When we watch our favorite pro players, we get super familiar with their best Heroes.



But every once and a while something crazy happens - our favorite melee assassin player becomes a support. Why though?



I talked to two amazing players who made drastic role swaps in HGC about the reasons and thoughts behind their big changes.

Michael “MichaelUdall” Udall was on the winning Heroes of the Dorm team in 2016, and has played pro in HGG since 2015. Known for his melee and flex plays on Gale Force eSports, Udall is now playing support for Team DJ.

Kenn Øster "Zaelia" Rasmussen is a pro player on Team Dignitas who started in competitive WoW before playing HotS. A former Resto Shaman for and he debuted in HotS pro as a carry. Similar to Udall, Zaelia is also now playing support.



So, why? What prompts a player to make such a drastic change in their play? Is it a change made purely for their teams benefit or do players sometimes need a change of scenery?

Udall: I have been interested in playing support for about a year now. I only wanted to make the swap if I felt like I was going to be playing with really strong assassin players, and I have a lot of respect for kure and daneski so i am very excited and happy to make the swap.



I feel like supports really need to focus on envisioning how the fight will play out and they need to have really good communication, which I have always felt are my biggest two strengths as a player.



Zaelia: I would say it’s somewhat rare for people to just jump into a new role for the fun of it, mostly it'll be for fitting around a certain roster. In both my cases it’s been purely for team needs.

Are there some roles that are naturally easier to swap between? Personally, I’ve always felt melee assassin and tanks share a lot of similarities in play style.

Udall: I spent a lot of time playing support during the double support meta so I feel like swapping from assassin to support is not that hard of a transition. I feel like tank to solo laner is another easy transition because a lot of the strong solo laners are tanks.



Zaelia: Any swap will have its own minor difficulties that vary but the big one is each role generally has a place on the map to occupy. You'll need to learn your new space regardless of which swap you're doing, so all swaps are about equally hard imo.



That is a great point about “occupying a different space on the map”. What are some of the other difficulties or challenges that come from playing the game in such a different way?

Udall: Honestly I played A LOT of support during the double support meta, so the switch hasn't been a crazy hard mentality switch since I played a lot in that mentality before... the most difficult part has been learning the limits of the heroes. I’ve found myself getting caught out of position trying to be an assassin! It’s not a good thing to have your Malf in their backline trying to 1v1 someone :)



Zaelia: Most of the challenges you face when role swapping will be team-dynamic related, finding your space in voice comms, finding your space on the map in correlation with your

teammates. It’s like fitting into a new home or a new office. Decorating it, it'll take a while to make everything slide in the correct places and make it feel natural.



From my experience game mechanics and all of that have never been the worry. That’s just a basic math problem. 10 hours on Malfurion = better play. All the worries are about fitting into your new "space", because there isn't really a set-in-stone recipe or goal you can follow. You have to be the inventor every time.



Is practice or scrimming different for the different roles?

Udall: The train/practice routine is the same, I’m just focusing on different things. Instead of thinking to myself who is the most important hero to kill, I now think who is the most important person to keep alive.



Zaelia: Not really. All roles require coordination with your team and just raw mechanics. Perhaps the balance shifts a bit between the two aspects whether you're talking about carrying or supporting, but not exactly by any significant margin.

Do any aspects of the game change with role? Does how you think about an objective or the mercenary camps change?

Udall: Map/merc decisions do not change depending on the role. As a shotcaller I already understand what every role is supposed to be doing at every point of the game. It’s now just weird for me because I find myself soaking lanes when I should be with the team because I used to play the soaker role a lot for my team.



Zaelia: You are 5 individuals, but you work as one unit towards the same goal. You want to be as close to all on the same page as possible so not really.

Does the game itself feel very different, playing one role or another?

Udall: Yeah i am much more focused on keeping my teammates alive instead of killing others its a cool change tbh i have really enjoyed playing support.



Zaelia: Not to me, Tracer or Lucio, pff, same thing ;)

Is being a true flex (a player who can play any role) a thing, or does everyone have some specialties?

Udall: You generally have 1 player that flexes really hard and plays almost all the heroes, but I feel like the most optimal way to set up a team is to have every player have a couple specialties and then have 1-2 players that can play the current meta healers.



Zaelia: You can be a true flex, but everybody has something that they're naturally better at. That thing can be "flexing" too, meaning you perhaps have the ability to learn quickly & adapt, while maintaining very honed general mechanics. This person will usually have a hard time playing up against the more specialized players, though. The ones that love playing around with details, the ones that know all the ins and outs of specific scenarios. You'll often find the "true flex" beaten to the ground by excellence from a specialist on his home turf, simply cause the game is too complex and there just isn't enough time in the day to excel in all aspects.

Do you think it helps or hurts a player to make a major role switch?

Udall: I think it can be either depending on the player and reason the player changed roles. I think the player needs to want to change the roles and not do it because that player feels pressured... it is also a lot of work and you need to put the time in but look at Zaelia from DIG, he is a prime example of a role swap going really well!



Zaelia: Definitely helps to grow as a player and teammate. You might not be incredibly good at your role in the beginning, but you learn so much by seeing things from different perspectives. Although I won't recommend just randomly swapping to learn or have fun, if you wish to stay top of the class competitive.

So you wouldn't recommend other players take the plunge like you did? Is it easier to focus one role or should you adapt more to fit your team’s needs?

Udall: I think this is a bad idea. You should focus on one role, and if you decide you want to swap then I think it’s a good idea to swap. You shouldn't do it for someone else because that can cause a lot of resentment.



Zaelia: Stick with what naturally drew you to the game in the first place, what you have the absolute most fun with. You'll just be better at it and last longer in a competitive environment. I will say though, it’s a balancing act that you'll have to consider the pros & cons of everytime you're faced with the choice.

What was your favorite part of playing melee, and now what is your favorite aspect of support?

Udall: I loved being able to outplay people and get a 1v1 kill as melee. Now as a support my favorite thing is to hold my heals until the last second make the enemy overextend, and then save my teammate after I baited them to overextend.



Zaelia: My favorite part has stayed the same actually. Making good rotations, making plays work as a team, it just feels infinitely better when I share great moments with the lads.

What are your favorite heroes for each role?



Udall: Warrior- Arthas, Offlane- malthael, Melee assassin-Kerrigan, Ranged assassin- Junkrat

specialist- Azmo, Support-monk!



Zaelia: I'm a big sucker for mobility and playmaking! Monk/Lucio, Zeratul, Tracer/Li-ming and last but not least, catch me on that Haymaker Muradin :D

Ok, but what are your least favorite heroes? Either to play or play against!

Udall: Chromie hands down so annoying.



Zaelia: GarroOOO0o00o00osh oh and MY GOOooDNESS ABATHUR IS JUst anti-fun.



A huge thank you to Udall and Zaelia for spending the time to answer all of my questions! Please check them out further on Twitch, Twitter, and more:

twitter.com/Michael_Udall

twitch.tv/michaeludall

instagram.com/mikeudall/

heroeshearth.com/m/michaeludall/ (<- for builds and guides here!)

twitter.com/Zaeliaa

twitch.tv/zaelia

Extra thank to you to Starbee for her contributions!

And don’t forget to watch them both play in HGC!