Free Dota Lessons From 2009| Shadow Fiend Tutorial Review

Wow, I just finished watching 2009's Shadow Fiend Tutorial and I learned a lot.  Aside from using Shadow Fiend on a higher level, you're also going to learn to analyze several aspects of the game that we usually overlook.  I knew some Pro Players who asks for payment in teaching their knowledge.  2009 made it for free.

He used Fraps and played a pub game where he uses Shadow Fiend.  It is difficult to simultaneously play while discussing strategies but that's not a problem for 2009.  In that video, you can observe how he actually play because you can see his actual screen while playing.  Mouse clicks, camera view, messages typed and others seen on the monitor while playing Dota.


At the beginning of the game he speaks about the reason for his starting items.  He got 4 branches, a tango and a flask.  That is the safest build, he stated.  He also analyzes his team mates' starting items and lanes.  Since it was a pub game, the hero picks wasn't planned to have perfect CM-like chemistry but he knows that there's a big chance of winning for them.  Their line up was Yurnero Windrunner SF Tiny Earthshaker.


While he was on his lane against Medusa he speaks on what you should focus first on playing SF - being stable on the lane.  It means that you should be able to survive your lane and preferably dominate your lane.  He showed the basics of playing at the mid lane.  He gave tips to effectively farm on your lane and harass your opponents simultaneously.  His goal in his lane is to have stability and not to give his opponent a good tempo.  If his opponent is having an easy time creeping at mid lane, disrupt that tempo by suppressing him continuously.

He roamed a lot making the game CM like which he said that was risky for pub games.  They have the upper hand in the game but their opponents are recovering.  They are starting to build their items.  2009, having the proper mindset, knows that they can still win.  The battle wasn't that easy at all but he was so amazing to know what's the next best things to do.  Even though the opponents are getting really fat, he didn't ran out of plans.  I would suggest to gank opponents asap if I were on the team but he said to take it slowly.  He was still so patient to not rush things and they end up winning.

Overall, in this video, you can learn a lot because you can acquire the high level of thinking 2009 has.  He is commenting on every clash, item choice, ganks and almost all aspects of the game.  Since his team mates are committing a lot of errors he explains why you shouldn't do the same thing or simply why they are considered errors.  You can see how patient and mature 2009 in playing.  He never flame team mates or trash talk his opponents.  He also said sorry for committing mistakes.These are traits of a real professional player.

See the Videos here:
http://www.gosugamers.net/dota/thread/722404-2009-talks-dota-episode-3-translated

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Posted in: DotA Game Review,Game Reviews,Reviews

Happyfeet-WOOTZ Great Comeback from 0-5| Managed to Farm his Dagger in 22minutes.

Happyfeet vs Minerva game was definitely an example of 'Turning Point'.  Minerva dominated a lot early to mid game.  For average opponents, Minerva could have won The Net Dota Tournament easily but Happyfeet is not your ordinary team.

Happyfeet-WOOTZ played Earthshaker in this game.  He died a lot early game.  In 8 minutes he has 3 deaths and 0 kills.  He only has a stick and 2 branch.


In 9 minutes, his score is 0 kills 4 deaths(0-4).  There's no change in his items yet.  He only have 164 gold.  In 10 minutes, his score is 0 kills 5 deaths(0-4).


At 14 minute mark, he got his 500 gold for boots after roaming and getting few creep kills.


[16 minutes] He bought a null of talisman.  He move around the map like he isn't worried not getting his Dagger.  They successfully killed Stone Giant but there's no assist for him because he reserved his Fissure for back up.

[19 minutes] They successfully took bottom's first tower.  He farmed at 2 neutral camps after pushing.  He now has 1,100 gold.  Then roam again.

[21 minutes] There was a huge wave of creeps at the top lane.  It was like 3 groups of creep.  He used fissure maximizing aftershock to instantly kill the ranged creeps then almost perfectly last hit the creeps making him have 1,650 gold.

[22 minutes] He continued to farm the top lane for another creep wave.  He now have 1806 gold.

[22:20]  Minerva is now pushing their mid 3rd tower.  He defended using his fissure and killed one creep.  He now have 1,921 gold. Happyfeet's slardar was killed.  He returned to their base and sold his boots.  Dagger up!

Because of that, this epic Echo Slam was eaten by Minerva making the entire Happyfeet recover from terrible early game.

Morphling who was also having extreme difficulty in farming, got an ultra kill because of that Echo Slam.

That's your Happyfeet Captain, Happyfeet-WOOTZ.
Download the replay here: Happyfeet vs Minerva G1 Finals

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Posted in: DotA Game Review,Game Reviews,Reviews

Happyfeet Destroyed Fountain in MPGL Finals

After losing in game 1, Happyfeet, retaliated and showed to Softvision who's the boss. Happyfeet, in their second game, destroyed the well of SoftVision. Fans are arguing that Happyfeet weren't serious with the picks in first game. I don't want to agree but Happyfeet always do have their core heroes like Shadow Fiend, Priestess of the Moon, Dragon Knight, etc. In this game, there was none. Their mid heroes was Ogre Magi and Chen. They picked traxex too. No one knows except the Happyfeet players.

Happyfeet is the Champion of MPGL this month.  It is a back to back victory for them Congratulations Happyfeet! 


Here's the link of game 2: Happyfeet vs SoftVision G2

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Posted in: DotA Game Review,Game Reviews,Reviews

Happyfeet vs Minerva Game Review|The Net Tournament Finals

Once again, Happyfeet and Minerva faced each other in the finals but this time the epic battle happened at the Net Dota Tournament. This is Happyfeet vs Minerva Finals Game 1.

