Route: What a “Real” 5-Man Comp Must Have

A strong 5-man composition is built on coverage, not hype. Before you even talk about which heroes are “best,” your draft must cover these jobs:

1) Engage or Catch (Start the fight)

• Someone must be able to force a fight when your team is ready, or punish a misposition instantly.

2) Follow-up Damage (Finish the fight)

• Engage is useless if nobody can burst or DPS the targets you catch.

3) Peel or Anti-Dive (Protect the win condition)

• If your gold laner or mid is your main damage, someone must stop assassins and divers from deleting them.

4) Wave Clear and Tempo

• At least one hero must clear mid fast so you can rotate first, set up objectives early, and avoid getting trapped in your own lanes.

5) Objective Control

• Turtle at 2:00 and Lord later decide most coordinated games. Your comp must secure pits with zoning, burst, and Retribution discipline.

6) Win Condition

• “We fight” is not a win condition. Your win condition is a repeatable pattern:
• snowball through early Turtle + towers
• win teamfights with wombo
• siege with poke and zone
• protect-carry and outscale
• split pressure and suffocate the map

If your squad can’t say “how we win” in one sentence, your draft is probably random.

Route: Ranked vs Scrims — Why the Best Comp Changes

Ranked 5-man (especially ladder games) rewards:

• simple execution
• strong pick potential (punish strangers and solo pushes)
• straightforward objective fights
• stable late-game insurance

Scrims reward:

• clean macro (wave states, rotations, timing)
• coordinated setups (vision, traps, layered engage)
• compositions that scale into structured Lord fights
• practice value (you learn more from controlled drafts)

So the “best” comp depends on your goal:

• If you want fast stars, pick a comp your team can execute with low complexity.
• If you want to improve for tournaments, pick comps that teach disciplined setups and flexible drafting.

Route: The Objective Timeline Your 5-Man Must Play

Coordinated teams win because they show up early and control entrances.

Key map events to draft and plan around:

• 2:00: First Turtle spawns (first one is near the EXP lane side).
• 5:00: Outer turret energy shields drop (tower pressure changes a lot).
• 8:00: First Lord becomes the main objective.
• 12:00: Lord becomes enhanced (late-game pressure ramps up).
• 18:00: Very late-game becomes brutally punishing (one wipe can end).

A 5-man comp should be judged by one question:

Does this comp reliably win fights and secure objectives at these timers?

Route: The 5 Roles and What Each Must Do in a Comp

In a clean 5-man system, each role has a draft job:

Jungle

• tempo and objective secure (Retribution discipline)
• early ganks or scaling carry pressure
• positioning around pits and smite timing

Roam

• vision, bush control, engage/peel decision
• protects carries and controls entrances at Turtle/Lord

Mid

• wave priority and rotation speed
• zoning in objective fights (space control)
• burst follow-up or control follow-up

EXP

• frontline stability and side pressure
• either flank threat or primary peel body
• absorbs resources without starving carries

Gold

• main sustained DPS win condition in many comps
• needs protection, safe farming, and clean spacing

Good drafts assign these jobs on purpose.

Loot: The Best 5-Man Team Comps for Ranked and Scrims

Below are the highest-performing comp styles for squads. Each one includes:

• what it does best
• what roles should pick
• how to play it
• what counters it
• whether it’s better for ranked or scrims

Loot: Comp 1 — The “Balanced Front-to-Back” Objective Comp

Best for: Ranked and scrims (most reliable overall)

Identity: Stable frontline + consistent DPS + strong wave clear

Win condition: Win objective fights by protecting backline and killing what’s reachable

Core blueprint

• Roam: durable frontline with peel tools (counter-engage or reliable engage)
• EXP: bruiser/frontliner that can hold space or threaten a flank
• Mid: control mage with wave clear + zoning
• Jungle: flexible carry jungler (burst or sustained)
• Gold: high DPS marksman that shreds frontline when protected

Why it wins

• It doesn’t require perfect picks or miracle engages.
• It performs well whether you’re ahead or behind.
• It makes Turtle/Lord fights predictable: frontline holds, backline free-hits.

