Contents - WCReplays.com

Contents:
Introduction
……………………………………………………………………………........
Most Common Race Combinations: Strengths, Weaknesses, & Counters
Other Strategies Worthy of Mention: Strengths, Weaknesses, & Counters
Maps of 3v3
…………………
1
2
……………….. 11
………………………………………………………………………………... 17
FS KotG Harassment
………………………………………………………………………. 19
The Standard Mirror
……………………………………………………………………….. 23
Orc Tips
……………………………………………………………………………………. 26
Night Elf Tips
……………………………………………………………………………… 29
Undead Tips
……………………………………………………………………………….. 32
Human Tips
………………………………………………………………………………... 35
General Tips
……………………………………………………………………………….. 37
Conclusion
…………………………………………………………………………………. 42
Acknowledgements
………………………………………………………………………… 42
Introduction:
3v3 (or 3s) is considered to be a “no skill” game type by many players. Often I am
criticized for “just doing the same strat every game” or “cookie cutting”. I intend to show in this
guide that 3v3, at high level, is indeed a game of skill requiring precise teamwork and timing.
There are also a variety of strategies and adaptations, although sometimes subtle, that makes 3s
the most interesting and fun game type of Warcraft III. I will offer my observations on various
points of the game for noobs, novices, and experts alike.
Why do I feel qualified to write this? I’ve been playing 3s, almost exclusively and mostly
with the same partners, for several years. I have played literally thousands of games, been rank 1
several times, and won 16 tournaments to date. I’ve made some friends, and many more enemies,
along the way. Most would know me as Admiral_Thrawn, although some now know me as
Mystique_. I am mainly an Orc player from the Azeroth server, which in my humble opinion, is
the best realm for 3v3.
Now those of you saying “Wow I can’t believe this self-righteous prick has the nerve to
write his own guide to 3s” should probably stop crying and go wash the sand out of your
vaginas. Anyone saying “ROFL 3s is for noobs” probably belongs to that large group of people
I’ve raped. You can go take a long walk off a short bridge. And still yet there are some saying
“LOL, Admiral_Thrawn I’ve owned him so many times”. Congratulations, you are obviously the
best player in the world and, as such, have no need to continue reading further. For the rest of
you, I sincerely hope to give you the benefit of my experience so that you can improve and enjoy
this game type as much as I do.
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Most Common Race Combinations: Strengths, Weaknesses, & Counters
Orc, Night Elf, Undead is by far the most common team on Azeroth. It is, in my opinion,
the overall best combo in 3s. There are two main Orc/NE/UD strategies used. The first, which I
will refer to as “Standard” from now on, was pioneered and perfected by STFU_PLZ. In
Standard, the NE goes KotG with dual AoW hunts to dryads (and occasionally some archers)
with a neutral 2nd hero. The Orc starts off with FS grunts while quickly teching to witch doctors,
tauren, and TC as the 2nd hero. UD players make a DK with fiends, followed by a Lich and
destroyers (with sometimes CL as 3rd hero).
The Orc/NE players will constantly harass the other team while the UD creeps. It’s
important to stay aggressive on the harass (there will be an entire section on this later), protecting
your UD so he can creep freely, as well as possibly hurt or slow the enemy UD in the process.
UD players should creep their DK to level 3 as quickly as possible while clearing an expansion
for the NE. Once this is achieved its time to make your first attack.
Strengths: This combo is strong throughout all stages in the game. There is good scouting
(wisps and wolves), harass (FS/KotG), expansion ability (NE), anti-air (dryads and fiends), and
late game power (UD nuke, destros, doc tauren). Essentially, this combo has all of its bases
covered pretty well, at all stages in the game.
Weaknesses: This strategy can be vulnerable to massing
combinations (especially on maps like Monsoon or Copper
Canyon) due to having a quick teching Orc. Its very
vulnerable to the tri-hero harass of Hu/Orc/NE teams. In
very late game situations against non-elf teams
(Hu/Orc/UD, or any dual UD team) it can be impossible to
win.
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Counters: It can be difficult to survive the harass against
good teams using this strategy, especially for non-elf
combinations. In some situations simply creeping
together or having some wisps nearby (to dispel entangle
and FS’s wolves) can negate the FS/KotG harass. Losing
little or no units on the harass goes a long way to
neutralizing the advantage of this strategy and should
leave you in good position for defending the mid game
attack.
The second strategy with Orc, Night Elf, Undead will be referred to as “Logon Massing”
(named after the group of Koreans who invented and perfected it). Orc players will start off with
a TC and dual rax (that’s short for barracks) grunts. They will mass grunts and tech very late (at
around 35-38 food), sometimes getting tauren in games that last longer than the first couple of
attacks. Occasionally in Logon Massing matches the Orc will pick up a Pit Lord for the second
hero. Noobelves will take on the extremely complicated role of tier 1 PotM mass hunts all game
long, while expanding and feeding late game. UD is played basically the same as in Standard,
with the exception that they get a few more fiends and may opt to get aboms in tier 3 rather than
mass destroyers.
The idea is simply for both Orc and UD to creep their heroes to level 3 (TC getting
shockwave, not stomp) while the elf harasses on his own or helps protect his allies from a
FS/KotG harass (usually by focusing a hero with his PotM and keeping wisps near the Orc and
UD). Once Orc and UD have level three, the entire team will attack a base (usually an Orc) and
begin to take out the hall. Sometimes the Orc/NE will go hall an Elf or UD together, while the
UD takes out burrows. This presents the enemy team with a difficult choice of defending the
base and fighting the larger mass tier 1 army, or sacrificing the base all together. Many games
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are easily won at this moment because there is not much time to make a decision, and in their
haste teams might make bad TPs, or not all TP in time.
Timing is crucial for this strategy to work and the first hit should come no later than 9
minutes into the game (around the time a Standard Orc would be putting up his totems). If both
teams are of equal skill in a mirror match, Logon Massing will beat Standard the majority of the
time.
Strengths: Between the first 5 and 11 minutes of a game nothing is stronger than Logon
Massing. Usually this strategy wins on the first attack (most teams TP into their death). On
massing maps it’s so good that it’s essentially a free win against teams who didn’t also mass.
Weaknesses: This strategy does not have many weaknesses, but to the extent that it does here
are a few. A good FS/KotG harass can stall the creeping of the UD/Orc long enough to delay the
9 minute hit. If this happens the Standard Orc can get enough doc tauren out and have a good
chance to win. However, it is not uncommon for a good FS/KotG team to kill 4-5 units on the
harass and still lose the game. For human combo teams good positioning and AoE can negate the
unit count advantage of Logon Massing. This strategy can also be defeated by good NE/NE/UD
teams who know how to constantly hit/run/harass with the two elves.
Counters: When a Logon Massing team is preparing to hit, your team can split hit their bases,
causing them to decide to TP and defend or sustain a lot of base damage while they hall you. If
you can’t split hit, you should try to slow them down as much as possible with good positioning.
It’s a very good idea to always have someone (preferably NE) in between the massers and their
bases to constantly pick off rally units or kill red units being sent home. Essentially the counter
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to massing is to buy yourself as much time as possible to accumulate enough of your higher
teched units.
A note on other Orc/NE/UD strategies: It has been my experience that any attempt to get
creative and use a strategy other than the two mentioned above is usually met with a swift and
embarrassing rape. Feel free to keep trying if you want, but I’ve lost count of how many (take
your pick) [DH, BM, ghoul, walker, Dreadlord, Cryptlord, raider, necro] users we’ve destroyed
with Standard.
Human, Orc, UD is potentially the strongest team in 3s. Late game no combo can match
this except for possibly double UD teams. The typical Hu/Orc/UD team has the end goal of
rifle/mortar, fiend/destro, and doc/tauren. Some teams opt for the Pally/TC massing approach,
while others go for the AM/BM FS/TC AoE mix. Another option is the hero killing mix of MK
and SH to go along with UD nuke. All three are very good and it’s really just a matter of team
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preference which strategy is used. In general the TC/Pally massing is stronger mid-game with the
AoE or hero nuking versions being the strongest late game.
Strengths: Late game this is probably the strongest combination. Mortars (with frag shards) and
AoE essentially takes any enemy NE players out of the game, not to mention giving the team
great halling capability. There is plenty of AA (rifle/fiend/tanks), hero nuke (especially if Hu
gets MK 2nd), and meat (tauren). There is also moderate ability to expand with human.
Weaknesses: While this may be the strongest combo late
game, it’s certainly far from it early to mid game.
Hu/Orc/UD is extremely vulnerable to harassment from
Standard teams. Without early game dispel its very easy for a
good FS/KotG team to kill 4-5 units before the first real
battle is even fought. This combo has very poor scouting
(until flare is researched), with the only practical scouts being
FS wolves.
Counters: Harass this combo constantly. They have no way
to stop a constant hit/run harass (unless the Orc goes raiders,
in which case you’ve already won). The Human base is open
to harass at all stages of the game (especially by an Orc with
shockwave and chain lightning). Just simply run in (ignore
the tower if they have one) killing as many peasants as
possible and TP out when they run back or TP to defend. If
an Orc and NE run in together, it’s very possible to kill every
single peasant before you TP out.
Avoid having to TP into a fight vrs this combo. A bad
TP against AoE can be a free loss. If you must TP to defend a
base, try to do it early so you can spread out or take a nearby
hill. This next point cannot be stressed enough. It is a very
bad idea for all three of you to TP and defend against this
combo. Someone (preferably Elf) must come in from behind
and flank the mortars. The best thing to do if you must TP is
have the Orc/UD TP ahead of time and fight together with
the NE flanking at the back.
