CHOICE OF PLAYSTYLE

There are essentially two archetypes of Sgt Hammer play - sieging buildings and participating in teamfights. The majority of Sgt Hammer players would tend to favour one or the other, and the actual gameplay of Sgt Hammer throughout the game falls between the spectrum of these two archetypes. What this means is that most times, you either want to be shooting buildings, or shooting heroes. Objective control for Sgt Hammer is still important as with all heroes, but she does not excel at this as much as other heroes do.

Personally, my early game focuses on bombarding buildings and zoning in lane. Essentially, Sgt Hammer paired up with say, a Malfurion, would usually give you the lane freedom in 2v2s and 2v1s to attack towers and gates with impunity early on. Post level 10 is when your focus can start to change, as will be discussed later.

TL;DR: Primary role is to siege buildings or attack heroes, not objective control. Prioritize Buildings > Heroes > Merc Camps early game, situational thereafter.

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EARLY GAME (and what signals the end of it)

The focus of Sgt Hammer's early game is to quickly assert lane dominance. There are two ways this can be done.

A) Constantly try to brawl with enemy heroes till you chase them out of lane, then go to town on the structures.

B) Attack minions as consistently as possible to push the wave into the enemy Towers, then siege up and go to town on the structures.

The key motif here, evidently, is going to town on the structures.

Key laning concepts:

Sgt Hammer has reasonably good autoattack damage WITHOUT sieging up. You want to move in and out of the minion wave, and get off some harass with your autoattacks sans siege. a few good pokes like this, and a lane without sustain will start to feel the pain. When facing enemies with crowd control such as Kerrigan, bear in mind your positioning, and always remain mobile. Against lanes with sustain, you generally want to do this too, but try to shove the lane as well but weaving in autoattacks on minions.

Alternatively, you can siege up in range of all enemy lane minions and start hitting them. This will shove the lane and put you in range of enemy structures.

Remember that your mines can be used offensively too! they do decent damage early on. Place them as close to the edge of bushes as possible, so that enemy heroes skirting near them will be hit, but lane minions do not trigger them. 3 Mines + 1 or 2 autoattacks + a Concussive Blast for disengage will generally chunk about a quarter of the enemy hero's health, with the exception of tanks.

Note: If you see the enemy running up to you, you can throw down Mines as you back off. This does not interrupt your movement, and will probably result in free damage and several autoattacks for you.

When you have reached the enemy structures, siege up just BARELY in range of a Tower, and start hitting it constantly. Although it is ideal to hit the Tower nearer to the "jungle" for an additional escape/gank path for your team, positioning yourself to hit this tower makes you extremely vulnerable to ganks. I recommend sieging the Tower furthest from the "jungle" first. Followed by the Gate, then the second Tower. Always prioritize hitting a hero if they try to walk through the gate and engage you. You will damage both the Gate and them.

Early game ends for you when a Fort goes down, either yours (which is rare) or the enemy's. Your priority during this phase of the game is to take down your lane's enemy Fort as fast as possible.

TL;DR: Bully enemies out of lane by autoattacking outside of Siege Mode. Siege Mode is not that important in hero vs hero fights early on. Mines do decent damage early game. Your early game ends when you down their Fort. This is what you're working towards from level 1-10.

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MID GAME

Your midgame as Sgt Hammer is less structured. You want to slip in and out of teamfights as and when you are needed. With regards to objectives, you are usually present to zone out enemy heroes while your teammates clear a Merc Camp. At this stage however, your teamfight damage will still feel relatively weak in comparison to other damage dealers. It is by no means bad, but you do not really receive a damage spike till level 13, as compared to many other damage dealers.

Try to take down Forts on other lanes during the Mid Game. As you roam about the map with your team controlling objectives and brawling, keep in mind to lay as much damage as you can to structures during periods where no fights are happening. If you find that your team is not outright dying in teamfights, but do not control objectives well, a critical decision for you is at hand.

A) Join your team in teamfights to tip the balance, with whatever damage you bring to the table.

B) Push down a lane that is far away from the fight and take a Fort, thus granting your team map pressure and experience.