How to play it (simple playbook)

• Early (0–2:00): avoid deaths, keep lanes stable, prepare for first Turtle.
• 2:00 Turtle: clear mid early, roamer takes bushes, EXP rotates first, secure or trade cleanly.
• 5:00+: convert picks into turrets and jungle control.
• Lord era: waves first, then pit. Protect DPS, front-to-back teamfight, convert to towers.

Common mistakes

• Roamer engages too deep without backline in range.
• EXP chases too far and leaves carry exposed.
• Team starts Lord with bad waves and gets collapsed.

Best counter

• Heavy dive with perfect coordination, or strong poke-siege that denies front-to-back entry.

Loot: Comp 2 — The “Wombo Combo” Hard Engage + AoE Burst

Best for: Ranked (fast wins), also strong in scrims if practiced

Identity: One clean set = fight ends

Win condition: Catch 2–3 targets in layered CC, delete them instantly, take objective

Core blueprint

• Roam: hard set engage (pull, slam, multi-CC)
• Mid: AoE burst/control that punishes clumps
• EXP: secondary engage or anti-escape control
• Jungle: follow-up burst/cleanup + secure
• Gold: DPS finisher or secondary AoE pressure

Why it wins

• Random enemies and even organized teams clump at objectives.
• Objective entrances create choke points that make AoE lethal.
• One correct engage can end the game in late minutes.

How to play it

• Your team does not “poke and hope.” Your team waits.
• Force enemies into a choke: river entrance, pit edge, mid lane corner.
• Engage only when:
• your mid is in range
• your follow-up is ready
• you can convert immediately afterward

Objective rule

• Wombo comps win by arriving early and controlling bushes.
• If you arrive late, your comp becomes weaker because you’re forced to walk into fog.

Counters

• Split push and spread (deny clumping)
• Clean anti-engage and disengage tools
• Drafting heroes that can’t be easily grouped or that punish dive-in

Ranked tip

• This is one of the fastest “ranked farming” comps because many teams don’t respect choke setups.

Loot: Comp 3 — The “Pick Comp” (Hook/Trap/Single-Target Lock)

Best for: Ranked (especially ladder), good in scrims for discipline practice

Identity: Win 5v4 before the fight begins

Win condition: Catch one key hero → instant delete → objective

Core blueprint

• Roam: hook/catch/lockdown specialist
• Mid: burst follow-up and wave clear
• Jungle: fast collapse + secure
• EXP: zone exits or threaten flanks
• Gold: safe DPS that hits whoever gets locked

Why it wins

• Ranked games are full of mistakes: greedy waves, lazy rotations, solo checking bushes.
• Picks are “low risk, high reward” when your team is positioned properly.
• One pick at 8:00+ often becomes Lord and a game-ending push.

How to play it

• Choose a “trap zone” and own it:
• entrances near Turtle/Lord
• jungle pathways between mid and side lanes
• bushes behind mid lane
• Don’t show all five heroes on the map.
• Rotate as pairs: roamer + mid, jungler + EXP, gold stays safe and farms.

Conversion ladder

• Pick → Lord/Turtle
• Pick → turret
• Pick → steal buffs and reset
• Never: pick → chase into fog and throw

Counters

• Heavy vision and disciplined grouping
• Tanky cleanse/immunity tools
• Comps with multiple safe wave clear heroes that don’t need to face-check

Loot: Comp 4 — The “Protect the Carry” Hyper Teamfight Comp

Best for: Ranked (most consistent when your gold is strong), strong in scrims

Identity: One unstoppable DPS wins every objective fight

Win condition: Keep your carry alive for 10 seconds → win fight → end

Core blueprint

• Gold: the win condition marksman (your “boss”)
• Roam: dedicated peel (shields, heals, interrupts, body-blocking)
• EXP: secondary peel or anti-dive bruiser
• Mid: control mage that denies divers and zones entrances
• Jungle: objective secure + threat that forces enemy to respect angles

Why it wins

• Many comps rely on assassins to delete backline.
• If your carry survives the first engage, the enemy’s plan collapses.
• It’s extremely strong in late-game Lord fights where spacing matters more than kills.

How to play it

• Gold lane farms safely; roamer anchors near gold early.
• Mid clears and rotates defensively, not greedily.
• EXP positions between divers and carry unless you have a guaranteed flank.
• Your jungler plays for objectives and counter-engage, not endless chasing.