NE players certainly should not mass dryads against
this combo. They should try for tier 3 MGs and archers, or
just feed their Orc/UD allies. If both teams are of equal skill,
Standard will beat Hu/Orc/UD the majority of the time.
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Human, Orc, Night Elf is easily the strongest early game combo in 3v3. They are a threat
right away because they bring all three heroes on the harass. This usually consists of
FS/KotG/AM (with blizzard) but occasionally will be BM/KotG/FS with the Bloodmage
draining mana and feeding it to the KotG for more entangles. This harass is brutal to Human or
Orc bases because the AM can blizzard the burrows and repairing peons at the same time. The
three heroes can easily overwhelm the Standard two hero FS/KotG.
It’s very possible for this combo to kill one or two
burrows, one or two units, and several peons on the harass.
Needless to say this will delay the Standard Orc’s tauren
quite a bit. Most games against Hu/Orc/NE are decided by
how well a team can defend against this harass and limit the
damage. Typically, very soon afterwards (when this combo
all gets their second heroes) they will attack again (usually
the Orc) and try to win the game.
It’s after this point in the game that this combo begins
to lose their advantage (as the Standard UD begins to level).
If the enemy team is not severely crippled by the end of the
second attack they will usually win, but that’s a very big if.
Strengths: They have the strongest early game harass in the
game. Great scouting (wisps, wolves, flare), anti-air, and
expansion ability (Hu and NE can expand very easily at any
time). As with all Human combo teams, there is great halling
potential with AoE and morts.
Weaknesses: Very limited hero nuke ability. Late game this
combo gets absolutely destroyed by high level UD heroes. If
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they cannot severely cripple or defeat a team by mid game they will probably lose to any UD
combo team in the late game.
Counters: Human players must build an arcane tower and keep
it alive. This is easier said than done against three heroes and
blizzard, but with a good base build and repair its possible.
Standard teams should go fast DK (altar, zig, crypt, graveyard)
so that it’s three heroes vrs three heroes on the harass. Focus
the KotG first (he should drop quickly to entangle, coil, and
focus fire) followed by either grunts or the AM. After the KotG
is killed and DK is out of mana, he should go back home to
start creeping. If both teams are of equal skill, Standard (with a
fast DK) will beat Hu/Orc/NE the majority of the time.
Double Elf teams (mostly NE/NE/UD) can be some of the most fun teams to play on, and
some of the most frustrating to play against. The general idea is for both elves to mass hunts, one
with PotM and the other KotG, while constantly harassing and feeding their ally a bit while he
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creeps. One elf will expand stay tier 1 50 food of hunts and feed. The other may go hunts to
dryads, and possibly tier 3 MGs late game. An UD player being fed gold and wood from two
elves can have frosties or mass destroyers at around the same time a Standard Orc is getting
tauren. The two NE with constant hit and run harassment will greatly slow your creeping and
may even hall you if you do not have a good base build. Once the DK is level 3 or has a frostie
they will hit. It can be extremely difficult to win this battle, with a strong UD present and two
NE swarming your own team’s UD.
Strengths: This combo is unstoppable and un-harrasable
early and mid game. Any team that attempts to play
textbook standard against this just got a free loss. They
have great scouting (wisps and possibly owl), mass
expansion ability, and harassment capabilities. This combo
is great for teams with a very aggressive play style.
Weaknesses: Two elves massing hunts can be extremely
vulnerable to mass range strategies (such as TC HH, PotM
hunts, DK fiends). On certain maps this combo can have a
tough time against Logon Massing. Human teams that survive
to late game can be very effective at countering double NE
with AoE and mortars. Skilled protocol players can also give
this combo trouble (the NE towers needed to protect
expansions and mains from mass bats are very expensive and
may not be finished in time).
Counters: Keep wisps with Orc and UD allies so they can creep and not lose (as many) units to
the double elf harass. Mass range and hit before the enemy UD is sufficiently strong. Possibly
bring wisps along to AP push one of the bases you are attacking. Be prepared for at least one of
the NE players to flank your attack. A single well placed tower and a good build can protect your
base from halling and constant hit and runs.
Note: Not all double NE teams will both mass huntresses, even though it is the most common
strategy with this combo. You should always scout and never just assume this is what they are
doing. It is very possible for one of the elves to power creep a Beastmaster or Dark Ranger with
archers and set up an early expansion. Some teams will pressure you all game while secretly
massing chims or bears. Double NE teams have a variety of good strategies that allow them to
win, which is part of why they are so frustrating to play against.
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Double UD teams have the potential to be the strongest late game combo in 3v3. The
reason for this is pretty simple. Everyone can imagine the pain of having their hero struck by two
high level coils and two high level novas at the same time. Late game double UD combos can
literally kill any hero, at any time, at will. DK is already hard enough to kill as it is; when there is
a second DK to coil him it’s even worse. Some teams have one UD go aboms (so that they act
like a hero nuking orc) while the other goes standard. Other teams opt for both UD going Philbot
style fiends and air. This combo can have expansion and scouting issues depending on the third
race, which is why NE/UD/UD is probably the best double UD team.
Strengths: This is the best hero nuking combo in the
game. Very solid anti-air (both going fiends) and solid
anti-ground (destroyers and frosties). They also have very
strong base defense (everyone knows how hard it is to
fight an UD in his own base).
Weaknesses: A double UD team going fiends has no
chance to stop early expansions. It can be very easy for a
FS/KotG team to stop both UD players from creeping as
fast as they need to. Just like in solo, mass expansions are
usually the easiest way to defeat UD.
Counters: This is the one combo I suggest an Orc go raiders
against. Doc/tauren are both completely negated by mass
destros/frosties. NE players should also stop massing hunts
after the harass and go for archers instead. The best way to beat
this combo is with a very aggressive harass, early expansion,
and a strong mid game push with raiders. If it turns into a late
game, NE players should mass dryads and MGs (with at least
two armor upgrades) and Orc players should get fortified
burrows along with wyverns and bats. UD players should not
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bother with destroyers (except if the third race is human, or unless one of the enemy UD goes
necros for some insane reason), but instead go fiends and frosties with lots of upgrades.
A note on double Orc and double Human teams: These teams can simply be referred to as
free wins (assuming both teams are of equal skill). I have seen some very creative strategies with
these combos that, while noble attempts, were met with swift rapes. Simply put, it’s much too
easy to harass double Orc or Human teams. Also, late game UD with mass destroyers and hero
nuke pretty much renders Orc or Human worthless.
Other Strategies Worthy of Mention: Strengths, Weaknesses, & Counters
Do you enjoy games that last anywhere from 30 minutes to an hour? Is your micro not
particularly strong? If so, then Protocol is the strategy for you. It was invented by several FFA
players from clan Lone and took the 4v4 AT world by storm. The strategy has been adapted to
3s, but is not nearly as effective as it is in 4v4. It usually involves a Hu/Orc/UD team that
specializes in massing towers, expansions, and harassment in an attempt to horde as much gold
as possible and slowly starve their opponents until they run out of resources. Their tactics
involve things such as mass siege (invisible mortars, demos
in zeplins, batriders with liquid fire), constant harassment
(Blademasters and Archmages with staffs of TP), mass
towers and expansions, and mass gargs/frosties. Their goal is
to annoy you until you either run out of gold or suicide into
their towers out of frustration.
Strengths: The strength of Protocol is that most teams will
not suspect it’s coming. On the load screen it appears as if
you are about to play a regular game against the Hu/Orc/UD
combo. By the time they are scouted and already putting up
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towers, most teams have begun training normal heroes and making tier 1 units. If the Protocol
team manages to set up a towered expansion, while stopping the enemy team from doing the
same (via constant harassment and distraction) then it usually starts a downward spiral that ends
30 minutes later in victory.
Weaknesses: The weakness of Protocol is that they have to have both towers and expansions in
order to win. You cannot stop them from making the towers, but you can certainly stop them
from having the expansions. Don’t let the towers beat you by foolishly charging into them. Keep
your eye on the ball and remember it’s the gold that eventually determines who wins. At the start
of the game all a Protocol team has are a couple of heroes, which makes it very difficult for them
to completely stop enemy teams from setting up early expansions.
Counters: Unfortunately in order to counter Protocol
your team must mimic many of its features. This means
that you will have to tower your own mains and
expansions to protect them from harassment (such as
mass bat riders). In the early game you essentially have
three armies against their one (the UD). Use this to your
advantage and stay aggressive, preventing them from
setting up any sort of fast expansion. Good scouting is
very important against this strategy, so use those wisps
and wolves to constantly be scanning goldmines for
possible expansions going up. If you can successfully
counter their various attempts to hall you and deny them
expansions (while expanding yourselves), then it will be
them that eventually run out of gold and lose the game.
NE players should aim for chippo (chimeras and hippo
riders). Orcs should try to mass bats, wyverns, and
raiders. UD players can go for mass gargs/frosties
themselves with armor upgrades to help reduce damage
from bats.
Some teams opt to rush one of the bases early in
the game before too many of the towers are built. While
this can (and often does) eliminate a base for them, it is
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very risky. If the rush is successful then you have probably shortened the game and saved 10-15
minutes of your life. However if it fails, and they are able to hold the base (or even worse – set
up an expansion at the same time) then you will surely lose. I prefer to take the safer strategy of
beating them at their own game – expanding while denying them the same advantage.
