Dota 2 Viewers Guide For SC2 Fans August 3rd, 2013 19:50 GMT Text by tree.hugger Graphics by shiroiusagi

Table of Contents

Why would I be interested in Dota



The Very Basics



The International 2013



Advanced Viewer Concepts



Follow TI3 on

Liquipedia Follow TI3 on











Dota 2 Viewers Guide

For The StarCraft Man By Tree.Hugger



So you've heard about The International 3. Perhaps you have some friends who've been begging you to play Dota 2, and they've convinced you to watch TI3 with them. Perhaps you heard about TI3 when Blizzard scheduled the WCS finals for the same days. Perhaps you follow organizations who have teams going to the event. Perhaps you just heard about it somewhere along the line and are tuning in because you're looking to give Dota 2 a chance.



But you're a Starcraft fan. You like RTS games. You like the strategy and speed and mechanics that come with the genre. You're not so sure about these other types of games (MOBA? ARTS? what to even call them?) and are a bit annoyed that they sometimes take the hype away from the Starcraft series.



Still, you're here. You're reading this. You're willing to give Dota 2 a shot. You may not know all 100+ heroes or 100+ items. But you're not daunted. It's free to play. It's the most popular game on Steam. If so many people can love this game, maybe you can too.



This guide is for you, wayward Starcraft fan. Dota 2 is a superb game and this is going to be an incredible tournament. Give it just a bit of your time this weekend and you'll be hooked.



Why would I be interested in Dota 2?



There exists a connection between the Starcraft community and the Dota 2 community that is unlike any other two games. Teams like Team Liquid and Alliance who have been very selective about which games to invest in have chosen just those two titles. Players like BabyKnight have gone from Dota to Starcraft, and players like SeleCT have gone from Starcraft to Dota 2 (and then back again).



It starts with the history. The very first game in the ARTS genre (ARTS; Action Real Time Strategy, is the term preferred by the Dota 2 community) was a Broodwar custom map entitled "Aeon of Strife". It gained quite a bit of popularity worldwide among BW players. When Warcraft 3 came out, the entire concept was rebuilt in that game. The result was DotA - Defense of the Ancients. It became the most popular custom game in WC3, and is the exact model for Dota 2.



What attracts many modern day Dota 2 players to it is that it is as much a game of skill and strategy as Starcraft. When Team Liquid



Dota is a game with incredible depth. Just like in StarCraft where you can play one race all your life and never truly master it, Dota is a game where you are always learning new things. The game has a harsh and brutal skill curve that requires many of the same qualities out of top players as Brood War and StarCraft 2. It requires practice, experience, and knowledge. Ultimately, it comes down to the ability to think strategically and make fast, smart decisions.



Dota 2 is a game that is as brutally unforgiving as Starcraft. A single mistake from one player can lose a game. From the opening draft of heroes to the endgame, each player must maintain an unbreakable focus on the details of each moment, while at the same time keeping in mind a larger objective and strategy. In that sense, it mirrors the dual nature of macro and micro that will be familiar to any Starcraft player. While Starcraft certainly has a higher physical and mechanical demand, Dota 2 at times demands more from a player mentally. A split second lapse in concentration can lead to a player being out of position, and can swing the result of a series.



Starcraft 2 and Dota 2 share more than just a common ancestor; they both are games where it is impossible to play perfectly, where the skill ceiling is miles away, and where strategic thinking and execution reigns supreme.



The Very Basics



Chances are, you know something of the basics of Dota 2. But just in case you're totally unfamiliar with the concept, what follows is a basic introduction to the way Dota 2 works. Many readers will be justified in skipping over this part. But for those of you for whom this is useful, you probably won't enjoy TI3 without a rudimentary knowledge of how the game functions.



The Objectives

The point of a game of Dota 2 is to destroy the opposing team's "ancient", which is a structure in the middle of each team's base. There are three entry ways to each team's base, and a path that leads to each, which is called a "lane". Along each lane are three "towers" which are pieces of static defense like photon cannons. Each team in Dota will try to knock down the opposing team's towers, break into their base, and destroy their ancient. How each team goes about achieving this in the face of the other team's opposition creates the conflict in the game.





The map of Dota 2



In Dota 2, the opposing sides are "The Radiant", who begin in the bottom left, and "The Dire", who begin in the top right. It is easy to tell which side of the map you are on at all times. The Radiant side is bright, with green grass and trees, with white stone. The Dire side is dark and foreboding, with a burned out forest and cinder-covered ground. There is only one map used in Dota 2, but it has a lot to offer and is considered quite balanced. Yet while both sides have the same amenities, they are asymmetrical and there are unique but small advantages to either side. At the level of most Dota players, these edges are insignificant, but at the pro level you may see a certain team pick one strategy only on the Radiant or Dire side.



The map and both factions is split by a river, which runs from the top left to the bottom right. The river is a crucial map element as it provides the quickest way to move from lane to lane. It also contains the one obvious difference between the Radiant and Dire sides. On the Dire side of the river, slightly down/right of center, is a big red opening. This is the lair of Roshan, a large monster who can be killed by either side with significant benefits. It is considered easier for the Dire team to kill Roshan.



The Gameplay

Just like in Starcraft how players work to mine minerals and vespene gas to build bigger and bigger armies, players in Dota 2 work to "farm" "gold" and "experience" for their heroes. How they do this is unique, however. At the start of the game, three groups of units (called "creeps") are created at each of the entrances to the bases of both teams. They then charge across the map at the other team's base, one in each lane ... until they meet the enemy creeps. Of course, the fights are quite even, and without the imposition of the heroes both bases would continue throwing units at each other until the end of time.