~VS~

Happyfeet (Sentinel)

Happyfeet-CWR (top)

Happyfeet-JULZ (mid)

Happyfeet-WOOTZ (bot)

Happyfeet-JOHN* (bot)

Happyfeet-g6^Rr (bot)

Minerva (Scourge)

Minerva.Vash*(top)

Minerva.Ryðw² (mid)

Minerva.Rggg (bot)

Minerva.Chad¹ (bot)

Minerva.nrrrrrr (bot)

Overall Review:

If you always watch Happyfeet replays, you can say that their hero drafting doesn’t change a lot.  They have their tier heroes that they just play to its full potential.  Their picks may be predictable but it’s a fact that their hero picks covers every aspect of the game.  Its flexibility gives them variety of strategies and the ability to adjust their play in their games. 

Minerva, on the other hand, focused mainly on ambush and sacrificed other aspects of the game as seen on the chart.

 Now on the actual game, Morphling faced Batrider at the top lane.  This is a hard lane for Morphling.  He has range disadvantage and using his waveform would make him in trouble.  He did die twice against Batrider in less than 10 minutes.

Shadow Fiend, at the mid lane, has no problem against Stone Giant.  Stone Giant received continuous harassments from Shadow Fiend but survived using bottle-crow.  This caused shadow fiend to farm his Lothar’s Edge in 13 minutes.

Bottom lane is where the trilane battle occurred.  Minerva totally dominated the trilane with Necrolic on it.  Necrolic with Rogue Knight’s AOE nuke and Crystal Maiden’s disables plus mana regeneration for the team won the bottom lane for Minerva.

Early to mid game was a total disaster for Happyfeet.  Minerva had a non-stop killing with their gank-oriented line up.  I nearly asked myself if the spoiler I saw was right.  I thought Minerva would win the game.  They kill anyone they see on the map.  Morphling had hard time farming.  Earthshaker got reached 0-5.  Minerva executed their ganking plan perfectly.

Just when everything was going well for Minerva, there was a sudden shift in the dominating team when they decided to end the game.  They need to end the game early because they don’t have much late game potential as stated in the chart.  However, their heroes aren’t designed for 5v5 battles.  Minerva, forcing to push, lost in 3 huge clashes making them lose the game.

I am amazed with Happyfeet's ability to recover from a total wreck game.  Though I consider Shadow Fiend to be the MVP of this game, the Echoslam at 22 minute mark turned the wheel for Happyfeet.  I salute Minerva for being fun to watch and being unique though it's risky.

Highlights of the Game

[00:38] First blood attempt by Rogue Knight, Crystal Maiden and Batrider on Shadow Fiend failed.  Thanks to Earthshaker who’s planning to babysit Shadow Fiend.

[1:37] Vengeful Spirit got the first blood for the team killing Necrolic but Slithereen Guard was killed by Crystal Maiden.

[4:31] Vengeful Spirit was killed by Crystal Maiden after being over-aggressive.  -Assists(Rogue Knight, Necrolic)

[4:37] Morphling was killed by Batrider trying to have a normal attack battle.  He used his waveform to damage Batrider and at the same time, escape but Batrider chased him.

[4:40] Rogue Knight killed Earthshaker after his epic block. –Assists(Crystal Maiden, Necrolic)

[6:29] Earthshaker was killed after meeting 3 heroes after trying to respond at mid lane.  Kill goes to Necrolic. -Assists(Rogue Knight, Crystal Maiden) –Location(Sentinel Jungle)

[6:36] Shadow Fiend avenges Earthshaker and killed Necrolic. –Assist(Vengeful Spirit)

[6:53] Vengeful Spirit killed Crystal Maiden after having a support 1v1 battle.

[6:59] Shadow Fiend was being chased by Rogue Knight and Stone Giant but Shadow Fiend Killed Rogue Knight when they reached the Sentinel’s 2^nd tower.

[7:01] Stone Giant successfully executed his Toss-Avalanche combo on the low hp Shadow Fiend but right when he was about to land his finishing blow, he got stunned by Earthshaker.  Unluckily, he still managed to land one normal attack but he missed.  At the end, he was the one who died after being hit by the tower and receiving a Shadow Raze from Shadow Fiend.

 [7:22] Batrider killed Morphling for the 2^nd time.

[8:04] Rogue Knight Killed Earthshaker in a trilane battle. –Assists(Necrolic, Crystal Maiden)

[9:05] Earthshaker died after being burnt by Batrider and receiving a creep tossed by Stone Giant. –Location(Mid)

[9:40] Batrider and Tiny ganged  and killed Shadow Fiend.

[10:32] Vengeful Spirit and Morphling tried to kill Batrider but he wisely shackled Morphling and drag him to his flame while planning to juke them on the trees.  He could have had a double kill but Morphling escaped through his replicate while Vengeful Spirit died. (Shown in the following images)

[15:00] Stat update

[10:44] ES was ganged by 4 Minerva Heroes at the bottom 2^nd sentinel tower.

[11:45] Stone Giant was ganged by Vengeful Spirit and Earthshaker and killed by Shadow Fiend.

[12:21] Vengeful Spirit killed being trapped by Sven and Crystal Maiden. –Location(River near Roshan’s Lair)

[13:16] Batrider killed Morphling chasing him through the first tower but was also killed by Shadow Fiend after Vengeful Spirit teleported to trap him.  Batrider’s Mega Kill ended.

[14:24] 4 Minerva heroes planning to gang mid failed when Stone Giant made an error causing him to die as well as Necrolic who managed to kill Vengeful Spirit.

[15:28] Shadow Fiend and Earthshaker plans to kill Batrider farming at the top lane but Shadow Fiend end up being killed by Stone Giant having no help from Earthshaker.  Minerva may have had the game paused unexpectedly to save because Happyfeet-Julz commented to inform them for pause.

[16:28] Vengeful Spirit was killed by Batrider after getting trapped by Neutral Creeps while placing wards.