Teamfight rule

• Your first target is often the diver threatening your carry (threat-first).
• Your carry hits the closest safe target (front-to-back).
• Your engage happens when the enemy is forced forward into your zone.

Counters

• Strong poke-siege that forces carry to retreat before fights start
• Very coordinated backline collapse with layered CC
• Drafts that out-range and out-zone you

Loot: Comp 5 — The “Dive and Collapse” Full Damage Snowball Comp

Best for: Ranked if your team is confident and coordinated, scrims for aggressive practice

Identity: Fast fights, fast picks, no breathing room

Win condition: Win early tempo, invade, deny farm, end before late-game stabilizes

Core blueprint

• Jungle: mobile assassin or burst carry jungler
• Roam: mobility support/engage that follows dives
• Mid: burst mage or flexible damage that rotates fast
• EXP: skirmish fighter that joins collapses quickly
• Gold: either early-fighting marksman or a safe scaler depending on style

Why it wins

• It punishes slow rotations and weak early drafts.
• It turns the map into a constant 2v1/3v2.
• It snowballs Turtle fights by arriving first and forcing skirmishes.

How to play it

• Your squad must move like a unit: mid wave → roam → invade → reset.
• Don’t take “fair” fights. Force numbers advantages.
• Control the enemy jungle entrances and deny buffs.
• End through towers and Lord pressure, not endless brawling.

Big warning

• This comp throws hard if you:
• overchase into fog
• fail one Lord fight late game
• give shutdown gold to your fed assassin

Counters

• Strong peel + front-to-back comp that survives the dive and outscales
• Drafts with heavy hard CC that punishes dash heroes
• Teams that play safe, trade objectives, and force late-game discipline

Loot: Comp 6 — The “Poke and Siege” Zone Control Comp

Best for: Scrims (excellent), ranked if your team is patient

Identity: Win fights before they start by draining HP and controlling space

Win condition: Out-range enemies, force them off objectives, take towers safely

Core blueprint

• Mid: long-range zoning mage (wave clear + poke)
• Gold: marksman that can hit towers safely and scale
• Roam: frontliner that holds space and denies engage
• EXP: secondary frontline or flank threat that punishes engages
• Jungle: secure + threat that stops enemies from freely walking forward

Why it wins

• Objective entrances are perfect for poke: enemies must walk into your range.
• Siege comps win by turning fights into “bad trades” for the enemy.
• Towers fall when enemies are too low to contest.

How to play it

• Don’t hard engage first. You’re not a wombo comp.
• Set up early, take safe angles, poke, and back off.
• Use waves and pressure: crash mid wave, then poke at pit entrances.

Key execution habit

• Spacing matters more than kills. If you clump, you lose to one engage.
• Spread slightly, keep peel ready, and keep poke consistent.

Counters

• Hard engage wombo comps (if they get one clean set)
• Deep flank dive with coordinated timing
• Heroes that ignore poke with sustain or shields (if anti-heal/anti-shield tools aren’t built)

Loot: Comp 7 — The “Sustain and Drain” Extended Fight Comp

Best for: Scrims and ranked when enemies lack burst

Identity: Win long fights through sustain, durability, and repeated rotations

Win condition: Outlast enemy cooldowns, win objective fights by staying alive

Core blueprint

• Roam: sustain enabler or durable frontline
• EXP: tanky bruiser that thrives in extended fights
• Mid: consistent damage over time or control that prolongs fights
• Jungle: durable carry or sustain skirmisher
• Gold: consistent DPS that benefits from long fight time

Why it wins

• Many teams blow everything in the first 3 seconds.
• If your comp survives, you win because the enemy has no second rotation.
• Great for objective “dances” where you repeatedly re-enter fights.

How to play it

• Don’t panic engage. Let enemies commit first.
• Fight near objectives and controlled zones.
• Take slower, safer plays: deny jungle camps, take steady towers, win Lord through endurance.