Protocol in 3v3 is an annoyance and nothing more. If your team takes the proper
precautions, and makes smart choices you will win the vast majority of the time. This is why you
never see this strategy winning tournaments. Good players know how to counter it, and there is a
30 minute time limit so most Protocol teams aren’t able to finish their games anyway.
What can be said about Rcktress? It was invented and perfected by a well known map
and disc hacker, Zi-Event. His joy comes from destroying the fun of others and in this respect,
his strategy does not disappoint.
Rcktress abuses feeding, hunts, towers, and the Panda. It is the only strategy I’ve ever
seen that has the capability to hall someone in less than five minutes. Using NE/NE/Orc, these
self proclaimed “Rckteers” double feed all their initial resources to one of the elves for lightning
fast hunts. All three do late altar builds (this doesn’t matter since they are all going to the tavern)
and buy a Panda as soon as they can. Due to the nature of the double feed, a Rckt team can have
6-8 hunts and three Pandas knocking on your door at the same time a Standard Orc has a hero
and two grunts. NE players who do not build proper bases can be easily halled. Glaive bounce
and Breath of Fire (BoF) easily destroy the tree and all repairing wisps. If they decide to go for
the UD main, bounce and BoF does the same thing to repairing acolytes. Human players will
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find themselves losing most, if not all, of their peasants within the first five minutes of the game.
Panda is perfect for this strategy because he is the only hero whose instant AoE spell can hit
land, buildings, and air all at once.
While the initial harass is going on, both feeders
will have stopped feeding and begun their techs. They also
will each put up 2-3 towers to prevent a split hit counter
from the enemy team. Once in tier 2, the NE player usually
begins massing dryads and the Orc player may opt to do a
number of things. He can continue teching to tauren, or he
can begin massing wyverns, raiders, or bats (to counter
enemy wyverns). The NE player who was initially fed will
now begin massing archers from 3 AoWs to compliment
his army of hunts.
From this point on it
turns into a normal
game as if you were playing a regular NE/NE/Orc team.
It’s the first 5-6 minutes that define Rcktress as a strategy.
Seldom can so many abuses be fit into one game.
So I’ll give credit where credit is due. Zi-Event created
what is quite possibly the gayest strategy Warcraft III has
ever seen. I’m sure he’s proud.
Strengths: The most obvious strength is the ability to hall
someone in under 5 minutes. Even if the Rckt team cannot
destroy the hall, they will surely cripple someone’s economy on the harass. Human players really
do not have a way to keep their peasants alive. If done properly Rcktress will always take human
players out of the game. The three Pandas ensure the capability to deal massive amounts of
damage all game long. Three well placed BoF can easily turn the tide of a battle. This is a highly
adaptable strategy where the Orc can go whatever is needed to counter the enemy.
Weaknesses: As with all feeding strategies, it is vulnerable
to being split hit. The person being fed cannot be in two
places at one time, so hitting bases separately will force
him to burn several TPs or lose halls (and thus his supply
of gold). The problem with Rcktress is that in order to split
hit them, you must do it early before the feeders’ towers are
finished.
Counters: I tend to believe that SH first for Orcs works
best here. KotG is fine too, but DH also works well in this
situation to keep mana burning the Pandas. Keep in mind
that they can purchase their heroes at a tavern near one of your bases, so be ready. A good base
build for NE players is essential to surviving the first harass. If done properly, NE bases can be
saved with relatively few losses. NE players should also bring 5-6 wisps to whatever base is
being attacked. This allows your team to deto a lot of the Pandas’ mana or help repair your ally’s
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hall. If you think your allies can handle it, Orc players
should split hit the Orc or Elf feeder right away. This
forces the Rckt team to suffer heavy economic damage
while they continue their harass, or divert a lot of time to
stopping you (which defeats the purpose of their early
game feeding advantage). The feeders usually hand off
their TPs to the
main Elf, which
means that you
should first focus
the main Elf’s
Panda. Having a low hp hero will cause him to be more
cautious, knowing that any second his hero might die and
leave his hunts stranded. Also, if you force him to TP out,
it leaves the other two Pandas helpless and easy targets
(since they have no TP).
UD feed is a strategy that leaves you feeling violated or cheated when you lose to it.
Similar to Rcktress, if you are not expecting it or do not build the proper base you can quickly
lose a game within a few minutes. Double feed allows the UD player to tech as soon as his initial
five acolytes are built (40 seconds into the game). From here he can either quickly mass ghouls
from four crypts and pick up a 2nd tavern hero to attack you with or, even worse, wait until tier 2
and mass quad crypt gargs. The ghouls approach can quickly hall someone, or at the very least
stop any harass (sleep surround). Going fast gargs is much deadlier, as most teams will not scout
it early enough to have sufficient AA or towers by the time they are attacked. The feeders will
typically go DH or BM to counter the harass and stall enemies from making towers.
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Garg massers will usually attack the Orc, destroying all his burrows and taking him out of
the game. This is crucial because the gargs are very vulnerable to bat riders, and destroying the
Orc removes this danger. The UD player will reach tier 3 extremely fast and start making frosties
to go along with his army. This strategy is extremely abusive and there is no easy counter for it.
A lot of noobs have beaten teams that would normally steamroll them because it’s much easier to
pull off than Rcktress.
Strengths: UD feed is extremely strong early game with
its ability to hall someone with mass ghouls or take Orc
players out of the game with fast air. Its main strength
lies in that it’s almost always too late to stop it even when
scouted early. It is not an especially difficult strategy to
use, requiring only feeding and shift clicking some
burrows.
Weaknesses: Gargs and ghouls are both extremely
vulnerable to Pandas and light air is free experience to
anyone with bats. As with all feeding strategies, it is
vulnerable to being split hit.
Counters: I’ve had recent success against this strategy by
having allies feed me as soon as we realize its UD feed.
Orc players should be fed to quickly make a warmill and
start building some towers as soon as possible. If it’s garg
feed, Orc and NE players should also cancel their heroes
and grab Pandas at the tavern, while switching to HH and
archers. Everyone should make 3-4 towers, but securing
the Orc base is a priority. Mass bats, archers, dryads,
fiends and frosties with lots of split hitting.
A note on feeding in general: Feeding strategies certainly have their advantages. If your friend
is great at DOTA, have him feed you so you can AT without getting free losses. When someone
being fed runs into a regular player, it’s essentially the
same as fighting 2v1 or 3v1 for a few seconds until they
run away or have allies TP in. There are also efficiency
advantages to feeding. As a team, less money is spent on
production buildings and teching because at least one
person on the team doesn’t have to do it. Upgrades are also
more efficient because the fed player’s upgrades affect
many more units on the field. However, by mid to late
game these efficiency advantages become so diminished
that they’re almost irrelevant.
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Feeding is not without its disadvantages. A fed player cannot be in two (or even three)
places at one time. The easiest counter to feeding is split hitting and well timed attacks. There are
also micro disadvantages. One person controlling 80 food of units (in theory) will not be able to
micro as well as two people each controlling 40 food. Feeding (with the exception of garg feed
or Rcktress) does not, in my opinion, offer any significant advantage in 3v3. In most cases, any
team losing to a general feeding strategy would have lost regardless if the enemy fed or played
normally.
Maps of 3v3:
Copper Canyon: This is one of two maps with the special feature of
having only one entrance into the bases. This can either be really good,
or really bad, depending on who wins the harass. They team that wins
the harass on this map is able to effectively contain all three players.
Creeping becomes dangerous and it’s difficult for teams to all meet up
since the harass victor controls the middle. Very often we like to attack a
base, force TPs, and then run to another base – especially on this map.
Copper Canyon is good for both Logon Massing and Standard. If you
don’t have an Elf on your team, I feel sorry for you here.
Everfrost: I really don’t have a lot to say about this map, except that
it’s garbage. It’s too big to effectively harass, and it’s very easy to
creep some of the camps for early game breaking items such as
Scrolls of Animate Dead or Infernal Stones. I thumb this one down.
River of Souls: This is a great map with plenty of ramps and creeps for
everyone. This map isn’t too big, which allows for some good
harassment. Yet, at the same time, close proximity of the bases allows an
NE player to effectively protect his allies with wisps and a hero. It’s
impossible to be sneaky and hide an expo somewhere, since the only two
extra mines are right in the middle. River of Souls is well designed and
well balanced for a variety of strategies.
Bloodstone Mesa: This is another map with plenty of ramps, base
entrances, and creeps for everyone. It’s harder, however, for Orcs to
creep on this map due to Thunder Lizards and searing arrow creeps
owning grunts. There are plenty of places to hide expos and the middle
creeps drop some nice, non-game breaking items.
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Gnoll Wood: One of my favorite maps. Not only is it very pretty,
but it’s very fair. It’s not too small, and not too big, with plenty of
entrances, hills, and shops. The fountain in the middle is random,
sometimes being health and sometimes being mana. Some people
can tell what type of fountain it is by looking at the minimap without
scouting it, but I can’t. Watch out for the expo and middle creeps
jacking your rally units during the day. Also be careful chopping
trees too close to red camps or the golems will decide to ally with
your opponents and own your base.
Highperch: I rank this as one of the worst maps in the game, right up
there with Hurricane Isles. The map is ungodly large, defeating the
purpose of harassment. There are also several single tiled trees in the
middle, making it hard to see/micro your units if a battle happens to be
fought there. I thumb this one down with a vengeance.
