Originally this was written for an amateur team that me and a bunch of friends run together, but we thought that after we put so much effort into it - may as well share it with the community ♥

So there we go, I hope you enjoy it and find it useful. Please feel free to leave any comments and feedback, since this is a living guide that will keep getting updated :)

• Don’t die!!11 - This game has very few things that are worth dying for, especially late game. Whenever you are about to do something, stop for a second and think what are the chances of you dying as a result. The reason for this is since once 1 hero is down, it can very easily snowball to a whole team wipe.
• XP Soaking - This is one of the most overlooked points by most newcomers to HotS. Since experienced is shared by the entire team, it is crucial that everybody contributes, especially before level 10 but always between 10 and 20. Soaking is simple, you don’t even have to attack the minions - all you have to do is be close enough to them when they die to see the golden little “+xp” text. See an empty lane? Make sure to fill it, even if you can’t really lane - better to body soak the experience than just leave it there.
• Mind the middle line - The maps is split in half right in the middle by an imaginary line - your team’s half and the enemy team’s half. Always keep this line in your mind and never cross it unless you’ve made a conscious decision to do so. This applies especially to laning (staying in your side of the lane) but also jungling, rotating between the lanes etc. Keep in mind that as the game progresses and your forts go down, safe zone shrinks and a large "no man's land" grows in the middle.
  Remember kids: Don’t be ashamed to hug the towers!
• Never chase - It’s better to leave a enemy hero on the run and stay 5v4 to finish the fight rather than leave your team as 4v4 just to get the kill and/or go out of position and/or die.
• Positioning - One of the trickiest and yet most important concepts. Little mistakes in positioning can easily cost you a team fight as well as the entire game. There are 3 main positions in this game:
  Ranged damage dealer - Should always stay at the maximum distance possible from the enemy team that still allows him to deal damage to them. Preferably behind the tank.
  Melee damage dealer - Includes both assassins and bruisers. Should stay a little bit behind the tank and engage only after the tank has initiated (unless he is the initiator).
  Tank - Should always stay between his team and the enemy team and be prepared to soak skill shots coming at the backline. Should remain close to enough his allies to react to any dive attempts and receive healing, but also close enough to the enemy team for disruption. Should always be the first-in-last-out - in rotations, merc camps, team fights etc.
  Support - His position is in the middle of the team, between the tank and the ranged damage dealers. Should keep as safe as possible while keeping his entire team in healing range.
  For visual examples, I highly recommend Josheb's Monday Melee episodes. The first ones give a large emphasis on positioning and the dude is doing a great job!
• Minimap and vision - Probably the most important skill to practice (together with positioning). For practice, peak at the map once every 10 seconds (when not in team fights of course) and count the enemy heroes you see. Did you count all the heroes? Congratulations, you know where they are! Are you missing anyone? That means they could ANYWHERE - they may as well be in the bush you are standing by, getting ready to gank you, so be prepared. If you’re playing against stealthies, always assume they are right behind your back. Building an intimate relationship with the map will give you TONS of information. In fact, vision is one of the reasons Zagara and Tyrande are so popular in competitive. Vision tells you where is it safe or not safe to go, vision tells you who is out of position and can be ganked, vision tells you when can you stay to finish that fort and when should you retreat and much much more.
• Minimap and vision #2 - On the flip side, you must understand how vision works and use it for your own good. Don’t want to be seen? Stay away from enemy minions, mercs and walls. Have to pass by a watch tower and don’t want to be seen? Go around the circle of vision it provides. When rotating through the map, use the jungle as much as possible if you don’t want the enemy to know your movements. If you have an Abathur or TLV on your team, destroying all the walls can really help them. Stay with your team - When the soaking race to level 10 is finished, heroes usually start teaming up and team fights begin happening. From this moment on, roaming the map alone is not as obvious as it used to be and should be approached with caution.
• Know your role - When you understand you role in the game, it is much easier to find the right positioning and making sure you playing effeciently. Playing a tank? Your job is to peel and soak damage for your teammates, not chase down kills. Playing a support? You job during team fights is to keep your teammates alive, not deal damage. This also applies to more specific roles - Some heroes are good at taking camps (Gazlowe, Illidan, Sonya) and can do it quickly and effeciently while others really suck at it (Xul, Uther, ETC). There are many sub-roles besides the general tank\support\dps roles and knowing what your hero is good\bad and applying it to your game is crucial to your success. Your role may also change as the game progresses - some heroes that are really bad junglers can become better in the late game, squishy heroes become tankier and thus can be longer in the frontline etc.
• Cooperation and coordination - While a lot of things can be done alone, doing stuff together is much more efficient - 2 heroes need half the time to pick a merc camp, 5 heroes do it even faster. If you want to do anything at all that takes more than a few seconds, ask your team mates for help (and look out for team mates that need it). A little help can go a long way.
• Damage focus - If you want to kill a hero in a team fight, you have to focus him together. In an ideal world, you should always go for the biggest threat first - be it Li Ming or Morales, but they are often inaccessible due to good peels from the frontline. If you’re not sure who to focus, always look for the hero most out of position - It is often easier to kill an overextended tank than it is to kill a well positioned and protected squishy. However, if you entire team is already focusing someone - better help them out!
• Economics of the storm - Conserve your resources, be it mana, ability cooldowns or anything else your hero has a limited supply of, especially when it comes to heroics. Be patient and way for the right moment for your abilities to have maximum effect.
• Patience is key - We all had those moments when we thought we can just get this one overextended Jaina and jumped right into the fray, not waiting for the rest of our team falling into a trap. Most of the time it is better not to risk it, wait for proper initiation and follow up, since this keep you and the rest of your team much safer.
• Patience is key #2 - There are many situations in the game where there is nothing you can do - When you are 3v5 (or 4v5) or when your team is a talent tier down and the enemy team is hammering at your keep. As much as it pains you, the right thing to do in these situations is to wait it out - let them take the objective or that keep, since chances are that if you contest it - they will get a keep AND kills.
• Wave clear - Experience is not the only reason to clear minion waves. Whenever you clear a minion wave, you also help your own minions push, you give your own team vision and you take away vision from the enemy team.
• Rotations - The important thing when rotating as a team is that well, you are rotating as a team! Stick together, take the same route as everybody else, don’t stop for anything unless the entire team stops. Forget about ganks, wave clear or picking globes unless you have coordianted this with your team beforehand.
  Be mindful of talent tiers - Level differences are impactful, but not as impactful as talent tiers. If you have have a talent tier advantage, even if it’s level 13 to 12.5, try to force a team fight as much as possible in order to snowball your advantage and get even more ahead. If you are on the losing side, avoid confrontation as much as possible and focus on soaking experience until you catch up. There’s one more situation to keep in mind - when the enemy team is really close to getting a lead. If, for example, you are 11 and the enemy team is 12.5, you have a small window of opportunity to catch them off their guard and destroy their advantage before it becomes substantial due to the talent tier.

GL & HF
Chameleos & Lusian.