Team League is a game mode for Heroes of the Storm that allows players to play ranked games with parties of 2, 3, or 5.
Team League can now be found using the new Ranked page on the Play screen.
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A player can create a team after reaching player level 40, if that player has access to at least 12 heroes. Two, three, or five player groups who select the "ranked" tab will be able to ready up. Two player groups will be matched with three player groups. There is usually a shortage of three player groups and so queue times are much shorter if you can find a third. Try joining the Team League channels by typing "/join TeamLeague" and "/join Team League" into chat.
Most players will want to coordinate using voice chat, most commonly Discord. Even if you don't have a microphone, it can be helpful to join your team so you can hear them when they call out plays or dangers. If you see a Discord invitation link in chat, right click it and select "copy message" then paste it into your web browser (no install required) or in the Discord program (click the plus icon, then select "Join server").
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All players must play 10 placement matches in order to receive an initial ranking for Team League. Rankings are identical to HL, and there are no restrictions on who can form parties. Placement accounts can queue with bronze and grandmaster accounts at the same time, though of course matchmaking may struggle to balance you versus your opponents.
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Upon finding a match, a player will enter Draft Mode. Unlike Hero League’s Draft Mode, however, Team League will make use of the First Come, First Served (FCFS) version of draft selection. With FCFS, there is no set pick order for the players on each team. While a coin toss will still decide which team picks first, and teams will still make selections using the 1-2-2-2-2-1 format, individual players are free to select their heroes in any order they like when it is their team’s turn to pick.[1]
Take advantage of this by picking highly contested heroes first, and heroes you don't want your opponents to counterpick last.
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As part of the June 2016 Ranked Play revamp, Team League gained certain rewards, which are easier to obtain than Hero League rewards. An example from 2016 is listed below, but this changes each season. The current season rewards can be found through a link in-game.
Additionally, Team League rewards +50% bonus experience at the end of the match, and an additional +25% to +50% based on your party size. Don't forget to add at least one ally as a friend to get that bonus as well!
| Ranks | PREVIOUS SEASON Rewards |
|---|---|
| Ranks 50 - 41 | Preseason Team League Portrait |
| Ranks 40 - 31 | 1500 gold, Elemental Wolf Mount, Preseason Team League Portrait |
| Ranks 30 - 21 | 2000 gold, Elemental Wolf Mount, Preseason Team League Portrait |
| Ranks 20 - 11 | 2500 gold, Elemental Wolf Mount, Preseason Team League Portrait |
| Ranks 10 - 6 | 3000 gold, Elemental Wolf Mount, Epic Elemental Wolf Mount, Preseason Team League Portrait (tier-unique) |
| Ranks 5 - 2 | 3500 gold, Elemental Wolf Mount, Epic Elemental Wolf Mount, Preseason Team League Portrait (tier-unique) |
| Rank 1 | 4000 gold, Elemental Wolf Mount, Epic Elemental Wolf Mount, Preseason Team League Portrait (tier-unique) |
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(Patch January 4, 2017) Note: A notification has been added to inform two-player parties when they may experience long wait times in the Team League queue and encourage them to add more party members to find matches more quickly.
(Patch December 14, 2016) Note: Much like Hero League, players who repeatedly leave Unranked Draft Mode and Team League games or draft lobbies will now be flagged to receive leaver penalties.; Players with active penalties for leaving games can no longer queue for Unranked Draft or Team League games.- (Patch June 14, 2016) Note: Fixed an issue that caused the Draft UI to occasionally disappear in Hero League and Team League lobbies.
- (Patch February 2, 2016) Note: Fixed an issue that could allow the Team League portrait border and ranking to be displayed during Hero League loading screens, and vice versa.
- (Patch October 20, 2015) Note: The time allotted to select your hero in Hero League and Team League draft lobbies has been increased from 30 to 45 seconds.
- (Patch October 6, 2015) Note: Players now have a chance to receive a one-question survey following Hero League, Team League, and Quick Match games.
- (Patch September 8, 2015) Note: Team League games are now properly listed as Team League in the Match History, rather than Unknown.
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- ↑ 2015-03-24, Coming Soon: Team League. Blizzard Entertainment, accessed on 2015-03-24