Monsoon: This is the second map with only one entrance to bases, a
very advantageous fact for massing teams. This map is fair, with
plenty of expos and shops. I don’t particularly like it, but I don’t hate it
either.
Typhoon: This map always has a mana fountain in the middle, with lots
of wide open space for battle. The starting location layout makes it
difficult for Orc bases to protect both entrances. There is only one shop,
in the bottom right corner. Teams that are lucky enough to have their start
locations centered around it have the slight advantage of being able to
buy scrolls and invuln pots easier than their enemies.
Silverpine Forest: This map is huge, and creeps jack your rallies all day
long. Someone sneak into Blizzard HQ and delete this from the server
please. Two thumbs down.
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Upper Kingdom: What can I say about Upper Kingdom? It’s a great
map with a couple of hard to reach expos in the back for each team.
There are no shops though, so take advantage of heal scrolls in UD
bases. The four orange spots on each side also give some great items for
relatively easy creeping.
Rice Fields: This is an absolutely atrocious excuse for a map. Not
only is it too big, the creeps jack your rallies all day and night. The
heal fountain in the middle is nice, if you control it. I really don’t
understand the name for this map, as there is no rice anywhere to be
found. You would also think a P.C. California company like Blizzard
would realize hundreds of thousands of Asians play this game … at
least it’s better than calling it Cotton Fields.
Mur’gul Oasis: This is my favorite map and unfortunately can only be
played in tournaments. Plenty of creeps, shops, hills, and a mana fountain
in the center. Once on a harass I was chasing a low HP grunt in the
middle and the enemy Orc decided to suicide him into the red creeps. The
creeps killed his grunt, denying me the xp, then proceeded to devour my
full health grunt – slowly digesting him over the next several minutes
while my enemies laughed at me and wasting three food. I’ve been afraid
to go near those creeps ever since.
FS KotG harassment is a fine art. I know a lot of players say it’s just a cookie cutter
abuse that any noob could do. Sure, anyone can do it, but good teams know how to press this
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hero advantage to the fullest extent possible. There is a reason why the same NE/Orc pairs are
being dodged in every prelim and winning in every finals. These teams constantly seem to
dominate on the harass, always being one step ahead of the enemy, and knowing exactly what to
do when they run into another FS/KotG. Good chemistry with your partner and just “knowing”
where you should go to pick up those free unit kills makes all the difference.
This first point cannot be stressed enough. Meet up! So many harassments are won or lost
by a lone KotG or FS running into the other FS/KotG together. A hero caught alone is usually a
hero about to receive a swift rape. One of the first things I do after we have scouted the enemy
and have an idea where their bases are is ping a designated meeting location. Meet up
somewhere along the way, but not far enough out where there is a chance of ever being caught
alone. If this requires one of you to wait a few seconds, do it.
So now you’re together – where should you head?
Night Elf? Definitely not. A good NE player will maybe
lose a couple wisps, or cancel a moonwell. Congratulations,
you’ve really crippled them. Now their heroes just showed
up and you are inside their base, with plenty of spare wisps
and moonwells ready to refill their KotG’s mana. Prepare
to lose a grunt and a hero if you make this choice. How
about harass the UD? Bad idea. You might get a fiend if
their Elf wasn’t smart enough to leave a wisp in the UD
base. After you kill a fiend, DK will pop out around the
same time FS/KotG show up. Now you are dealing with
three heroes against two. Prepare to lose a hero and grunt
minimum for this choice.
So that leaves you with the option of going after Orc or Human, both of which are fine
choices. If it’s a Human, you should easily be able to get a footman or two, or perhaps a rifle if
he’s going straight rifles. Sometimes you will be able to kill an Arcane Tower while it’s
upgrading. Use your best judgment on whether or not to try for this. Experience and practice will
help you calculate the odds (based on tower position, any nearby peasants, and how close the
enemy heroes are [will you have enough time to finish it before they arrive?]) on if you should
go for it. How long you stay and how much you kill depends largely on how good your team is
and how well the Human can handle being harassed.
As for harassing Orc, usually by the time you arrive at
the base the second grunt will be coming out. This is an easy
kill. If you kill this grunt, don’t hang around trying to attack
his base (unless there is a fresh burrow or shop going up that
you can take down). Burrows alone are more than enough to
handle two level one heroes and some wolves. It’s time to
move on and search for a creeping UD or find the other
heroes running around. Orc players should keep in mind that
their second grunt will be coming out as well. If you haven’t
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run into the enemy pair, they are probably about to knock on your door too. Rally that grunt into
the back of your base.
Night Elf players should bring at least two wisps, and have a third on a tree somewhere
within 15-20 seconds distance (usually the scout wisp). If you lose the first two or have to deto
(detonate) them, start bringing the third one on its way (be sure to have your ToL hotkeyed to
make some more wisps for each one you lose). Orc players should summon their wolves when
you are about halfway to your destination. The first reason for this is so that you have your
wolves out, hotkeyed, and ready to use since you might run into the enemy any second. The
second reason is to go ahead and start the cooldown for re-summoning. If your wolves get detoed
or killed you will be able to remake them much faster. This also gives you the ability to resummon and erase the current wolves if they are about to die.
These scenarios happen quite a bit, but more often
than not you will run into the enemy heroes. What do you
do in this situation? Every game is different. Sometimes
it’s better to go after the first grunt you see if it’s out front
and you can get in several free hits. But most of the time,
we prefer to go for the KotG. Grunts have a lot more HP
than level 1 intel heroes, so it usually takes two entangles
to finish one off. They are much harder to kill than heroes
(especially if they have wisps nearby to dispel tangle and
wolves). If you decide to go after the KotG, NE players
should tangle and immediately run and stand right beside
it. Whichever direction he breaks for after he’s free, you follow immediately and run right beside
him. You want to stay with him so that you can tangle him every time your cooldown finishes. A
smart Elf will tangle you and then run, but if you stay with him as much as possible you will be
able to tangle him again before he is out of range. The Orc should follow with his FS as well, but
in a different fashion. Let the FS attack, then run forward a second, and attack again, and repeat.
This allows you to stay as close as possible, while still not losing any damage output. In mirror
harassments, every hit counts.
Of course, while all of this is going on, NE
players will be placing their 2nd well and Orc players
placing their third burrow and shop. A late well means
you have to wait on hunts and a late shop means you
might have to wait to heal after the harass is over,
wasting precious time. As for the fighting, NE players
will be trying to use their wisps to deto enemy wolves
and/or dispel entangle on your ally’s grunts (hopefully
both at the same time). They will be doing the same to
you, so Orc players must try to split their wolves as best
they can if they see a wisp getting in deto range. My
personal opinion on this matter is that if the Elf wants to
deto a 60 gold wisp for one wolf, that’s a fair trade for me. Spending 60 gold for 30 xp is not
much of a bargain, and I still have my other wolf. So in order to force him into a decision, I will
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often send one wolf at the wisp, and keep the other a safe distance away. He either detos for his
30 xp, or lets the wisp die. NE players no doubt know other good Orc players will do this to them
as well. A nice trick is to lure the wisp to the splitting wolf, and the attacking one will chase
(bringing both wolves together) allowing you to dispel both of them.
If you lose the harass, then (depending on how
bad you lose) you may have to be cautious and creep
some green dots and/or hang near your UD to protect
him in case the enemy duo comes looking for him. If
you win the harass, then you have a couple of options.
If your KotG has enough (or nearly enough) mana for
an entangle, then you should go hunting for the UD and
try to snag a fiend. If he is out of mana, it’s time for
him to head home and refill at his wells, while the Orc
creeps a green or easy orange dot. Once the mana is
replenished, it’s time to go hunting again for the
Orc/NE or creeping UD. Sometimes you will guess
correctly and catch the UD creeping red handed and score a fiend (maybe two) and force a TP.
Other times you will stumble across a rally fiend or grunt. If neither of the first two happens, I
usually take this opportunity to go raiding acolytes. Most UD players will be in mid-tech during
this time, making each loss of an acolyte that much more damaging to his gold supply.
It should be noted that evenly matched teams will
probably only narrowly win or lose the harass. More
often than not these teams will actually tie with both sides
losing the same or nothing. In this case you have to
remain cautious and choose to either go continue your
2v2, or hunt the UD. Just remember that they may be
hunting for yours too.
What if your hero is about to die? Should you
ever TP a level 1 hero? The short answer to this is no. A
level 1 hero costs you 170 gold to revive, much less than
a new TP. This isn’t solo, where it’s sometimes ok to run
around without a TP. In 3v3 you better have one in 99% of cases, as will be explained later. The
long answer to this question is that it depends. If you are
going to lose just the hero, then don’t TP. If you are going
to lose the hero and one or more units, then it becomes
economical to TP. If you find yourself in the UD base
raping acolytes and the UD comes home to stop you, I
would usually stick around and do as much damage as I can
before I’m forced to TP out. TP either when your hero is
about to die, or when you think a grunt will be dead within
the next seven seconds. It’s generally not possible to run
out of an UD base without losing something due to the cold
tower. If it was just one grunt that would be fine, but you
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never know if the enemy Elf is going to cut you off and take another, so it’s best to just play it
safe and TP.
