Why the Pros Play Sgt. Hammer. (An Analytical Look at Pro Play)

Hammer is showing a surprising appearance over and over in HGC for some reasons you might not be thinking.
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[@FerPaleta]

Nasty cough. Get better man

[@Ethereal29]

Three days later, patch hits and BFG no longer does structure damage. If she's not picked for the constant level 20 pressure any more, what will motivate folks to pick her?

[@savevsdeath]

Doesn't matter. It still annihilates lanes even after the loss of structure damage. The point of it is and has always been to push waves in constantly

[@griff3n69]

@@savevsdeath so should you pick bfg at 20 still then shoot it down the middle so it keeps clearing waves? What's the best use of bfg?

[@shadowgamer4306]

So helpful video not paradox you always make my day

[@GoddamitJmie]

Wow NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO , DO NOT listen to this omg , i play more Sgt Hammer than i really should and this WHOLE build is just wrong , do splash or malestrom at 1 , heal on AA at 4, range at 7 , Napalm at 10 , More thrusters at 13 , 16 executioner or giant depending on enemy team and 20 is the AA attack speed increase . That is how you actually build her if you want to win

[@autumn2ashes211]

Almost right. You take Hover and sometimes you need mechanical know how. BFG is fine too just depends on the match up.

[@Casper26699]

because the 2018 #1 HGC team Rich copied Korean Grandmaster Sgt. Hammer main player Peleta, copied his exact build and playstyle then bringing it to the competitive scene so the majority players can witness what a good and cooperative hammer team is capable of, for now its like a new fresh trend but it's been played for a long time in the top GM games

[@drumbumdeedum]

Hey man, a quick appreciation post from me. I've been rather inactive during season 2, mainly because i think the placement matches played a foul trick on me and placed me somwhere around silver 3, while I was usually always somewhere around gold 2-3 consistently, and I just didn't feel like I really wanted to climb back. So all I've been doing was play casually, (mostly quickmatch), and watch your videos. Until season 3 hit. I said im gonna give ranked a try again, and started my placement matches, and it was just an insane experience. I firmly believe that you and your videos played a great role in this. I won 9 out of the 10 placement matches, and became MVP with 4-5 votes from my own and the enemy team in 8 out of those matches. And I managed to maintain a 90-93% win rate eversince, and shot back to gold 3 in very little time, and the climb has not stopped yet. Of course I know this win rate will decline a little once I reach the rank where I'm matched with players of my own level, but I feel that I am already a much better player since season 2 thanks to your videos. I do believe that I would not have been able to climb this quickly without all the wisdom and positive attitude from your videos. So thanks a lot man! Keep posting these videos, you are certianly the nr 1. HOTS content creator with the most useful and insightful videos on youtibe.

[@maymainssharedonebraincell6022]

First ting that comes to mind when i saw this comb [I gonna get a sweet sweet graviton surge on all of them]

[@andreostermann8453]

Would be so glad to see Sgt hammer removed, just because she makes games so slow paste. This jear hgc I watched the finals geng VS dig and the games with hammer felt so God damn lame to watch. Playing her in a controlled environment (diamond upwards) could be something different but still not for me :/. Greets from germany

[@Harbyz]

Would also like a to see a why the Pros play Anub I play him with a good winrate but it feels like i can do more

[@amonnoma1370]

Pros don't play alone...

[@spindabear]

Can you do some videos on why the pros don't play certain heroes? I've cheesed quite a few people with Gazlowe and Butcher and have greater than 65% win with both of them, but i know they aren't considered pro worthy.

[@TRENCHESandTREADS]

If this lowly Plat player could take a gander, I think with Butcher it's because pros are good enough/coordinated enough to know when to all 5 focus butcher and when to disengage etc, and since his kit requires him to auto attack so much he just doesn't have enough time to do what he needs to do before they counter him. As for Gazlowe, hmmmm I'm actually curious why pros don't take him, I mean, if you build around him he actually seems pretty decent.

