I've played about 1900 hours of DOTA 2 mainly unranked all pick and Ability Draft. After watching TI7 I realize that I'm kinda horrible at the game. I've started watching those Purge coaches Day9 videos and it seems to have given me a MUCH better insight to take my game to the next level. I have a drive to actually get a acceptable mmr vs just playing unranked for fun.
I've started playing ranked solo and party with one or two friends who are determined. Our MMR is like 1.6k (lol) but it feels like the games aren't just simple "carry to win, build BKB, etc." I have no issues playing supports or whatever the team requires, but I started moving towards carries to make a big splash in the game. Any basic tips? I last hit like a maniac, farm once the lanes are pushed. Keep a TP on me and check the minimap every 8-10 seconds but I still feel like the enemies carries are always right in front of me or even.
I think ability draft is one of the worst modes ever conceived in DotA and does a disservice to the game just as DOTA itself did a disservice to vanilla Warcraft 3 by literally killing its host game. Practically every hour you spent there is straight trash.
A lot of what I feel is the most important part of learning the game can only be developed by actually playing the game: map awareness.
It cannot be taught, but it must be learned.
Does the mid queen of pain have boots? TP scroll? If you are a carry in the safe Lane, how long do you think it will take for her to get to you once she goes AFK? Is the offline suddenly passive after aggressively denying your Spectre every last hit? Are they suddenly being aggressive after giving you everything for free?
The timer is about to hit the even number Mark. What kind of shenanigans are you anticipating with time spawns? Did you remember to stack the nearest jungle Creek at the 54 second Mark or are you blocking the spawn to get that Ursa to come out and play?
You are playing support and you notice that the wards have expired. What phase of the game is it? Where are you going to put your Wards without getting caught?
Hell if you are playing Carry and the wards are not up, put them up yourself! Better to lose 75 gold and stay alive then to waste 250 + to death!
If you can't see Riki or Gondar, assume they are following you.
Is there not a single hero on your minimap? You are about to get smoked!
The number of scenarios are endless, especially if freaking Spirit breaker is on the map and he has Shadow Blade. When I play that hero, I don't charge across the map like most people do. I TP to the closest point of my target before charging.
Ward wars suck.
