Thanks to some amazing coaching from NotParadox, I managed to learn some things I am going to practice for my future in Heroes of the Storm
Add Blaze to the list of practice heroes
Blaze has been one of my favorite new releases. While playing Blaze I feel like I can accomplish pretty much everything that I need to accomplish in silver:
- I can wave clear
- I have hard CC (although situational) and a bunch of soft CC
- I have very good damage
- I can solo lane
Those qualities give me a hero that is extremely solid in most compositions, and also allow me to fill in for many things that a team might need to function properly.
Feedback for the team
I just had this idea that if I can let my team know what they are doing wrong, perhaps I can see it from the enemies too. My idea is to remember anything that stands out from any given match like KT overextending, tanks going for kills instead of protecting the team, etc.
The way to accomplish this is to ask the team to stay when a match ends, just so that I can give some comments on their performance. This is all constructive criticism, not intended to call out anyone. My theory is that if I keep doing this, I can be more aware of my team and their strengths and weaknesses. I might also see the weaknesses of the enemy and capitalize on it. I might even get some useful feedback from my own teammates!
Use a keyboard
In case you weren’t aware, I usually play HotS with a Tartarus one handed keyboard. The reason for that is that I play on a gaming laptop, and the keyboard heats quite a bit when playing. The Tartarus stays cool all the time, which took away one distraction from me. I would say a big reason was that I wanted to be a novelty guy, but that was from 4 years ago when I bought the keyboard.
I got a new gaming keyboard, but I don’t intend to use it for the novelty. My main objective is to have a fully fledged keyboard at hand, so that I can communicate in written chat more. I would prefer to use voice comms, but at silver league I’d say that people have roughly a 40% chance of joining voice comms.
Every match is a learning experience
One of the most stressful things about ranking up is thinking that you are getting nowhere. Spending a whole day playing only to remain in the certain rank is devastating if you think your only goal is to increase your ranks. It is not. The most important thing is realizing that every game is making you a better player. If you view your laddering experience only in terms of getting to your goal, then you will encounter frustration and desperation when you realize you aren’t going as far as you should. Find your own pace and make the most out of every game. Maybe you didn’t climb the ranks today, but if you became a better player, you might just find out that tomorrow you will easily climb 3 ranks.