But in Dota 2, players begin the game by standing in each lane and attempting to get the last hit on enemy creeps. Each last hit gives that hero gold. Every enemy creep that dies nearby will give the hero experience. Thus, the game begins with both sides attempting to time their attacks to get the final hit on dying units to collect their bounty. Gold and experience are also gained when one team kills off a hero on the other team, or takes down Roshan. A team will globally gain gold, but not experience, if they destroy an enemy tower. Gold is also passively gained by all players throughout the game, but the rate is quite slow.



Each side of the map also has several "camps" outside of the lanes which are locations that contain neutral creeps that spawn every minute. The area outside of the lanes is called the "jungle", and some heroes can fight the creeps in the jungle at level one. Thus, they may begin the game in the jungle killing creep camps, and avoid lanes entirely. This is called "jungling", and heroes that do this are called "junglers".



The point of collecting gold and experience is so that the player can buy powerful weapons or armor, and gain levels and increase the strength of their spells. Each hero may hold six items at a time, and each hero my progress all the way to level 25. The more last hits you land, and the more creeps that are killed in your vicinity, the more powerful and versatile your hero can be.



The Heroes

Not all heroes are created equal, and the differences between the 100+ unique characters is a huge part of what makes the game interesting. Some heroes have powerful magic spells or physical abilities. Others have abilities which buff the entire team. Still others have few spells or abilities, but may hit their opponents very hard with basic attacks. Each of these heroes has a role to play in different teams.



For the purposes of competitive Dota, heroes are generally understood to be divided into two roles: support and cores. These are not always hard and fast divisions. Some heroes are capable of playing multiple roles. Throughout TI3, you will doubtless see different teams using the same hero in different ways. Each team however, WILL draft at least one hero to support, at least one hero to carry, and likely one to three core heroes.



The distinctions between heroes come from the amount of farm (gold and experience) that they need to be effective. There is a limited amount of space on the map, and limited opportunities to get gold and experience. When two players occupy the same space, and try to get last hits on the same creeps, they will end up sharing the spoils. Every Dota 2 team, from the professionals to the amateurs, will make choices about which heroes will be allowed to gain the most gold and experience.



Support heroes are given the least farm on the team. This is because they usually have a diverse toolkit of spells that are useful throughout the game. They do not need items or as much experience to be useful. Support heroes tread a dangerous path. On one hand, they must defer to all of their teammates, actively avoiding last hits and occasionally even staying out of experience range. On the other hand, they must find some farm as to avoid being too weak in the late game. New players often assume that supports are the worst players on the team because they appear to fill the weakest role. Nothing could be farther from the truth. All the teams at TI3 field support players who know how to change the game early, when their heroes are relatively the strongest, and late game when they can be easily killed by the enemy if they make a single wrong step. Good teams often win games entirely because of their supports making tough plays.



Cores are heroes that need at least some farm to be successful. There are several subcategories that fall under this, such as "initiator", "ganker", "semi-carry", and "carry". It is easy to identify heroes being played as a core because they usually start the game all alone in one lane (usually the middle and one of the side lanes), or receive most of the farm in a lane with multiple heroes.



Carry heroes are one type of core hero and are given the most farm on the team. They are almost always heroes that hit hard and fast with their basic attack ("right-click or auto-attack damage", the equivalent of "1a") and benefit the most from bigger and stronger items. The later the game goes, the more important the carry heroes become. If the game goes late enough, you may see carry heroes become strong enough to defeat the entire opposing team singlehandedly...unless the enemy carry is also present. You can identify carry and support players at the beginning of many games because they will usually begin in the same lane. The (often two) support players will stay close to the carry ("babysitting") and protect him from harm while he gets last hits and experience.



How to watch

At its most basic, keep track as players accumulate gold and experience. Most casters will use Dota 2's interface options to show either "CS" (meaning "creep score" or the last hits of each player), the hero levels, or the "networth" of each hero, which is somewhat analogous to checking the army supply and worker supply tabs. See which team has more gold and experience. Chances are they're leading the game.



Also notice which teams are close to each other's base. Is one team constantly invading the other team's territory? Keep track of which team has destroyed more towers on their enemy's side.



Finally, watch the big numbers at the top of the screen, which count the number of hero kills achieved by either side. While it is more than possible to win a match with less kills, in most cases the winning team does end up killing the other heroes more often.



The Tournament







The International 2013 is the largest tournament in the history of esports. The winning team will receive a grand prize of over $1,350,000. This prize is partly created by the purchases of the TI3 "



This is the third annual "International". The first was held in 2011 and was contested by many DotA 1 teams who had barely touched the game. The finals (and $1 million top prize) was won by the Ukrainian team Natus Vincere (Na`Vi) over the Chinese team EHOME. In 2012, the tournament was much larger and was held offline in Benaroya Hall in Seattle, where it is being held again this year. The winning team was the Chinese squad Invictus Gaming (iG), who defeated Na`Vi in the finals.



This year, the prize pool has grown, the game is finally out of beta, the players are better, the scene is stronger, and as a result, the hype is at a crescendo. Many view this tournament as Dota 2's coming out party, a tournament that will attract fans (like yourself) of every other esport and sell them on Dota 2. The stakes for everyone involved are incredibly high.



Pick a Team!

The International 3 will be much more fun for you if you pick a few teams to cheer for. Below is the cliff notes version of each of the fifteen teams invited to TI3, as well as the two squads who will be competing in the play-in game.



Invictus Gaming

+ Show Spoiler + The champions of TI2 are returning with the same line-up that they won with a year ago, one of only two teams to do so (LGD.cn being the other). Presumed the best team in the world until this spring, they were shockingly destroyed at the G-1 League finals (a major Chinese offline event) and have looked shaky ever since. Rumors of internal divisions, strategic dysfunction, and poor play continue to dog them heading into TI3. Once the presumptuous favorites, now nobody knows where they will finish - though it is important to know they were considered to be on shaky ground before last year's event as well.

