Mocha
Legendary
This is a brainstormed compilation of some tips and tricks for playing Warsong Gulch that I created in a few minutes off of the top of my head. Chances are there are a few that are somewhat redundant and I know that I've forgotten dozens, but this is not a formal or complete guide. Perhaps I will consider aiding in the creation of a formal Warsong tips guide in the future. But as for right now, I just wanted to get some information out there. It's likely that people may disagree with some or have different views or opinions on some which is fine. At the end of the day, play the game how you want to play. However, there really aren't right or wrong tips or tricks. Personally, I've seen more Warsong games than most players in the community with the exception of a few, so a lot of these are subconscious things I've picked up over the years and tried to put into text. You can either use what you can and choose to get out of this post or ignore it. I would like to hope that the community will step up their game in terms of playing objectively, and some of these tips can help in doing so.
I am not a perfect player, I do not have perfect positioning. I am not always where I need to be and I make mistakes. Especially with that annoying range on bear swipe thingy... that crap can die in a fire as I'm still getting used to that. Or the bogus range of stealth detection for hunters... It's really been a long time since I've played 19 rogue or FCd, so I'm always getting better and getting back into the swing of things.
I hope some information could be gathered from these tips and hopefully there's at least 1 thing that you can pick up from here.
First and foremost, everyone interested in playing Warsong Gulch will greatly benefit from scroll clicking. It will be your secret weapon which will give you a phenomenal improvement to the speed by which you can pick and return flags. I have created a guide all about scroll clicking which can be found here ---> http://www.twinkinfo.com/forums/f161/mochas-guide-scroll-clicking-64891/
Baiting people to undesired locations on the map can be an absolutely powerful play and is often overlooked. The more you post on forums, the easier it will be to bait enemies and the more enemies will come running completely out of position hungry for an hk.
Don't be that guy ambushing pets just to pad the charts. It's better to have lower damage but more focused assaults than it is to have 60k damage a game on pointless mid fights.
Your priorities should always be flags. If you're healing, dpsing, doesn't matter. Getting kills can be important, but it is never more important than picking up a flag.
Everybody should have their Zone Maps on and activated. I cannot tell you how many dozens of times every game I look at this to see EFCs locations, to see where my team is distributed etc. It's absolutely crucial to check this before trying to run some sort of assault.
Always take boots and zerker if they're up and you're near by. If you're sitting D in the FR, run down tunnel and grab boots. Leaving them for the EFC will cost you games. But don't ninja these from friendlies who can put them to better use.
Always take insignias. I can't tell you how many times I'm given amazing positioning after a death. Sliq, Randylayhee and myself are probobaly most notorious for body rezzing. Somebody on your team has to take insignias. If nobody is, take initiative.
Learn to predict when boots will be up. Although, the exact respawn timers are random, you're safe to bet that boots are up roughly every 3 minutes. It takes a little bit of predicting to get the hang of this. If both flag carriers are mid for a few minutes, I promise you boots are up. Do not let EFC get boots.
With that being said, if both FCs are in mid there's pretty much no reason for you to not be mid as well. However, if you're waiting for your offense, be between EFC and the cap just incase your FC goes down and you need a pick.
Always keep an eye on the Flag Carrier's health pools. If you see on your zone map that you have 6 players right on top of the EFC's location and there's 5 stacks + you can probably bet that your flag will be returned soon.
Picks can save a game. No matter what mini objective you're focusing on, always remember that the flags are more important. Every minute you should always ask yourself if you know where the flags are, how many people are with both FCs, are people attacking the FCs? What are the comps looking like assaulting FCs. Awareness will win you more games than putting out some leet damage. If you can get picks, dropped flags, or returns, you just made a game changing play.
