Introduction - the 3 games

RoX.KIS vs The Alliance


The strategy behind the gimmick is unconventional, but simple:

1   Furion has a global teleport
2   Heroes with Boots of Travel can teleport to Beastmaster's Hawk
3   Naix's ultimate enables him to teleport together with a teammate
4   KOTL can recall a teammate

What appears to be a lone KOTL pushing deep into a lane while his teammates are split-pushing is actually a highly tempting, yet risky bait for the enemy, as the fight can turn from a 1v3 into a 5v3 within seconds, from all possible positions.

Ironically, RoX.KIS lost the game, because of several bad timings with the gimmick strategy, allowing Alliance to pick off individual heroes before the Naix bomb and Beastmaster roar can arrive on time to fight with their team. Nevertheless, RoX.KIS gained a huge amount of respect for attempting to pull off this strategy against one of the best EU teams in the competitive scene. (Sadly, this game is more famous because GodZ read Harry Potter during a long pause while waiting for a DDoS victim.)



This match highlights the fact that there'll never be an end to what strategies you can come up with in a game of Dota 2. The DotA scene has seen many shifts in trending strategies, from the popular Chinese 4-protect-1 style to the currently ubiquitous 3-1-1, with individual players specializing in their "positions", a priority system for distributing farm to scale effectively as the game progresses.

Aside from an overarching game plan for farming, other strategies include pushing, ganking/hunting, straight up fighting sequences, gaining vision for defensive and offensive purposes, counterpushing/defensive backup plans and many others.

Some captains have a knack in spotting a common exploitable loophole in the enemy team, whether it lies within their lineup or their current state. Two fun examples are Na`Vi vs EG (WePlayDota2 Showmatch Game 2) and EG vs sqL (G1 League Qualifiers Game 1).


Game A: Na`Vi vs EG

EG's lineup: LD, SS, TH, AA, VS
Na`Vi's lineup: SkeleK, Magnus, BH, Rubik, KOTL

What's wrong with EG's lineup? Squishy supports and a squishy, mana dependent mobile semi-carry. Furthermore, EG picked SS after Na`Vi picked KOTL, which defied an important rule in drafting: never pick a hero knowing the opponent already has a counter for it. Na`Vi did so well that by the 10 minute mark, SK promptly went for a dagon and.. so did the rest of his team. At first this might seem like a blatantly disrespectful troll, but Na`Vi exploited the fact that the initiators were so underfarmed that they can be easily burst down, including the Tidehunter.



Game B: EG vs sqL

Situation: Radiant's barracks are all down. Dire's mid T3 is down. Although the score sits at 17-22, Radiant's carries have the highest net worth in the game. Roshan was just killed by the Dire. Dire has vision of the Radiant jungle and Radiant has vision of the mid lane. It is apparent that Dire moved into the Radiant jungle to scout or bait an engagement.

What would you do if your lineup has greater firepower, but hasn't been doing well in teamfights? Would you try to engage a team that has been dominating you despite your better farm, and this time with an Aegis and Cheese in their arsenal? Would you turtle in base and wait for the mega creeps to push in slowly, then buckle to the pressure of a fight while the creeps destroy your base?

Note that it was the 3rd or 4th Roshan and the carry picked up the Aegis. The other carry probably took the cheese. When you need a slot for Aegis/Cheese, what would you usually sell?

sqL's captain promptly called for an all-in smoke into a backdoor at mid. No one in EG carried a TP. sqL won.


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