[@laurinseidelmann6652]

butcher is rather easy to counter even once his quest is completed if you have at least two sources of a blind, cleanse, stun or damage nerf like alex' pacify or tassadars nullification. Doing so means butcher cannot charge the one target that counters him. So after his unstoppable ends, all that needs to be done is to use the cc to counter the 3 seconds that it takes until his chains fall off, after that the target has to just move away from him, no matter if its a squishy, meelee dd or the main tank, so butchers healing gets denied. once butcher is all out of abilities and no one died, hes pretty much a worthless meelee minion on steroids and a prime target to blow up. Yet since people in hero league are 1. not very coordinated and 2. no one wants to plays tank, triple backline is common so CC is scarce. If it helps, i had a few days ago two losses in back then high master in EU against butchers, not because they played like gods but we played like the hero was just introduced into the nexus. Quite the shit show. Butcher also cant really do anything to make himself less "counterable" (at least in my experience, i play butcher about once a month for the lulzes). Only trick i found is to put the healing mark not on the charged target every time, since if they get savd by heir team with the mentioned methods, your healing is gone. also, if you are stacked, go in on the squishy and he dies, your healing source is goe and you can only punch a mage so often until hes a goner. charge the squishy, (try to) kill him, but if possible lay the mark on someone else, a meelee preferable, especially if its a juicy high health tank like stitches, varian (muradin slows your aa, so if the enemy has him, good target but hes kinda great vs butcher) and heal away. the mark is hard to see in a team fight, and if the enemy tank has to leave in order to not heal you, you already accomplished something.

[@laurinseidelmann6652]

for gazlowe-he just doenst offer much is all. his team fight impact is...questionable, only thing he really has wombo combo and thats not really reliable. while hes decent at controling a point like on volskaya or braxis, other heroes do that zoning job better, like Deckard, Junkrat, 70% of all mages, even probius (probius is just too squishy for pro play, but he pretty much is gazlowe in better in every other regard). You dont see gazlowe because he offers nothing unique, hammer, while niche, has her role cut out for her, but gazlowe just doesn't do anything special, he is just-there.

[@nolandderlugner1351]

a total psychopath, you have 4 diffrent browser in your taskbar

[@nicholasellis8521]

Aside from the build hammer is the highest dps in team fights ive been drafting her more and more this season especially with the three bans and now my win rate is 85 percent i dont reccomend laning with her though or that build just be what ray is now for.

[@djS0nics]

Jarmir Hung hmm... She does tons of structure damage. But when she is on her own she can easily be ganked. So might not be the strongest, but she definitely is strong.

[@laurinseidelmann6652]

solo laner usually means winning a 1v1, and while some people like sonya (who has problems with ranged damage) can loose out vs. her, Yrel and many others with self healing that does not require a minion wave have at least a shot against her, more often that not winning out. don't put the hammer in the solo lane, just because it says specialist on the name tag does not mean she is for soloing a lane (in fact most specialists are not strong solo laners) put her with the team and baby sit her and youll have a way better time with her.

[@cherub3624]

I'm sitting there waiting in suspense to see what 10 the Malf is going to take... waiting... waiting... *gets obj still no 10 selected*… waiting … waiting... *pushes with boss... still no 10 selected*…. waaaiiiting…. aaaand its tranq.

[@Micras08]

A lot of us could learn from this. Picking your ult ONLY when you are in a situation where you are going to need ult X :) I sometimes pick an ult like this, but usually it's when I hit 10 and I'm already in a situation where one ult makes more sense than the other - that's dangerous tho, because sometimes that pick makes no sense for the rest of the match :P

[@ahoy1014]

I knew you'd get on the Hammer situation soon after I saw it become popular.

[@Angemell]

What a great video.. thanks a lot man; most of the videos are just casually explained and does not let you go "deep" in the understanding of pro strategies.

[@SonicHaXD]

She's annoying. Might pick her up now XD

[@laurinseidelmann6652]

Hm. Sadly that game is not the best demonstration, think a more closer one would have been great. Even without any mages or meaningful aoe, TF played REALLY uncoordinated-exactly two dive situations, muradin was not part of hte first attempt, only the overwatch crew and the second one was genji-only. You can see them after a while resigning and only rather watch, that voice comm must have been awkward to listen to. i personally (low gm, no pro or anything) think that this hammer wave will disappear as fast as it came, i see fnatic trying it quite often and they are doing overall terrible with it, might be style of play tho.