What about a level 2 hero? This question falls into a gray area. Once again if it’s just the
hero you’ll lose then you might think about letting it die. Economically this saves you 140 gold,
so in that sense it can be justified. However, level 2 heroes give more experience, and take longer
to revive. So TPing is also justified in this sense. If you ever lose a level 2 hero that you were
trying to TP, just tell your allies this guide said it was OK and you meant to do it. As with the
first case, always TP when about to lose one or more units along with the hero. Never allow a
level 3 or above hero to die if you can TP them out (unless you know your allies have no TP and
you are required to stay no matter what).
The Standard mirror is a match most commonly fought in Azeroth. Each realm has its
own dominant style but East has found itself in the forefront on harnessing the power of
harassment and the KotG (we can all thank STFU_PLZ for this). While this is gradually
changing (I alternate between Standard and Logon Massing about equally now), I still find
Standard to be the most common Orc/NE/UD strategy being played in Azeroth. This match is
extremely competitive and, at least at the outset, revolves around the KotG. Simply put, entangle
means that you cannot run without losing one or more units for free. Early game mistakes and
unnecessary unit losses have devastating consequences later on.
Obviously, this fight always begins with the harass, as described earlier. Depending on
the outcome, Standard teams have a variety of paths they might take to victory. I’ll describe now
the thought process of our team and how we usually try to shape the Standard mirror in our
favor. Many of the concepts here are also applied in games that are not Standard mirrors. The
unit choices have already been mentioned at the beginning of the guide, but where Standard
teams differ is in the pace with which they try to obtain these units. As the Orc player, I tech
extremely fast, often teching to tier 3 immediately after I reach tier 2. After I start the tech, I will
lay down the spirit lodge, and then start training my TC. Many Standard Orcs we face will lay
down the lodge and start their 2nd hero before teching to tier 3. This certainly gives them a faster
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2nd hero than me, but in my opinion offers no significant
advantage in the overall course of the game. What this
difference means is that my totems and tauren are going
to be starting before theirs. Quite frankly, tauren are a
game breaking unit in this matchup capable of both
absorbing and dealing insane amounts of damage. I’ve
noticed that in most battles the team with more tauren
holds the line longer and wins the fight. Nearly every
strategic choice we make in this game is aimed at either
slowing the enemy’s acquisition of tauren or protecting
the speed at which I can create mine.
As for the Night Elf, on my team we prefer the Elf to
tech later than most teams we face. The best Elves I play
with are usually just starting their lores at the same time I’m
making totems. The reason behind this is that dryads are not
a game breaking unit like the tauren or destroyer. There is
also a huge difference in the mid game battle between
swarming the enemy UD with 7 hunts or 10 hunts. Teching
late allows our NE players to be more flexible in feeding
wood or setting up early expos, while at the same time
having more hunts. I prefer more hunts because of the speed
at which I tech (usually I will only have my two heroes and
4-5 grunts for the mid game battle). If our Elf has a larger
army, he can cover us in the event of a strong tier 2 push or
give us the advantage if we decide to initiate the first mid
game attack. While this certainly means that nearly every
game our Elf is out-teched to dryads, this disadvantage can
be lessened by making archers after 8-10 hunts. Archers
actually beat dryads in equal food, and help us keep the game
even until we get enough dryads of our own.
UD players pretty much play the same in every game
with perhaps one exception. Some like to make two slaughter
houses for more destroyers, and some like to make just one
SH and build more fiends. We prefer the one SH method for
several reasons. Firstly, in terms of damage per food, fiends
are better than destroyers (without mana). Secondly, fiends
are better, obviously, at fighting mass dryads than destroyers
(which can’t hit them at all). And thirdly, every once in a
while the game unfolds in a manner such that the two UDs
will have to solo one another. Generally (assuming equal
micro and hero levels) the UD with more fiends will defeat
the other who decided to go mass destroyers.
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As for the actual progression of the game, after the harass is over and our UD is level 3
we will meet up and initiate the mid game attack. Being the first to meet and attack has several
advantages. First off, our Elf usually has more hunts due to the late tech and we intend to
maximize this to the fullest extent possible. Another advantage is that the three of us might run
into just the NE/Orc who haven’t met up with their UD yet. Just a few seconds of 3v2 can be
devastating, and might force them to burn their TPs. Once we start attacking a base, the opposing
team usually has to TP in to fight us. The fight is now in our favor because it’s always better to
walk rather than TP in. If we decisively win this battle, then the game is over. If we are losing,
then we can always TP out and the game is still even since both sides have burned TPs. And yet
another positive outcome of hitting first is that it distracts and draws the enemy away from our
Night Elf’s expo, which is probably nearly finished by this point.
The single greatest advantage of hitting first is that we
can attack the Orc. Just being at his base usually means that
he cannot start his totems, or will have to cancel any totems
in the front. We may even be able to take out the spirit lodge
before the enemy arrives to stop us, which will greatly delay
heal wards for the other team. Slowing the Orc is our primary
goal of hitting first because it means for the next battle we
will have more tauren which, as described earlier, usually
means we win the game. It certainly helps to hit the Night Elf
as well, but stalling lores doesn’t help your team nearly as
much as stalling totems. We never attack UD because an UD
player in his base can hold even three armies for a very long time, while his allies wreak havoc
on our bases or expo and TP in after doing substantial damage.
This process of having battles, attacking Orc bases, building and destroying expos, and
strategic TP use will continue until one side loses a fight so badly that they know it’s over. If you
play smart and work well with your allies, it won’t be your team that leaves the game first.
The key to winning in Standard mirror is each player
knowing and executing their role. Night Elf players’ time to
shine are the first 10 minutes of the game, where skilled
KotG hunts players can dominate anything in the field. After
that, Elves are reduced to a source of income (with
expansions and feeding wood to Orc) and annoyance
(tangling free units when people try to run or, even better,
surrounding heroes and forcing a TP). All NE players get
owned mid to late game, but good Elves don’t get owned
quite as badly. In extremely late game situations, with each
side having one or more expos, NE players gain back some
importance with the need for dryads to counter mass
destroyers and maybe even MGs to provide more meat.
The job of an Orc player is to absorb damage so that your UD can dish it out. In battle
you pretty much always want your Orc to be near the UD, providing him with a meat shield so
25
he can fight without having to back up (and thus stop dealing
damage). Orcs exist because of the value of FS on a harass,
but more importantly because of the power of the almighty
Tauren Cheiftain. I cannot stress the importance of this hero
enough in 3v3. High level shockwave deals insane amounts
of damage (don’t ever go stomp - it’s worthless in 3s) and the
endurance aura is invaluable when it’s increasing the attack
and movement speed of your entire team. Orc players are the
team punching bag – never able to show off like NE or rape
10 heroes per game like UD. If you have a great game, it
goes unnoticed to all but the trained eye. But you can always
make up for that by writing a 3v3 guide and educating people
that you are not just some noob being carried by Flame_Yz every game.
UD players are the damage dealers, hero nukers,
and rock stars of 3v3. The longer a game goes, the more
and more a game’s outcome is in your hands – no pressure.
Honestly, most games are won by a good Orc/NE combo
setting the table and UD just mopping up. But the close
games are where a good UD player shows his true value.
Every late game 3s UD is going to own, it’s just a matter of
which team’s UD will own more.
The Orc’s need for lumber: The Standard Orc’s need for a lodge (150 wood), doc tech (50 and
100), berserker strength (150), totems (155 each), pulverize (250), and tauren (80 each)
unfortunately requires much more lumber than your poor peons can chop. This doesn’t even take
into account the wood you will need for teching, burrows, and upgrades. It is inevitable that you
26
will have to ask your allies to pass you lumber throughout all
stages of the game, however there a couple of things you can
do to lessen this burden. One trick I like to use is make an 8th
wood peon after my second burrow has finished. This will
delay your tier 2 tech by a few seconds, but is well worth it
for the extra wood income later on. Another thing to do is
build your warmill early (shortly after you start the tier 2
tech). While this usually means I have one grunt less than my
enemy, it’s a fair tradeoff since it facilitates the gathering of
lumber. Not only will you need the warmill to create totems,
this allows you to upgrade your units sooner. If you’re going
to be upgrading anyway (and you really should be) then the
grunts might as well benefit too.
Upgrade the armor: The job of Orcs in 3v3 is to absorb damage for your team. This is why
armor upgrades are so important. With an early mill and wood help from your allies, you should
be able to have your second armor upgrade around the same time (or soon after) you begin
making tauren. Attack upgrades are helpful, but your main damage output comes from
shockwave and pulverize (which is not helped by attack upgrades). I do upgrade attack, but only
after I have at least two armor upgrades already finished.
Base build: Base builds in 3v3 require a delicate balance of
protecting your hall and burrows, while not leaving valuable
buildings vulnerable in the front. You want a base tight
enough to protect you, but not so closed that your allies have
no room to fight should they be forced to TP in. Burrows are
not towers to be put out front. In fact, they are quite fragile
and every effort should be made to protect them. I generally
always build in such a way as to have my lodge and at least
one totem protected inside the base. On some maps I am
actually able to “hide” both totems. At around the same time
your UD is getting destroyers you will want to think about
upgrading to fortified burrows. If you don’t have the wood,
it’s important to demand it from your allies. As always, the
best base defense is a good offense. Attack their Orc base
first so that they don’t have a chance to mess with yours.
Utilize the Witch Doctor: Docs are not just for heal wards
(although that is the primary reason to get them). Place sentry
wards in key locations such as the center fountains,
commonly used paths (like the center gold mines on River of
Souls), and enemy bases (when you get the chance). Place
them to kill burrowed fiends and in every battle against
Blademaster users drop one. Often when attacking an enemy
base I will place a stasis trap in front of the hall and also one
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behind us. If they TP in they are stunned, or if they flank the stun allows us time to shift into
position.
