Sunday night marked a totally different kind of draft, the Reddit Dota 2 League player draft for the PST-SUN division. I formed a brand new squad, which I’m calling Duck and Goose 1 2 3 or DAG# for short.

Captains that have signed up pick six rounds of players to fill their roster. Pick order is roughly determined by ascending MMR. Being ~4.4k, I had the 14th pick of 25 captains. It was tough to navigate, lots of strong picks that did not fall to us, but I think we’ll be competitive. Anyway here’s how I approached the player draft:

Reputation – Lots of captains make selections based on reputation; there are known quantities that play above their MMR and so will get missed by any participants that are out of the loop. Coming from EST-MON I don’t know anybody. Gotta make do.

– Lots of captains make selections based on reputation; and so will get missed by any participants that are out of the loop. Coming from EST-MON I don’t know anybody. Gotta make do. MMRs – Definitely the main factor in my decision making. This is what I sort by. The sign-up sheets don’t update automatically, so in between picks I quickly popped open DBs and updated players’ Solo ratings. I didn’t see any climbs or falls above 400 , but even a couple hundred points is large enough to change a pick.

– Definitely the main factor in my decision making. This is what I sort by. The sign-up sheets don’t update automatically, so in between picks I quickly popped open DBs and updated players’ Solo ratings. I didn’t see any climbs or falls above , but to change a pick. Positions – I tried a little bit to target players to fill different positions, at least preferring cores in rounds 1 and 2, supports in rounds 3 through 6. Sometimes the value isn’t there.

– I tried a little bit to target players to fill different positions, at least preferring cores in rounds 1 and 2, supports in rounds 3 through 6. Sometimes the value isn’t there. Win Rate – Not sure how applicable it is, I’ve definitely drafted a few guys that mostly play ability draft. But there is definitely something enticing about an abnormally high winrate, and given two similar MMRs I’ll go for the player with a 53%+ chance at victory.

– Not sure how applicable it is, I’ve definitely drafted a few guys that mostly play ability draft. But there is definitely something enticing about an abnormally high winrate, and given two similar MMRs I’ll go for the player with a 53%+ chance at victory. Player Note – I put a lot of stock into player note, and in a lot of cases the player statement is worse than a blank. I like notes that show a player is even-keeled, no tilt, no flame, and my favorites are an openness or even enthusiasm towards experimentation and weird picks. Here is my star player’s note: SEASON 5 CHAMPION; ALSO DESTROYED MERLINI WITH BATTLE TIDEHUNTER BUILD @ https://www.dotabuff.com/matches/3002772495

I put a lot of stock into player note, and in a lot of cases the player statement is worse than a blank. I like notes that show a player is even-keeled, no tilt, no flame, and my favorites are an openness or even enthusiasm towards experimentation and weird picks. Here is my star player’s note:

Want to go on two quick tangents before calling gg:

Huge shout out to my season 10 teammates that got drafted in EST-MON last night: 6dog @ 3rd pick overall (up from 5th) Verve @ 19th pick overall (up from 38th) Doobs @ 29th pick overall (up from 71st) Dizzy @ 100th pick overall (up from 137th) How fucking hype would it be to have a pro-player RD2L style league, where say the top 20 teams enter, get split up and drafted by the captains? Honestly the draft itself would be more interesting than the matches.

So now it’s on to corralling my new boys into the team discord, and starting a draft strategy google doc so we can start the next-leveling process.

-gg worst captain ever