Initiation
Who reveals first and forces the enemy to react? If the answer relies on one long cooldown, preserve a secondary form of catch.
Turn information into the next objective
Good strategy is not a list of rules. It is a repeatable sequence: read the draft, identify what the map currently allows, choose one objective, and review whether the move created lasting control.
Drafting: name the jobs before naming heroes
A readable lineup needs a way to start contact, enough damage to finish a target, wave clear to defend the map, and a hero who can safely occupy dangerous space. It also needs a clear plan for buildings and Roshan after winning a fight.
Damage access
Can your damage reach the target your initiator catches, or will terrain and defensive spells split the team?
Wave responsibility
Decide which hero can show on risky lanes and which core must stay hidden. Five heroes waiting for safe farm is not a map plan.
Objective conversion
Identify the hero, summon, aura, or timing that turns a won fight into a tower or Roshan instead of five players returning to farm.
Ranked draft checklist
- Do not counter one enemy hero by creating three bad matchups elsewhere.
- Prefer a comfort hero that performs a missing job over a theoretical counter you cannot execute.
- If you pick early, show a flexible role or a stable lane so later picks retain options.
- State lane and role intentions before the final picks; silence creates duplicate farm priorities.
Map control: push one wave before crossing the river
A pushed wave is information. It shows defenders, threatens a building, and shortens the route to the next objective. Before smoking or entering enemy territory, assign someone to create that pressure without exposing the entire team.
- Clear the nearest dangerous wave. If it stays on your side, the enemy can ignore your move and take a building.
- Place vision for the exit, not only the entrance. A successful pick still fails if the team cannot leave after enemy buybacks or rotations.
- Move through an area your lineup can fight in. Ranged vision, high ground, narrow ramps, and open space benefit different spell sets.
- Choose the conversion before contact. Say “top tower after one kill” or “Roshan if their damage core shows bottom.”
When the map feels closed
Stop trying to occupy every lane. Defend the shortest route to your next timing, send the hardest-to-catch hero to the far wave, and trade an unimportant area for information. The aim is to create one synchronized move, not to win all three lanes simultaneously.
Objective conversion: the fight is only the opening
After a kill, count what the enemy cannot contest: heroes, ultimates, teleport positions, vision, and buyback status. Then take the closest durable advantage. A tower changes future routes; Roshan changes who can stand in front; deep vision changes which waves can be farmed.
Take a tower when
Your creep wave is close, building damage is available, and the enemy cannot create a favorable wraparound.
Take Roshan when
The relevant enemy damage or scouting hero is dead or showing far away, and your team can secure the pit exits.
Place vision when
The team cannot safely finish a larger objective, but can use the temporary numbers advantage to make the next enemy movement visible.
Reset when
Health, mana, cooldowns, or lane position would turn the attempted objective into an equal or losing fight.
Teamfights: plan the second spell cycle
Before contact, name the spell that cannot hit your most important hero. The initiator should force that spell or catch its owner. Supports should stand where their first save does not expose them to the same area damage. Cores should preserve enough mobility or immunity to change targets after the first kill.
A useful voice call has three parts
- Target: the hero whose death or forced retreat changes the fight.
- Threat: the enemy cooldown that must be baited, interrupted, or avoided.
- Exit: the direction the team moves if the first attempt fails.
Ranked improvement: review decisions, not the final score
Choose one recurring decision for a five-game block. Examples: the first death, the second major item, the first smoke, or the first high-ground attempt. Reviewing one category across several games reveals a pattern; reviewing every mistake in one game usually creates noise.
- Write the information available at the moment, without using facts learned later.
- State the intended result of the decision.
- Find the first point where the plan became impossible.
- Create one replacement rule that is specific enough to test next game.
Example: replace “watch the map more” with “before showing on a side wave, locate the two enemy heroes who can start on me.” The second statement produces an observable habit.