What to do in battle: In the smaller scale engagements, it’s
perfectly fine to move around and flank certain units (such as
archers or fiends). In larger battles, however, you want to
avoid the tendency to overmicro your units. Check that the
position is good, and if you decide to commit then attack
move your army into the enemy position. Right clicking with
your melee in these large engagements is a big mistake, as
your units will start walking around stumbling over
themselves to get in a hit (greatly reducing your aggregate
damage output). Attack moving ensures your units are all
fighting and will form a solid melee line for your allies to
fight behind.
After the battle begins you’ll notice the “line” form between both sides’ melee units. The
first thing I do is place a heal ward such that the outer edges are healing my units in the melee
line. It’s key to place it close enough to help, but not so close that it’s devoured without
consequence (usually any destro that devours a ward placed like this is instantly webbed). The
second thing you must do (and quickly) is place a stasis trap right in the middle of the fight.
Traps have the interesting feature of destroying all other traps in its radius (friendly and foe
alike). This means that the first Orc to lay a trap will be the one to have it go off. In every game
against good UD players my first heal ward is almost immediately devoured. Be prepared for this
and lay another asap. I find at this point most UDs stop devouring my wards and traps because
they are too busy microing their units and nuking heroes. Heal wards do not stack, so don’t waste
precious mana by placing 2-3 in the same spot. As soon as your trap goes off or is devoured,
place another.
If you notice the enemy Orc place a trap in the fight,
take one of your UD’s destros and devour it for him. At this
point in the battle he cannot easily tell friendly or enemy traps
apart and is probably busy microing other things. I like to keep
my TC on the end of the battle so that I can easily shockwave
down the melee line and then quickly pull him back.
Obviously, use your hero spells every chance you get but be
ready to collectively nuke any hero your team calls out. Pull
back red units if the position allows it, but in some battles there
is too much going on or no room to be pulled back. In this case
it’s best to just let the unit deal as much damage as it can
before bravely dieing in a blaze of glory.
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With input from Diablo-Joint and Hamzilla
Entangle surrounds: In early and mid game battles it’s very
easy to tangle surround enemy heroes. This is a great way to
force players into wasting an early TP or losing their hero.
When two Night Elves run into each other, you should almost
certainly go for a KotG surround due to the ease of detoing an
entangled hunt and then hiding it.
Wisp your allies: Putting a wisp in each of your allies’ base
is an effective and easy way to counter harassment. When
facing Logon Massing, it is not necessary to do this.
However, if you are Logon Massing yourself or facing
Standard then it’s a must. This comes in extremely handy if your team is attacked early and the
enemy has a Book of the Dead. Also, as Night Elf, you are the designated team scout due to the
speed of wisps. Send wisps near possible expos to keep a constant eye on them later in the game.
Flanking and swarming: The speed of Night Elf and entangle makes them perfect for flanking.
Staying between the enemies’ armies and their bases gives you the chance to kill both rally units
and hurt units being sent home. If the enemy decides to press the attack anyway, the flanking Elf
can constantly hit and run the back lines, causing all sorts of chaos. If the enemy army decides to
try and fight the Elf, then he can just simply keep running away (buying all sorts of time). In
some situations where you have enough hunts it’s advantageous to “swarm” certain players (such
as an UD or HU with rifles). This works with a PotM, but is better with KotG. If you can swarm
an UD (especially before he has a Lich) and kill an equal ratio of fiends to hunts, then it’s a good
trade. However, once he has 7 or more fiends, burrow, and a Lich you’d be lucky to kill even one
fiend for every two hunts lost.
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Second hero choice: If you are Logon Massing with a solo PotM, obviously this does not apply.
For other games though, your 2nd hero should depend upon the map and enemy units. In most
cases getting either a Firelord or Pit Lord is a good idea. Against mass rifles or head hunters
getting Pit Lord is a must. On maps like Upper Kingdom, where games can drag on for quite
some time, it may be best to get a PotM second rather than Firelord. Late game Firelord
summons are easily dispelled, while true shot only grows stronger and stronger.
Base build: Nothing is easier to hall than an open Night Elf
base. Avoid this disaster by building appropriately. Against
non-Elf teams you can be a bit more relaxed, with a slightly
open base leaving your allies room to TP in. Against single
Elf teams, your hall should be at least partially blocked.
Double NE teams require you to block the hall entirely. If
you have an extremely tight base and your allies are forced to
TP, uproot your AoWs to allow them a little more room to
fight.
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Tangle n’ run: In many games the enemy will make a break for it. If this happens give chase,
entangle a fleeing unit, and then keep running. Let your allies finish it off while you wait for the
cooldown and entangle another. You can sometimes do this literally three or four times,
depending on how much mana the KotG has. If they decided not to TP or didn’t have one, make
them pay for running away.
Expanding: In addition to being the team scout, Night Elves are also the designated expanders.
Since NE players usually only need to tech to tier 2 (if they tech at all) expanding barely slows
them down. Elf players should get in the habit of always expanding at least once per game and
feeding their allies.
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Written by Flame_Yz
This section will explain how to play Undead in 3s. The first thing I want to say is that
UD in 3s is DK/Lich/CL (or sometimes DK/Lich only) with fiends, statues, and destroyers
(occasionally some frost wyrms later) every game. Yes, every single game you start with DK
fiends. If you want to tell me that it’s better to go ghouls first then tech to something like a
combination of gargs, banshees, aboms, necros with wagons, or whatever your ridiculous idea is
- thank you for your opinion. You can stop reading this and go jump off a cliff now, because
your life is obviously worthless.
As mentioned earlier, there are two main Orc/NE/UD strategies - Standard and Logon
Massing. However, the UD part is pretty much the same in both except for one little difference.
In Logon Massing, you only need 2 ghouls because your NE ally will cover you on wood since
he will stay tier 1 and mass hunts for the whole game until he reaches 50/50 food. Then he will
start feeding you and the Orc ally (both gold and wood) thanks to the Noobelf’s ability to mass
expos.
Since I’ve been using the Standard Orc/NE/UD strategy most of the time, I will focus on
what to do as a “Standard Undead” in 3s. So, here is what usually happens …
I turn on my computer, log onto Battle.Net, and find two other people. I usually play with
the same partners all the time so, please, save yourself some time and know that any kind of AT
request will be ignored and you might be humiliated by the massive amounts of shit talking with
caps lock on. So I find a team, jump into Azeroth, and hit the search button. Unless there is a 3s
tournament that day, usually only one of us can use our real name while two others smurf in
order to find a game. GJ Blizzard, I love the new AMM system and ELL idea. One minute of
waiting … two minutes of waiting … five minutes … zZzZzZzZz … w00t! We found a game!
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Loading Screen …
It’s Jeffo.NET! Inventor of the famous “warmill after tier 3” strat. Æ GG or …
It’s STFU_PLZ! He doesn’t win because he’s better, he wins because he’s smarter. Æ Alt-QQ
Or … it’s a name that’s a combination of childish words and some random numbers I’ve never
heard of like DarkWarrior9417 Æ 4v4 RT is serious business, I think you’ve searched the wrong
game type.
The game starts …
Put your three acos to gold and the ghoul to wood
first, obviously. Make two more acos, then build a crypt and
a graveyard. Share control with your allies, press shift + enter
and type “Just leave now, you worthless filth”, and wait for
the 100 gold from your NE ally. Make the altar, zig, 2nd
ghoul, shop, fiend, DK, 2nd zig, a cold tower if needed, 2nd
fiend, and buy a rod once DK is out. At this point you’re
ready to creep with DK, two skeletons, and two fiends.
Now, here’s where some players might differ. Some
people like to tech at 23/30 with three fiends, and then make
a 3rd ghoul after they tech. That’s fine but what I usually do is
tech at 26/30 with 4 fiends, and then add two more ghouls
after the 3rd zig. I prefer this way because I will have more
wood at tier 3. This allows me to either give some to my Orc
ally for fortified armor and tauren armor upgrades, or give
some to the NE ally since he might need wood for expo(s),
dryads, or sometimes tier 3 tech for MGs and skin upgrades.
Usually I will have a level 3 DK, six fiends, the first attack
upgrade, and an expo clear for NE by the time my tier 2 tech
is finished. (The food population should be 36/50.)
Once in tier 2 I get a Lich, upgrade the fiends burrow ability, and build a slaughter house.
Some players prefer to build it after they start the tier 3 tech, which doesn’t make a big
difference in my opinion. Now we can either attack because my DK is level 3, or we can keep
creeping if my allies are not ready because they lost some units on the harass. It all depends on
how the game goes. Sometimes we might have to defend a base if our enemies decide to be
aggressive and hit first. But they will usually be analized (without lube) and lose 90% of their
army. Some decide to quit right away avoiding further humiliation, while others might choose to
stay for some dramatic conversation. Either way is fine with me, but if you see my name on the
loading screen I suggest not attacking us first unless you want a swift ten minute rape.
During the tier 3 tech I will make a couple more fiends, some statues, research web, and
start the second attack upgrade if my Elf has an expo up to feed me some resources. Once in tier
3 I upgrade the “morph into destroyer” ability first, get a CL as 3rd hero, and grab an orb for
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Lich. From this point on it’s pretty simple - keep making statues for more destroyers or add a
few fiends for AA depending on how the game goes.