[16:36] Stone Giant Killed Morphling.  –Assists(Batrider,Crystal) –Location(Middle Second Tower)

[16:43] Great Escape by Rogue Knight occurred after getting ambushed by Shadow Fiend with his lothars.

[18:21] 4 Happyfeet heroes (no sf) used smoke to gang. They successfully killed Stone Giant who was creeping and Crystal Maiden. –Location(Near the Scourge’s Second Tower)

[19:52] Shadow Fiend was ganged and killed by Batrider and Stone Giant. –Location(Scourge’s Jungle Near 1^st tower)

[22:24] Minerva decided to push the 3^rd tower at mid lane.  Happyfeet’s Slardar died at once but with Earthshaker’s perfect Dagger Echo Slam they killed managed to defend the tower and kill 4 Minerva heroes giving Morphling an Ultra Kill.  Stone Giant escaped.

[25:30] Minerva, realizing that they lack late game advantage, tried to push again.  A huge clash happened.  The clash turned out to be 3-2 in favor of Happyfeet.

[29:30] Another fail push by Minerva.  This time it’s 3-0 clash for Happyfeet.  It’s big advantage for Happyfeet at this point.

[30:00] Stat Update

[31:57] Shadow Fiend, while farming, was killed after getting caught by Batrider.  –Location(Bottom Near Scourge 2^nd Tower)

[34:00] Slardar was killed in an outnumbered team fight.

[36:04] Happyfeet who were just setting up a push was ambushed by Minerva causing the death of Vengeful Spirit.

[36:15] Happyfeet retaliated by killing Crystal Maiden and Necrolic when the other Minerva heroes teleported to other lanes.

[38:40] Minerva initiated an ambush leading them to kill Vengeful Spirit and Slardar.  Shadow Fiend Killed Batrider.  After that slight lead of Minerva, here comes Earthshaker again.  Shadow Fiend got triple kill after this. Stone Giant escaped. –Location (Sentinel’s Middle lane)

[40:26] Earthshaker was killed after being tossed towards the Scourge’s 3^rd tower.

[43:18] Scourge’s Bottom 3^rd tower was destroyed by creeps and Shadow Fiend’s illusion.  It was undefended because the 5 Minerva heroes tried to gang heroes using smoke of deceit and didn’t found any unguarded hero. 

[44:00] There was a 4v5 clash on scourge bottom lane, it was a close 1-1 match but Scourge’s 3^rd tower was destroyed by Morphling.  He was on his way to destroying the barracks but Stone Giant and Batrider came to defend.  Morphling wasn’t successful but Shadow Fiend was.  Shadow Fiend, unnoticed, destroy the Barracks of the bottom lane.

[45:04] Morphling came back and successfully destroyed the Scourge’s top Barracks.  He was killed but bought he bought back.

[46:58] This is the last clash.  Shadow Fiend was hexed and focused fire by Minerva but after all the disables, he activated his Manta Style and Satanic making his low hp full after few hits.  Happyfeet won after destroying everything on their way (Towers, Barracks and Heroes and the Frozen throne).

 

Final Stats

 

 

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Posted in: DotA Game Review,Game Reviews,Reviews

Vigossive game by Vigoss: Don't Miss it!

Sentinel                       Scourge

The best Dota player in the world, Vigoss, shows how to own using AA(Ancient Apparition).  I believe that you've never seen Ancient Apparition played as aggressive as this.  After seeing this game, you would know why Vigoss is a living Dota Legend.  Learn how he dominates his lane and the entire game.

I won't show any spoiler, like his stats.  It is worth watching, don't miss it.  I'll just give you a hint on what to expect.  That Cchokoboy(Vigoss) you're going to watch is a definition of a skilled all around Dota player.

Here's the link: http://gosugamers.net/dota/replays/43752

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Posted in: DotA Game Review,Game Reviews,Reviews

Itsme GameKings(iGk): Recruiting New Members

Are you a freelance Dota Player who have undiscovered skills? Be a part of our team and play with us through Garena. You can be anywhere in the country but there are few requirements.

Itsme GameKings Current Roster:

iGk.JAK
iGk.KingEx
iGk.DieSmiling
iGk.GotChoo
iGk.Papabur
iGk.kyin
iGk.JayFox
iGk.HenriS
iGk.Khorney

Requirements:

Must have PLDT/Smart Bro/Caceres internet connection

Free to play anytime(preferably every night)

Can play any role

Understands the game well

For interested players: E-mail me at jack_infinity@yahoo.com  (attach your best replay) put 'IGK Application' as the subject.

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Posted in: News

Dota 6.72 Suggestions

I'm glad that Dota is becoming more balanced and fun.  In 6.70 through 6.71b, there have been a lot of nerfs on 'imbalanced' heroes like Morphling, Alchemist, Pugna, Tuskar, Phoenix, etc.  6.71b is still the latest Dota version available at GetDota.  The release date of 6.72 is still unknown but Icefrog needs your help.  Speak out your mind at the Dota-Blog.  He wants your feedback and suggestions. 


As for me, I was glad with most of the changes, specially for the buyback cool down.  I like the smoke of deceit, the nerfs on heroes and other new items like the Ancient Tango of Endurance.  I like having many choices.  It makes us more unpredictable.

My suggestions on 6.72 are:

Nerf tuskar more.  If he happened to be in CM mode, Tuskar would always be a top ban because if not, it is like risking your early game.
Make a more powerful ward counter to smoke of deceit may it cost 500 or more, we would need that to avoid turning points.
More Ghost Scepter upgrades.  I love that item but I don't think I'll consider upgrading it to Ethereal Blade if I'm using Leoric or support heroes.  I use it on lina against average teams but against stronger teams, it's a different case.
Meepo upgrade.  Meepo was nerfed badly with that damage decrease of spoof.  Even Kuroky doesn't play it anymore.  AOE nukes and disables are picked often.  Meepo should be upgraded in terms of survival.  It seems unfair for people who loved that hero and took time practicing it.

