Dota Aura Guide| Aura Stacking Issues

Brilliance Aura
- Grants additional mana regeneration to nearby friendly units.
- From Crystal Maiden, Ring of Basilius.
- Stacks with each other.

Command Aura
- Grants additional damage to nearby friendly units.
- From Vengefull Spirit, Kobold Taskmaster, Polar Furbolg Ursa Warrior.
- Do not stack with each other, but stacks with Trueshot Aura or Lunar Blessing.

Lunar Blessing
- Grants additional damage to nearby friendly ranged units.
- From Moon Rider.
- Stacks with Trueshot Aura and Command Aura.

Trueshot Aura
- Grants additional damage to nearby friendly ranged units.
- From Drow Ranger.
- Stacks with Lunar Blessing and Command Aura.

Devotion/Toughness Aura
- Grants additional armor to nearby friendly units.
- From Rogue Knight, Ring of Basilius.
- Devotion Aura stacks with Toughness Aura, but they do not stack with themselves.

Fervor
- Grants additional attackspeed to nearby friendly units.
- From Troll Warlord.
- Stacks with Endurance Aura.

Regeneration Aura
- Grants additional HP regeneration to nearby friendly units.
- From Headress of Rejuvenation, Mekansm.
- Mekansm stacks with Headress of Rejuvenation, but they do not stack with themselves.

Empowering Haste
- Grants additional movespeed and extra damage based on a % of your movespeed to nearby friendly units.
- From Spiritbreaker.
- None.

Gravekeeper's Cloak
- Reflects damage done to Visage to a moderate AOE around Visage.
- From Necro'lic.
- Stacks with Blademail.

Unholy Aura
- Grants additional life regeneration and movespeed to nearby friendly units.
- From Satyr Hellcaller.
- Stacks with Mekansm, Headress of Rejuvenation and Voodoo Restoration.

Presence of the Dark Lord
- Decreases the armor of nearby enemy units.
- From Shadow Fiend.
- Stacks with Desolator and Howl of Terror.

Vampiric Aura
- Nearby friendly melee units will gain a part of their attack damage in hit points whenever they attack.
- From Skeleton King.
- Stacks with Na'ix's Feast and any lifesteal item.


Diffusion Aura
- Decreases the attack damage of nearby enemy units.
- From Necrolyte.
- No stacking issues 

Degen Aura
- Decreases the movement speed of nearby enemy units.
- From Omniknight.
- Stacks with any movement speed decreasing items.

 Endurance Aura
- Increases the movement and attack speed of nearby friendly units.
- From Centaur Khan, Necronomicon Archer.
- Do not stack with each other, but does stack with Fervor.

Essence Aura
- Whenever a nearby allied hero casts a spell, it has a chance to restore a portion of its mana pool. Passively adds to the Destroyer's base mana pool.
- From Obsidian Destroyer
- No stacking issues

Vladmir's Offering
- Grants a +16% Lifesteal Aura (melee), +80% Brilliance Aura, a +5 Devotion Aura
- From Vladmir's Offering
- Any lifesteal ability or item will stack fully with it.

Healing Aura
- +2 HP/Sec Regeneration to all units in a 500 AOE radius
- From Headress of rejuvenation/mekasm(3hp instead of 2hpheal)
- No stacking issues

Assault Cuirass
- +5 Armor Aura (allies),-5 Armor Aura (enemies),+40% Attack Speed,+15% Attack Speed Aura
- From Assault Cuirass
- Does not stack with basilius and vladmir's offering devotion aura

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Posted in: Basic,Items,Reviews

9 Reasons Why Crystal Maiden is the Best DotA Support Hero

The Best support in Dota depends on the player, on the opponent's line up and on your combo.

But why am I writing this post?  It's because when in terms of flexibility and effectiveness  Rylai (Crystal Maiden) is the one who stands out among the rest.  Vengeful Spirit also covers a lot of aspects needed for supporting but there are important things that makes Rylai ahead of her.  It will be discussed here.


1.  We're currently in the Trilane Era

Crystal Maiden is one of the best support in a trilane.  She can play aggressive at early levels because of her 3.5 seconds frost nova at level 1.  She can use it to harass and spam it on opponents, preferably all of them due to its wide Area of Effect (AOE).  It also has low mana cost.  The strategy is to waste some of opponent's HP spamming and doing normal attacks, then execute the trilane combo.