[@joshm9518]

I have been playing hammer since the beta, everyone gave me shit for it and begged me not to pick it, even throwing games cuz of my hammer pick. Despite all the hate i hammered on and started playing absolutely nothing but hammer and made it to gm. So before you noobs in gold league start flaming cuz of a hammer pick, just stfu and play to the best of your ability and you will actually get promoted

[@youluvana]

I miss the old hyper cooling engines. Thrusters with 15 sec CD and 4 sec duration meant you only have 11 sec between Z I really liked that aggressive hammer style. Z forward and get body blocks and play without siege most of the time.

[@griff3n69]

Why do they take the stealth talent and what is the best way to use it? Any advice on heroes to be on the team of hammer? Any tips how to play her? Should she solo lane early or stay with tanks?

[@Malacite]

7%? I only play this game in CO-OP and I can see the value she brings. Very much a glass canon but if you can protect her she does obscene damage from extreme range and arguably pushes forts harder than Sylvanas.

[@jf6647]

Bfg does not do dmg to structures anymore. So it's really only good for sniping heroes nows. I feel napalm makes it easier to zone and it can do structure dmg. It only has a few seconds for cd to, so I feel it might be better in a lot of situations

[@listof3662]

what do they do when they run hammer but there is a chromie on the enemy team?

[@dzasta]

if you listen to his video he said you would normally last pick hammer if the enemy comp did not pick mages

[@deathworlds]

What about the heavy dive style popularized by G.Rich? That wasn't a very "baby the hammer" comp

[@djS0nics]

Nicely explained! Thank you for your awesome videos! Fan does use a DIG spray... :D

[@WarpstormChronicles]

Level 20 damage spike has been nerfed. How does she play now?

[@Twist565]

not sure that those statistics are revelant given that it's based on really few games

[@dufttroll1746]

What is about blinds on hammer? Like a Johanna who can blind and W?

[@SpitefulAZ]

all this still apply after the recent hammer lvl 20 nerf?

[@somamanyoki8174]

Get well soon!

[@MrNosreme70]

I disagree with many of the talent choices. I’ve been playing hammer forever, she was my main for so long until chromie came along. But the one talent I’ll mention is level 10. I never take BFG. I always take Napalm strike. It’s way more useful than the BFG and has such a low CD.

[@HimariHimatsu]

it gives sustained damage, something hammer already has the ability to have both burst and sustained damage means you actually get kills

[@joshm9518]

You will rarely get a kill with napalm i avg 5 kills per game with bfg. Time it right when theres a teamfight and they are very low health they are dead before they even know what happened. However napalm is better for wave clear i would say use both

[@Kelberoth]

RIP hammer

[@kyl3davis]

i absolutely hate hammer

[@joshm9518]

why do you hate hammer bro?

[@kyl3davis]

@@joshm9518 she's just my least favorite hero. her kit, her voice, i just find her annoying. she's almost a certain win in single lane brawls. i refuse to play as her.

[@fisyr]

Wait they actually do?

[@Golpotrop]

NERFED

[@thawedmind]

hey, i'm looking for people to play with, I'm sure in a video you mentioned a discord channel. can you send me a link please? Also your content is insanely good =D keep it up!

[@qwertyfrog7553]

NotParadox Discord: discord.gg/phu7EKA

[@thawedmind]

Qwerty Frog thanks 😁

[@oblation7683]

get well soon, thnx for the content ^_^

[@alibeyzae7445]

i think for have hammer in ur team u need atleast 2 tanks

[@etheriea3423]

Irony, that.

[@lordofnothing.]

Hammer video!!!!!!!! yes!!!!

[@mayauppstad9883]

Would you consider making any videos about Nazeebo any time soon? Like a tips or mistakes video?

[@liambrown48]

Matias Uppstad first mistake is picking nazebo

[@mayauppstad9883]

Liam Brown Haha XD

[@mark_ion]

Why the pro's play THRALL. TNX

[@djS0nics]

Positive Ions if I remember correctly, you can check out Fan (Tempo Storm) for some Thrall tips. He is playing a very good Thrall and you should check him out on masterleague.net as well.