These are some of mine, what are yours?

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Posted in: News

Smoke of Deceit: 5 Great Ways to Use It

Price: 100

Gives:

Consumable

Charges: 1

Stackable in inventory

Store Stock Max: 3

Store Stock Replenish Time: 10 minutes

Places a buff on all allied player controlled units in 1200 aoe. Makes them invisible, grants 15% movespeed bonus, and prevents them from appearing on minimap to enemy players.

If you get within 850 aoe of an enemy hero or tower, the buff wears off. If you attack creeps or Roshan, it dispells.

Buff lasts up to 40 seconds

90 Cooldown

1.  Early Game First Blood

How many of you check for runes before the start of the game?  How many plant wards before the game?  You often times do this right?  What if the whole gang of enemies suddenly surprise you while you are hiding or planting your wards?  It's a first blood for sure.  Your team can use that sample strategy.  Bring a smoke of deceit early game and hunt for these unguarded heroes.  You can either be in a group of 4 or 5.  Just make sure you do this as quick as possible to arrive on time on your lane and not make the opponents have free farming time.

2.  Destroying opponent's wards

Most of the time you die and whine "I was just going to deward :("  Now, there's a cheap item you can use to avoid this cheaper death.  Activate your smoke of deceit far from the place where you might think the ward is then march towards it, put a sentry, destroy it.

3.  Ganking other lanes passing through opponent's ward

It is so hard to gank lanes where there is a single ward placed perfectly to protect these lanes.  Icefrog loves the ganker and create this item for us to use.  This has long duration so you can still be patient to wait for the perfect timing to land your skills on the target hero.

4.  Ganking without hiding through fogs

Most of us rely on fogs to gank.  Now you can simply march towards your target though you are within the creeps vision then execute your combo.

5.  Killing Roshan without alerting opponents

It is impossible to place obs on Roshan's lair.  The only thing opponents can do to prevent you from going to Roshan is to place observer wards where your team would walk en-route to Roshan.  There's a vision limit in which we call phantom spot.  Once you arrive at this phantom spot be sure no one would be outside that fog to prevent alerting the team that you are killing Roshan.

Vision Limit from Roshan

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Posted in: Guides,Strategies

GGnet vs Fearz: Learn how to Pressure Lanes

GGnet vs Fearz

In this GGnet vs Fearz game,  GGnet will teach you how to win by pressuring all lanes.  Basically, their line up is not clash-oriented.  It is not easy to win against Fearz's line up if you are going to have 5v5 clashes.  Puppey realized this and go for pressuring lanes evading team fights as much as possible.  With Fearz line up, it is hard to defend simultaneous pushes and I salute Puppey for finding the weak point of the opponents and took advantage of it.  Watch it to learn more...


Download the Replay here @gosugamers.net

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Posted in: Game Reviews,Reviews

How Pro Dota Players Think

I started from being an ultra noob player and stayed the same for almost 2 years.  It changed after I started watching Pro DotA players play.  The first pro team I watched was our local ph team, Flow.  I questioned a lot!  Why chen?  Why test of faith? How do the carries farm around 1400 in 5 minutes?  What time did they start pushing?  I was so curious on everything!  It was after watching pro dota player's game when I, with my own team, started dominating in DotA scene.  Then, I started watching international replays.  MYM and Virtus.Pro made me realize that there are other strategies than Chen Sven QOP Lich Bristleback and other team flow heroes.  I tried to dig into each player's minds.  I was so curious what they are thinking about before and during the game.  I know the only way to improve my skills dramatically is to change my understanding of Dota and have a Pro-like mindset.  I studied every game I watched analyzing how they think.  Here I am to make you skip that hard work I've done and unleash the mindset they have that I discovered.

Here are the things I discovered that the pro players ask in their minds


Before the Game:

Which team are we going to fight with?

This is a very basic question but I realized that pro players take advantage of knowing their opponents.  They analyze opponent's previous strategies and predict what would their their heroes be in their encounter.  Lately, Kuroky said in his interview: "Well, Puppey and I try to create new strats to surprise our opponents for a match. Mostly we think about different styles, patches and heroes etc. For example, against LGD, I watched their last 20 replays to predict their picks and style, and I actually had a 100% accurate prediction on their bans, and 80% on their picks, and I guessed their lanes again 100% right."

What strategy are we going to use?

I've mentioned 4 types of hero picking in my Captains Mode: Hero Picking Guide article.  Pro players can either rely on a strong strategy they have or counter pick their opponents.  In most cases, it is a combination of having their own strategy and countering opponent's pick but they are mostly different.  They don't want to be predictable.

Do we have enough strategies?

In tournaments, pro players are always prepared with at least 3 strategies.  The first one should be enough to pawn everyone, the second would be an alternative in cases the first strategy is countered or the opponents simply ban the key heroes of that line up.  The 3rd one would be for finals.  It would often be best of 3 or something making you need another strategy.  Having more teams in a tournament requires you to be equipped with more strategies.

Early Game:

What are my Advantages/Disadvantages?

This is the first question pro players ask themselves in games.  This is why they buy items like more branches if they are low hp, they buy more clarity for mana dependent hero, buy more flask if his hero is prone to harassment.  This is also why they change play styles in different types of hero.  If they are using early painful heroes, they tend to play aggressive and ensure that opponents wont be farming more gold.  When they are using heroes like spectre, their focus would be on how to get more creeps but they still mind supports when they initiate.

What are my opponent's strengths and weaknesses?

The best Dota players in the world detect opponents strengths and weaknesses quickly that they control most of their games they play.  May it be individual hero, team combo or player's gaming nature, pro players are aware of them.

