Disclaimer: My thoughts are only based on my experience in 1v1 competitive games. Single player and 2v2 are different. Would anyone like to discuss their thought process during a single turn. The first couple of turns are easy, but then things get a little hairy in some games. Here is a list of things I look for. They are prioritized. 0. During the opponent`s turn I watch his game, hoping I can spot a mistake. Usually leaving a champ in the open; or a few champs close for an AoE spell; leaving a long ranged champ alone, where he can be engaged with a mele champ. 1. Can I kill an enemy champ this round? Would it cost me nora for a spell? In what positions will I leave my champs after the round is over (I play UD, so mostly mele hitters)? 2. Is one of my champs too low on health? This is pretty much UD playing style, ready for a Sacrifice or Retribution, never mind healing 3. Can I contest an opponent`s font, or stop him from contesting one of mine, or a "neutral" one? Will I leave my champ who is contesting too vulnerable? 4. Should I just pull back and wait? Can I find "double-purpose" spots, from where my champs will have alternative places to go/targets next round? 5. Can I equip or cast a spell with of defensive nature (Demon Shield, Dark Pact)? 6. Can I deploy a new champ and how long will it take him to be relevant to the battle? Using this method I often times hesitate too much and miss deploys in situations where I have plenty of nora. This ends up loosing me games. I haven`t consciously kept track of how much time I spend on each phase, but i guess I think a lot before acting. In the end I get screwed by a trap and everything goes to hell. Then I have no time to think of a backup plan. Do you have any suggestions or thoughts on the topic? How do you manage your time?
Honestly it's different depending on the deck you're playing and what kind of deck you're against. I usually know exactly what my opponent is playing, and if not it won't take many rounds of deploying to figure out. Depending on the map and draw, I make a game plan and try to stick to it, unless there is an obvious reason to do differently (opponents mistake/my mistake). I count nora, so I always base my moves on how much nora the opponent will have the turn after ie. if he can drop 2 AoE's I should spread out, if he is low on nora I would try to contest his fonts and maybe put up a counterspell. It's hard to explain and most of it just comes naturally with practice.
Pretty much Edit: ill add....whatever your gonna do , just do it........ you need to play confidently to be able to survive the timer
Generally, you always want to deploy champs. That said, spells should be your champ enablers, if you are down a champ deploy wise, and you can equalize or gain champ/Nora advantage by killing one or multiple units, that is when you want to use a spell. Keeping track of Nora, and having a general idea how much Nora the opponent can use in any given turn is paramount to making critical decisions like deploy champ/contest/spell etc. And every bg plays differently too, but for the most part, early/mid only do champs until you can "powerturn" to take significant board and unit advantage. This essentially fits into your strategy, just don't be afraid to make the wrong play, you'll make the wrong play 100% of the time you don't make any play. And experience really is the best learner. However if you are ever on and playing, feel free to check for me (by typing /who st3ck) and shoot me a message and I'd live to play test those types of situations with you in some longer timers if it's something you'd be open too.