Comparing Crystal Maiden with Vengeful Spirit (the hero most people would argue to be the best support hero), Maiden is way more useful.  Frostnova's slow for 3.5 seconds have higher chance of getting a first blood than a magic missile for 1.45 seconds.  The only advantage of Magic Missile is when the target has blink, leap or other escape mechanisms.  However, it's really not a great option to aim for these kinds of heroes at the trilane as stated at the Trilane Do's and Don'ts, there are other soft and more vulnerable heroes.  Once a hero is slowed, you can land more hits. A short stun duration from Vengeful Spirit's magic missile will make you unable to hit your opponents once they started moving (unless you got great move speed, attack speed and good animation cancelling) specially if you're using a melee hero.


2.  Crystal Maiden has 2 useful disables at early levels

At level 3, Crystal Maiden would have Frost Nova and Frost Bite.  These are 2 skills that would assure a kill at the trilane.  If used with proper timing, the hero will be stucked within 300 range for 5 seconds (3.5 seconds slow from Crystal Nova and 1.5 seconds hold from Frost Bite).

Comparing Crystal Maiden with Vengeful Spirit, Vengeful Spirit can only hold a hero for 1.55 seconds at level 3 (with level 2 magic missile).  She can help reduce armor and it's a good thing but in this case holding a hero longer is a more useful thing to do by support heroes.



3.  Frost Nova makes Rylai aggressively safe

Support heroes are vulnerable because of their low hp but Crystal Maiden can be aggressive and land her Crystal Nova without getting in trouble, thanks to the casting range of this skill.  Opponents will find this hard to evade having the fact that they need to get levels and golds as fast as they could at this point of game.  They also want to dominate the lane because if they don't the game is at risk for them.

Crystal Maiden has 700 casting range(Crystal Nova), while Vengeful Spirit only has 500 casting range(Magic Missile).  With low hp at early game and being the main target at the trilane, it is risky for Vengeful Spirit to cast her disable because when she does, opponents can execute their combo on her and she won't last longer than 2 seconds.  In addition to that, when chasing a hero, Crystal Nova, being able to be cast on land, is more reliable because fog users won't get away easily unlike Vengeful Spirit's Magic Missile that is a hero-target skill.


4.  Frostbite's Duration is long enough to set for a kill

Frostbite's durations at level 1 to 4 are 1.5, 2, 2.5, 3 seconds, respectively.  3 seconds hold is just too much to kill a hero getting focused fire in team games.

Can't move?  It's because You're under my spell.

Vengeful Spirit's Magic Missile's duration from level 1 to 4 are 1.45, 1.55, 1.65, 1.75.  Frostbite totally owns Magic Missile in terms of duration though beaten by damage having 210 total damage (70 per second) while Magic Missile has 325(at level 4).  Magic Missile's one advantage over Frostbite is the damage, however Crystal Maiden still has Crystal Nova which adds more damage.


5.  Free mana regeneration for all.

Brilliance Aura's free mana regeneration lets Crystal Maiden's team mates and herself have more advantage over the opponents their fighting against on their lanes.  Having more mana means having more skills to spam for harassments and kills.  It also let other heroes save their golds from buying Ring of Basilius (or other Mana Regeneration items) early game.  Buying Ring of Basilius will stack to her Brilliance Aura and will give more mana regeneration.

Vengeful Spirit doesn't have this so there's no point of comparing.


6.  Long Normal Attack Range

Ideal supports should also be able to baby sit. Other supports have heals(like Dazzle) to baby sit and others have stuns to save from enemy combos (like Earthshaker).  Crystal Maiden's ability to baby sit comes from harassing opponents with her long range normal attacks and skills.  She can also use her skills for saving ally heroes.

Vengeful Spirit only has 400 attack range while Crystal Maiden has 600.  This makes Vengeful Spirit unable to harass opponents on her lane that much because once she tries to harass with her short range normal attack, her opponents won't hesitate killing her in one second.


7.  Vision from Nova

Another advantage of Crystal Maiden is her ability to have vision on fogs, though the range is short.  This can be used to show up a hero being chased, to check for opponents that might be hiding through fogs or to check whether the opposing teams are trying to kill roshan.

Vengeful Spirit totally beat Crystal Maiden in this aspect having longer casting range from her Wave of Terror.  Longer casting range obviously means more safety for the hero.  However, having this kind of ability, though short-ranged, is still a useful skill for the team.


8.  Nova-Bite combo assures successful ganks

Crystal Maiden is also a good ganker using her Crystal Nova and Frostbite to set up a kill.  Hero long ranged slow makes it easy to make sure that the target won't escape from getting a Frostbite.  However, it is not advisable to use Crystal Nova first before Frostbite when trying to kill an opponent with blink.  At that point you should be sneaky and land Frostbite first before Crystal Nova.