How to win my lane?

These pro players have great desire to win their lanes that's why they would usually counter opponents hero from the hero picking phase.  Once they're on their lanes, they wont allow opponents to have a free lane.  They would usually disturb opponents with their goals which for now is also to win their lanes and to farm.

Should I stay or should I roam?

Choosing when to gank and when to stick to lane is very crucial for serious games.  From my observations experienced players tend to dominate their own lanes first before roaming to dominate other lanes.  Sometimes, when it is impossible to dominate a lane because of poor pick, they tend to roam early to make sure they win other lanes.  Sometimes, players focus on one lane, making it impossible for the opponent's hardcore carry to farm.  Other questions that come up after this are these:  Do other lanes need help?  Do they have wards?  Do we have the potential to destroy opponent's trilane combo?  Who should initiate?  Who goes next?  These are questions you should consider too to take your game to higher level.

Mid Game:

Where are my opponents?

Pro players ask this question to be able to know where they should go.  If they think that the opponents might be hiding nearby for ganks, they would either play passively or ask for assistance to take advantage of the opponents wanting to gank by killing them instead.  They also want to know where are their opponents to be able to gank them at this stage.  Pro players never want to give any gold to their opponents.  They try to limit their free farm place as few as possible.  They also ask this question to answer the following question: to push or not to push?

Push or Not?

Pro teams want to destroy opponent's tower as fast as possible to gain gold and map advantage but they still ask this question to make sure they wont get in trouble.  If their opponents have early advantage, more likely they wont push and fight 5v6.. yup.  5 enemy heroes + 1 enemy tower. If they happen to take down a key hero for the opponent, they would often decide to push.

What's his next move?

In a fight, great players would often predict opponent's next move and act according to their judgments.  You saw how pro players dodge skills perfectly in their dota videos.  Their goal is not to make a dota video.  Their goal is to evade most of the opponent's skills as much as possible to make them harder to be killed.

How should I react?

They think of situations right before it happens.  They judge the heroes combo.  What if they are caught, what would be their means of survival?  What would they do if a team mate is disabled and focused fire at?  What would they do if a shadow fiend with haste suddenly appear behind them?  What would they do if they are silenced?  Preparation is always better than impromptu.

Is it a bait?

They would always think whether to attack a lone hero or not.  They know that they can be wiped out in no time if that hero happened to be a bait.  Sometimes, I saw them attack a bait if they have a follow up plan to attack the entire team, like when they are having a hungry Earthshaker waiting for them to pile up.

Which hero should we take down first?

Plans before clash always have this question present.  Who to kill first?  They would normally go for the key heroes that are easy to take down.  They never plan on taking down a Bristleback first.  They may attack a high hp hero if he is offering a free hit or to deceive the opponents making them think that they are going for that hero but when they finally showed up, a change target will happen.

Where should I position?

I believe that success in Dota is all about positioning.  Pro players would always want to be in places they should be.  It's like a chess game.  Your key hero is your Queen.  You shouldn't trade that for any lower rank army.  Your tanks are your pawns.  They should serve the defense and they should make it easy for the team to attack.  Supports are your bishops and horse.  They should be able to attack as well as to trap opponents.  Other carries are your rooks.  They should be in perfect place to aid the key hero in getting kills or have the kill by themselves.

Late Game:

Do we have the upper hand?

Late game is decided by early game.  If your early game is not that good most probably you are in a level and item gap against your opponents.  They ask this question to know if they can play offensive or should they play defensive game.

Can I pressure lanes?

There are heroes that have escape mechanisms that can pressure lanes making it harder for opponents to push but they still consider if they can survive if opponents start to attack.  What if opponents have Kunkka?  It would be one X-mark away to win the game, specially if that hero cannot buy back.

How can we end the game?

Ending the game is easy if you defeat your opponents badly in items and level.  You can just go directly to their frozen throne after stepping on them.  But, if the game is a close match, it's not that easy.  Sometimes pro players tend to push all lanes to avoid AOE nukes and to pressure the opponent.  Sometimes, they hunt first.  There are tons of different endings in a Dota game and mostly it is dramatic that's why Dota is such a fun game.

Play Dota for fun...  and part of the fun is using your brains.  You may not be pro players but you can also ask these questions while playing.  You'd see big changes in your games if you won't be lazy to analyze things and the only way is to ask.  I'll leave you with this simple message for you to internalize.  "Live Curious."

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Posted in: Guides,Mindset

Dota Guides: Ultimate Dota Guide Compilation

This is the compilation of important Dota guides for easy access.

Captains Mode: Hero Picking Dota Guide

This is a guide on how to be a good drafter at Captains Mode though you don't have time to play tons of games.

Not having enough time to play a lot of games to be an experienced and effective drafter? This is the right article for you.

In my article, 8 Essentials in Winning a Dota game, having a better leader ranked 2nd to the most important. Leaders are responsible for their team's motivation and strategies. Hero drafting greatly lies on the hands of a Dota Team Captain. Team mates may suggest but leaders should have the larger vision on how the game would flow. They should be able to pick heroes that will give the team great advantage over the opponents.
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How to Dominate the Trilane

This guide will tell you the important things to remember to win a trilane.

Though I'm fed up of 3-1-1 lane type, I have to admit that this is the most effective strategy offering several advantages. 2 solo heroes will acquire their powerful ultimate skills in less time. They would also have their other skills at maximum quickly. Heroes at the trilane will apparently destroy a dual lane. 2 supports in a lane assures a safe lane for a carry making him farm all the gold he wants. So, in order to win, you have to beat the opponent's trilane. But how? How does the Pro makes trilane so effective? What must be done to dominate your opponents at trilane? Here it is...
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9 Different DotA Ganking Styles 

This guide enumerates 9 different ganking style you should use in any given situation.

