Playing hundreds of pickup dotas, you learn things. Like how to swing back to victory when you’re team is up against the ropes, and what guy is going to quit the game first before the creeps start running down the lanes. The best players practice to learn, to hone this kind of intuition, rather than to gratify the ego with a win every time. I don’t care how pro you are, DotA is a team game, so you will lose a pickup game from time to time. Your teamates combined are a bigger factor on the outcome of the game than you are in every single game. That said, there are lots of small things you can do to give your team an edge and win more often than you lose.
Waiting until most of the other players have picked before you make your pick gives an advantage because you can try to fill a gap in your team or select a direct counter to a glaring theme of your opponents’ picks. For example, if the enemy team has Rikimaru and Rooftrellan, you might consider Slardar. If the opposing team has three intelligence heroes, you might opt for Magina or Silencer. If your teamates have picked three agility heroes, you might choose a tank like Knight Davion, Axe, Pandaren Brewmaster, or Centaur Warchief.
Sort of like poker, one of the first things you need to do after the heroes have been picked is feel out your opponents. Are they lanned together using Ventrilo, or are they a pickup team also? You are more likely to be facing organized ganks if you are on the scourge side because at least one of a group of friends can host. I suspect this is one of the reasons why Roshan is slightly on the scourge side of the map. Another clue is the hero picks of your enemies. Which lineup is more likely to indicate an organized team using Ventrilo?
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The first lineup of course. It more closely resembles league play picks, and there is a theme of AOE damage and stuns. The second lineup also has a glaring weakness. If a player were to get a gem and bring his teamates along, they could greatly reduce the threat they face. No such obvious weakness exists in the first lineup.
Starting out, check to see what items your allies are purchasing. If none of them get a bottle and you feel like you are probably not facing an organized team, you will likely have free run of the runes, making bottle an attractive purchase. If there are no couriers, purchasing a courier can make you a popular guy. If you do get a courier, periodically watch the health of all your allies in the early game. Timely ferrying a health potion to a cornered ally can make the difference between a win and a loss. For $100 gold, you can make your ally competitive again, meaning you have less reason to worry about a ganker coming from his lane.
After the outer towers have gone down, and the game progresses into the next phase of play, if your team is being edged out, use the buddy system. Figure out which ally is the biggest threat to the enemy, and actually follow that hero around. This will subconsciously discourage that player from creeping neutrals, and encourage him to gank a lane. One of the best places to make a gank happen is the lane where your weakest teamate may still be trying to push his lane because he doesn’t know what else to do. Make this guy your bait, and lead your “follow buddy” using occasional map pings.
If this doesn’t work and your teamates are still getting picked off, chat to the “bait” player to use the buddy system, and let him have the buddy you’ve picked out for yourself, the strongest player. This frees you up to pick a different “follow buddy”, or even join up with the weakest and strongest players. If you are in a hard-fought, close game, use a “power play” to kill Roshan rather than try to break open the enemy base. Lead your team there by pinging the map. Tactics like this when you are up against the ropes will eventually crack an undisciplined team of opponents.
