besides a few dedicated split heroes, late game will usually involve teams roaming together as 5 whilst pressuring objectives. This is where teams can end with one single team wipe, so you want to account for every possibility. Try not to group up for aoe and be mindful of enemy bolts, cleanses and upgraded ultimates. Similar to mid game, one catch can change the flow in your favour and help you snowball.

Great late game heroes include: Kael’thas; Azmodan; Valla; Nova; Rehgar

Thank you for reading our guides!

Credits: LanaDelCray

If you haven't by now, take a peak at our most affordable HotS boosting services. For students, we also offer HotS Coaching premium pricing.

I also suggest some of our other guides such as: Cursed Hollow 101 and Top Mistakes New Players Make.

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