Hey guys, some background about me.
> I've been playing dota for 6 years
>my mmr is 3.6k atm (dropped from 3.8k but still a scrub)
> I play on SEA server
Don't worry this is not a rant thread but it will be a long list on how you could improve your games. I'm not a pro player or have high mmr but I have played with 4k players without much trouble so yeah I'm targeting players with sub 2k mmr who wants to rise to 3k ish.
Firstly assessing the recent loss of ap for ranked matches we are unfortunate to only be playing random draft and cm. So here are my thoughts about these two game style
Captains mode
High risk due to a sole captain deciding the matches but worth it if you can disrupt the flow of the opponents team composition. So with being able to disrupt a team fight in mind, the team must somehow draft around the idea where they would come out ahead in team fights. So in dota right now, there are some first pick worthy heroes that regardless of the opponents team would still do fairly well.
Invoker, spec, od (all the op heroes)
Omni Knight, lion, wd, disruptor, miranda and void.
All these heroes can fit into any lineup seamlessly yet play a potent role in a team fight. Next you would usually want a aoe damager, like tide, es or mag. From here on you have to draft according to your picks. Every hero should have some sort of synergy with another and not just "pick medu, trust me!!". It just doesn't work like that. If you pick a medu, then you need to ban of heroes that are a threat to her and strengthen her with. So for example you pick melee carries like sven or jugg, don't go and pick a void because you know the void will have a hard time pulling off a nice chrono to help the team fight. And if you pick void, pick something like sandking, wd with aoe dmg that synergises with chromosphere.
Random draft
Really random and could go both ways due to the small pool that it consists so this play style is really luck based. Everyone wants to play carry and no one wants to support. Do understand that dota is a team game and compromise is a must. Playing games with 5 carries can easily lead to the demise of your throne and the risk is definitely not worth taking. So pick wisely, pick heroes that can Lane well. Like if you have a sven top, pick a support that can combo well or 2 support roaming that can kill.
Moving on to the game play itself, I think this is where a lot of people will want to learn how to get better.
1. Look at the minimap
It is the best thing that can help you win games. If the opponent cannot hunt you down, and you keep farming to the point you become dangerous, the game is already won. Minimap can turn the tide of a game in an instant. I will elaborate on this later on.
2.knowing when to fight
Many times in low mmr, the whole team tends to join small skirmishes which is unnecessary. Dota is a game about trading resources and itemizing. If you are a core, you only tp in if you are crucial in the team fight. If you an under farmed am with a free farm Lane at top, don't tp down just to join the team fight because you are usually too squishy to last without some farm. If you are a core, push out the lane if you see a team fight. Objective gaming gets you mmr, not kills. Everytime you gain more map control, you get more room to farm and when you get bigger and bigger, your opponent can't touch you. As a core you want your opponent to fear your potential of snowballing and how you can rack up tons of gold and down their towers in seconds.
And when you see your team losing a team fight, PLEASE do not run in, stun the enemy thinking that you're helping and feed anyways. If a team fight is lost or a team mate cannot be saved, leave him and gain other objectives in the map like push out the lane, threaten a tower, go for roshan etc. Once again objective gaming. If you see that across the map your team is engaged in battle, you are a dk or jugg that has your ultimate on cd, go push the tower. If they don't come back and stop you, keep pushing.
To non speaking sea players, saying putang ina mo or bobo will not help your team synergy. Remain calm and explain it to the person what is going wrong. There are many times that a player is stubborn and wants to do his own things but if the remaining 4 can cooperate and focus on objectives, the game cam still be won. Lastly before I end off this thread, smurfing does not help if you have no mechanics or skills how to read the pace of the game or understand the progression of the team fight. You must first have basics about what hero is strong, how to itemize according to situation (sometimes bkb is not the only solution). If you truly believe you have what it takes to calibrate at a higher mmr then I wish you all the best, if not, just grind on your main, make mistakes and learn from them. Whining will not win games. Out playing and out farming the the opponent will.
P. S. One last tip for players that want to get better. I have observed this from higher skilled players and what I saw was that they made minimal or calculated risk plays. For example, if they feel like a team fight might not be favourable to them, they back off and go for other objectives. If they want to chase a low hp hero up the cliff into the enemy jungle where you have no vision of the remaining team, they will know when to back off. This comes with experience and when you have learned how to read each and every scenario, will you be able to rise in mmr.