Player to Watch: Chuan (Support)

You'll like them if you like: Tortured genius





+ Show Spoiler + The winners of TI1 and the runner-up of TI2, Na`Vi is the most popular and revered Western team. Known for sometimes weak online performances, Na`Vi has established a reputation for bearing down and delivering huge results in a LAN setting. Coming into TI3, however, they have looked extremely strong both offline and online. They recently went to China and stunned the top Eastern teams to win a major event and won The Defense, a large European league, immediately after. While they went through a bit of roster turmoil this year, picking up two new players, their core three of captain Puppey, midlaner Dendi, and carry XBOCT are unchanged since TI1. They are considered one of the favorites to win TI3.

Player to Watch: Dendi (Mid)

You'll like them if you like: Fan favorites



LGD.China

+ Show Spoiler + After a perfect 16-0 run in preliminaries last year at TI2, LGD finished in third place. They are the only other team to return their entire line-up from TI2, although they did experience some roster drama that saw their invite to TI3 revoked. They were forced to qualify instead, which they did easily. Always the bridesmaid and never the bride of Chinese Dota, they have eagerly stepped into the void created by the recent fall of iG. LGD is known for their patient, methodical, defensive style of play. It gets big results. They are thought to be among the favorites to win TI3.

Player to Watch: Sylar (Carry)

You'll like them if you like: Perseverance, consistency



DK

+ Show Spoiler + DK placed fourth at TI2. The Chinese team is talented all throughout the line-up, but is known especially for just one of their players: BurNing, their carry. A legend of Chinese DotA, BurNing has said that he will retire after TI3. That means it's now or never for the 24 year old veteran. DK is sometimes described as a favorite for TI3, and sometimes as a dark horse.

Player to Watch: BurNing (Carry)

You'll like them if you like: Final shots at redemption



Zenith

+ Show Spoiler + The Singaporean/Malaysian side finished tied for 5th at TI2. They have undergone two major roster shuffles since, although their central core of iceiceice, xy-, and xFreedom has remained constant. Zenith has always been an elite team in Southeast Asia, and they have long remained competitive with the best teams in China, even if they are not usually the favorites. They're a cocky team, with plenty of skill and smarts. Famously, they won a recent game while refusing to ban any heroes from the pool. They are thought to be dark horses to win TI3.

Player to Watch: iceiceice (Offlane)

You'll like them if you like: Trendy picks



Orange Esports

+ Show Spoiler + Orange finished tied for eighth at TI2. The Malaysians are one of the most unpredictable teams at TI3. They play aggressively, led by their attention grabbing captain Mushi and the brilliant support play of Net. They are capable of taking games off the top teams at TI3, but they are also capable of getting spectacularly upset. They are on par with Zenith, and most people have them as dark horses for TI3.

Player to Watch: Mushi (Carry/Mid)

You'll like them if you like: The Dutch National Football Team



TongFu

+ Show Spoiler + Tied for eighth, TongFu has usually been the least glamorous, least interesting, and least sexy of the Chinese teams. That's often because they've also been the least successful. But something may have just clicked in TongFu recently. Earlier in the year, they began to make waves, and when iG collapsed, they occasionally looked like they might be the best Chinese team. Going into TI3, TongFu is again somewhat ignored, but they are not far behind their peers at all. All it could take is one big run to gain the attention they have long deserved.

Player to Watch: Hao (Carry)

You'll like them if you like: Woongjin Stars



Mousesports

+ Show Spoiler + Mousesports is the only organization who did not finish in the money rounds at TI2 that has been able to return to TI3. However, the line-up is almost completely different, with only a single member, carry player Black^ (sometimes called "The BurNing of the West") returning. The current Mousesports line-up has four German players and is captained by a very well known and respected Danish player and sometimes commentator, syndereN. They emerged from roster turmoil to win the Western qualifiers (the second time syndereN has done this). Occasionally they have posted top results among other Western teams, but these spells have been fleeting in the past. They have never really been regarded among the elite of the West. Mousesports could play a spoiler at TI3, but they are very unlikely to win.

Player to Watch: Black^ (Carry)

You'll like them if you like: Germany, Underdogs



Alliance

+ Show Spoiler + Alliance is a new team to The International, but they have been around the Western scene for a while under the name "No Tidehunter". The Swedes made one controversial roster change earlier this year, removing their Canadian captain and adding a completely untested Swedish player as a support. Yet the move worked wonders, and Alliance has soared to tremendous heights with the all Swedish line-up and official sponsorship. They have excelled in LAN events, winning the last two Dreamhacks. Their greatest moment was stunning the Dota 2 world by going to the G-1 League Championships in Shanghai and winning the event without dropping a game at a time when Western teams were believed to be hopelessly inferior to Chinese teams. They are known for developing entirely unique early game plays (almost cheese) to gain an early advantage. Although they haven't been quite as dominant in the past month as they were previously, they are considered one of the favorites to win TI3.

Player to Watch: s4 (Mid)

You'll like them if you like: Sweden, Winners



Liquid

+ Show Spoiler + A familiar name to Starcraft fans, Liquid was assembled after TI2 from the wreckage of several North American teams. While immediate success did not come to Liquid, things eventually came together and the team dominated for several periods this year. However, each period of success was followed by a period of more mediocre results. The team is best known for their cerebral approach to the game and for pioneering several heroes that have since become standards. One concern for Liquid has been their underwhelming performances at LAN events. Although they have LAN experience, they have yet to translate it into a deep offline run. They have the potential to go far, or the potential to bomb out. They are not considered very likely to win.

Player to Watch: Korok (Carry/Mid)

You'll like them if you like: Unrealized potential, USA! USA! USA!