Counters

• High burst wombo that deletes someone before sustain matters
• Anti-heal discipline from enemies
• Split push that avoids long 5v5 fights entirely

Loot: Comp 8 — The “Split Pressure” 1-3-1 / Side Lane Control Comp

Best for: Scrims (high macro value), ranked only if your team is disciplined

Identity: Win without constant 5v5 by pressuring multiple lanes

Win condition: Force enemy to respond to side lanes, then take objectives or towers with numbers advantage

Core blueprint

• Two side threats: usually EXP + another strong sidelane pressure hero
• Mid trio: mid + roam + jungle controlling tempo and vision
• Gold: depends on style (can be safe scaler or mid-trio damage)

Why it wins

• Enemies can’t group freely when waves are crashing in two lanes.
• You create “forced choices”:
• defend side lane and lose objective control
• contest objective and lose towers
• It’s a powerful scrim comp because it teaches map discipline and timing.

How to play it

• Split push is not “go die in sidelane.” It’s controlled pressure:
• push wave
• disappear into fog safely
• reappear when your team is ready to punish rotations
• The mid trio must hold vision and punish anyone who rotates alone.

Hard rules

• Side laners must always have an exit plan.
• Mid trio must communicate timers and enemy positions.
• If your team can’t track enemies, don’t overextend.

Counters

• Strong catch/pick comp that kills split pushers
• Fast engage that forces your mid trio into a bad fight
• Teams with excellent wave clear that erase your pressure quickly

Loot: Comp 9 — The “Double Frontline” Objective Lock Comp

Best for: Scrims and structured ranked

Identity: Two durable bodies + strong backline = unbreakable objective control

Win condition: Own pit entrances, deny flanks, win front-to-back every time

Core blueprint

• Roam: primary frontline engager/peeler
• EXP: second frontline that can hold space forever
• Mid: control mage with wave clear and zoning
• Gold: sustained DPS carry
• Jungle: secure + threat that punishes oversteps

Why it wins

• Double frontline reduces chaos. Your carries can play confidently.
• It’s extremely strong in 8:00+ Lord setups where entrances decide the game.
• It’s reliable even if you don’t get early kills.

How to play it

• Arrive early to objectives.
• Frontlines take bushes and entrances.
• Backline stays at safe angles and melts whoever walks in.

Counters

• Heavy percent-damage or true-damage shred comps
• Strong poke siege that forces frontliners to retreat
• Split push that avoids your “frontline wall” fights

Loot: Comp 10 — The “Anti-Meta Counter Draft” (Punish What Everyone Plays)

Best for: Ranked and scrims if your team drafts smart

Identity: Build a comp that specifically punishes the enemy’s main plan

Win condition: Make their “best play” fail consistently

Instead of locking the same comp every time, your squad can draft as a counter machine. Examples of what you can punish:

• Enemy heavy dive: draft peel + interrupts + durable front-to-back
• Enemy wombo: draft spread + disengage + safe wave clear
• Enemy poke: draft flank threat + sustain + quick engage timing
• Enemy split push: draft catch + fast wave clear + global/rotation speed

How to play it

• Your draft starts with one question: “What do they want to do?”
• Your comp answers with: “They can’t do that safely.”

This is one of the strongest scrim approaches because it forces your team to understand drafts deeply, not just memorize “best heroes.”

Extraction: How to Draft 5-Man Comps Like a Real Team

A clean draft has three phases: foundation, direction, and finisher.

1) Foundation picks

Pick heroes that keep your draft flexible and safe:

• roamer types that can peel or engage
• mid wave clear that enables rotations
• EXP frontline stability

Foundation picks prevent you from being forced into a one-dimensional comp too early.

2) Direction picks

This is where you declare your win condition:

• wombo engage + AoE follow-up
• protect-carry scaling
• pick/trap and punish rotations
• poke/siege zone control
• dive/collapse snowball

Direction picks should appear by your 3rd–4th hero slot so your team understands how to play.

3) Finisher picks

Last picks should solve problems:

• if enemies drafted dive, pick more peel or safer DPS
• if enemies drafted heavy tank, pick better shred/penetration paths and correct DPS types
• if enemies drafted wombo, pick spread/anti-engage and safer angles

Draft checklist your captain should say out loud

• “Do we have wave clear?”
• “Do we have engage or pick?”
• “Do we have peel for our carry?”
• “Do we have objective control at Turtle and Lord?”
• “Do we have a clear win condition?”

If the answer to any is “no,” fix it before the draft ends.

Extraction: The Objective Setup System That Makes Any Comp Stronger

Even the best comp looks weak if you arrive late. Use this universal setup system.