A few general tips …
Burrow rape: This tip doesn’t apply to just the 3v3 game type.
I’m sure you know it’s pretty popular in solo and 2s as well
because it’s very easy to take out the Orc burrows once you
have a few destroyers (unless he was smart enough to get
fortified armor in time). Warning - do NOT try to be a hero and
go for burrows if the Orc is far away from you. For example, if
you are at bottom right corner and the Orc is at the top left
position on Upper Kingdom. It would be stupid to go all the
way up there thinking “Man, I’m gonna own him” and end up
running into three armies having to TP out.
Chain morph: What this means is you morph one destroyer, absorb the mana from a statue, then
morph that statue and repeat so that your destroyers will have full mana. You can use this
technique when you are about to go burrow raping or just before a battle.
Focus units: There’s not much to talk about here, I just want to mention that it’s always better to
focus units (heavy armor melee units first like tauren, bears, aboms, etc) and take them out one
by one instead of just attack walking.
Hero nuke: We all know UD is the best hero nuke race. It’s
the same in all game types, so there’s not much to say here
either. Just be sure to click on the hero you plan to focus and
see if it has any items like an ankh, invulnerable potion, etc.
Also, it might be a good idea to focus a weak hero (FS,
KotG, or AM) and make them TP if you don’t think you can
win the battle.
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Did you mean to pick Human? In my honest opinion, Human is
the worst race for 3v3. I can count on one hand the number of
serious games I’ve ever lost to HU teams. Human heroes are weak,
their units are slow, and their base is constantly vulnerable to
harassment. Every role for HU in 3s is better filled by another race,
with the exception of AoE and morts halling or Protocol. Mass
rifles are not as good at defeating air as dryads. Expansions are
more expensive and more vulnerable than Night Elf expos. AM
footies KotG harassment isn’t even half as good as FS KotG.
Knights are the worst tier 3 melee in the game - any race can do a
better job of holding the line. So, the best tip I have for Human
players is to pick a new race for 3v3. But for those of you content
to ignore this advice here are a few things you can do to make HU not suck quite as badly.
Base build: Human players are going to be harassed … all game.
A HU player who doesn’t know how to build a good base is a
HU player who just gave his team a free loss. You will want to
leave yourself one entrance into the base, so that you can at least
force a TP when someone runs inside and rapes all of your
peasants. Building an Arcane Tower is not optional, it’s a must.
A good base with an Arcane can save you on the harass. You
may not be able to go out and creep, but at least your base is
safe. Start moving peasants to your tower before the enemy
attacks it, so that you are able to repair it as soon as possible and
keep it alive.
Hero choice: In my experience, any first HU hero can be used well with the exception of MK.
Paladin is useful when massing dual rax rifles and can come in extremely handy for healing your
ally’s TC. AM is an obvious good choice because of Blizzard and Brilliance Aura, which are
both very good in team games (assuming you can blizz from a well protected spot). I have even
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seen Bloodmage used effectively in 3s by going siphon
mana first. This is a strong anti-harassment skill that
allows you to drain most of the KotG’s mana before he
can do too much damage. That being said, AM and BM
are both extremely fragile. AM has the lowest HP of any
starting hero and makes great target practice for UD
players. Do not lead your army with your hero. AM can
be tangled, coiled, nova’d, shockwaved and die in about
two seconds if you aren’t careful.
Get Divine Shield: HU players who decide to make a Pally
should always invest at least one point in DS (if I ever
random HU and go Pally I will get HL/DS/HL/Aura/HL).
He is slow and always winds up in the front lines, making
him an easy target. What good is the aura if you’re hero
only lives ten seconds anyway?
AoE + morts halling: This one is pretty self explanatory
so I won’t write much here. The one thing I’ve noticed
some players doing incorrectly is the placement of their
AoE. Focus morts on the hall, and when you cast your
Blizzard and Flame Strike do it in such a way that it’s
hitting the repairing workers (or mining workers if they
aren’t repairing) and the hall itself. This increases the
amount of damage hitting the hall as well as killing any
workers in the radius.
Know when to use militia: In early and some mid game battles it’s perfectly fine to call to arms
and bring out some extra help. However, in late game situations where everyone has high level
AoE and strong melee units, you might want to reconsider. A single tauren with pulverize can
handle about 15 militia on his own and that’s not even taking into account the high level
shockwave or nova that’s bound to hit them as well. Even if you win the battle your economy is
wrecked, so know when to bring militia out.
If your team is harassing, it’s also sometimes a good idea to militia creep a nearby green
dot while you go fight with your team. This is relatively easy to do, and provides a little bit of
extra xp for your team’s heroes to reach level two faster.
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Position, timing, and micro: These are the most important
parts of 3v3 – in that order. Position refers to things such as
having melee units up front (obviously), not being
bottlenecked (like trying to fight a battle while sort of half
being in a base), and having enough room to maneuver
your army (if needed) allowing you to save units or heroes.
Make sure your team’s position is good, but also be aware
of the enemy’s position. If they are in a bad position, then
your team must exploit it. Position, more than anything
else, determines the winner of large six army battles.
Timing is pretty self explanatory. Make sure you are
hitting at a time that is advantageous to your team’s strategy.
Every strategy has a time frame within the game where a
battle gives them the highest chance of winning. HU/NE/Orc
and massing strategies want to force the game deciding battle
early. NE/NE/UD or Standard teams generally want to force
the game decider mid-late to late game. Double UD or
HU/Orc/UD are always looking to fight the main battle very
deep into the match.
Micro is third on the list, but still very important. Any
battle between two teams with equal position and armies will be decided by micro. It’s certainly
possible to improve your micro, but I’ve found this skill to largely be one of those “you either
have it or you don’t” things. I know my own limits. I will never be a great solo or 2s player
because my micro is just good – not great. I’m probably a good 3s Orc because it mostly requires
good macro and a lot of strategic attack moving. I win most of my games by outsmarting
opponents and maximizing position and timing to our advantage.
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Wand of illusion: I love getting this item and will use it in
one of two ways. If I am UD or TC creeping with Orc, I will
use the illusions to tank damage from strong creeps. This can
be extremely useful in getting a quick level 3 without hurting
your units or hero too much. The second way I use this item
is to save it until we have tauren or MGs. Illusions take
double damage, but on high HP units this provides you with a
lot of extra “free” meat. It can also scare the hell out of
someone when he sees five tauren crashing down on him
when I’ve really only got two. It’s also funny to see someone
waste an entangle or coil to finish off one of your illusioned
units that you “microed” away.
Blocking: This refers to using a fast unit such as wisp, hero, or hunt to “block” a fleeing unit
that’s trying to run away. Everyone knows about the pathing in Warcraft where a unit will stop
when it runs into something and try to find a way around it. We’ve all lost heroes to the infamous
“sheep block” and the concept here is the same. You want to dance the blocking unit back and
forth in front of your target and stop it repeatedly while you kill it. Some players are so good
with wisps or hunts that they can almost make a fleeing unit stand still.
Killing the NE mine: Sometimes an Elf will build a base
that protects his hall but leaves the mine wide open.
Destroying the mine is a great way to still cause a lot of
damage in this situation. Losing the mine will cost the NE
over 550 gold in lost income while he re-entangles it, not
counting the replacement cost of any wisps he lost trying to
repair. You also cannot re-entangle mines while teching, so if
you can kill it mid tech the lost income is even worse.
Taking hills and ramps: Elevation has a strategic advantage
in this game. Ranged units firing uphill have a certain
percentage of their attacks that will miss. Fighting downhill
effectively reduces the damage output of your enemy. In
addition to misses, there are line of sight advantages to
fighting on a hill. You cannot cast spells on units you can’t
see, so this is a huge advantage to whoever holds the hill or
ramp (especially at night).
Feeding dropped allies: If one of your allies drops very early or right at the start of a game it’s
much easier (in my opinion) to just feed him and control his base. It’s more difficult to try and
macro two bases and micro two armies at the same time, so feeding removes both of these
problems. You also cannot spend your dropped allies gold for his own items, it comes out of
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your bank account. Feeding allows you to more easily save up the necessary gold for TPs and
other shop items.
Tournament ties: Very few people understand exactly how the tournament scoring system
works. Your tourney score is the sum of experience from all living heroes, and the wood and
gold cost of all living units and buildings when time runs out. Dead heroes add nothing and
neither does money in the bank or the cost of items. In prelim games if a team has three times the
tourney score of their enemy, they will get the win. Otherwise it’s officially a tie. In finals
matches, the team with a higher tourney score wins – period.
In the final minutes of a game you want to spend your money on as many units and
buildings as you can. Go into high upkeep if you have to since gold in the bank doesn’t matter
anyway. Last minute tavern heroes will also add 560 points to your score (425 gold and 135
wood). If you are losing, do everything you can to keep heroes alive because they are the single
greatest source of tournament score with their experience points. High level heroes should be
purchased at the tavern if they won’t revive at the altar before time runs out. Conversely, if you
are winning try and take out enemy heroes.
Sometimes if you know that you will lose the game, it’s a good idea to start preparing to
tie. In these cases I will ask for resources from my allies, then research fortified and make 10-15
towers (sometimes more) while massing demos in my base. Orc bases with mass towers and
demos can sometimes last anywhere from 5-7 minutes and allow me to tie a game I should have
lost. It’s cheap, but it goes both ways. I’ve tied a lot of games I should have won because of this
tactic as well. This won’t work in finals because high score wins and if you’ve really lost the
game you’ll lose the score too.