Dignitas

+ Show Spoiler + Another organization with deep roots in Starcraft, Dignitas' Dota 2 team dates back to before TI2, when they were playing under the name Potm Bottom and were one of the snubs for the Western qualifiers. Since then, the North Americans have grown into a team that was directly invited to TI3. While they lack any first place finishes, they have a number of near misses. Dignitas has often played a different style from most Western teams, sometimes shifting into a strategy that is devoted to protecting their carry, Aui_2000, who is known for unorthodox numbers based item and skill builds. Other times they play a strategy that revolves entirely around counter-attacking. Regardless of how they play, Dignitas is frequently one of the most frustrating teams for other teams to go up against. They are not, however, a favorite to advance far in TI3.

Player to Watch: Fogged (Support)

You'll like them if you like: USA! Or Canada, too, I'm sorry.



MUFC

+ Show Spoiler + MUFC is the third SEA team at this event, and also the least hyped of the bunch. While Orange and Zenith have traded blows for a while, the Malaysians of MUFC completely overhauled their roster at the beginning of this year. The current MUFC line-up has not been together for very long, and have not achieved remarkable results within the Eastern scene. They do have some popular players, especially their captain WinteR, who is well known and respected in the Western scene for his casting cameos. While sympathetic favorites, they are not expected to go far at TI3.

Player to Watch: WinteR (Support)

You'll like them if you like: Nice guys who finish last.



LGD.International

+ Show Spoiler + After TI2, the management behind LGD.China approached several top Western players about forming a team. The result was LGD.International, a group of five players from five different countries who have dedicated themselves to a Chinese teamhouse training regime alongside LGD.China. (Imagine the SC2 roster of Mousesports going to Korea and training in a house for a year.) Initially, the results were spectacular. The team eclipsed their Chinese brothers, making it to the finals of the G League, which was probably the most hyped event in the past year of Dota outside of the Internationals. They lost to iG, 1-3, but the result was seen as the stepping stone to bigger and better things. Since then, however, they have tumbled dramatically in results, and now must be counted among the weaker Eastern teams. At one point months ago considered a possible TI3 contender, they're a now a very fringe pick to grab the championship.

Player to Watch: God (mid)

You'll like them if you like: Dedication, candidates for redemption, the most International team at... wait for it... The International



Fnatic

+ Show Spoiler + The global esports organization Fnatic sponsors the other team that is not country based, although all their players are European. Fnatic's roster is used to success. They were the undisputed kings of HoN, another ARTS-type game, and switched to Dota with immediate domination in mind. But it ended up taking a very long time before they were able to find their footing in the new game. When they finally reached the top level, Fnatic established themselves as one of the scene's most consistent performers. Even if they struggled to actually take any championships, they were always in the mix. They are known for their risky and greedy drafts, as well as having a very flexible line-up in terms of heroes and positions. Recently, the team fell out of their consistent good form for the first time in months, and they have yet to climb out of their slump, which has led to many bearish predictions of how the team will perform.

Player to Watch: n0tail (Support)

You'll like them if you like: HoN, but then again, this is for SC2 players about Dota 2, so you probably don't like HoN...



Virtus.Pro

+ Show Spoiler + Every region has a strangely unloved team. For Eastern Europe, it's Virtus.Pro. Despite performing at the highest level for the entire year post TI2, they were almost always rated behind their peers Na`Vi and Empire, even when either of those teams slumped. They won The Defense 3, one of the biggest online events of the year, and still they didn't get much hype. They're not full of anonymous players either; S

support ARS-ART played with Na`Vi's runner-up squad last year and for Moscow 5 with captain NS before that. Go figure. They survived the indifference this far, making it to TI3, while Empire disbanded and other Eastern European teams like RoX.KIS and iCCup got knocked off in the qualifier. Now they're one of just two teams from a proud region that sent three squads (granted, two of them were awful) last year. Recent results have not been superlative, but underestimate VP at your own risk...just don't predict them to go very far at TI3.

Player to Watch: ARS-ART (Support)

You'll like them if you like: Being a hipster



Quantic Gaming

+ Show Spoiler + right before invites to TI3 started to go out was one of the biggest surprises in the scene. While two players remained with the former team and that squad struggled, the captain Goblak and Silent threw their lot in with the French vets, and the results were superb. Goblak is regard as something of a genius, and Quantic has become known for pioneering new heroes. Between Goblak and Team Liquid, you'd explain a significant amount of the metagame shifts in the Western scene in the last year. Quantic plays a very fluid and unpredictable style, with the position of carry somewhat up in the air. They went to Seattle but lost in the Wildcard match against Rattlesnake, and as such have had their TI3 hopes dashed.

Player to Watch: Goblak (Support)

You'll like them if you like: Dividing by zero The first of two teams in the play-in game. Under their original name of DD (they used this as their logo) the team finished second in the Western qualifiers and was promptly picked up by the Quantic organization. The line-up is itself a combination of two previous teams: three French players from TI2 team mTw mixed with Goblak and Silent from Team Empire. The dissolution of Empirebefore invites to TI3 started to go out was one of the biggest surprises in the scene. While two players remained with the former team and that squad struggled, the captain Goblak and Silent threw their lot in with the French vets, and the results were superb. Goblak is regard as something of a genius, and Quantic has become known for pioneering new heroes. Between Goblak and Team Liquid, you'd explain a significant amount of the metagame shifts in the Western scene in the last year. Quantic plays a very fluid and unpredictable style, with the position of carry somewhat up in the air. They went to Seattle but lost in the Wildcard match against Rattlesnake, and as such have had their TI3 hopes dashed.: Goblak (Support): Dividing by zero



RaTtLeSnAkE

+ Show Spoiler + The other team in the play-in game, Rattlesnake (their capitalization is absurd) finished a surprise second in the Eastern Qualifiers, upsetting a team called Vici Gaming. They are the fifth team to represent China at TI3, and they are by far the least likely to do well. They're also the least "Chinese" team of the bunch. They show little of the conservatism and safe play typical of their counterparts. Known for drafting "Western" line-ups, they can be unpredictable and should be the team most familiar with both styles of play at the tournament. They defeated Quantic badly in the game for the final wildcard slot though they are not generally seen as a team likely to go far in the main event.