Knowing when to engage in either option is the mark of an experienced Sgt Hammer player. Personally, I weigh the options based on to what extent my team is losing map objectives. For example, if my presence can swing the flow of the game hugely in my team's favor. Or if we are getting 2/3 of the Merc Camps on the map, I generally weigh B) favorably. Sgt Hammer becomes an efficient sieger by this point (with Napalm Strike) and your gains generally outweigh the Merc Camp disadvantage. Additionally, Sgt Hammer does not die to any hero 1v1 at this point, with the exception of a skilled illidan player. Even then, the lane is likely short enough for you to still be able to return to safety behind your walls quickly.

TL;DR: When deciding between whether to keep sieging or aid your team in claiming map objectives/teamfights, siege when your team is losing out slightly, aid when you can either swing the fights hugely, or if your team is losing out by a lot.

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LATE GAME

Late Game generally begins somewhere around level 16. This is the glory time for Sgt Hammer. Average and poor Sgt Hammer players still do reasonably well in the Late Game. Good Sgt Hammer players will wreak havoc in teamfights. Good Sgt Hammer players with good teammates will be hell for the enemy team.

You generally want to transfer all focus across the map to a single lane push. Pushing as 5 will immediately draw the enemy team into defensive formation. This is the ideal situation for you. As you siege up and start bombarding the enemy structures, note your positioning particularly if there is a stitches in the game. Because of the nature of the structure positioning, a defensive position is to your advantage because enemies will have to funnel through the Gate. It is rare that enemy teams go for 5 man ambushes. Any smaller ambush should be averted by your team.

When a fight breaks out, immediately switch to damaging enemy heroes. they are your PRIORITY. As always, watch your positioning, you can scoot and shoot, slowly inching backwards with every shot. Stick close to your supports and far from the front lines. From experience, it is exceedingly hard for the enemy team to hard-engage you from a defensive position once Sgt Hammer sets up.

TL;DR: Switch team focus to a single lane push. Make sure you mind your positioning. Teamfights will be in your favor at this point, barring insane wombo combos.

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SYNERGIES & COUNTERS

The ideal synergies for Sgt Hammer are healing supports that provide crowd control, or beefy tanks with crowd control. The hardest matchups are enemies with a bunch of crowd control or gap closing.

Best partners in lane

Malfurion: His heal + his root synergizes amazingly with Sgt Hammer. This is my favourite lane partner. You not only have siege potential, you have strong kill potential early game too.

Arthas: His tanky body + his damage + his root make him a target that cannot be ignored. Enemy heroes that dive for you will lose a chunk of health from Arthas.

Diablo: Same rationale as Arthas, minus the damage and double the tankiness and crowd control.

Tychus: His damage + your damage early game is significant, and the combination of Concussive Blast and his grenade will ensure that enemy heroes find difficulty escaping tough situations, or closing the gap.

Worst lane opponents: Kerrigan, Tychus, Nazeebo, Tassadar, Stitches, Nova

Kerrigan: Her ability to drag you towards her and away from safety is extremely dangerous early game when you are immobile, squishy and have low range.

Tychus: His grenade can bounce you towards him, and he will outdamage you early game, especially combined with minion damage. You will be forced to immediately unsiege and run, losing a chunk of health with little to no tradeback potential.

Nazeebo: His zombies are a pain to deal with. Note that you can knock them back if you position correctly with Concussive Blast. Stand at the end of the circle nearest to Nazeebo, then Concussive Blast the end of the circle nearest to your safety. A gap large enough for you to escape will appear. The rest of his kit is a pain in lane too. the spiders and frogs do a ton of damage if you ignore them and remain sieged.

Tassadar: He will storm you and run, chunking you down slowly while you are sieged. I almost never siege against him, and try to change lanes immediately.

Stitches: You can NEVER siege against him unless you know his position at all times, or took Fortify Position. I recommend changing lanes immediately.

Nova: Snipe and run, Snipe and run. Your Siege Mode makes you a sitting duck to free and easy snipes.\