If your team is getting contained, bait them out of your GY. I will usually pick up the flag and run towards GY / ToT. Being a rogue, I have some tricks up my sleeve when it comes to dropping flag and stealthing. I do this very often and my intentions are not to perform a serious carry, but to draw my enemies out of my GY so my team can then cross mid. However, always keep in mind that these baited carries can still turn into real carries which can win games. If you try to bait the enemy team and they aren't picking up, you may have a shot running enemy GY to friendly Ramp for a cap.
If your FC is coming up your tunnel and you are in FR on D, check tunnel for boots. If your FC is going to get boots without complication, go back to FR and get ready to CC an incoming enemy looking to grab the flag. If it appears someone else is going to get the boots, grab them.
If your FC drops more than 20% HP in 3 seconds, it is likely that he is about to receive a large amount of burst so stay with your FC for a pick.
Druids, Monks, Warriors, Mages, and Hunters should be approached as if their movement abilities are off cool down and ready to be used. Assume if you're going to step up onto them that they'll be disengaging or blinking away. An addon that helps with this is VialCooldowns as it will track Displacer, Blink and more.
RangeDisplay is an addon that everyone should have. It will display a set of ranges depending on where your target, focus, or mouseover is. This is essential for being able to tell where EFC is without having a visual as it will say "20-25" yards or "25-30" yards away if you are running in a direction away from EFC.
Battleground Targets is essential for seeing who you're up against, who has the flag, how many stacks, who is in range of you, how many people on your team are targeting any given player on the enemy team. An added bonus is right clicking someone's name should auto set that player to focus. I use this addon a lot when I'm on D waiting for an EFC as I can keep clicking players whom I'm assuming will FC. If I can target them, RangeDisplay will help me track where they are, if they're coming towards me or away etc. This also helps to keep an eye on rogues. If you're FCing and worried about getting rogued, you can click on the enemy rogues and see if they are out of stealth. If you cannot target them, assume they're on their way towards you.
If you're FCing, set the enemy FC to your focus. If you see EFC target you for longer than 5 seconds, you can bet that he is doing so because he sees that his offense is about to be in position for a return and you better prepare for an offense to be closing in on you.
Zerker buffs can greatly increase your chances of destroying a target. If you see that it's up on your way to EFC, pick it up or have your burstiest DPS pick it up. However, don't ninja it over others just because you want to. If nobody else is near by, pick it up because it's better your team has that zerker buff than the enemy team. But if you're with a Warrior, Rogue, Boomie or Feral and you're a warlock, give it to one of them instead.
Positioning can be the deciding factor of a game. As soon as someone picks up your flag, Immediately you should be asking yourself 2 things: 1) Did someone pick up their flag and 2) Is that person going to survive long enough to cross mid field? If the answer is no to either, stay between EFC and the cap at all costs. If you see your team push a return, go for it but be ready to completely disengage from the assault should your FC drop and now your priority switches to grabbing the flag. I know some people may still pressure a return, but if you assault EFC and you do not drop him within the first 5 seconds, chances are you will not return the flag with the current assault you have.
As a healing, setting the opposing teams biggest DPS to your focus will show you which target is about to get rocked. If you see their boomie is targeting your mage and casting a Starsurge, start casting.
I've gotten frustrated with my team and blown up in chat before. But I've never started insulting my team ever. The worst I've ever blown up is "/bg Why am I the only one on this side of the map? I need an offense to get here ASAP! Stop fighting in mid. Run right by and get here NOW!". Try not to blow up in chat ever. I have only done it a few times and I regret it every time as it only makes you look bad and usually doesn't work. Don't be that guy and don't blow up in chat. I used to do it more frequently as it was very frustrating going from playing premades with incredible players for years to jumping into PUGs in cata and I was younger and less mature. I've wasted several hours of /played game time on my rogue waiting for some sort of offense to assist me in returning the flag. As a former offensive coordinator for several winning record premading guilds over the years, nothing angers me more than a slow offense whom never reaches EFC and this is where being human comes in to play. This is where games are lost in most cases and I become impatient every once in awhile. I try to be patient, but there's no way that it should take a hunter more than 3 minutes to cross mid and assist with downing the FC. This is another time by which zone map will come in handy.