Player to Watch: LaNm (Support)

You'll like them if you like: Half court shots



For the non-casual viewer



So now you've got a basic grasp of how Dota 2 works, you know the histories of the teams and the tournament, and you're ready to watch some Dota 2! Reading everything up until now won't make someone understand the game in an instant, but it's intended to give the new viewer enough of a foundation so that they can watch without being completely lost. Once you start watching, you'll pick up a bunch of things along the way.



After you've watched a few games and understand the mechanics of the game, you'll want to start watching for some of the things that experienced Dota players are on the look out for. Pick a game and then pick an aspect of the game explained below to follow. See if you can see it in action!



Key Items

No hero in Dota 2 has a linear progression of strength. Some heroes, especially carry and cores, grow exponentially stronger after they pick up certain items. Watch for several key items that make a huge difference. Three of the most common are listed below.



Blink Dagger





The Blink Dagger is a midgame item that allows the player to "blink" a short distance away, just like a Stalker in SC2. It cannot be used if the hero that holds it has taken damage from an enemy hero recently. This item is absolutely pivotal to some heroes like





Black King Bar (BKB)



An absolutely pivotal item on most carries, BKB makes the hero that uses it immune to most magic spells for a period of time. Each successive use of the BKB lowers the duration of the time, all the way from 10 seconds to 4 seconds. There are some spells that still work on targets that have BKB active, and they are highly prized. Most spells, however, do not work on a target using BKB. Carry heroes like



Battlefury





The Battlefury is a big axe that gives a good amount of damage, but unlike the Blink Dagger or a BKB, it is not an item a hero gets if they want to fight. Battlefury's best attribute is that it gives the user a cleave on melee attacks, meaning a hero that relies on close range combat does damage to a cone in front of them with each attack. This item makes it much easier for carry heroes like



A couple other cliff notes:

- Allows the user to become invisible and faster for a short period

- On some heroes, it buffs their strongest spell (called their "Ultimate") in a unique way.

- Often referred to as a "sheepstick", this item allows the user to turn an enemy hero into a pig (it was a sheep in Dota 1) for a limited amount of time. This renders them unable to attack or cast spells, and they move very slowly.



Map Vision and Space

Just like in Starcraft, map vision is absolutely essential in Dota 2. If you can see a lot of the map, you're much less likely to be caught unprepared and killed, and you will know which parts of the map are safe to be in. Additionally, just like in SC2, invisible units can ruin your day in Dota 2, so you need not just sight on the map, but "Truesight" to catch invisible units.



The primary form of map vision comes from your towers, two of which stand in each lane. Towers grant a large field of vision, and they also grant truesight. You also get vision from your creep armies as they run down each lane. Thus, teams can deny their opponents a lot of map vision by pushing their creeps far back and by destroying towers. Certain towers are said to control certain areas of the map, simply by providing vision to the entrances to these areas, and also a place for reinforcements to teleport to quickly via the use of Teleport Scrolls. Destroying these towers can make these areas of the map seem dangerous, and can restrict the area a team feels safe in. That means they may not be able to farm everywhere they want, and their heroes grow at a slower rate as a result. You can see how simply denying vision alone can be a powerful strategy, because it constricts the enemy's space.



To see into areas that are not protected by towers, teams may plant "wards", which are like temporary Xel'Naga towers. You can put them anywhere, and they provide a large field of vision around them. There are two types of wards: "Observer Wards", which provide sight over that area, and "Sentry Wards", which provide truesight. Wards themselves are invisible, so you need truesight to see enemy wards. Professional teams will often plant sentry wards in popular locations for observer wards in order to "deward" them. Denying vision in this way can allow your team to move secretly to set up kills.



In game, watch the battle of vision and watch the battle for space on the map. The best teams know when to fan out and all play independently (maximizing the experience and gold gained) and when to quickly contract and fight as one. Notice as supports on both teams attempt to control the map through planting wards. Notice how teams that don't have good map vision move closer together, in a smaller area, and less confidently, than teams that can see more of the map. Notice as well how some heroes can control large areas of space even if they are on the other side of the map, simply by threatening to attack. Wisp is a hero whose Ultimate allows him to grab an allied hero and bring them anywhere on the map for a 12 second duration, making him an extremely strong ganking hero. See if you see a difference in how the opposing team plays.



Tempo

Dota players and casters will often talk about the "tempo" of the game. This is a fairly abstract concept, so it can be fun trying to find it while watching matches. The game tempo might also be called the "feel" of the game. If one team wants to play an aggressive game with lots of teamfights and lots of kills, and the other team wants to play a passive game with their carry safely farming, then they both desire the game to be played at a different pace. If the game becomes a slugfest with many kills, the first team can be said to have set the tempo of the game, and visa versa.



Most teams have a player or will pick a hero that they intend to set the tempo of the game. Often that heroes comes out of the middle lane, because the mid lane hero has an early advantage in gold and experience as well as easy access around the map that they can use to dictate how the game plays out once the players begin to leave their lanes. If the mid lane heroes remain in their lane for a long time, then the game may slow down a considerable amount. But if the mid lane heroes aggressively move from lane to lane, searching for kills, then they can set a fast paced game where the teams blow right past the farming stages and begin moving together as five much earlier. Supports can also give the game a certain feel by moving out of their lane (called "rotating") and showing up to surprise an enemy hero in a different lane.