For Turtle (2:00)

• 20 seconds early: mid wave must be cleared
• 15 seconds early: roamer takes river bushes, mid follows
• 10 seconds early: EXP rotates first if possible, gold stays safe
• Spawn: decide whether to fight, bait, or trade

Key idea: The first Turtle spawns near the EXP side. That means EXP and roamer timing matters a lot.

For Lord (after Turtle phase / later game)

• Waves first: mid wave, then one side wave
• Entrances: control both main entrances before touching the pit
• Zoning: 2–3 heroes zone while 1–2 secure
• Pick first if possible: a single pick often turns Lord into free

The biggest 5-man mistake:

Starting objective while your team is scattered and waves are bad.

Extraction: Teamfight Execution Rules by Comp Type

To win consistently, your team must fight differently depending on comp identity.

Front-to-back comps

• Protect backline first.
• Kill what’s reachable.
• Don’t chase deep after winning first rotation—convert objective.

Wombo comps

• Patience wins.
• Don’t waste engage on low-value targets if the backline is reachable.
• Fight in chokes and around fog control.
• One clean set, then immediately convert.

Pick comps

• Hide information.
• Don’t start fair 5v5s unless necessary.
• Pick → objective. Always.
• Reset after conversion—don’t overstay.

Protect-carry comps

• Threat-first targeting when your carry is threatened.
• Peel tools are not for style—they’re for survival.
• Your carry should hit closest safe target and kite.

Poke/siege comps

• Spread and keep angles.
• Don’t hard commit first unless enemies are already low or out of position.
• Win through turret damage and objective denial, not chase kills.

Split comps

• Pressure waves, then disappear safely.
• Mid trio controls vision and punishes rotations.
• Don’t die alone in sidelane—your life is the pressure.

Extraction: Ranked 5-Man Playbook (The Fast-Climb Version)

If your goal is to climb quickly, your squad should run a simple weekly system:

Step 1: Choose 2 “main comps”

• One “fast win” comp (wombo or pick)
• One “safe win” comp (front-to-back or protect-carry)

Step 2: Assign hero pools

Each role chooses:

• 2 comfort heroes for main comp A
• 2 comfort heroes for main comp B
• 1 emergency flex hero

That’s how you draft fast and avoid confusion.

Step 3: Play for objectives, not ego

• Early game: stabilize and prepare Turtle
• Midgame: convert picks to towers
• Late game: Lord setup with waves and entrances

Step 4: Stop throwing

Your ranked losses in 5-man usually come from:

• greed after winning a fight
• chasing into fog
• starting Lord with bad waves
• engaging 3v5 because someone saw a target

A disciplined squad climbs faster than a flashy squad.

Extraction: Scrim Improvement Plan (The “Tournament Ready” Version)

Scrims are for learning, not only winning. Use this structure:

1) Scrim block themes

• Block A: objective setup discipline (arrival timing, bush control)
• Block B: wave management and rotations (mid priority, side crash timing)
• Block C: teamfight layering (engage → follow-up → peel)
• Block D: late-game Lord discipline (no flips, controlled entries)

2) Draft variety with purpose

• Run your main comp style.
• Then run its counter.
• Then run a “hard macro” comp (split pressure or poke).

3) Review only 3 things after each game

• Did we arrive early to objectives?
• Did we convert wins into towers/Lord?
• Did we protect our win condition in teamfights?

Scrims become valuable when you focus on repeatable mistakes, not random moments.

