Positioning

Positioning is the one decision you make every single round that costs no gold, and it is the one that Emerald players change the least. A default layout that was right at 2-5 sits untouched until 5-1 while the lobby around it fills with assassins, hooks and area damage. The habit to build is not "know the perfect layout"; it is move something every round after scouting, even if only by one hex.

Frontline and backline defaults

The board is four rows of seven, with row 0 nearest the enemy and row 3 at the back. The default layout is about three things: who gets hit first, who gets to attack, and how far the enemy has to walk.

Frontline (row 0, sometimes row 1). Your tanks sit in row 0 in the centre columns (2 to 4), because enemies target the closest unit and the centre is closest to the most enemies. The bruisers flank them in columns 1 and 5. The itemised tank goes in the exact hex you want the fight to happen on; see who gets the tank item. A unit you want to die last should not be the unit that is hit first.

Backline (row 3, sometimes row 2). Ranged carries go in row 3; the default is a corner hex (column 0 or 6) because it is the farthest point from most enemy frontlines and gives the carry the most time before anything reaches it. Casters that need to survive the first cast go beside the carry, not in the other corner, so your utility (shields, heals) covers both.

The middle rows. Row 1 holds units that should engage a second late (a second tank, a bruiser that jumps). Row 2 holds bodyguards for the carry: a cheap unit in row 2 directly in front of a corner carry intercepts anything that walks in.

Two default rules that are worth more than any layout diagram: the carry never shares a column with the tank (when the tank dies, the enemy frontline walks straight down the column), and never leave row 0 empty on one side (an empty flank is a lane).

Melee carries

A melee carry is a frontliner who must not be hit first. Put it in row 1 behind the tank, or on a flank in row 0 opposite the enemy's strongest unit, so it engages a second later than the tank and against a weaker part of the enemy line. Melee carries in the centre of row 0 die before they cast.

Spread vs clump

Clumping (units adjacent) is the default because adjacency is how auras, shields and heals reach the units that need them. Spreading is the counter to area damage, and the whole decision is which threat is bigger this round.

Clump when the enemy has single-target damage (a hyper-carry, an assassin), or your board depends on adjacency effects (shields that hit neighbours, traits that buff adjacent units), or the enemy has a pull or hook that punishes isolated units.

Spread when the enemy has area damage that hits a radius (a caster with a splash ult, a frontline that explodes, chain effects). Spread the backline first: two carries side by side is how one ability kills your whole damage output. One empty hex between backline units is usually enough; a full spread across the row costs you your utility coverage.

The mistake is treating this as a global setting. It is per-opponent. Against the AoE board you spread; against the assassin board next round you clump the backline around a bodyguard. If you are not changing between those two layouts across a stage, you are not positioning.

Counter-positioning

Counter-positioning means moving units because of what a specific opponent has. It only works after scouting (see the scout routine), and it is the concrete output of that scouting.

Against assassins and dives. Units that jump land on the hex farthest from their start, which in practice is your back corners. A corner carry is a corner target. Move the carry to the centre of row 3 (or row 2), put bruisers in the corners of row 2 or 3 as landing pads, and let the assassin jump onto a 2-star bruiser instead of your damage. If you scouted two assassin boards among your likely opponents, the centre is your default this stage.

Against hooks and pulls. A hook pulls whichever of your units is closest along its line. Bait it with a unit you do not mind losing, placed one hex closer to the hook than your carry, on the same side. Do not put the carry on the hook's side of the board at all if you can help it.

Against area damage. Spread the backline as above, and consider moving the itemised tank off the exact centre so the splash on it does not also hit the support behind it.

Against a hyper-carry with a single target. Mirror it: put your itemised tank in the column opposite that carry so it wastes its first seconds on the unit that can take it. If the carry is in a corner, that means your tank goes to the same side, not the centre.

Against your own mirror. When another player is on your comp, they have your positioning. Position for the mirror: swap sides so their carry faces your tank and their tank faces your carry, and expect them to do the same next round.

The general form of every counter-position: identify the enemy unit that decides the fight, work out which of your hexes it will interact with first, and make sure the unit on that hex is the one you chose.