Make two shops: Yes, you read that correctly. In very long
games with a lot of strategic hitting and running with TP
usage, sometimes the cooldown on new TPs takes too long.
The cooldown on a new TP is the exact same time for
making a new shop, so you might as well do it if you know
that you’re going to keep using a lot of TPs. When these
situations happen, it’s usually on Upper Kingdom with each
team having several expos (so the gold cost is not a problem).
I’ve had games where both teams combined used over 20
TPs.
Double orbs: Orb effects do not stack. Having two of the same orb will not help you at all
(except for the extra five damage or whatever). Having two orbs of different types will not help
you either. The orb in the topmost left position will be the one that works. So spread your orbs
out accordingly among your heroes if you have more than one. Also, orbs cancel out the PotM’s
searing arrow so she should never have one.
Claws of attack: Every one of these you find should be given to the Lich. A tier 3 UD’s Lich
should have an orb of corruption (which lowers armor of the unit being attacked). Lower armor
means the unit is taking more damage, making Lich the most efficient hero to be carrying claws
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of attack. If you are using a Blademaster (and you really
shouldn’t be in 3s) the damage from claws are multiplied by
critical strikes. So it’s good for him to have them as well.
Tree hugging: No, I am not talking about saving the rain
forests here. This refers to running your weak hero closely
along the tree line and taking sharp turns around forest edges
to hopefully stay out of line of sight from a pursuing DK or
KotG. As mentioned earlier, you can’t cast spells on units
you can’t see so your hero might cheat death by hugging the
trees. This also works when being chased up a ramp.
Shift build: I am always amazed by how often I see idle workers from even good players. It
seriously takes one extra second after you’ve placed the building to hold shift and right click a
tree. This simple step helps keep your macro economy running as efficiently as possible while
you’re fighting somewhere else on the map.
Mining distant gold mines: In late game situations when
money is tight and mines are out (or if you have 1.5 k wood)
you need to make those peasants and peons do something
useful. Send them to mine gold from the nearest cleared mine.
It’s always funny to see a long line of peons lugging gold
halfway across the map, but sometimes you have no other
option.
Always carry a TP: In the world of 3v3 you must always have
a TP. Let me say that one more time: always carry a TP. If this
requires you to wait on gold, wait for a shop to finish, or run to
an ally’s or neutral shop, then do it. In 3s there is a lot of split
hitting, mid game harassment, and random occurrences where you run into several armies
together. You simply cannot ever afford to get trapped 2v1 or 3v1 and lose your entire army.
You also can’t afford to be harassing an enemy base without a TP while the enemy is attacking
your allies 3v2. TPs are also your “get out of jail free” cards (that cost $350 each) for when a
battle is going wrong or the position is bad. Having a TP gives you a chance to get out, regroup,
and try again. There is really only one circumstance that warrants running to a deciding battle
without a TP, which will be described later.
If and how to TP: Let me start off by reiterating the importance of position. It is the single
greatest factor in determining who wins a battle. In light of this fact, it is almost always better to
walk into battle rather than TP. If it’s only going to take your team 15-30 seconds to walk, then
just walk and lose a few buildings. TPing in is generally horrible in terms of setting up your
team’s position. That’s why it’s important to have good base builds and TP in ahead of time if
you are going to do so. This allows you the time needed to properly arrange your armies for
battle. Sometimes you are too far away from the base to walk, and also too far away from an
enemy base to hall them before they hall you. In these cases you have no choice but to TP.
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TPing with Orc is the most difficult of any race in
3v3. Being the melee army, you must strike a balance
between not TPing out too far in front and being swallowed
up or TPing too far back and landing on top of your UD (or
even worse, behind him). Good team chemistry and
experience will help you to make good TPs in the best
possible position it allows. For every TP made I will either
call out on vent or type to my allies where I’m going to
land. I use the hall as a frame of reference and will say
something along the lines of top-left, or bottom-center, etc.
My UD ally then knows where I will be and TPs behind me
accordingly (since you always want UD and Orc fighting
together).
Occasionally the enemy will be halling one of your bases and you’ll TP back to stop
them. Rather than fight, they will keep attacking the hall and destroy it, then TP out. As of right
now (for the next minute or two) the game is still even and if you killed several units while they
finished the hall, you are actually ahead. If it was a tier 1 or tier 2 NE hall, you might just want to
rebuild it and play normally. However, if it was a tier 3 UD or Orc hall you must go attack right
away, while the game is still tied. The longer you wait, the further and further your team will fall
behind both in economic terms and tech. This is the only situation where you shouldn’t bother
with buying a new TP before heading into battle. If you were to get one and be forced to TP out
of a losing fight, you are going to lose the game anyway as the loss of income from being halled
begins to take its toll. So you might as well go hit now while you’re together and try to win the
game while you still have a chance. If you’re on the opposite side of this coin, know that they are
coming and prepare accordingly by meeting up and holding the hill or ramp they’ll be coming to.
On a personal note, there is a certain exhilaration in these situations where your team is
racing against the clock to fight a final all or nothing battle. I’ll often say to my team right before
it starts “This is it guys, no one TP out” (sometimes one of us might still have a TP) to which
Flame usually replies “Yep, fight to the death” and the adrenaline rush begins. It’s especially
intense if we know this is the game that decides who wins the tourney (which is actually rarely
the round 4 game). These moments are the reason why I play Warcraft III. The most fun and
exciting games are always the ones where you think you have a real chance of losing, then still
pull out the victory.
Strategic hall trading: In many games you’ll find yourselves halling the enemy while they hall
you. You should never give up your tier 3 Orc, HU, or UD bases without getting an equal hall in
return. If you do lose the Orc hall, NE players should tech to tier 3 for MGs with skins to
substitute for the absence of tauren. If any team is ever halling our Elf while we are halling the
Orc, HU, or UD we will gladly accept the trade. By this time NE is usually just feeding us
anyway, so it doesn’t hurt us to lose his hall nearly as bad as it’s going to hurt them losing a nonElf hall. We also hate TPing in to fight, as described earlier, so that just reinforces our decision.
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Fighting around fountains: Heal fountains are like a
giant, permanent heal ward for the team controlling it.
Mana fountains are like statues on crack, replenishing
enormous amounts of mana quickly. It’s absolutely foolish
to attack any team holding a fountain and I am continually
surprised by how many teams actually do it. Heal fountains
are obviously great, but I prefer it to be mana because it
allows my docs to cast virtually unlimited amounts of heal
wards – giving my team the best of both worlds. In addition
to several heal wards, the mana fountain allows our team to
constantly spam traps and hero spells with such frequency
that it’s beyond ridiculous.
Conclusion:
I’ve attempted to explain in this guide everything I know about the 3v3 game type. It’s
impossible to write about every single thing or strategy variation. Different players, maps, races,
and start locations will always require strategic adjustments for every game. No amount of
knowledge can make someone a great 3s player overnight. Even if someone were to memorize
every word of this guide, it would still take practice to develop team chemistry and gain enough
experience to make the various split second decisions that determine the course of a game. Every
player naturally develops their own play style and learns what works best for them. Still yet,
everyone’s style will inevitably work better with some players more than others. It’s my hope
that the information in this guide will help people to better understand this game type and have
more fun playing 3v3.
Acknowledgements:
I’d like to take this opportunity to thank several people who, without them, I wouldn’t be
the player I am today and this guide would not be possible.
Flame_Yz: The smartest 3s player I know who is skilled with any race (especially UD). He
helped more than anyone else on giving me input and feedback for this guide. I learned nearly
everything I know from him and have never met a more solid ally.
Hamzilla: He’s my favorite noobelf and one of the best 3v3 Night Elves in the game. Few
players know how to use the KotG with such skill and annoyance. Without question, he is one of
the most fun people to play Warcraft III with and provided valuable insight for the guide.
Diablo-Joint: Also known by many other akas, he is right up there with Hamzilla in skill and
knowledge of Night Elf 3s. His ability to be constantly scouting the map and predicting enemy
movement is rarely matched. The input and contributions he made to this guide are greatly
appreciated.
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Sou-: Also better known simply as Inz, he has been a great friend and ally since the early days of
RoC. Along with being the UD on my first serious team, his renegade style has always been fun
and comical to play with.
Noob.Production: Known by several other great akas as well, it’s easier to just call him Mikey.
He’s an amazing 3s UD player and it’s been a blast playing (and winning) so many tournies with
him.
TX_Vols: Known among our circle of friends as Ken the Fearless (KTF), he teaches us that the
game is not all about winning. Few players so bravely confront the enemy in the face of
overwhelming odds. Playing with him is truly hilarious and inspiring to watch.
Mr.Ownz, GayaNdLovinIt., 1tym.NEt, I_Rock_Ur_Mom, and DefiningMoments: Games
with (and against) these guys over the past couple years have been instrumental in helping me
learn to adapt and grow as a player. Anytime you see their names on the load screen you can be
sure it’s going to be an interesting match.
Posters from the Official Warcraft III General Discussion forum: You guys know who you
are. Both your support and hate have been a continuing inspiration for me as I wrote this guide.
Questions or comments about this guide are welcome. I can be reached via email at
[email protected] and on Azeroth as either Admiral_Thrawn or Mystique_.
“I do not love the bright sword for its sharpness, nor the arrow for its swiftness, nor the warrior
for his glory. I love only that which they defend.”
- J.R.R. Tolkien
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