Sometimes, trying to rise through the ranks as a solitary player can be a rough climb. It might feel like no matter what you do, your teammates won’t listen or things just don’t work out as planned. Some players go as far as to say they are stuck in “MMR hell” and simply can't advance as they struggle, trying to find a way to improve. Well, look no further. Here are some tips on how you can increase your chances of winning in Hero League and improve yourself as a player in the process.

This article will focus on how you can act as a part of a team.

For the Greater Good

The first step to becoming a good teammate is to throw away your ego and understand that you are just one of a five-man team. Chances are you won't be pulling off miracle plays, saving the team and crushing your foes singlehandedly. This is true for other mobas as well, but is even more true in Heroes of the Storm. Heroes is purely a team-based game. There are no traditional Carries in this game, no amount of farming will make you win a 1v3 and, with experience being shared among all members of the team, the game from start to finish requires a collective effort.

As such, it is important that you keep in mind the current situation for your team and how any decisions you make will affect them. This can mean having to sacrifice yourself for the greater good depending on the situation. Do you really want to play Li-Ming but your team needs a healer? Pick something else! Is your team on the run after a bad fight and you are in the front as a Tank? Consider peeling them for and delaying the opposing team by sacrificing yourself if it means saving the rest of the team.


Even if you want to direct the team and play the game your way, it is important to take into account the thoughts and actions of your teammates. It's fine to be direct and take charge, but being bossy can lead to frustration and low morale which is less than ideal. The line between the two is rather thin so take note of when your team begins to feel frustrated and work with what you see.

Stick with the Team

As the game goes on and you find yourself hitting level 10 and beyond, soaking becomes less efficient and more focus is placed on teamfights. With this in mind, it is important to stick with your team unless your team has planned otherwise.

No matter how bad of a decision you think the team is making, do not abandon them; always keep together as a team. Do not try to fly solo. Should there be a time in the game where your decision-making differs from that of the rest of the team, try to communicate clearly what you are thinking and why it is a good idea. Often no more than a ping is necessary for people to follow your lead. Should this not be the case, do not abandon your team to do what you believe is the right play alone. The only thing this accomplishes is turning team fights into 4v5s, creating a dire situation for the rest of your team. In a sense, you have to follow the famous words of N0tail from Dota 2:



Sometimes it can be tempting to go on your own and try to split push or take camps, especially if you are playing a Specialist Hero. But ultimately, Heroes of the Storm is not only a Hero Brawler in name, but also in terms of how it needs to be played. Stick with your team unless the team states otherwise. Due to the strength and frequency of map objectives, the game forces you into fights on a regular basis. In addition there is no hard carry in Heroes like there are in traditional mobas, making it almost impossible to come out of a fight ahead in a 4v5 situation. To top it off there is no buyback mechanic in the game, meaning that any fight in the later stages is lethal. So make sure to have your team covered or the game can quickly go in your opponent's favor.

Communicate with the Team

The most fundamental skill any player needs to learn in team games is the ability to communicate their intentions with their fellow players. To a certain extent, it is not as large a large part of the game in Hero League due to the fact that you are typically matched with different players each game, and the channels of communication are limited to text and pings. Nevertheless, good communication can win you many games you would otherwise lose. Starting out in the draft, you want to make clear to your team what roles you are comfortable playing as well as what you prefer to play. Try to make sure everyone is on the same page. Depending on your level of play you can also suggest picks for other players based on their preferred roles, the map you are playing on and the opposing team’s picks. Are you playing on Blackheart’s Bay and want to concretely win in the bottom lane? Ask your Assassin player if he is comfortable playing an Assassin like Thrall, or if any players are comfortable playing a Specialist like Zagara. Do you want to play Tank, but are not one of the earlier picks? Make sure to state your desire early so that the other players in the team are given a chance to adjust their picks.

In-game, it can be hard to type out detailed responses with all the action going on. For simple commands, using pings are ideal. So what are these “simple” commands? There are too many to list here, but here are some example situations:
-You only know where two or three of the enemy Heroes are on the map and somebody on your team is overextended in their lane. This is the time you want to use your retreat and danger pings to make your teammate aware that a gank might be coming and they should be pulling back.
-You are ganking together with a teammate or two and you move towards an enemy duo lane. Here you want to ping the target you are trying to take down so everyone is on the same page. If you split the damage on several targets when ganking, chances are you won't get any takedowns at all.
-When it comes to dealing with map objectives, paying attention to enemy positioning is crucial. Ping can be used to signal a retreat or a fight over the objective if you suspect something is about to happen.

Due to its versatility, pinging can be used exclusively if you are creative with it. This helps if somebody is not comfortable typing while playing or you want to minimize the time it takes for communication with the team at a given moment.

For more complex tasks such as how to split the lanes against a Dragon Knight, you are going to have to type out the desired response. To be able to do this you often want to use abbreviations and try to shorten your sentences. In the case of the Dragon Knight you might want to type something like this: “3 w/DK, rest soak”instead of this: “Get three people on the enemy’s Dragon Knight to limit their push potential. I’ll soak bot, someone do the same for top.” By shortening the sentence while keeping the essence of what you want to convey,you can get your team to do strategic maneuvers while minimizing the impact typing can have on your gameplay.

As a final note when it comes to communicating with your team. Always use neutral or positive language. Nobody likes being trash talked and the instinctive response to something negative is to go the defensive making it hard to get your suggestions through. On the other hand, most people talk kindly and want to prove themselves to those they value highly. By creating a positive atmosphere and choosing your words carefully, the chances of them listening to you increases exponentially.

Closing words

Since well before the concept of Esports was even a thing, the ability to work well with others has been understood as one of the key aspects of team-based games and sport. As such, learning how to communicate quickly and effectively and understanding why this will make you a stronger player is crucial. Hopefully this guide served as a beacon; allowing you to improve your Heroes of the Storm cooperative skills, allowing you to climb even higher in the never ending grind that is called Hero League, and allowing you to become a player others want to see on their team.

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