Hi there!! My Btag is BeerBrawl. I'm no pro, and I'm no master of Stitches. I'm just an average gamer with a lot of experience in the moba scene (cumulutuve 5+ years exerience.) I'm one of those guys who loves to play underdog hero and stitches is no exception. I really hope you enjoy reading my guide, even though I have absolutely NO background with coding. I will be updating this guide as much as I can. This guide is currently under construction, but I want to get as much advice out there as I can while I work on it.

Let's face it. The meta changes so rapidly that there is really no way to tell what the next meta will be. At the moment (Butcher patch) I see stitches as a POWER HOUSE!! He has those hooks from down town, an extremely powerful ult, and some super strong in combat sustain. If you use stitches properly, you can totally lock out that pesky assassin that is trying to ruin your back line.

(Q) Hook A very unique spell in HOTS. You can use this spell to interrupt spells, pull enemies into traps, save allies, and act like you're playing Mortal Kombat.

(W) Slam This spell may SOUND like you just hit a strike in the bowling alley, but that's just not the case. It's Stitches' bread and butter spell used to lay damage in a forward cone, which has MANY applications.

(E) Devour Have you ever felt so hungry that you think you could possibly eat an entire Brightwing? No? Well Stitches has. This spell has the potential to make a or break an entire team fight depending on how you use it. No other tank in HOTS has a way to get back a baseline 20% health as a basic ability. Use it wisely and don't forget to chew your food. I hear Diablo gives you heartburn.

(Passive) Vile Gas This is a really fun passive. ***ide from making a really hardcore fart sound it will also give you the possibility to break a hero's stealth as he ignorantly and unfortunately stands down wind of you. It does 'Meh' damage. 'Meh' damage can add up.

(R) Putrid Bile I have no idea where this slime is comming from. I don't want to know. Please don't tell me. Essentially this spell coats the floor with some sort of goop that is so nasty that it physically HURTS!

(R) Gorge Have you ever seen that part of Ace Ventura where he comes out of the mechano rhino's butt? This spell is a lot like that... but backwards... and then forward. It will definitely consume what ever minion or hero you choose.

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Chew Your Food - This spell is just too valuable to pass up. That's another 10% of your HP before the level 4 Amplified Healing. It's awesome sustain for just entering a match.
Hunger For More - If you feel that Stitches isn't fat enough, take this! at 20 stacks, which isn't hard to get, stitches will have a bonus 600 HP on top of what he already has.
Dampen Magic - There comes a time when you are so infected that even the meanest stuff won't even penetrate all that nasty. Sure, other heroes may get mad because spells only tickle Stitches, but nothing is going to slow the pain train down today!

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Amplified Healing - I know 30% of 20%/30% doesn't seem like much... but trust me. It adds up SOSOSOSOSOSOSOSOSOSOSO MUCH. This sort of sustain instantly from just a single spell is unheard of. Plus it helps you be a little more trolly. You can do baits for days. Bait city is a real place.

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Tenderizer& Last Bite - This one is really up to you. I prefer Last Bite. Sometimes you are all "PLEASE HOTS GODS, GIVE ME MORE HP!" and they're all "OR NAH!" And then you just die. This spell circumvents that. Sorta. If you feel like your healer is a straight gangster like I often do, just choose Tenderizer. It makes people move slow. It also makes them real mad because they move real slow. If you're not into making people rage because they can't reach their gate, try making them rage because their damage isn't doing enough to kill you!

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Gorge - I feel like this is a super powerful spell. It's like an INDIVIDUAL zeratul ult that also does damage. You can upgrade it later on, but I really don't see a serious need so long as your assassins are doing their job. This one is probably the best choice to protect that Morales or Zagara. Silly Squishies
Putrid Bile - Putrid bile is really gross looking, I think it comes from stitches' butt, and its nasty. It's also essential for the escape slow, and lv 20 regeneration from Regenerative Bile.

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Relentless & Mega Smash - If you are getting CC'd into the ground by all means go with Relentless. It's a great passive talent for tanks. It's also sort of boring. The way cooler option is Mega Smash because it makes your slam area HUGE! Which gives you a larger potential to slow enemies if you take Pulverize as your level 16 talent. It also helps clear large waves faster, potentially deal more damage in team fights, and gives you a larger chance to catch and pwn those nub stealthies. Silly stealthies, Stitches doesn't like to play hide and seek.
Helping Hand - I'm not going to beat around the bush here. I select this some times when I'm drunk to troll my friends.

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Pulverize, Fishing Hook, & Stoneskin - The options here are just TOO real. All 3 are amazing talents that are very strong in their own way. I usually go with pulverzie because I get mad when my playmates try to leave. No one ever leaves Stitches. No one. Well, there's that and the fact that a 75% slow paired up with Mega Smash every 6 seconds can be an awesome CC which totally trumps Chen's lame kick. A lot of the time I also go with Stoneskin to troll the enemies into thinking they can kill Stitches. Even El Chapo can't kill stitches. He probably wouldn't have escaped prison if stitches was there either. Ever seen that old mortal combat movie? Yeah, it's like that. GET OVER HEREEEE!!