Vengeful Spirit's bread and butter in ganking is her magic missile.  Magic missile alone requires her to be sneaky and not scare her target.  Once the target is caught, it should be killed within 1.75 seconds (Magic Missile's Max duration) to kill the opponent.  While Crystal Maiden can hold the enemy longer up to 3 seconds (Frostbite's max duration), not to mention the slow from her Crystal Nova.  The advantage of swapper in ganking is her Netherswap.  A swap and bam is one of the top ganking strategies.


9.  Great AOE for Clash

Crystal Maiden won't be left behind in team fights.  She has a great hold, slow and a very high damage channeling ultimate skill, Freezing Field.  Proper positioning and timing is required to use this.  Don't just do it if you're not suicidal.   Use it when all the deadly skills (specially disables) are made or they are already focus firing an ally hero.  You can walk and do it but if you have a dagger, you'll have greater timing and position so you'll have more chance to inflict greater damage.

Comparing Crystal Maiden to Vengeful Spirit, Vengeful Spirit doesn't have this kind of clashing ability but she has great initiation/saving ability, thanks to her Nether Swap.  She also has an aura that increases her allies' damage within 900 range around her.  Both are useful but Crystal Maiden's ultimate can damage alone making her have the upper hand against Vengeful Spirit in this case.

Other Candidates for Best Support:

Vengeful Spirit - as discussed she's good at some aspects like having a painful stun damage, longer vision, and great skill for saving and initiating(Nether Swap).  However, Crystal Maiden beats her by having more disabling skills, lane domination, clash usefulness, AOE damage for clearing creeps and Free mana regeneration for all.

Witch Doctor - he got healing skill, a stun, and painful nukes.  He's a fair support but obviously Crystal Maiden beats him in terms of disabling opponents having the ability to hold a hero longer.  Witch Doctor needs to perfectly bounce a cask on heroes to hold them longer in place.  Witch Doctor is also too fragile to cast his maledict having a 400 casting range.  It also has a very small Area of Effect, 150.  Crystal Maiden can damage and disable enemies easier as what will be much harder for Witch Doctor. 

Earthshaker - one of the best hero in clash.  He has a long range stun and can turn into a perma stun hero because of his Aftershock.  However, Earthshaker is melee that makes him unable to harass opponents by doing cheap shots.  Duration of Fissure is 1, 1.25, 1.5, and 1.75 from level 1 to 4, respectively.  This requires him to trap the enemy to give more time for his allies to kill.  Thus, if fissure is cast incorrectly he can be anti-offensive disrupting his team mates from killing.  Crystal Maiden has the advantage in ganking, lane control, harassing, vision, amount of mana and mana regeneration for the team.

There are other good support heroes in Dota World but Crystal Maiden is definitely the most flexible and effective specially in dominating the trilane.  She's best at dominating the lane so pick heroes that can be aggressive and have great killing powers.

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Posted in: Heroes,Rankings,Reviews

Happyfeet vs Nirvana.MY practice game: Final Stats in Game 3

This match shows that happyfeet could still improve their picks and early game.  They are good in clash and ganks but their trilane are totally outplayed.  Lich and Witch Doctor's range advantage made Lich unstoppable within 3 minutes.  Kunkka fed a lot early game while Mushi's Darkterror had a free lane farming and denying almost all the creeps.  He even farmed his Battlefury with Power Treads and Stout Shield in 15 minutes and Mask of Madness in 18 minute mark.


Happyfeet-MAY's Queen of Pain somehow carried the Happyfeet stand up for longer time. She performed well in dominating the bottom lane against Brood mother with the help of Earthshaker who roamed after losing the top lane.  With the help of her Guinsoo's Scythe they ended Darkterror's Beyond Godlike streak.


Overall, Happyfeet was totally beaten in their trilane which is really hurts them late game.  Darkterror is one of the best late gamer hero to give a free farming lane.  Happyfeet got good plays too and they still managed to farm inspite of Lich and Witch Doctor's excellent ganks.  They relied on their tier heroes in this game making Nirvana easily knew how they would be playing. 


Happyfeet has great potential if they would try to improve drafting and their lane domination.


Here is the final stats of Happyfeet vs Nirvana.MY game 3

Click the Picture to Maximize

Download the full game here: http://www.mineski.net/discussion/13195/showmatch-g3-happyfeet-vs-nirvana.my-vs-happyfeet

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Posted in: DotA Game Review,Game Reviews,Reviews

ADC Champion: Scythe.SG

The battle between Nirvana.MY and Scythe.SG was over.