Ganking, ranked 4th place in 8 Essentials in Winning DotA Games, is one of the most important tool in winning DotA Games. Thus, there are different ganking styles that will make you sneaky and unpredictable. It is important that you have proper coordination with your team mates if you are going for ganks. Pro players are too careful that they don't often die from getting ganged up. Observer wards are too cheap and placing them in ganking areas is the best counter for Ganks. So, a variety of ganking style is recommended for being unpredictable. 
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10 Things You Can Learn From Maelk

This guide will inspire you by informing you how Maelk became the great player he is now.

Jacob 'Maelk' Toft-Andersen is my very first inspiration in being a leader of a DotA team. I was so inspired on how his plans would always be successful. He would always be interviewed every tournaments because of his indispensable wit. Teams would often fear his team, MYM, because of his deadly strategies and his ability to counter every opponent's plan. His games would often be superb carrying the team to victories. After watching his games, reading his posts, watching his interviews and hearing the comments of his team mates on him, I learned a lot of dota guides and lessons on how to somehow be a 'Maelk' of our team.
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Dota Guide: How to Farm Fast

This guide will tell you how to improve your farming game.

People often want to know how to farm gold fast in DotA, which is a lot different from me. I am thirsty for blood when I'm playing that I tend to roam a lot. Roaming is fun for me, but then, I expect the carry heroes of our team to be equipped with their needed items as soon as possible so that we can take advantage and destroy towers easily. However, some players want to show off their mad farming skills by farming the whole game. This is not fun at all for me. I don't find self-esteem in having 5 divine rapiers but having 0 kills. I better play 4 v 5 than have a Greedy Gold Farmer team mate. However, farming is also essential in winning games. Here are some tips in getting more gold in less time.
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Dota Ganking and Supporting Guide

This guide will inspire you to play a better support and ganker role.


I have been playing support role since forever because I find this role the most fun role in the game. I love actions and I love getting into fights as early as possible. It was a good thing though because most players here want to play farmer and carry. Farming is important but I find it boring because you become an insurance for the team. You simply stick to your lane and try to farm as much as you can at early game. I know you have to dominate your lane too but if your hero have disadvantages at early game against your opponent, you'll have to play passively. I was known for being a great support for our team back then. But I have to admit, after watching one of my team mate play support role, I realized that someone became a lot better than me. I don't play too often now but I still watch replays and I see a lot of boring support players. They would often act as slaves for the team. You wont even recognize them.
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Dota Guide: 8 Essentials in Winning a Dota Game


This guide will tell you the 8 most important things to have in winning a Dota Game.

There are a lot of factors that help you win DotA games. This is the reason of its excitement and suspense. After every DotA game there are just too much to talk about. But the most discussed is how the team won or lost. Among all of these things that made them won the game, what are the most important factors to be able to win Competitive DotA Games? Here they are ranked according to importance...
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Developing Your Own Dota Team Guide

This is will guide you on how to develop a solid and successful DotA team.

I started my own DotA team when I heard about a tournament in one computer shop near our University. The team I made was composed of friends from high school. I was only an average player being taught by my DotA Teacher, Mark Bernardo. He exposed me to his DotA friends who happened to be the best team back then, the Inzane. I observed how good their team play was. Individually, they may experience defeat but when it's time to play as a team, it's quite impossible to defeat them. How did they develop that kind of team? I asked myself. I didn't stop studying how to have a solid team.
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Ultimate Dota Supporting Guide

This is a guide that tells you almost everything you need about supporting from basic to advance.

Definition: Mainly a support is a hero that takes care or, from the name itself, supports the whole team, most especially the carries. Supports are the ones that are in-charge for the overall team defense and map control.
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DotA Pushing Essentials: How to Destroy Towers Successfully

This article is to guide you and your team in pushing opponent's towers without getting into trouble.

In every single game of Defense of the Ancients, no matter how you do it pushing is one vital and the most important thing to do in order to win. Taking down towers in order to get to the main building is one thing that a team or a player needs to master in order to dominate the opponent. Now here are a few tidbits to help you by when it comes to pushing.

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Watch out for more Dota Guides here at Itsme DotA.

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Posted in: Guides,Mindset,Strategies

Dota Guide on How to Push Towers Successfully

In every single game of Defense of the Ancients, no matter how you do it pushing is one vital and the most important thing to do in order to win. Taking down towers in order to get to the main building is one thing that a team or a player needs to master in order to dominate the opponent. Now here are a few tidbits to help you by when it comes to pushing.

Avoid long sieges.

* Make a push as swift and powerful as possible. Laying a long siege on an enemy base or tower may result in your allies going low on HP and MP and may cause some of their skills and ultis to be wasted resulting in unnecessary cooldowns.

Pressure the opponent.

* But not to the extent that you're gonna be reaching a point that everyone in your team is going to be low on HP and MP as stated from above. This scene is commonly seen as a part of the current meta of the game (especially in the PH scene where it is labelled as "pugak") it is an act of doing a 2 lane push wherein 4 members lay siege on one lane while another hero, which is the "one-man-mass-pusher" tries to push another. This is executed by doing a series of "push-and-back-out" tactics in order to break up the members of the opposing team and to outnumber a lane for a clash.

Check the Respawn Timer

* Especially after a teamfight or a successful gank. Know when you're opponents are gonna respawn in order to know when to back out and avoid going into unnecessary teamfights where your team would be placed in a state of utter disadvantage.

Ward Beforehand

* Warding before a push gives a good vision advantage for those fogged areas behind towers, this is to know if there is or are any incoming opponents that are going to defend and would help you decide on when to back out or to continue the push. For a more comprehensive view on pre-push warding you could check it here: S!'s Support Guide

Creep Block

* Have your tank or any AOE/High DPS Carry block or destroy the incoming enemy creepwave in order to have a higher damage output from your own creeps.

