Cho Abilities and Strategy

• Surging Fist can be interrupted; be careful when casting it near opponents with crowd control.
• Consuming Blaze heals for each enemy hit; hit as many as possible with the Ability, and then try and attack an ignited target to gain even more healing.
• Rune Bomb's slow travel time makes it much more effective at short range. Be sure to call out your cast for Gall to detonate the bomb.
• Upheaval has a short cast time, and Displaces opponents behind your position; be sure to account for these factors.
• Hammer of Twilight is an excellent tool for quickly interrupting opponents.
• Ogre Hide should be active whenever you are about to take a significant amount of damage.

Surging Fist serves as Cho's main initiation and escape Ability. Given these two broadly different functions, in addition to the Ability's interruptible channeling period (for which you must watch out for opposing crowd control) and relatively long Cooldown, very careful examination of the situation at hand must be made before use. Given Gall's many ranged Abilities, and though counterintuitive, Surging Fist should mostly be used as a defensive tool. It is not to say, however, that it is not useful as a gap-closer; offensively, Surging Fist is particularly useful to combo with Hammer of Twilight to interrupt channeled abilities or otherwise quickly Knockback opponents towards or away from your teammates or Objectives.

Without Uppercut, the Ability should never be used for sole damage-dealing purposes, as the amount it deals is negligible. Be mindful of your Gall player's attempts to use Twisting Nether, since you can use Surging Fist to reposition his Heroic Ability.

Consuming Blaze is Cho's main self sustain Ability. Since the healing effect is proportional to how many enemies are ignited, it is better to use this Ability trying to hit as many enemies as possible. However, most of the healing comes from re-igniting the enemy Hero with Basic Attacks, so make sure to ignite the targets that you will be hitting afterwards. A special mention should be made for one of Gall's seventh level Talent choices, Double Trouble, which benefits greatly from timing his Shadowflame Cooldown with that of Consuming Blaze to ensure several hits of an empowered Shadowflame.

Rune Bomb is, indirectly, Cho's main way of dealing area of effect damage. Rune Bomb is typically used on-Cooldown, and should be lobbed towards enemy Minions, Structures, and Heroes without moderation. To be noted, however, is the fact that Rune Bomb's slow traveling speed makes it prone to be avoided, consciously or otherwise, by moving opponents. As such, one must triangulate the likely position of an intended target so that the projectile may actually make proper contact. As with many skillshot Abilities, Rune Bomb is much more difficult to dodge at a short range.

Upheaval is essentially a glorified version of Kerrigan's Primal Grasp that is best used in combination with other area of effect Heroic Abilities that can synergise with the Displacement effect. Gall's Twisting Nether or Shadow Bolt Volley both synergise particularly well with Upheaval. Letting your allies know that you intend on picking and using the Ability (and who are your priority targets) will greatly improve your effectiveness, as the large displacement effect can be just as surprising to your teammates as it can be to your opponents, leading to missed Abilities and frustration. Be sure to also account for Upheaval's 1-second casting time; foes that have been slowed or are otherwise disabled are much less likely to dodge the Ability's effects.

It is recommended to practice using Upheaval in Try Mode so as to get a good feel for the Ability's peculiar cast time and delay.

Hammer of Twilight pushes Cho's Basic Attack damage per attack to Assassin-like levels. Its active effect also sports a uniquely short Cooldown for a Heroic Ability, allowing you to repeatedly disrupt your opponents' positioning, and reliably interrupt channeled Abilities or disrupt initiation attempts. Using Surging Fist to get behind an opponent or otherwise quickly reposition, and then using Hammer of Twilight to push them towards your teammates is one way for Cho to initiate fights for himself.

Ogre Hide is Cho's Trait. It provides a significant amount of Armor, and should be activated whenever you are about to take a significant amount of damage. It is important to note that while Ogre Hide is active, Gall's Ogre Rage is disabled, meaning that Gall's damage is significantly lowered. Judging when to activate Ogre Hide so to not reduce Gall's damage output too dramatically is key to mastering Cho'gall as a whole.