EPT- My main picks didn't seem to deal with Sgt Hammer and Morales comps well, which I was running into often.
- My main picks were simply giving me bad results
- I was playing even when tired, which resulted in me simply making bad decisions.
As a result, I decided to rearrange my roster. It actually started with a Butcher free week--- I played him for a week straight on my smurf account and fell in love. So, I started drafting him on occasion late in HL drafts and got surprisingly good results. Over 7 games I ended up with a 57% winrate. However, I know the weaknesses of the butcher well--- if the enemy team is stun heavy or the map is very large teamfight centric, it's hard to get things done with him. So, I decided to look into practicing melee heroes in general. After all, when I drafted Jaina/KT exclusively I'd end up with triple ranged assassin comps which got stomped over. If I started drafting melee assassins and bruisers, that would force my HL comps into double melee, which should be able to dive hammer and medic comps much better.
I ended up with these as my mains:
Sonya (go-to bruiser)
The Butcher (late-draft pick if I think I can get away with him)
Thrall (I pick this if Sonya was drafted by other team)
KT (go-to ranged assassin)
Raynor (backup ranged assassin)
Diablo (early draft warrior)
E.T.C. (late draft warrior, if enemy team didn't get too much range)
Kharazim (to work in tandem with heavy melee teams, late draft pick)
Tyrande (firstpick if I'm given it)
Gone from the lineup are zagara, abathur, lili, malf, uther, jaina, and johanna. Of these characters, only Johanna had been giving me good results--- however, I decided I wanted to be practiced with warriors which can more easily secure ganks in the early game. I realize that Uther is particularly good with the types of comps I want to obtain in HL, but the results just aren't there for me. Maybe in the future I'll practice more with him.
Anyway, this lineup has led to see significant improvement in the last two weeks, jumping back up to rank 14. Yesterday I also added Sylvanas to the mix whenever I have a jaina or KT on my team--- cold embrace at 16 works excellently in tandem with those heroes, and so far I've won 3 out of 4 games I've drafted her in.
Obviously this is a bit of a departure from my previous strategy, which had been to draft specific heroes on particular maps. A big reason for that change is I've been playing QM games with Team Liquid staff writers, and they have been teaching me a lot about priorities in games. For instance, I now have a much more gank-focused playstyle than I used to. I think that change is a big reason for the change in the lineup. These heroes make early ganks much easier to secure. Especially Tyrande and Kharazim as my support picks--- I think they might be the most offensive support picks I could muster.
Of all the heroes, I think Sonya is my favorite to play and Tyrande is my least favorite. However, my playing partners in HL have recently taken to Diablo, and the Tyrande/Diablo combo is very hard to pass up: so Tyrande is my most drafted hero of the whole lot. (I draft her 22% of the time, according to hotslogs.)
All that aside, I'm ready for a changeup to the meta. Right now in HL I feel like my drafting decisions are almost prerecorded. A balance patch to take down the importance of stuns might help shake things up a bit.