Watch for the mastery that the best teams in Dota have over other teams in dictating the game tempo. You might notice that when a top-level team plays a weaker team, the game will hinge entirely upon how the better team chooses to play it. They may set a slow pace, then suddenly group together as five and kill a hero and push down a tower, only to go back to farming. A team that falls behind in reading the tempo of the game is a team that will constantly be picked off and will always be seconds too late to prevent a kill or a tower being destroyed. A team that sets the tempo has an amazing advantage.



So you've heard about The International 3. Perhaps you have some friends who've been begging you to play Dota 2, and they've convinced you to watch TI3 with them. Perhaps you heard about TI3 when Blizzard scheduled the WCS finals for the same days. Perhaps you follow organizations who have teams going to the event. Perhaps you just heard about it somewhere along the line and are tuning in because you're looking to give Dota 2 a chance.But you're a Starcraft fan. You like RTS games. You like the strategy and speed and mechanics that come with the genre. You're not so sure about these other types of games (MOBA? ARTS? what to even call them?) and are a bit annoyed that they sometimes take the hype away from the Starcraft series.Still, you're here. You're reading this. You're willing to give Dota 2 a shot. You may not know all 100+ heroes or 100+ items. But you're not daunted. It's free to play. It's the most popular game on Steam. If so many people can love this game, maybe you can too.This guide is for you, wayward Starcraft fan. Dota 2 is a superb game and this is going to be an incredible tournament. Give it just a bit of your time this weekend and you'll be hooked.There exists a connection between the Starcraft community and the Dota 2 community that is unlike any other two games. Teams like Team Liquid and Alliance who have been very selective about which games to invest in have chosen just those two titles. Players like BabyKnight have gone from Dota to Starcraft, and players like SeleCT have gone from Starcraft to Dota 2 (and then back again).It starts with the history. The very first game in the ARTS genre (ARTS; Action Real Time Strategy, is the term preferred by the Dota 2 community) was a Broodwar custom map entitled "Aeon of Strife". It gained quite a bit of popularity worldwide among BW players. When Warcraft 3 came out, the entire concept was rebuilt in that game. The result was DotA - Defense of the Ancients. It became the most popular custom game in WC3, and is the exact model for Dota 2.What attracts many modern day Dota 2 players to it is that it is as much a game of skill and strategy as Starcraft. When Team Liquid announced that we would begin to cover Dota 2 , Nazgul wrote;Dota 2 is a game that is as brutally unforgiving as Starcraft. A single mistake from one player can lose a game. From the opening draft of heroes to the endgame, each player must maintain an unbreakable focus on the details of each moment, while at the same time keeping in mind a larger objective and strategy. In that sense, it mirrors the dual nature of macro and micro that will be familiar to any Starcraft player. While Starcraft certainly has a higher physical and mechanical demand, Dota 2 at times demands more from a player mentally. A split second lapse in concentration can lead to a player being out of position, and can swing the result of a series.Starcraft 2 and Dota 2 share more than just a common ancestor; they both are games where it is impossible to play perfectly, where the skill ceiling is miles away, and where strategic thinking and execution reigns supreme.Chances are, you know something of the basics of Dota 2. But just in case you're totally unfamiliar with the concept, what follows is a basic introduction to the way Dota 2 works. Many readers will be justified in skipping over this part. But for those of you for whom this is useful, you probably won't enjoy TI3 without a rudimentary knowledge of how the game functions.The point of a game of Dota 2 is to destroy the opposing team's "ancient", which is a structure in the middle of each team's base. There are three entry ways to each team's base, and a path that leads to each, which is called a "lane". Along each lane are three "towers" which are pieces of static defense like photon cannons. Each team in Dota will try to knock down the opposing team's towers, break into their base, and destroy their ancient. How each team goes about achieving this in the face of the other team's opposition creates the conflict in the game.In Dota 2, the opposing sides are "The Radiant", who begin in the bottom left, and "The Dire", who begin in the top right. It is easy to tell which side of the map you are on at all times. The Radiant side is bright, with green grass and trees, with white stone. The Dire side is dark and foreboding, with a burned out forest and cinder-covered ground. There is only one map used in Dota 2, but it has a lot to offer and is considered quite balanced. Yet while both sides have the same amenities, they are asymmetrical and there are unique but small advantages to either side. At the level of most Dota players, these edges are insignificant, but at the pro level you may see a certain team pick one strategy only on the Radiant or Dire side.The map and both factions is split by a river, which runs from the top left to the bottom right. The river is a crucial map element as it provides the quickest way to move from lane to lane. It also contains the one obvious difference between the Radiant and Dire sides. On the Dire side of the river, slightly down/right of center, is a big red opening. This is the lair of Roshan, a large monster who can be killed by either side with significant benefits. It is considered easier for the Dire team to kill Roshan.Just like in Starcraft how players work to mine minerals and vespene gas to build bigger and bigger armies, players in Dota 2 work to "farm" "gold" and "experience" for their heroes. How they do this is unique, however. At the start of the game, three groups of units (called "creeps") are created at each of the entrances to the bases of both teams. They then charge across the map at the other team's base, one in each lane ... until they meet the enemy creeps. Of course, the fights are quite even, and without the imposition of the heroes both bases would continue throwing units at each other until the end of time.But in Dota 2, players begin the game by standing in each lane and attempting to get the last hit on enemy creeps. Each last hit gives that hero gold. Every enemy creep that dies nearby will give the hero experience. Thus, the game begins with both sides attempting to time their attacks to get the final hit on dying units to collect their bounty. Gold and experience are also gained when one team kills off a hero on the other team, or takes down Roshan. A team will globally gain gold, but not experience, if they destroy an enemy tower. Gold is also passively gained by all players throughout the game, but the rate is quite slow.Each side of the map also has several "camps" outside of the lanes which are locations that contain neutral creeps that spawn every minute. The area outside of the