As any interrupt class, it's important to have an enemy healer as your focus for a focus interrupt. It's best to try to interrupt a Priest or a Shammy as those are the most potent healers. Don't waste your interrupt on a resto druid and only try to interrupt heals that actually change the game. There's no point kicking an unnecessary heal and many good healers will bait people into interrupting by casting a heal when they're at 100% and not taking any serious damage at the moment.
I'm not the best at interrupting as the level of skill greatly varies between opponents. You may have a game where the top enemy healer is a fake casting master or you may have a game where he'll spam heal. Until you know your enemy healers by name, it's hard to figure out if they fake or not just based on their appearance. If you're on a healer with several BE or other interrupt classes, it's okay to be a little trigger happy on your interrupt as you have a chance of globaling the healer should you interrupt successfully. If you miss the interrupt, chances are your friendlies will either blanket interrupt the enemy healer or provide another interrupt.
As a healer, if you're not taking serious damage and you're at 90%+ HP and you have a class on you that isn't a warrior or feral, you'll probably have enough time to bait that person into kicking or using BE interrupt on a useless heal. A BE warrior can provide the burst to kill you after you're interrupted, so make sure you know your enemy.
Mana potions, health potions, bandages, and food will greatly increase your chances of success. Right now, minor mana potions will grant you roughly 50% mana upon use. If you're healing and oom, pop one of these and you're good to go for another 25 seconds of spam healing, but don't oom yourself again. Be cautious while eating, as if you're attacked while sitting, an enemy's attack will be extremely powerful.
Bandage your friendlies! If you see someone dancing at 10% HP with a DPS sitting on them and you have no dots on you, bandage that kid to full. You'll get a few ticks in before the enemy team will notice. However, get ready for that DPS to hard switch to you.
Most EFCs go Ramp 90% of the time. Several FCs will take their last successful route. If you see a FC successfully go Ramp 3 times in 1 game, you can bet his 4th run will go ramp again as his team has probably been doing a great job at supporting him ramp side.
If you're FCing, switch up the routes. Far ramp is commonly a successful route, especially over tunnel which lacks visibility and puts you at a very vulnerable location. But do not go far ramp multiple times unless you can rely on your support.
If EFC is about to drop, spam BG chat letting the team know. I have a macro that says "/bg EFC taking damage. Possible return inc!" meaning that we may get a return but it isn't 100%. This will allow your FC to know that he needs to be in range of a cap should the flag be returned, but that does not mean that he should sit on cap like a waiting duck as the return may not happen.
Using the 30 second rule, you know that flag carriers have minimal support for the first 30 seconds of their run. With that being said, if your FC picks up the flag, get to him ASAP as most enemies will be aware of this window of opportunity. After your FC has support, you can then break off to go return the flag. However, retaining possession of the enemy flag is still extremely important.
Be a hero. If your FC drops and enemy team returns, your priority is now picking up that flag. Too many people are baited too easily into pointless combat these days. Don't be a chart padder and sit there fighting when you need to obtain possession of the enemy flag.
Use rivalries to your advantage. If you know that someone on the opposing team doesn't like you, you now know who you can kite to the random outstretches of the map. However, doing so is like ccing yourself too, as you are removing yourself from the flag plays that could happen shortly. If you can kite 3+ enemies at the loss of taking yourself out of a play, 99% of the time this will pay off.
If you see an enemy charging up ramp towards your FC with zerker, and you just rezzed so you are already out of position, you will be able to distract him by using a ranged or thrown attack and then LOSing hut. Every second he spends chasing you is a second he is not on your FC.
Having a high amount of deaths in a game will make you look like a noob. However, if those deaths were spent distracting the enemy team allowing your FC enough time to endure before the flag is returned resulting in a hero, you just took multiple enemies out of potential plays which can be game changing.
