While not every CC chain is 100% avoidable, it seems there are a few denizens of the forum who believe that there is no counterplay to CC in HotS. This thread will be a description of the various ways to minimize your risk, especially in QM, so when the next inevitable complaint comes up, there is a resource to which they can be directed. As always, feel free to chime in with your thoughts!
Before the Gates Drop
While the teams are loading in, take a good look at what you are facing, what you have available on your team, and which map you are playing. Does your team have a tank? A cleanse? CC of their own? Which talents should you take to synergize with who is on your team, and to counter what the enemy wants to do to you? Are there obvious gank spots, and safe rotation paths?
You should always be evaluating each match before it starts, and planning your strategy accordingly. Yes, you do need to be flexible and willing to change things up as the game plays out, but having a plan in place can make it easier to respond to enemy actions.
In the First Fight
Most maps feature a mini-ARAM in the middle lane right as the match starts, and often for good reasons. Use this fight to analyze how coordinated people seem to be, and what playstyle they prefer. Is your tank super aggressive? Be ready to follow up on his or her engagements immediately. Is your tank super defensive? Use the space and time they are creating to get some damage in and stacks built, even if the only safe target is the enemy tank. If your tank doesn’t seem to want to engage, it is fine if you do so, but make sure you have a Plan B in case things go sideways.
The same tips apply to evaluating your healer and assassins. Try to keep their playstyle in mind when positioning yourself. If you are the tank, make it clear when and how you plan to play the match, and do try to indicate a focus target when you go in. Often the best way to avoid a CC chain is to kill them first!
Positioning
This is always critical no matter which hero you are playing, or the comps and map. If you are playing a back line hero, is your flank exposed? Where are you in relation to your front line? Are you in range of your healer in case you need help? One thing I always stress about positioning, especially as the tank, is to keep track of minion waves, as they can be free protection from skill shots. Garrosh, Muradin, and Stitches can all be foiled easily by keeping a minion or two between you and their most dangerous weapons.
As a ranged hero, letting your tank eat the CC for you is the best bet in most cases, so try to watch the line between the enemies that can threaten you and your tank. For ambush heroes, such as Valeera, try to stay in the middle of things and within arm’s reach of your tank/healer, so even if they get a jump on you, help is at hand.
Rotations
At some point, you will have to go somewhere, and the path may be treacherous. Always check the mini-map before moving and see if you can spot the enemy heroes. If you cannot account for all 5 of them, try to guess where they may be and what they are doing, and plan your route accordingly. If you cannot account for any of them, take the safest path possible, even if it means going well out of your way to do so.
Bushes are never safe, so always let the tank go first, or even better, scout with a cheap spell, preferably one that can also set up a counter-gank. For example, if you are playing Kael’thas, throwing a Gravity Lapse into the suspicious bush may waste mana and a CD, or it could secure your team a key kill, or at the very least, do unto them before they do unto you. Wasting mana and CDs isn’t good, but dying is even worse.
Defensive Talents are Good
If you are playing an assassin, your job is to kill people, but it is hard to do that if you are dead yourself. While taking a defensive talent may be a net DPS loss, dying is a bigger DPS loss. If you are playing Valla into a mage-heavy comp, Gloom may be a good idea. Diamond Skin on Li-Ming can potentially save your life when the enemy tries to dive on you (or if you are diving them with Calamity!). Don’t be afraid to take talents you normally skip if it will make the difference in who comes out of a fight alive.
Use Abilities Strategically
While this should be obvious, and something done regularly, not just to counter CC, it becomes even more important when the enemy team has ways to lock you down before killing you. Movement abilities, such as Barrel Roll on Falstad, can definitely secure kills, but they can also be used to avoid skill shot CC, or to reposition quickly if you are targeted by one of the more telegraphed abilities, such as a Varian or Butcher E. Always try to save yourself an escape plan when facing CC heavy comps, and evaluate whether or not your abilities can help with that.
Know What You are Facing
While this again applies to all heroes for all aspects of the game, at the least, take the heroes you have problems facing into Try Mode to get a feel for yourself what the range and CD is on their scariest abilities. Most CC has a fairly short range, certainly shorter than most abilities from the glass cannon heroes, so understand how close is too close and apply that to your matches.
In addition, most CC or displacement abilities have a relatively long CD, so practice watching for those, and exploiting the window of opportunity they can present. For example, Varian’s Taunt has a CD of 16 seconds. If you see him use it, you know you have some time to be aggressive where he isn’t a threat to you. Although it may not be possible for you to remember every single CD from every ability or talent in the game, remember that you will almost always have at least 10 seconds of “safe” time to attack.
There is a lot more that can be done in specific situations, and feel free to ask if there are any specific heroes you are having problems playing or countering, but this should be a good start. And as always, I look forward to seeing what other solutions people have!