Hey guys, some background about me.
> I've been playing dota for 6 years
>my mmr is 3.6k atm (dropped from 3.8k but still a scrub)
> I play on SEA server
Don't worry this is not a rant thread but it will be a long list on how you could improve your games. I'm not a pro player or have high mmr but I have played with 4k players without much trouble so yeah I'm targeting players with sub 2k mmr who wants to rise to 3k ish.
Firstly assessing the recent loss of ap for ranked matches we are unfortunate to only be playing random draft and cm. So here are my thoughts about these two game style
Captains mode
High risk due to a sole captain deciding the matches but worth it if you can disrupt the flow of the opponents team composition. So with being able to disrupt a team fight in mind, the team must somehow draft around the idea where they would come out ahead in team fights. So in dota right now, there are some first pick worthy heroes that regardless of the opponents team would still do fairly well.
Invoker, spec, od (all the op heroes)
Omni Knight, lion, wd, disruptor, miranda and void.
All these heroes can fit into any lineup seamlessly yet play a potent role in a team fight. Next you would usually want a aoe damager, like tide, es or mag. From here on you have to draft according to your picks. Every hero should have some sort of synergy with another and not just "pick medu, trust me!!". It just doesn't work like that. If you pick a medu, then you need to ban of heroes that are a threat to her and strengthen her with. So for example you pick melee carries like sven or jugg, don't go and pick a void because you know the void will have a hard time pulling off a nice chrono to help the team fight. And if you pick void, pick something like sandking, wd with aoe dmg that synergises with chromosphere.
Random draft
Really random and could go both ways due to the small pool that it consists so this play style is really luck based. Everyone wants to play carry and no one wants to support. Do understand that dota is a team game and compromise is a must. Playing games with 5 carries can easily lead to the demise of your throne and the risk is definitely not worth taking. So pick wisely, pick heroes that can Lane well. Like if you have a sven top, pick a support that can combo well or 2 support roaming that can kill.
Moving on to the game play itself, I think this is where a lot of people will want to learn how to get better.
1. Look at the minimap
It is the best thing that can help you win games. If the opponent cannot hunt you down, and you keep farming to the point you become dangerous, the game is already won. Minimap can turn the tide of a game in an instant. I will elaborate on this later on.
2.knowing when to fight
Many times in low mmr, the whole team tends to join small skirmishes which is unnecessary. Dota is a game about trading resources and itemizing. If you are a core, you only tp in if you are crucial in the team fight. If you an under farmed am with a free farm Lane at top, don't tp down just to join the team fight because you are usually too squishy to last without some farm. If you are a core, push out the lane if you see a team fight. Objective gaming gets you mmr, not kills. Everytime you gain more map control, you get more room to farm and when you get bigger and bigger, your opponent can't touch you. As a core you want your opponent to fear your potential of snowballing and how you can rack up tons of gold and down their towers in seconds.
And when you see your team losing a team fight, PLEASE do not run in, stun the enemy thinking that you're helping and feed anyways. If a team fight is lost or a team mate cannot be saved, leave him and gain other objectives in the map like push out the lane, threaten a tower, go for roshan etc. Once again objective gaming. If you see that across the map your team is engaged in battle, you are a dk or jugg that has your ultimate on cd, go push the tower. If they don't come back and stop you, keep pushing.
To non speaking sea players, saying putang ina mo or bobo will not help your team synergy. Remain calm and explain it to the person what is going wrong. There are many times that a player is stubborn and wants to do his own things but if the remaining 4 can cooperate and focus on objectives, the game cam still be won. Lastly before I end off this thread, smurfing does not help if you have no mechanics or skills how to read the pace of the game or understand the progression of the team fight. You must first have basics about what hero is strong, how to itemize according to situation (sometimes bkb is not the only solution). If you truly believe you have what it takes to calibrate at a higher mmr then I wish you all the best, if not, just grind on your main, make mistakes and learn from them. Whining will not win games. Out playing and out farming the the opponent will.
P. S. One last tip for players that want to get better. I have observed this from higher skilled players and what I saw was that they made minimal or calculated risk plays. For example, if they feel like a team fight might not be favourable to them, they back off and go for other objectives. If they want to chase a low hp hero up the cliff into the enemy jungle where you have no vision of the remaining team, they will know when to back off. This comes with experience and when you have learned how to read each and every scenario, will you be able to rise in mmr.