If your FC looks like he has an easy cap, head to the enemy FR to grab the flag as soon as it spawns. If your FC has an easy cap it means that the enemy team has disadvantageous positioning. Most of the time, this will mean that they are either in their GY, baited to an irrelevant part of the map, or simply scattered and not working as a team. You have time to grab the flag and cross mid before they can react and respond with a good formation. Capitalize on your enemy's mistakes.
You should always be aware as to where the other 19 players in the game currently are and what they're doing. It can be very frustrating if you need a return ASAP and you're waiting for your offense who keeps just running around fighting in mid. Be aware of this and try to get them to focus on objective gameplay.
Don't just run into a mid fight for sake of fighting. If there is a mid fight and you rezzed, I guarantee you that crossing mid is easier than it looks. Most of the time you can run right past them to jump on EFC and they will not react. Do not be the baddies padding charts with irrelevant damage whom never even use any of that damage on an EFC.
Waiting for your offense can either make or break a game. If you can solo EFC, you need to decide on whether or not it's riskier to wait for your offense and risk your FC dropping resulting in them getting a cap, or pushing on EFC at the risk that you will die and be 1 less person on offense. In most situations, by the time your offense reaches EFC, your FC will be dead as most players are not on point with their objectives. Most players in Warsong get to their objectives too late. Be one of the few who does not.
The first team to assault the EFC is the team that will win the game most of the time. There are exceptions, there are lucky plays, but if your enemy is on your FC more than 15 seconds before your offense is on EFC, I would be willing to bet that your FC will drop before your offense will get EFC down below 80% HP. Think of it as an Alterac Valley game. If one team is already on boss before the other, it's not looking good for the other team.
If EFC is roof, get to roof asap. Most of the time, people will sit FR thinking that they will get a pick incase your FC drops. This can pay off, but most of the time several members of your offense will just sit in FR as it's quicker to get to than roof. By the time they nut up and run roof, your FC is dead. You need to get to roof asap without delaying. If you notice your FC is taking damage while you're on your way to roof, then consider breaking off for a pick... but only do so if your FC is taking serious damage. This is your opportunity to return the flag. Don't miss it because you're sitting in the FR.
PUGs are PUGs. Never expect to have a good comp with geared experienced twinkers and never expect them to play objectively. You're the only person on the field whom you really know and can trust. Don't rely on anyone else to make the plays... be the play maker. Some players have big names and can be relied on more than others, but trusting people can be a flip of the coin and you're likely to only have 1-2 of these people in your games with you.
If you see your enemy's graveyard, take a look at battleground targets to see who's dead. Don't go jumping down there or anywhere near GY if you see 6 people on the opposing team are dead. With your luck kid, the second you hit the ground in GY is the second they all rez and rip your face off.
Predict rez timers or get a tracker. Rez timers have a maximum of 30 seconds. If you saw another team just got a rez, you know nobody is going to rez within 30 seconds. This can help with FCing as you know when going GY is safe or not or you can use this in favor of returning flags. If you saw a team just got a rez and shortly after you dropped their top healer, you know he won't be back for 20-30 seconds unless he body rezzes. This is why you take insignias.
Dot rogues as often as possible. I guarantee if you let a rogue restealth, it will come back to haunt you.
People still mistakingly CC others without first establishing combat. This provides many rogues with an easy sap on a druid or mage
Full duration fears and polymorphs last long enough to drop the user from combat. Often times when I get a full DR poly, I will trinket stealth the polymorph or fear as a rogue. This also provides rogues with an easy sap on a previously feared or Polymorphed target.