Among all the teams that joined the tournament, Scythe.SG emerged the last team standing.

These are the top 10 teams included in the playoffs:

1 Nirvana.MY
2 Scythe.SG
3 LGD.sGty
4 Aeon.MUFC
5 Nirvana.Cherry
6 XTC
7 SB.Gigabyte
8 Roccat.Trust
9 AlienwareDG
10 LGD.AU

Grand Finals:


Nirvana.My Rosters
Net
Xt
Ice
Chuan
Mushi-

SCYTHE.SG
Hyhy
Roy
Koy
sharky
Yamateh

Replays:
Nirvana.MY vs Scythe.SG 1
Nirvana.MY vs Scythe.SG 2
Nirvana.MY vs Scythe.SG 3

Congratulations, Scythe.SG for winning 2010 Alienware Asia Dota Championship! 

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Posted in: DotA Game Review,Game Reviews,Reviews

Ehome vs DK: Battle of the Best Teams in 2011

After the big trade made by Ehome, it is now hard to determine which team is better...  Ehome or DK?  Ehome's captain remain at Ehome as well as X!! and 357.  X!! was their best mid player, which I learned admired a lot by Maelk.  357 is their main support and teaming up with 820 as support makes Ehome one great solid team.

Unfortunately, KingJ and Burning left Ehome.  KingJ was believed to be the lucky charm of chinese teams.  FTD got him when they first tasted their championship at SMM, then he was with Ehome when they started being indestructible.  Burning is considered to be their most reliable carry.  He is an excellent player in his role.  He can dominate his lane while getting farmed up as quick as possible.


Longdd, one of the most popular player before Asian dota was discovered, joined Ehome.  Lanm too who is also a good player though he's not that popular.


KingJ and Burning are joined by PIS (Yaphets), Benz(Sharingan) and Ksss.  Ksss will be their captain.

Confusing on which team is stronger, isn't it?

Maybe this replay I got here may give the answer.  See it for yourselves.

*The teams aren't complete yet in this match but this will give us an idea on what to expect on their first official match.  Highlighted players are the players not included in their official roster."

Sentinel (Ehome)

Spectre - Ehome.820
Windrunner - Ehome.357
Lion - Ehome.X!!
Zeus - mouse
Venge - 54chuanqixka

Scourge (DK)

Queen of Pain - Yaphets
Nerubian Weaver - Burning
Gyrocopter - KingJ
Storm Spirit - Ksss

Earthshaker - Musha 

Download it here:  Ehome vs DK Latest Match (1.24b warcraft version)

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Posted in: DotA Game Review,Game Reviews,Reviews

QOP 41 Kills by 2009: Another Tutorial from the legend

Former FTD and LGD.sgty captain, LGD.2009.sgty, is currently unleashing his game mind-set in Dota.  It is up to us whether to grab it or not.


2009 played Dota using Fraps to be able to record the game while he proceed with his commentary tutorial.  This time, his lesson is focused on using Queen of Pain(Akasha) effectively, though you're not only going to learn playing that hero.  You'd also learn positioning, his rationality and builds.


As of now, the video doesn't have any subtitle yet but I'm pretty sure, the it will come out soon.  As of now, you can watch his point of view first while playing.  I'll be posting the version of this video with subtitle as soon as it's out.


Watch the video here:  QOP tutorial by 2009

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Posted in: DotA Game Review,Game Reviews,Reviews

Weaver Action by GGnet.Pajkatt

In GGnet vs TR game, GGnet.Pajkatt's invoker was banned first by TR.  Puppey picked Weaver first for Pajkatt.  He banned Ancient Apparition, Lich and Razor and picked Weaver first.  Wasn't puppey scared that weaver would be countered with mass disabled team?  No.  In fact, TR did pick a lot of disablers(Earthshaker, Venge, Beastmaster, Puck) but didn't succeed against GGnet.


Pajkatt died once from being ganged early game but in 12 minutes he got an unstoppable streak.  His first item was Ring of Basilius, then he rushed Vanguard.  He played aggressively against puck which he killed solely through Scourge's 1st tower. 


This replay isn't a recommended replay.  TR was definitely owned by GGnet though they moved around the map well.  Teams who don't pick Weaver in competitive games would want to try and train line ups with this hero.  Pajkatt's weaver isn't a pure late game agi type of carry which I find suited for aggressive type of teams.

