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Walk the Line

  HotS is hard. Ranked games are hard even though most are trying to move up. The greatest part about MOBAs is their complexity but this also makes them challenging. HotS is a combination of mastering hero mechanics (abilities, skill shots, muscle memory) and knowledge of how your hero works with your team and against the opponents (micro). On top of all this we can’t forget playing for camps, objectives, and staying up on XP, usually called “macro.” It goes without saying these aren’t isolated. They’re fundamentally connected and work off one another. Because they’re reciprocal the “little things” in each realm add up to big wins, getting stomped, and those games right on the edge. From watching and playing HotS there’re a few lines I see players walk, for better or worse. Patience and Hesitation: I see this gray area mainly in micro play. I’ve been playing a lot of Fenix lately and I get super excited when I see Diablo, Mei, or the cow drafted for my team. The “Dream” is all I...
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reported

Said to give Nazeebo’s concoction its green tint is a poisonous gas that causes blurred vision, shortness of breath, burning pain, and blisters. Overexposure leads to…well we’ve all spent a bit too long trapped in a zombie wall with his toads, haven’t we now? This gaseous element is chlorine. Though dangerous by itself it combines with the metal sodium to make a harmless substance you’d find in an Ana healing dart: Salt.   Getting salty is part of games and really any competitive situation. HOTS has 3 different kinds of salt. The first happens when you’re just having an off day. Okay okay, maybe this never happens to YOUUUUU, but some of us don’t nail every KTZ chain. It’s frustrating because there are plenty of times we DO. I grumble to myself when this happens. Besides getting salty of our own accord the other team can get under our skin. Okay okay, maybe this never happens to YOUUUU, but some of us get outplayed on occasion. Their perfectly timed stasis or interrupt, getting o...
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When Stackers Attack

  You’re Gold 3. On the loading screen you see a Gold 4, two Gold 3s, a Silver 1, and a Platinum 3 on the opposing team. What thoughts go through your head? You can reasonably assume the S1 and P3 are in a stack, maybe with one of the golds. But why?   It could be they’re a group of friends wanting to play together despite being different ranks. This is the best-case scenario. Placing them at a rank that is their average means the skills and knowledge of the higher player will make up for where the silver player is lacking. But what if the plat player brings something to the game that makes the team stronger than just the sum of their skills. Maybe comms, knowledge of the macro, drafts and builds? It’s possible that having a plat in a gold game is still unfair despite being grouped with someone who is silver. At the same time the silver player could struggle too much to keep up at the G3 level and make it an uneven game in the opposite direction.   Worst-case scenario...
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