Outnumbering the enemy isn't always an advantage

* Always bear in mind what an enemy can do and not how many enemies are left, when pushing and seeing any incoming enemy defender, even if the situation makes you think that you are at the advantage since they are outnumbered, always think to yourself: Will they be able to defend this mass push? Are their spells enough to wipe out our own creep wave? Are our MPs, Spells and Physical Damage enough to take them out swiftly? You must bear this thoughts in mind most especially if you are going against heroes with some sick AOE Spells that could easily deal with massive creep waves.

Avoid the greed

* Going beyond the tower just to kill that incoming enemy defender sometimes gives a dreadful result that gives a huge disadvantage for your team and could lead to a counterpush. As much as possible limit your greed for gold and focus on the enemy tower first before going in for the kill.

Know when to back out

* What's a good way to do after a push? RUN Getting exhausted after doing a siege gives a good advantage for your opponent and could lead your team to a wipeout if you just stay near them after pushing. This is helpful during the early and mid-game phase where most of your teammates MP are easily drawn out from spamming up skills to counter enemy defense or to wiping out creepwaves.

Credits to Salawayun for the article.

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Posted in: Guides,Strategies

Latest Dota Tips and Facts

[Note: Lines marked with an asterisk(*) are not yet tested/proven personally by the TS]

Some facts about healing.

1. Drop the items which increase your HP/mana -> heal/regen -> pick them up again. This will increase the actual amount you regenned (e.g. you have 400/750 HP and a Vitality Booster. Drop it and your HP becomes 400/500, drink a Salve to make it 500/500 and pick the item up for 750/750. )

2. Urn heal doesn't stack with Tango/Salve heal
3. Casting the positive Urn buff (healing) on a unit that has the negative one negates both effects (0 HP lost).
4. Due to the damage mechanic of Pudge's Rot, both the victim and Pudge can heal with Salve/Clarity/etc. while under the effect of level 1/2/3 Rot. Doesn't work with level 4 though.
5. Repeatedly selecting your hero while healing at the fountain doesn't make him/her heal faster.

Some tips on using Ghost Scepter

Ghost Scepter negative magic resistance is diminished by all magic resistance bonuses, for example, Planeswalker's Cloak.

List of spells negated by Ghost Scepter (turning to ethereal form)

 Tidebringer - deals no damage
 Acid Spray and Unstable Concoction deal no damage, all of their other effects apply
 Disables Ice Blast's killing blow
 Counter Helix - deals no damage; disables Culling Blade's killing blow, deals listed damage
 Wild Axes - deal no damage
 Quill Spray - deals no damage, but spell counter still works
 Spawn Spiderlings - can't be targetted on Decripified heroes
 Meat Hook - moves and pauses, no damage dealt
 Reality Rift - moves unit, no damage dealt
 Echo Slam - no damage dealt (!)
 Earthbind - no effect, dispelled if Scepter is used by target after been Ensnared
 Land Mines - no damage dealt; Suicide Squad, Attack! - no damage dealt
 Penitence - slow works, damage amplification does not
 Omnislash - no damage dealt, just mini-stun (!)
 Moon Glaive - unable to target directly, does not bounce onto Decripified unit
 Ensnare - no effect, dispelled if Scepter is used by target after been Ensnared
 Corrosive Skin - no damage, just slow applies; Viper Strike - no initial damage, slow and duration damage applies
 Stifling Dagger - no damage, just slow applies; Phantom Strike - Blink works, no damage
 Shadow Strike - no initial damage, slow and duration damage applies
 Poison Touch - no damage, slow and mini-stun applies
 Charge of Darkness - cancels charge of darkness
 Blink Strike - Blink works, no damage
 Earth Splitter - deals 0.7x damage which is applied before all other reductions
 Anchor Smash - no damage dealt
 Heat Seeking Missile - no damage dealt
 Diabolic Edict - no damage dealt
 Soul Rip - cannot be targetted on Decripified unit
 Venomous Gale - no initial damage, slow and duration damage applies;Poison Nova - if Ghost Scepter is activated after you are hit by it, it is dispelled. If you get hit by it during Ethereal Form, you receive +40% damage.

Additional Fact 

As Pugna's second attack is Magic type, it is possible to attack Decripified units if you have Sange/Sange and Yasha/Desolator/Orb of Slow. However, you will not deal extra damage (your attack is resisted by magic resistance, which by default is 75%).

Fun Facts about Force Staff 

1. Double-clicking Force Staff will push you in the direction you are facing.
2. Using Force Staff while Batrider has caught an enemy with Flaming Lasso will not break it.
3. Using Force Staff on Wisp will push him in a random direction.
4. You can use Force Staff to easily escape while Enigma has you in Black Hole.
5. When you are channeling Sand Storm with Sand King and Force Staff is used onto you, the position of the hero changes, but the visual effect remains the same.

source: gosugamers.net

Some Random DotA Facts

By silencing Rikimaru you make him visible. Rikimaru will stay visible as long as he is silenced.

Focus Fire(Windrunner) can hit invisible enemy units if Windrunner uses it before the enemy goes invisible.

Armlet can be activated and placed on SpiritBear(LoneDruid's pet) without it suffering any degen. It will not gain any strength, but it will gain all the other benefits.

Although Zeus' Thundergod's Wrath hits all the enemy heroes, and have true sight, it can't damage isolated invisible enemies (eg. Rikimaru, Broodmother in web).

Fog of war updates every .4 seconds. So if you Blink into the fog and use echo slam/Qop scream/heat seeking missle too early, you will miss due to the fact you haven't seen the enemy yet.

When Huskar and Necro's ulti are both boosted by sceptre, it is possible to instant kill anyone.