[@mark_ion]

DJ-Sonic's Thanks a lot :)

[@kresovk5]

This is exactly why her rework was a failure. She isn't good hero overall, she is just polarizing. Crush her or get crushed. Not to mention her playstyle took a hit for worse, as Siege Mode is now "forced" upon you. Hopefully Blizzard reworks her soon. And get better, I felt bad listening you cough. :(

[@hristopavlov298]

Krešimir Turkalj There's nothing wrong with a few polarizing heroes. The other side of the coin is an all around god like hanzo and so on and that doesn't seem to be healthy for the meta at all.

[@savevsdeath]

I disagree completely. Her rework was in every way a huge buff that gave her way more ways to play, and I for one have been playing her in upper ranks of competitive ever since. She's strong, and she isn't 'forced' into siege mode - most people just suck at playing as or against a Hammer because you can't just dive and delete her easily if the player is skilled, and if you don't play around her by keeping her separated from her team and not letting her get set up in a good position you will be punished.

[@kresovk5]

Johnathan Collier You probably didn't get me right. After losing all AA talents and having AA damage partly moved to siege, using tank is like playing Fenix, but just straight up worse. Before rework it was other way around, until level 16, siege was used sometimes. Reason why her rework failed is if they picked counter like Chromie, you could simply stick to tank mode and still be a huge asset. You still had ways to play around that, more agency. This days if they pick any mage, you might as well pick any other AA hero, as you will just be huge HP sink. Every hero that's a hard counter and is hard countered by something with no middle ground is failed design, that's why I didn't she was nerfed (nor was she buffed), she was just polarized.

[@kresovk5]

How many neps can a Nep nep if a Nep nep Nep I'd agree, if they are "soft" counters like Cassia, where you still do something about (shoot her only when you don't have other target or she is stunned/rooted). Same reason why people want Chromie/Hanzo/Genji rework, they have that one unfair thing around which you can't really play around. If it's hero designed to hard counter specific comp and is otherwise hampered, it's a failed design. Think of why we have spell shields and ice blocks and similar protective talents that just stop damage, while only thing Hammer gets is CDR on Z or W knockback distance.

[@gotriceandshrimp]

I'd say that's exactly why it was a success. Hammer was pretty much do or die before the rework anyways but now she at least feels smoother to play and play against.

[@maximchu2763]

I'm early

[@tabula_rosa]

they REALLY need to take her thrusters away and make them a talent. Put them in the same tier as giant killer and give people a choice

[@savevsdeath]

Uh, no. Losing thrusters would instantly make her below trash tier. She'd be so awful, she'd be unplayable.

[@Sylfa]

3:27 - "moving around really quickly" Nothing in hammers kit speeds up her hover siege mode, you *have* to pick up another hero for that. In fact, the range increase has better synergy with her talents since the range increase happens at the same rate as your unbuffed movement. Assuming you don't have one of the speed buffers that is.

[@djS0nics]

MrSylfa I like the increasing range as well. But I think in pro play you can't afford being a sitting duck and stay in siege mode without moving. Plus if you don't go hiver siege, you would force your whole team to stay around the same spot for as long as you are in siege mode.

[@Sylfa]

I get that, the problem is that if you could land a 60% snare on an enemy you would consider them a sitting duck, which is what Hammer's moving around at. If you combine it with Yrel, Kharazim, Lucio, Zarya *then* you have the ability to get out of stuff. Just look at the video he highlighted, how often did the movement actually get hammer out of anything? Half the time Hammer sat in the Tassadar pools because it wasn't worth trying to move out at 40% speed. With a speed booster, yes definitely. Without it, I dunno. Setting up and moving up to the wall to poke it, then moving back sounds okay. But you could setup 2 extensions away from the wall, your position is fixed but your range is so much further than the enemy.. They have to fight *into* your range to save the structure. Obviously won't work if countered, but in this case what would they have to do? Go through lots of Hammer range, dive Hammer with both Genji/Tracer. If you heal her through it Genji won't get out of range before he's dead. The big gain with hover mode is that you can setup far off and slowly move in, but your better off cancelling hover mode and move in unless you get a speed boost. Mobility comes from Z when something big happens, 40% movement won't get you out of anything in time on its own. What it does help with is long range attacks like Hanzo ult or Tyrande owl, since stutter stepping will make it hard to hit those long range attacks. Well, harder. If you have an example in the match where hover mode was useful, moving beyond expanding range or dodging something by stutter stepping, please post a time code.

[@OnlyKickNuts88]

Great video as always!