I use Crystal Focus Lenses nearly every game. As long as you're within 60 yards or so of EFC, you can target them and click this button and it will shoot a beam directly through terrain and follow EFC. This is how I'm able to tell the location of EFC extremely easily. Use your focus and check his trajectory and you'll do wonders for your team
Jump on EFC ASAP. You have 2 opportune moments to return the flag. One would be when EFC has high stacks, the other would be when he has a lack of support. Most of the time, the EFC will have very minimal support for the first 30 seconds of his carry. From that point on, most likely getting a return will have to wait. If you can jump on a return within this 30 second window, your FC will be crossing mid as you're returning which is going to give you a great chance at getting a cap.
I am not a perfect player, I do not have perfect positioning. I am not always where I need to be and I make mistakes. Especially with that annoying range on bear swipe thingy... that crap can die in a fire as I'm still getting used to that. Or the bogus range of stealth detection for hunters... It's really been a long time since I've played 19 rogue or FCd, so I'm always getting better and getting back into the swing of things.
I hope some information could be gathered from these tips and hopefully there's at least 1 thing that you can pick up from here.
First and foremost, everyone interested in playing Warsong Gulch will greatly benefit from scroll clicking. It will be your secret weapon which will give you a phenomenal improvement to the speed by which you can pick and return flags. I have created a guide all about scroll clicking which can be found here ---> http://www.twinkinfo.com/forums/f161/mochas-guide-scroll-clicking-64891/
Baiting people to undesired locations on the map can be an absolutely powerful play and is often overlooked. The more you post on forums, the easier it will be to bait enemies and the more enemies will come running completely out of position hungry for an hk.
Don't be that guy ambushing pets just to pad the charts. It's better to have lower damage but more focused assaults than it is to have 60k damage a game on pointless mid fights.
Your priorities should always be flags. If you're healing, dpsing, doesn't matter. Getting kills can be important, but it is never more important than picking up a flag.
Everybody should have their Zone Maps on and activated. I cannot tell you how many dozens of times every game I look at this to see EFCs locations, to see where my team is distributed etc. It's absolutely crucial to check this before trying to run some sort of assault.
Always take boots and zerker if they're up and you're near by. If you're sitting D in the FR, run down tunnel and grab boots. Leaving them for the EFC will cost you games. But don't ninja these from friendlies who can put them to better use.
Always take insignias. I can't tell you how many times I'm given amazing positioning after a death. Sliq, Randylayhee and myself are probobaly most notorious for body rezzing. Somebody on your team has to take insignias. If nobody is, take initiative.
Learn to predict when boots will be up. Although, the exact respawn timers are random, you're safe to bet that boots are up roughly every 3 minutes. It takes a little bit of predicting to get the hang of this. If both flag carriers are mid for a few minutes, I promise you boots are up. Do not let EFC get boots.
With that being said, if both FCs are in mid there's pretty much no reason for you to not be mid as well. However, if you're waiting for your offense, be between EFC and the cap just incase your FC goes down and you need a pick.
Always keep an eye on the Flag Carrier's health pools. If you see on your zone map that you have 6 players right on top of the EFC's location and there's 5 stacks + you can probably bet that your flag will be returned soon.
Picks can save a game. No matter what mini objective you're focusing on, always remember that the flags are more important. Every minute you should always ask yourself if you know where the flags are, how many people are with both FCs, are people attacking the FCs? What are the comps looking like assaulting FCs. Awareness will win you more games than putting out some leet damage. If you can get picks, dropped flags, or returns, you just made a game changing play.
If your team is getting contained, bait them out of your GY. I will usually pick up the flag and run towards GY / ToT. Being a rogue, I have some tricks up my sleeve when it comes to dropping flag and stealthing. I do this very often and my intentions are not to perform a serious carry, but to draw my enemies out of my GY so my team can then cross mid. However, always keep in mind that these baited carries can still turn into real carries which can win games. If you try to bait the enemy team and they aren't picking up, you may have a shot running enemy GY to friendly Ramp for a cap.