Medusa's split shot uses a bear form spell as base with a transformation time of 0.1 seconds just like Troll Warlord, because of that you are also able to dodge disables with switching it on/off.
(For those who doesn't know, you can avoid storm bolt or any similar skills with Troll's transformation, and so do Medusa)

[Added fact to the transformation technique: That fact is also the same for Alchemist's Chemical Rage transformation]

source: forum.lowyat.net

- Dark Seer can auto cast Surge. Right-click Surge to activate auto cast.

- Leap came from a "Windwalk" skill so having a gem makes Mirana impossible to dogde stuns
- You can still regen from consumables like Healing Salve when you've Astral Imprisoned yourself
(Heal, astral, profit!)

- Cyrstal Maiden's Frosbite lasts for 10 seconds on creeps level 5 or lower.

- You can cast purge to free yourself from Treant Protector Overgrowth roots.
This also works on allied units.
- Sven's Storm Bolt cannot be escaped 

- Blade Fury + TP = Escape
- You can use enchant to control illusions, Morphling's Replicate, and creeps (neutral, normal, Chen's creeps)
- 4 Manta Stacking = 8 illusions

- Lothar's Edge will not cancel Channeling Spells (Even TPs) 

- Diffusal’s Purge can be used to destroy Gyrocopter’s Homing Missile.
- Ghost Form can avoid Techies’ land mines and suicide damage.
- Rylai’s aura stops working when she is invisible.

- Broodmother's spiderlings' spawn spiderlite ability to works on allied creeps too.

- Shadow Priest's Shallow Grave does Not prevent Axe's Culling Blade (also true for Yurnero's Bladefury).

- Storm Spirit can use spells during Ball Lightning.

- Sand King's Epicenter doesn't cancel when using Shiva's Guard while casting Epicenter/

- Viscous Nasal Goo and Ensnare dispel consumables like Healing Salve.

- Wrath of God doesn't work with Sand King's Sandstorm.

- While Lanaya has Refraction, try buffing him Apotic shield, instead of Lanaya dispelling damage with Refract, she will heal when she is attacked.

source: mineski.net

-  Gem of True Sight works also on its carrier's illusions.

- Magnus' Empower and Rooftrellen's Living Armor can be used to remove Atropos' Enfeeble.

- You can use Sunder on illusions.

- Puck can blink out of Chronosphere if he is phased at the time it is cast.

- You can stop a Techies from suiciding by using decrepify or ethereal blade.

- You can use any active item in Yurnero's Omnislash (ex. Dagon, Lothars, TP, Guinsoo, Dagger, etc) same mechanic is also true for Morplhling's Waveform and Void's Timewalk.

[Imagine casting Dagon while doing Omnislash(!)]
- Chaos Knight's reality rift cannot cancel channeling spells.
- Rooftrellen's Sentinel (Owl) can be moved by Force Staff*
- Lanaya's Psi Blades can splash damage dealt from Dagon, Radiance, etc. as long as the damage source is Lanaya. This can be achieved by damaging the attacked target before Lanaya's projectile hits the target.*
- You can purge units out Decripify.*
- Rot will not do any damage to Pudge when he is invisible.
- Units can be purged out of Hex state.
- Global silence stops Juggernaut's Bladefury. So does Doom and Grappling Hook.*
- Ghost Form and Black King Bar's Avatar Mode stacks(!) How? By using Ethereal Blade, activate BKB first then cast Ether Blast.* 

source: playdota.com

Vision Mechanics 

We all now how important vision is in DotA so in order to master it here are some facts and tips:
Basics:
- Heroes have a normal sight range of 1800 at daytime and 800 at nighttime.
- Hero vision is obstructed by cliffs and trees.
Visual Representation
 

Day

 


Night
 


[Red arrows represent sight range extent.]
Now not all heroes have the same sight range, there are some heroes with a special sight range and they are:(Note: Hero title, vision range at day/vision range at night)

• Enchantress, 1800/1800
• Sniper, 1800/1000
• Treant Protector, 1800/1200
• Bounty Hunter, 1800/1000
• Alchemist, 1800/1400
• Priestess of the Moon, 1800/1200
• Faerie Dragon, 1800/1200
• Tormented Soul, 1800/900
• Night Stalker, 1200/1800
• Geomancer, 1800/1800
• Ancient Apparition 1800/1400
• Nightcrawler 1800/1800

- Flying Units have an unobstructed vision (not hindered by trees or the terrain).
- Vision on higher cliffs is higher, while vision on the bottom of the cliff becomes obstructed.
Visual representation:

Top Cliff


Bottom Area



Fog of War
 
- The blackened areas or areas that are at the extent of your heroes sight range.
- The fog of war is increased during the night, hence vision is also lessened.

Phantom Spot
 
The Phantom Spot is the area within Roshan's Lair. 
- It is unaffected by the terrain so even if you are on the top cliff you will still not see beyond it.


Illustration


[Compare it with the sample from the top cliff vision range and you would see the difference.]

- Even if you get nearer you will still not be able to see beyond it

Illustration




- Vision is also limited once you are inside it.

Illustration



Fact: 
- Observer Wards cannot be placed on Roshan's Lair (prior to the new map) 
 
Critical Strike and Bash stacking.
 
[Well more preferably called Critical Strike stacking since we all know that Bash doesn't really stack] Now regarding Critical strike many have thought that two items and/or skills giving the Critical Strike bonus would proc at the same time, this is a big NO in DotA.

But how does that work if that's the case?Both items would still have a chance to proc on  separate attacks if in case both items would trigger on the same time, only the latest acquired item would proc on that attack. This is also the same case for items and abilities with Bash bonuses.


More to Come!

Credits to Salawayun. for the article.

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Posted in: Facts,Reviews