lanes is called the "jungle", and some heroes can fight the creeps in the jungle at level one. Thus, they may begin the game in the jungle killing creep camps, and avoid lanes entirely. This is called "jungling", and heroes that do this are called "junglers".The point of collecting gold and experience is so that the player can buy powerful weapons or armor, and gain levels and increase the strength of their spells. Each hero may hold six items at a time, and each hero my progress all the way to level 25. The more last hits you land, and the more creeps that are killed in your vicinity, the more powerful and versatile your hero can be.Not all heroes are created equal, and the differences between the 100+ unique characters is a huge part of what makes the game interesting. Some heroes have powerful magic spells or physical abilities. Others have abilities which buff the entire team. Still others have few spells or abilities, but may hit their opponents very hard with basic attacks. Each of these heroes has a role to play in different teams.For the purposes of competitive Dota, heroes are generally understood to be divided into two roles: support and cores. These are not always hard and fast divisions. Some heroes are capable of playing multiple roles. Throughout TI3, you will doubtless see different teams using the same hero in different ways. Each team however, WILL draft at least one hero to support, at least one hero to carry, and likely one to three core heroes.The distinctions between heroes come from the amount of farm (gold and experience) that they need to be effective. There is a limited amount of space on the map, and limited opportunities to get gold and experience. When two players occupy the same space, and try to get last hits on the same creeps, they will end up sharing the spoils. Every Dota 2 team, from the professionals to the amateurs, will make choices about which heroes will be allowed to gain the most gold and experience.heroes are given the least farm on the team. This is because they usually have a diverse toolkit of spells that are useful throughout the game. They do not need items or as much experience to be useful. Support heroes tread a dangerous path. On one hand, they must defer to all of their teammates, actively avoiding last hits and occasionally even staying out of experience range. On the other hand, they must find some farm as to avoid being too weak in the late game. New players often assume that supports are the worst players on the team because they appear to fill the weakest role. Nothing could be farther from the truth. All the teams at TI3 field support players who know how to change the game early, when their heroes are relatively the strongest, and late game when they can be easily killed by the enemy if they make a single wrong step. Good teams often win games entirely because of their supports making tough plays.are heroes that need at least some farm to be successful. There are several subcategories that fall under this, such as "initiator", "ganker", "semi-carry", and "carry". It is easy to identify heroes being played as a core because they usually start the game all alone in one lane (usually the middle and one of the side lanes), or receive most of the farm in a lane with multiple heroes.heroes are one type of core hero and are given the most farm on the team. They are almost always heroes that hit hard and fast with their basic attack ("right-click or auto-attack damage", the equivalent of "1a") and benefit the most from bigger and stronger items. The later the game goes, the more important the carry heroes become. If the game goes late enough, you may see carry heroes become strong enough to defeat the entire opposing team singlehandedly...unless the enemy carry is also present. You can identify carry and support players at the beginning of many games because they will usually begin in the same lane. The (often two) support players will stay close to the carry ("babysitting") and protect him from harm while he gets last hits and experience.At its most basic, keep track as players accumulate gold and experience. Most casters will use Dota 2's interface options to show either "CS" (meaning "creep score" or the last hits of each player), the hero levels, or the "networth" of each hero, which is somewhat analogous to checking the army supply and worker supply tabs. See which team has more gold and experience. Chances are they're leading the game.Also notice which teams are close to each other's base. Is one team constantly invading the other team's territory? Keep track of which team has destroyed more towers on their enemy's side.Finally, watch the big numbers at the top of the screen, which count the number of hero kills achieved by either side. While it is more than possible to win a match with less kills, in most cases the winning team does end up killing the other heroes more often.The International 2013 is the largest tournament in the history of esports. The winning team will receive a grand prize of over $1,350,000. This prize is partly created by the purchases of the TI3 " Interactive Compendium ", which is a feature in the game that allows players to make predictions, win items, and have more to follow and cheer for throughout the tournament. 25% of the cost of every compendium has gone into the prize pool. In total, the community has purchased over 400,000 compendiums.This is the third annual "International". The first was held in 2011 and was contested by many DotA 1 teams who had barely touched the game. The finals (and $1 million top prize) was won by the Ukrainian team Natus Vincere (Na`Vi) over the Chinese team EHOME. In 2012, the tournament was much larger and was held offline in Benaroya Hall in Seattle, where it is being held again this year. The winning team was the Chinese squad Invictus Gaming (iG), who defeated Na`Vi in the finals.This year, the prize pool has grown, the game is finally out of beta, the players are better, the scene is stronger, and as a result, the hype is at a crescendo. Many view this tournament as Dota 2's coming out party, a tournament that will attract fans (like yourself) of every other esport and sell them on Dota 2. The stakes for everyone involved are incredibly high.The International 3 will be much more fun for you if you pick a few teams to cheer for. Below is the cliff notes version of each of the fifteen teams invited to TI3, as well as the two squads who will be competing in the play-in game.So now you've got a basic grasp of how Dota 2 works, you know the histories of the teams and the tournament, and you're ready to watch some Dota 2! Reading everything up until now won't make someone understand the game in an instant, but it's intended to give the new viewer enough of a foundation so that they can watch without being completely lost. Once you start watching, you'll pick up a bunch of things along the way.After you've watched a few games and understand the mechanics of the game, you'll want to start watching for some of the things that experienced Dota players are on the look out for. Pick a game and then pick an aspect of the game explained below to follow. See if you can see it in action!No hero in Dota 2 has a linear progression of strength. Some heroes, especially carry and cores, grow exponentially