The exploration of low-cost and earth-abundant electrocatalysts is crucial to pave the way for hydrogen production through electrocatalytic water splitting. Herein, a 3D self-standing and hierarchical composite with WS2 nanosheets dotted by CoS2 nanoparticles is successfully synthesized via the rational structural designing and CoS2-incorporating. Edge-oriented WS2 nanosheets anchored on laser-textured microcone arrays constitute an open and porous framework for highly exposing active edge sites. Meanwhile, CoS2 nanoparticles are embedded in WS2 nanosheets to form a strong electronic interaction between them for the synergistic enhancement effect. Thus, the hybrid catalyst exhibits a high hydrogen evolution activity with a low overpotential and small Tafel slope. This study opens up a new pathway to improve electrocatalytic performance via a rational structural design and hybrid incorporation. (C) 2018 Published by Elsevier Ltd.