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Hardened Shield - It's a very well known fact that if you push on Stitches too hard he will shoot out some really Vile Gas. For the sake of your team mates get a harder shell so that you don't produce all that flatulence so easy. Also it makes it much easier to tank with all of those other fancy level 20 talents your enemies take. If you feel that Hardened Shield isn't needed then just use your best judgement. The other two highlighted talents are also extremely viable in the right hands.
Regenerative Bile - Regenerative Bile is !!EXTREMELY!! strong when paired with Stitches' other regenerative talents.

Honestly any time is a good time to hook as long as you think you can land that nasty dunk from down town on the proper target. The support is a good target. The back line assassins are amazing targets. Heroes with great area cc are TERRIBLE TARGETS!! If you end up hooking a Diablo, Johanna, or (please don't do this) an ETC into your back line I would almost garauntee that you will have a bad day. I like to think of 3 quick factors before I throw a hook; my placement, my sqishie's placement, and the enemy's potential to CC my team. If you're seeing all green lights for a hook then just take it. Hesitation will get you nothing but an air hook, the wrong hero, or a nice tasty minion to drop your devour on. But seriously, Don't waste your devour on a minion in a team fight unless you desparately need a snackrafice or the minon (jaina ele's) are about to murder one of your playmates.

Having trouble landing your hooks? Practice. Practice a lot. I feel like huge amounts of coffee mixed with dub step also does the trick. But in all seriousness if you're having trouble landing hooks DO NOT buff it at level 16. Get your pulverize instead.

As perviously stated stitches has a very strong in combat sustain ability. If you properly use devour I garauntee that the enemy team will come out of a fight EXTREMELY frustrated. With the way that I have devour set up it will heal up roughly or a little above 1/3 of your HP. With that being said, your low hp is also a GREAT bait to get assassins and other players to dive you. Once they're in, they're committed. Once they're committed, you can devour and instantly be in a safe zone to fight again and in turn those enemies that dove you are left with noting but a rez timer so long as your allies are there to jump the poor fool.

Slam can be a good tool in a few cases, but it's definitely not an ability to save for a rainy day like devour and hook. It's your spam spell, your bread and butter. Spam it on CD while in team fights. While you're in a lane phase save slam to catch stealthies, take a chunk of HP off of an entire minion wave, or simply play mind games with assassins. If you're team fights are going really well, hooks are landing fine, and the enemy team is running away as a pack more often than not, PLEASE take Pulverize. I've mentioned it before, but pulverize is a great tool for runners.

Gorge is a strong initiation, finisher, wombo chain, saving tool, and (this ones funny) a really fun merc jacking tool. It works better with some heroes rather than others, but it works great on all heroes.

Please make sure you are using this ult at the proper time for the sake of your team mates not raging on you. For instance, if you see Kael drop his ult on the floor and then you gorge the poor victim he was about to incinerate, he will get real mad. If you gorge the enemy that sylvannas just Arrow'd, she will rage. I for some how manage to gorge your allied zagara's ult target(s) the whole team will likely rage. You'll never see the end of that one.

But who is to say that you can't use enemy ults against them? If enemy zeratul tosses down a void prison and you want to take him out of the game for a few moments just gorge him and hop on in that pretty looking void prison. The same goes for zagara's ult and a few others that will pause cooldowns while your are disabled.

Speaking of cooldowns... I bet I bet i know the best way to make an ulting Lili, Malfurion, or some other channeled heroic ability hero REAL mad. Gorge them!! it gives the same amount of rage as Brightwing turning you into a cute little monkey or something. Butcher, Illidan, Anub'Arak, Kerrigan, Nazeebo. Malfurion, DEFINITELY Nova, Tychus), these are all amazing targets due to their channeled ults.

Putrid Bile is a pretty great chase down/run awau/team slow/troll move. When paired with Regenerative Bile the dominance will be amazing, and the lementation from the enemy will be emmense. Prepare to not die as well as run circles around your opponent while "leaking" all over them. You may want to bring a towel.

Let's touch on the topic of playmates; Stitches' good team matchups.

• Malfurion- Hook or gorge into roots. Awesome CC. This is my preferred lane mate.
• Kael'thas- Set up kills for KT. If you stand in front of him I promise you things will die.
• Butcher- You should have no issue body blocking/hooking in heroes for Butcher to skin alive.
• Kerrigan- If you can properly set up for Kerigan, she will flourish.
• Jaina- Jaina has lots of slows, CCs, and a LOT of burst damage.
• Nazeebo- Naz has the same CC potential as Malfurion but with a little less lockdown. He makes funny noises, too.
• Sgt. Hammer- Ever played protect the tank? Stitches loves games. Hammer is an awesome playmate.
• Abathur- Abathur doesn't always put hats on you, but when he does he does it Dos Equis style.
• Anub'Arak- This combo is broken. Seriously. Their Backline doesn't stand a chance. Swiggity Swooty.

Once upon a time there was a very happy giant fat zombie held together by thread, evil, and things I would really rather not mention. He smelled real bad. He loved to prance around out healing full team's damage whilst all the while slapping them in the face with his giant cleaver. Jesus of the Storm beat him down with a nurf bat. He no longer exists. Don't try it.