stronger after they pick up certain items. Watch for several key items that make a huge difference. Three of the most common are listed below.The Blink Dagger is a midgame item that allows the player to "blink" a short distance away, just like a Stalker in SC2. It cannot be used if the hero that holds it has taken damage from an enemy hero recently. This item is absolutely pivotal to some heroes like Batrider and Magnus , who have spells that are fantastic for starting a fight. The Blink Dagger allows them to hide at a relatively safe position far away from the action, and then suddenly jump into the middle of the fight and cast their spells when the time is right.An absolutely pivotal item on most carries, BKB makes the hero that uses it immune to most magic spells for a period of time. Each successive use of the BKB lowers the duration of the time, all the way from 10 seconds to 4 seconds. There are some spells that still work on targets that have BKB active, and they are highly prized. Most spells, however, do not work on a target using BKB. Carry heroes like Luna and Gyrocopter absolutely need a BKB, because otherwise they can be rendered ineffective by magic spells that lock them down, stun, or slow them.The Battlefury is a big axe that gives a good amount of damage, but unlike the Blink Dagger or a BKB, it is not an item a hero gets if they want to fight. Battlefury's best attribute is that it gives the user a cleave on melee attacks, meaning a hero that relies on close range combat does damage to a cone in front of them with each attack. This item makes it much easier for carry heroes like Anti-Mage Alchemist , and Faceless Void to farm, because they do more damage to more targets. Once a carry completes a Battlefury, they often can remain in their own jungle farming creep camps for a huge portion of the game, accumulating gold and experience at a rapid rate and daring the other team to interrupt them.A couple other cliff notes: Shadow Blade - Allows the user to become invisible and faster for a short period Aghanim's Scepter - On some heroes, it buffs their strongest spell (called their "Ultimate") in a unique way. Scythe of Vyse - Often referred to as a "sheepstick", this item allows the user to turn an enemy hero into a pig (it was a sheep in Dota 1) for a limited amount of time. This renders them unable to attack or cast spells, and they move very slowly.Just like in Starcraft, map vision is absolutely essential in Dota 2. If you can see a lot of the map, you're much less likely to be caught unprepared and killed, and you will know which parts of the map are safe to be in. Additionally, just like in SC2, invisible units can ruin your day in Dota 2, so you need not just sight on the map, but "Truesight" to catch invisible units.The primary form of map vision comes from your towers, two of which stand in each lane. Towers grant a large field of vision, and they also grant truesight. You also get vision from your creep armies as they run down each lane. Thus, teams can deny their opponents a lot of map vision by pushing their creeps far back and by destroying towers. Certain towers are said to control certain areas of the map, simply by providing vision to the entrances to these areas, and also a place for reinforcements to teleport to quickly via the use of Teleport Scrolls. Destroying these towers can make these areas of the map seem dangerous, and can restrict the area a team feels safe in. That means they may not be able to farm everywhere they want, and their heroes grow at a slower rate as a result. You can see how simply denying vision alone can be a powerful strategy, because it constricts the enemy's space.To see into areas that are not protected by towers, teams may plant "wards", which are like temporary Xel'Naga towers. You can put them anywhere, and they provide a large field of vision around them. There are two types of wards: "Observer Wards", which provide sight over that area, and "Sentry Wards", which provide truesight. Wards themselves are invisible, so you need truesight to see enemy wards. Professional teams will often plant sentry wards in popular locations for observer wards in order to "deward" them. Denying vision in this way can allow your team to move secretly to set up kills.In game, watch the battle of vision and watch the battle for space on the map. The best teams know when to fan out and all play independently (maximizing the experience and gold gained) and when to quickly contract and fight as one. Notice as supports on both teams attempt to control the map through planting wards. Notice how teams that don't have good map vision move closer together, in a smaller area, and less confidently, than teams that can see more of the map. Notice as well how some heroes can control large areas of space even if they are on the other side of the map, simply by threatening to attack. Nature's Prophet , a hero with a global teleport, can push any lane at any time. See if you can see how that forces the other team to adjust.is a hero whose Ultimate allows him to grab an allied hero and bring them anywhere on the map for a 12 second duration, making him an extremely strong ganking hero. See if you see a difference in how the opposing team plays.Dota players and casters will often talk about the "tempo" of the game. This is a fairly abstract concept, so it can be fun trying to find it while watching matches. The game tempo might also be called the "feel" of the game. If one team wants to play an aggressive game with lots of teamfights and lots of kills, and the other team wants to play a passive game with their carry safely farming, then they both desire the game to be played at a different pace. If the game becomes a slugfest with many kills, the first team can be said to have set the tempo of the game, and visa versa.Most teams have a player or will pick a hero that they intend to set the tempo of the game. Often that heroes comes out of the middle lane, because the mid lane hero has an early advantage in gold and experience as well as easy access around the map that they can use to dictate how the game plays out once the players begin to leave their lanes. If the mid lane heroes remain in their lane for a long time, then the game may slow down a considerable amount. But if the mid lane heroes aggressively move from lane to lane, searching for kills, then they can set a fast paced game where the teams blow right past the farming stages and begin moving together as five much earlier. Supports can also give the game a certain feel by moving out of their lane (called "rotating") and showing up to surprise an enemy hero in a different lane.Watch for the mastery that the best teams in Dota have over other teams in dictating the game tempo. You might notice that when a top-level team plays a weaker team, the game will hinge entirely upon how the better team chooses to play it. They may set a slow pace, then suddenly group together as five and kill a hero and push down a tower, only to go back to farming. A team that falls behind in reading the tempo of the game is a team that will constantly be picked off and will always be seconds too late to prevent a kill or a tower being destroyed. A team that sets the tempo has an amazing advantage. EffOrt, Snow, GuMiho, and Team Liquid