If your FC is coming up your tunnel and you are in FR on D, check tunnel for boots. If your FC is going to get boots without complication, go back to FR and get ready to CC an incoming enemy looking to grab the flag. If it appears someone else is going to get the boots, grab them.
If your FC drops more than 20% HP in 3 seconds, it is likely that he is about to receive a large amount of burst so stay with your FC for a pick.
Druids, Monks, Warriors, Mages, and Hunters should be approached as if their movement abilities are off cool down and ready to be used. Assume if you're going to step up onto them that they'll be disengaging or blinking away. An addon that helps with this is VialCooldowns as it will track Displacer, Blink and more.
RangeDisplay is an addon that everyone should have. It will display a set of ranges depending on where your target, focus, or mouseover is. This is essential for being able to tell where EFC is without having a visual as it will say "20-25" yards or "25-30" yards away if you are running in a direction away from EFC.
Battleground Targets is essential for seeing who you're up against, who has the flag, how many stacks, who is in range of you, how many people on your team are targeting any given player on the enemy team. An added bonus is right clicking someone's name should auto set that player to focus. I use this addon a lot when I'm on D waiting for an EFC as I can keep clicking players whom I'm assuming will FC. If I can target them, RangeDisplay will help me track where they are, if they're coming towards me or away etc. This also helps to keep an eye on rogues. If you're FCing and worried about getting rogued, you can click on the enemy rogues and see if they are out of stealth. If you cannot target them, assume they're on their way towards you.
If you're FCing, set the enemy FC to your focus. If you see EFC target you for longer than 5 seconds, you can bet that he is doing so because he sees that his offense is about to be in position for a return and you better prepare for an offense to be closing in on you.
Zerker buffs can greatly increase your chances of destroying a target. If you see that it's up on your way to EFC, pick it up or have your burstiest DPS pick it up. However, don't ninja it over others just because you want to. If nobody else is near by, pick it up because it's better your team has that zerker buff than the enemy team. But if you're with a Warrior, Rogue, Boomie or Feral and you're a warlock, give it to one of them instead.
Positioning can be the deciding factor of a game. As soon as someone picks up your flag, Immediately you should be asking yourself 2 things: 1) Did someone pick up their flag and 2) Is that person going to survive long enough to cross mid field? If the answer is no to either, stay between EFC and the cap at all costs. If you see your team push a return, go for it but be ready to completely disengage from the assault should your FC drop and now your priority switches to grabbing the flag. I know some people may still pressure a return, but if you assault EFC and you do not drop him within the first 5 seconds, chances are you will not return the flag with the current assault you have.
As a healing, setting the opposing teams biggest DPS to your focus will show you which target is about to get rocked. If you see their boomie is targeting your mage and casting a Starsurge, start casting.
I've gotten frustrated with my team and blown up in chat before. But I've never started insulting my team ever. The worst I've ever blown up is "/bg Why am I the only one on this side of the map? I need an offense to get here ASAP! Stop fighting in mid. Run right by and get here NOW!". Try not to blow up in chat ever. I have only done it a few times and I regret it every time as it only makes you look bad and usually doesn't work. Don't be that guy and don't blow up in chat. I used to do it more frequently as it was very frustrating going from playing premades with incredible players for years to jumping into PUGs in cata and I was younger and less mature. I've wasted several hours of /played game time on my rogue waiting for some sort of offense to assist me in returning the flag. As a former offensive coordinator for several winning record premading guilds over the years, nothing angers me more than a slow offense whom never reaches EFC and this is where being human comes in to play. This is where games are lost in most cases and I become impatient every once in awhile. I try to be patient, but there's no way that it should take a hunter more than 3 minutes to cross mid and assist with downing the FC. This is another time by which zone map will come in handy.
As any interrupt class, it's important to have an enemy healer as your focus for a focus interrupt. It's best to try to interrupt a Priest or a Shammy as those are the most potent healers. Don't waste your interrupt on a resto druid and only try to interrupt heals that actually change the game. There's no point kicking an unnecessary heal and many good healers will bait people into interrupting by casting a heal when they're at 100% and not taking any serious damage at the moment.