GGnet(Sentinel)

Witch Doctor - GGnet.Puppey (top)
Crystal Maiden - GGnet.Miracle (top)
Phantom Lancer - GGnet.KuroKy (top)
Windrunner - GGnet.Azen (mid)
Nerubian Weaver - GGnet.Pajkatt (bot)

TR (Scourge)

Earthshaker - TR^pggshka (Roaming)
Bone Fletcher - TR.Bl00DAnGeL (Top)
Beastmaster - fota.McDeath (Mid)
Faerie Dragon - TeamHome^Nova (Bot)
Vengeful Spirit - inflaai (Bot)

Download it here:  GGnet vs TR

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Posted in: Game Reviews,Heroes,Reviews

Pinoy Haters: 3 Main Reasons Why They Hate Us

I am active in a popular Dota website, Gosugamers.net, for more than a year already.  Back then, I never encountered anyone hating Filipino Dota gamers this much.  Now, whenever a pinoy post in a forum or blog, wait for 10 minutes and when you refresh, tons of haters posted their insults on that pinoy gamer.  I was shocked because it wasn't like this before.  I experienced a lot of haters though I post useful stuffs.  They are totally disgusted with us, Pinoys.


I researched for hours WHY.  I came up with a forum asking the same question.  I also analyzed the views of those haters why they hated Filipinos.  I came up with these conclusions:

1. They said that Pinoys have bad manners.

This is the main reason why they hated us that much.  The forum I found was a Hon forum.  Other citizens who are playing this game online get so pissed off with Pinoys because they would always trash talk if they are winning and blame team mates for losing.

Here are some quoted replies from the forum: 

DarkMegaPot:

"I'm Half Pinoy and Half Chinese But Not Those Immature People To Tell You The Truth I got tired of pinoys trash talks it makes me distracted and they feel highly excellent they "IM PRO PLAYING HON" etc2 seriously if that's pinoy would act then good thing i ain't 1 of them

and 1 thing if someone say to me are you pinoy i would shut myself up and change topic cause i won't show my pinoy self which would rage out the players"

ArcticShadow:  

"Sadly, i have played with SOOOO many pinoys and every single one i meet, are total thrash talkers and the kind that always give excuses when they somehow fail.

I mean we understand that you PINOYS fail.. well most of the time but when u do u can at least ADMIT to it and say sorry or something. but NOOOO u go.. u NOOB. u idiot.. BOBO, MOLMOL, tangina. TANGA. dunno wtf all that means but hey.. i guess its some retarded bad words in tagalok. or however u spell PINOY language.

For example, i just got out of a game with a pinoy (his name was Babs - thats a dum name btw) who wanted to SOLO mid so badly and wouldnt let anyone else even though it was called out first. then he fails mid to hammerstorm SOOO badly and then when we question him. he starts blaming. oh no wards. oh lag. oh no one help gank. i mean FFS stop acting retarded and just say SORRY IM A GOD DAM NOOB PINOY.

so for all u pinoy thrash talkers. im sorry.. but seriously.. time to grow up.. stop thinking of yourselves as the BEST in the game just cause the top 2 player ladder players are pinoys.. so like..

Ill-mannered pinoys. gtfo. =D"

I can't blame them for hating us.  It is really irritating when you treat the game as your fun time, then you get trash talks from your opponents.  I am pleading to all Filipino Gamers to stop this and play the game professionally.  Avoid flaming opponents and team mates.

2.  They said Pinoys are trolls.

A troll is person who posts on forums or other form of online communication to disrupt or cause widespread argument.  In this case, I think trolling is not always the main reason why Pinoys posted the posts others consider 'trolls'.  Most pinoys are trolls by accident.  This is just a product of carelessness of Pinoys.  There may be real trolls but I believe that there are only few.

We need to be more careful with our posts to prevent being called trolls.

3.  They said Pinoys are idiots.

Idiot is a very painful word.  They even relate the term pinoy to idiot.  How did this happen?  Most people in the internet forums are geeky and quite experienced in the field they are posting in.  There are a lot of Pinoy gamers who are minors.  With their young age, they would really ask simple question which irritates people reading that question.  They even had Pinoy Filter suggestion on Gosugamers.

These 3 reasons were enough to drive them angry at us.  They included other things why they hated us like Bottle-Crow Strategy, Crab Mentality, Not good looking, etc.  I know they won't hate us just because of these simple reasons.  They really got pissed off because of those 3 views they have on Pinoys.

It's not too late, let us not put this country in hated list.  Let us be more aware of our actions, particularly when interacting internationally.

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Posted in: Facts,Reviews

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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