Practical Rules: The Squad Rules That Win Ranked and Scrims

1. Draft a win condition in one sentence every game.
2. Always have wave clear somewhere in the draft.
3. Always have either engage or reliable pick tools.
4. Always have a plan to protect your main DPS.
5. Play the objective clock: Turtle at 2:00 is not optional preparation.
6. Clear mid before rotating to any objective.
7. Arrive early; late entries into fog lose fights.
8. Roamer checks bushes; carries do not.
9. Never start objective if your jungler isn’t ready to secure.
10. Never start objective with bad waves pushing into you.
11. After any pick, call the conversion instantly.
12. Pick → Turtle/Lord/tower → reset.
13. Don’t chase into fog if a tower is available.
14. Don’t fight 3v5 because someone is bored.
15. Engage only when follow-up is in range.
16. If your comp is poke, stop forcing hard engages.
17. If your comp is wombo, stop wasting engage on tanks.
18. If your comp is protect-carry, peel is more valuable than diving.
19. If your comp is split, side laners must have an exit plan.
20. Don’t reveal ambushes on the minimap for free.
21. Control entrances before touching Turtle/Lord.
22. Don’t stack five bodies in one choke.
23. Spread slightly against AoE and set heroes.
24. Track enemy engage cooldowns before committing.
25. Your carry’s battle spell is for survival, not chasing.
26. If you’re ahead, stop donating shutdowns with solo pushes.
27. If you’re behind, trade instead of late-contesting in fog.
28. After winning a fight, take a turret before farming.
29. Don’t overstay after taking an objective—reset and spend gold.
30. Use simple shotcalls: gather, clear lanes, retreat, attack objective.
31. Assign one captain for calls; reduce conflicting plans.
32. Build at least one adaptation item each game (anti-heal, defense, pen).
33. Anti-heal is a timing tool—buy it before you lose two fights to sustain.
34. Don’t flip Lord unless it’s your only win chance.
35. In Lord era, picks are worth more than random kills.
36. When defending, don’t chase outside high ground without vision.
37. When sieging, don’t dive base if waves aren’t synced.
38. Sync waves before pushing with Lord.
39. If your jungler dies, stop forcing objectives until secure is back.
40. If your roamer dies, carries position back until vision returns.
41. Mid must protect wave priority; it’s the team’s rotation engine.
42. EXP must decide early: peel body or flank threat, not both at once.
43. Gold must farm safely until the first major objective fights.
44. Jungle must be on the correct side before objectives, not after.
45. Practice one comp until it’s automatic before adding more.
46. In scrims, track mistakes by category (setup, conversion, spacing).
47. In ranked, minimize risk: simple comps win more consistently.
48. Don’t tilt-draft. Draft for coverage, not emotion.
49. Every fight must have a reward: objective, turret, shutdown, or map control.
50. If the reward isn’t clear, don’t take the fight.

BoostRoom: Build a Real 5-Man System and Climb Faster

A strong 5-man squad doesn’t need perfect mechanics to dominate—what it needs is a repeatable system: drafts that make sense, rotations that hit objective timers, and teamfight rules that everyone follows.

BoostRoom helps squads and players:

• choose the best comp styles for your goals (ranked climb vs scrim improvement)
• build role-based hero pools that fit your comp identity
• fix objective setup mistakes (bush control, early arrival, zoning assignments)
• improve conversion (turning picks into towers and Lord)
• develop shotcalling structure so your team stops splitting into chaos

If you want your 5-man to feel organized and unstoppable—BoostRoom is built to get you there faster.

FAQ

What is the best 5-man comp for ranked climbing?

Balanced front-to-back and simple wombo or pick comps are usually the fastest for ranked because execution is straightforward and you can convert picks into objectives reliably.

What is the best 5-man comp for scrims and tournaments?

Scrims benefit most from comps that teach discipline: objective setup comps, poke/siege comps, and split pressure comps. They force your team to learn wave control, vision, and timing.

Do we need meta heroes to run these comps?

Meta helps, but comp identity matters more. A well-practiced comp with comfort heroes often beats a “meta draft” with no clear plan.

Why do we win fights but still lose games?

Because you’re not converting. After a win, you must take towers, Turtle/Lord, or jungle control. Chasing kills into fog is the most common reason squads throw.

How do we stop losing Turtle and Lord fights?

Arrive earlier, clear mid first, take bushes, and zone entrances. Don’t start objectives late, and don’t put all five heroes in the pit.

Which roles matter most in a 5-man?

Roam and Jungle set the team’s tempo and objective control, while Mid provides rotation speed. Gold is often the win condition, and EXP stabilizes fights and pressure.

How many comps should our squad master?

Start with two: one fast-win comp (wombo/pick) and one safe-win comp (front-to-back/protect-carry). Add more only after those are automatic.

How do we counter a heavy dive enemy draft?

Draft peel tools, interrupts, and a front-to-back plan. Protect your backline, punish divers when they enter, and avoid split positions that give assassins easy picks.

How do we counter wombo comps?

Spread your formation, avoid walking single-file into chokes, control vision so you don’t face-check, and draft disengage/anti-engage tools.