I'm not the best at interrupting as the level of skill greatly varies between opponents. You may have a game where the top enemy healer is a fake casting master or you may have a game where he'll spam heal. Until you know your enemy healers by name, it's hard to figure out if they fake or not just based on their appearance. If you're on a healer with several BE or other interrupt classes, it's okay to be a little trigger happy on your interrupt as you have a chance of globaling the healer should you interrupt successfully. If you miss the interrupt, chances are your friendlies will either blanket interrupt the enemy healer or provide another interrupt.
As a healer, if you're not taking serious damage and you're at 90%+ HP and you have a class on you that isn't a warrior or feral, you'll probably have enough time to bait that person into kicking or using BE interrupt on a useless heal. A BE warrior can provide the burst to kill you after you're interrupted, so make sure you know your enemy.
Mana potions, health potions, bandages, and food will greatly increase your chances of success. Right now, minor mana potions will grant you roughly 50% mana upon use. If you're healing and oom, pop one of these and you're good to go for another 25 seconds of spam healing, but don't oom yourself again. Be cautious while eating, as if you're attacked while sitting, an enemy's attack will be extremely powerful.
Bandage your friendlies! If you see someone dancing at 10% HP with a DPS sitting on them and you have no dots on you, bandage that kid to full. You'll get a few ticks in before the enemy team will notice. However, get ready for that DPS to hard switch to you.
Most EFCs go Ramp 90% of the time. Several FCs will take their last successful route. If you see a FC successfully go Ramp 3 times in 1 game, you can bet his 4th run will go ramp again as his team has probably been doing a great job at supporting him ramp side.
If you're FCing, switch up the routes. Far ramp is commonly a successful route, especially over tunnel which lacks visibility and puts you at a very vulnerable location. But do not go far ramp multiple times unless you can rely on your support.
If EFC is about to drop, spam BG chat letting the team know. I have a macro that says "/bg EFC taking damage. Possible return inc!" meaning that we may get a return but it isn't 100%. This will allow your FC to know that he needs to be in range of a cap should the flag be returned, but that does not mean that he should sit on cap like a waiting duck as the return may not happen.
Using the 30 second rule, you know that flag carriers have minimal support for the first 30 seconds of their run. With that being said, if your FC picks up the flag, get to him ASAP as most enemies will be aware of this window of opportunity. After your FC has support, you can then break off to go return the flag. However, retaining possession of the enemy flag is still extremely important.
Be a hero. If your FC drops and enemy team returns, your priority is now picking up that flag. Too many people are baited too easily into pointless combat these days. Don't be a chart padder and sit there fighting when you need to obtain possession of the enemy flag.
Use rivalries to your advantage. If you know that someone on the opposing team doesn't like you, you now know who you can kite to the random outstretches of the map. However, doing so is like ccing yourself too, as you are removing yourself from the flag plays that could happen shortly. If you can kite 3+ enemies at the loss of taking yourself out of a play, 99% of the time this will pay off.
If you see an enemy charging up ramp towards your FC with zerker, and you just rezzed so you are already out of position, you will be able to distract him by using a ranged or thrown attack and then LOSing hut. Every second he spends chasing you is a second he is not on your FC.
Having a high amount of deaths in a game will make you look like a noob. However, if those deaths were spent distracting the enemy team allowing your FC enough time to endure before the flag is returned resulting in a hero, you just took multiple enemies out of potential plays which can be game changing.
If your FC looks like he has an easy cap, head to the enemy FR to grab the flag as soon as it spawns. If your FC has an easy cap it means that the enemy team has disadvantageous positioning. Most of the time, this will mean that they are either in their GY, baited to an irrelevant part of the map, or simply scattered and not working as a team. You have time to grab the flag and cross mid before they can react and respond with a good formation. Capitalize on your enemy's mistakes.
