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Table of Contents
General Information
Welcome to our Zagara guide for Heroes of the Storm. Here you will learn everything you need to know in order to play Zagara in a competitive environment, whether you play on your own or with a team.
About the Author
Micekrispies is a Grand Master Hero League player who has a passion for the MOBA scene and its community. Having over 6 years of experience in the upper divisions of League of Legends, Micekrispies saw Heroes of the Storm as an exciting new endeavor. His priority is to share his knowledge of the MOBA genre with any and all who desire to learn more. Feel free to drop off a comment in the comments section or check out him out on Twitch where he will gladly answer any of your questions.
1. Quick Reference for Zagara
Split Push Build (talent calculator link)
Larger maps with multiple objective locations (Cursed Hollow, Sky Temple,
Garden of Terror, Infernal Shrines) tend to favor the Split Push Build where
Zagara may take advantage of distracting moments of opportunity for the enemy
team. 
Baneling Barrage should be used for
waveclear and to quickly deal massive amounts of
damage to enemy structures. Zagara should constantly
rotate around the Battleground via
Nydus Network to maximize the amount time she can
effectively splitpush. Keep in mind that it will
be much more difficult to effectively play the Split Push Build if they enemy
team contains a high burst damage assassin Hero such as Zeratul
or Nova. Heroes like these will frustratingly spend most
of the match hunting down and picking off Zagara when she is
overextended.
Team Fight Build (talent calculator link)
The Team Fight Build is designed to give Zagara the most effective blend of
damage and utility in matches where crossing paths with enemy Heroes is
frequent and unavoidable. Use 
Infested Drop as often
as possible to harass opponents and allow the spawned Roaches to provide vision
and block certain enemy skillshots.
Hunter Killer is Zagara's primary source of damage and
(when possible) should be saved for the team's target of focusfire.
Be patient when looking to cast 
Devouring Maw. Most often,
Zagara should engage the enemy team with her other abilities and Basic Attacks,
and use Devouring Maw when the opportunity arises. Try to consume multiple enemy
Heroes by keeping note of their positioning and striking when they are grouped
too closely together.
Synergies and Counters
Due to her lack of mobility, Zagara is best when paired with one or two
tanks who can provide her a strong
frontline. Those with reliable
crowd-control can also set up devastating combos
with Zagara's Devouring Maw.
Zagara is counterd by high mobility assassins with large amounts of burst damage. Zagara's lack of a reliable gap-closer may regularly be capitalized on by more agile opponents.
Maps
Zagara tends to be a viable Hero pick on most maps due to her vast build diversity. Larger maps with multiple objective locations (Cursed Hollow, Sky Temple, Garden of Terror, Infernal Shrines) tend to favor a split pushing build where Zagara can take advantage of distracting moments of opportunity for the enemy team. Maps that are smaller such as Tomb of the Spider Queen and Towers of Doom make it much more difficult for Zagara to sneak away to push lanes and destroy defenses, although it is not impossible. On these Battlegrounds some players might consider going for a build that revolves around team fighting and applying massive amounts of sustained damage to enemy Heroes.
TL;DR Tips
Baneling Barrage should be used primarily for waveclear as to conserve valuable mana.- Use
Hunter Killer to zone enemies from team fights or lane. - Always use
Infested Drop when it is available to deal damage safely and provide vision. Infested Drop can also be used to tank Mercenary Camps and interrupt channeling of objectives (like Tributes on Cursed Hollow). - Do not try to force
Devouring Maw and instead wait for enemies to come into range. - Place Nydus Worms provided by
Nydus Network in spots clear of heavy foot-traffic as to prevent them from being immediately destroyed. - Always use all available
Creep Tumors. Place them inside bushes and at other out-of-the-way locations to prevent the enemy from accidentally destroying them with AoE abilities.
2. Overview
Zagara is a long ranged specialist who draws
support from her seemingly endless brood to wreak havoc on her opponents.
Creep Tumor is by far her strongest ability, providing
not only buffs to several of her attributes including attack range and movement
speed, but also supplying precious vision throughout the Battleground. Zagara
is capable of tearing down enemy defenses from afar and when left alone for
even a small duration will turn the strongest enemy fortifications into nothing
more than heaps of rubble.
3. Strengths
- Excellent long range, sustained damage
- Great waveclear
- Incredibly strong sieging and pushing power
- Creep Tumor provides a massive amount of vision throughout the entire map
- Good poke and harass
- Can contest objectives for long a duration
- Able to solo Mercenary Camps with ease
4. Weaknesses
- Quite vulnerable to crowd control
- Zero mobility, except on Creep
- Painfully Mana hungry; requires careful Mana conservation
- Low burst damage
- Her only form of crowd control is Devouring Maw
5. Role in the Current Meta
When fighting on a widespread area of creep, Zagara is unexpectedly a
phenomenal duelist. The attack range and movement speed provided by
Creep Tumor combined with the relentless single target
damage of Hunter Killer makes Zagara quite the bully.
She is easily able to kite enemies in pursuit of her as well as chase those
down who may have regretfully overstepped their boundary. The vision that
Creep Tumor provides is extremely powerful, especially
on maps like Tomb of the Spider Queen and Sky Temple, where Heroes are
constantly roaming to gank. This vision allows her to
safely harass opponents without fear of being ambushed unexpectedly. She is
also able to safely stop the channeling of map objectives on maps like Cursed
Hollow and Blackheart's Bay by casting a single charge of
Baneling Barrage or
Infested Drop. Assuming it was talented for, a well
placed Devouring Maw on multiple enemy Heroes may win
a fight by itself, as it allows your allies to follow up with devastating
AoE combos.
Aside from the movement speed boost provided by creep, Zagara's kit lacks
any sort of reliable gap-closer. However this does
not prevent her from creating an almost unparalleled global presence when
talenting for Nydus Network in conjunction with
Endless Creep. This can be used to create
pressure almost anywhere on the map, forcing enemy
teams to have to make a constant choice between losing precious objectives or
their own defenses.
6. Reading Further
To take things further, we have 2 more pages that you can read:
- Abilities and Strategy: an overview of your hero's abilities and how to use them;
- Talent Build: a detailed rundown of your talents and how to choose them.
7. ChangeLog
- 13 Dec. 2017 (abilities page): All mention of a Structure's Ammo has been removed.
- 11 Nov. 2016 (this page): Moved guide to new format.
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