Infernal Shrines

Play 1-4: the offlaner takes the top lane and the four-man rotates between the middle and bottom lanes, where two of the three Shrines and all three Impaler camps are. The offlaner should clear waves and survive a gank, and during the first Shrine they double-soak instead of joining: middle plus top when the Shrine is bottom, middle plus bottom when the Shrine is middle or top. Global heroes fit the lane farthest from the next Shrine so they can soak and still arrive on time. Someone on the four-man should be able to hold the bush next to your middle siege camp to spot invades.

• Top: offlaner with waveclear and an escape; double-soaks through the first Shrine and while the Punisher is up.
• Middle and bottom: the four-man, built around area damage and two sustain sources.
• Globals take the lane opposite the next Shrine and arrive with their global tool.

At 0:30 clear your Siege camp in the middle lane and capture it right away, with one hero parked in the side bush to call an invade early. If you are ahead after that, cross to the neutral Siege camp in the bottom lane and take it too. Use the Healing Fountain once before 1:00 so it returns for 3:00. At 2:15, thirty to forty seconds before the Shrine, start your Bruiser camp in the top lane and capture it at 2:40, ten seconds after a wave, so the Shaman and Hounds hit the enemy Fort together with your minions while the Shrine fight is on. Then walk, do not run late: your whole four-man must be at the Shrine before 3:00, because the first burst of 10 Guardians spawns instantly.

• 0:30 - middle Siege camp; one hero watches the bush.
• After that - neutral bottom Siege camp if you have the advantage.
• 2:15 - top Bruiser camp; capture at 2:40 to arrive with the wave.
• Before 3:00 - four heroes in position at the Shrine, not walking toward it.

The race is won by last hits, so move as a unit: let the Guardians chase you into a tight pile, kill the pile with area abilities and keep your front line between the pile and the enemy so they cannot steal the finishing blows. Ignore hero kills unless they come free; a dead enemy is worth exactly the Guardians they would have killed. When you are clearly ahead and the enemy has few kills, consider stopping at 39 to delay the Punisher until a dead teammate respawns or your next talent tier unlocks. If you win, push with the Punisher and knock down a Side Wall first, on the outer side of the Towers by the Gate, so your team has room to dive and a way out. If you lose, do not bleed for low-health structures: fall back, group and kill the Punisher as fast as you can without dying, staying away from the Gate it will jump on.

• Group the Guardians, then burst them: heroes like Alexstrasza, D.Va, Hogger or Tychus can clear a burst alone with the right ability.
• Zone the enemy off the spawn with area abilities; they cannot last-hit what they cannot reach.
• Attacking with the Punisher: Side Wall first, then Towers, then the Fort, with your team fighting beside it.
• Defending against it: kill the Punisher, not the heroes, and never stand next to your own Gate.

Five camps: two Bruiser camps in the top lane, two Siege camps in the middle lane and one neutral Siege camp in the bottom lane. They stay active while a Shrine is up and while a Punisher lives, so a well-timed camp during the phase forces the enemy to choose between racing and defending. Impalers are ranged and outrange structures but have no area damage, so they push structures well and clear waves poorly. The Bruiser camp's Shaman resummons two Hounds whenever they die; kill the Shaman first when defending.

• Siege camp (3 Impalers): 0:30, respawns 3:00 after capture, 270 base experience. Ranged, hits structures from outside their range, weak against minion waves.
• Bruiser camp (1 Fallen Shaman + 2 Fallen Hounds): 0:30, respawns 4:00 after capture, 450 base experience. The Shaman resummons the Hounds; all of them deal 100% bonus damage to minions, structures and summons.
• The bottom Siege camp is neutral: take it when you are ahead after your middle camp, or deny it right before a bottom Shrine.
• Camps never disable here: send one into the lane farthest from the Shrine to split the enemy during the race.

Win conditions are the Punisher and split-pushing; there is no boss. A late Punisher with your team beside it takes a Keep, and a Frost Punisher is the best one to plan your push around because its bombs switch off the structures you are diving. Between Shrines, keep the offlaner or a global pushing the lane opposite the next Shrine so the enemy arrives late or arrives short. The Core spawns two volleys of Frozen Orbs every 12 seconds that explode for 5% of maximum health and Root heroes for 1.5 seconds, so end with the Punisher or mercenaries in front and your heroes spread. If you fall behind, race harder, not less: a 3:00 respawn after each Punisher means the next Shrine is always close, and one won race resets the map.