You should always be aware as to where the other 19 players in the game currently are and what they're doing. It can be very frustrating if you need a return ASAP and you're waiting for your offense who keeps just running around fighting in mid. Be aware of this and try to get them to focus on objective gameplay.
Don't just run into a mid fight for sake of fighting. If there is a mid fight and you rezzed, I guarantee you that crossing mid is easier than it looks. Most of the time you can run right past them to jump on EFC and they will not react. Do not be the baddies padding charts with irrelevant damage whom never even use any of that damage on an EFC.
Waiting for your offense can either make or break a game. If you can solo EFC, you need to decide on whether or not it's riskier to wait for your offense and risk your FC dropping resulting in them getting a cap, or pushing on EFC at the risk that you will die and be 1 less person on offense. In most situations, by the time your offense reaches EFC, your FC will be dead as most players are not on point with their objectives. Most players in Warsong get to their objectives too late. Be one of the few who does not.
The first team to assault the EFC is the team that will win the game most of the time. There are exceptions, there are lucky plays, but if your enemy is on your FC more than 15 seconds before your offense is on EFC, I would be willing to bet that your FC will drop before your offense will get EFC down below 80% HP. Think of it as an Alterac Valley game. If one team is already on boss before the other, it's not looking good for the other team.
If EFC is roof, get to roof asap. Most of the time, people will sit FR thinking that they will get a pick incase your FC drops. This can pay off, but most of the time several members of your offense will just sit in FR as it's quicker to get to than roof. By the time they nut up and run roof, your FC is dead. You need to get to roof asap without delaying. If you notice your FC is taking damage while you're on your way to roof, then consider breaking off for a pick... but only do so if your FC is taking serious damage. This is your opportunity to return the flag. Don't miss it because you're sitting in the FR.
PUGs are PUGs. Never expect to have a good comp with geared experienced twinkers and never expect them to play objectively. You're the only person on the field whom you really know and can trust. Don't rely on anyone else to make the plays... be the play maker. Some players have big names and can be relied on more than others, but trusting people can be a flip of the coin and you're likely to only have 1-2 of these people in your games with you.
If you see your enemy's graveyard, take a look at battleground targets to see who's dead. Don't go jumping down there or anywhere near GY if you see 6 people on the opposing team are dead. With your luck kid, the second you hit the ground in GY is the second they all rez and rip your face off.
Predict rez timers or get a tracker. Rez timers have a maximum of 30 seconds. If you saw another team just got a rez, you know nobody is going to rez within 30 seconds. This can help with FCing as you know when going GY is safe or not or you can use this in favor of returning flags. If you saw a team just got a rez and shortly after you dropped their top healer, you know he won't be back for 20-30 seconds unless he body rezzes. This is why you take insignias.
Dot rogues as often as possible. I guarantee if you let a rogue restealth, it will come back to haunt you.
People still mistakingly CC others without first establishing combat. This provides many rogues with an easy sap on a druid or mage
Full duration fears and polymorphs last long enough to drop the user from combat. Often times when I get a full DR poly, I will trinket stealth the polymorph or fear as a rogue. This also provides rogues with an easy sap on a previously feared or Polymorphed target.
I use Crystal Focus Lenses nearly every game. As long as you're within 60 yards or so of EFC, you can target them and click this button and it will shoot a beam directly through terrain and follow EFC. This is how I'm able to tell the location of EFC extremely easily. Use your focus and check his trajectory and you'll do wonders for your team
Jump on EFC ASAP. You have 2 opportune moments to return the flag. One would be when EFC has high stacks, the other would be when he has a lack of support. Most of the time, the EFC will have very minimal support for the first 30 seconds of his carry. From that point on, most likely getting a return will have to wait. If you can jump on a return within this 30 second window, your FC will be crossing mid as you're returning which is going to give you a great chance at getting a cap.
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