You take top, I'm jungling or What went wrong.

So, in lieu of introducing myself to the forums I thought I'd kick it off with every Dota player's favorite past-time...complaining about Dota.

So, in a recent game I played Elder Titan on Dire. I realize ET is nowhere near meta but AHC.
Anyway, at the very start of the game Sand King declares, I'm going to jungle you take top.

I tell him this will not work versus Necrophos and Lich, both who have aoe, slow and ranged attacks. I was berated as a noob because I couldn't solo Necro and Lich by myself who were taking advantage of a solo top by attacking me solely while the creeps duked it out. Are there heroes that can solo against certain heroes? Yes. Is ET vs. Lich/Necro one of those? Um...unless someone knows something I don't, then no.

Lich literally came through the jungle, waltzed right past Sand King to attack me and SK just kept on jungling. He jungled pretty much the whole game, 1st top is going down, he's still jungling, 1st top goes down, he's still jungling, 2nd top is going down/down, he's still jungling. Then he spends the second half of the game wondering why we're losing when the enemy is teampushing mid and bottom.

It didn't help we had a Bounty Hunter as well, who was using the popular Ima go invis and just collect xp strategy in addition to the also popular Teamfight? **** that, Im outta here strategy, making our bottom lane essentially a solo lane as well.

One of the numerous highlights was also when I used Stomp to save an ally who was nearly dead, who then turned around and began attacking the enemy I just stomped resulting in his swift death.

So anyway, still just trying to push through AHC with ET, who's so unmeta his pickrate is almost zero. :P

Classic. But, with Elder Titan you should be able to 'handle' that lane. Just don't go anywhere near the creep line! Stay just in xp range and use your spirit to grab a last hit or 2. With good micro you should be able to interrupt pulls so the wave should be pushed your way pretty constantly. Not saying it's easy by any means, and the Lich will occasionally get you out of xp range, but you gotta do what you can.

Of course your team are going to complain when a freefarmed Necrophos appears, but that's just what happens.

P.S. Welcome! I do love a moan...

I delayed creep and used my spirit but the enemy quickly caught on to the fact that they didn't have to worry about anyone else showing up to support, defend or gank. At some point, a jungler should show up to do any of these things at least once. Sadly, that did not occur.

I don't know why but I constantly have to remind myself that pubs will not call missing, will not buy wards, will teampush and then when you setup a perfect initiate...all run away and then as seen here do things like treat the game like a single player rpg. Also, I forgot to mention SK also fed the courier early on as well not once but twice...to the creeps he was farming. Every pub match, I start out optimistic for some reason. That's my bad, in a way.

You could really handle that lane. You just gotta analyse what you're playing up against. A Lich- Necrophos -lane is gonna harass you a LOT, but they lack stuns and other lockdown. So you should pack up a lot of regen, stay in exp-range but don't go to the creeps. Snag a few lasthits when it's safe or with spirit. Utilise the fact that you will hit hard and run fast with your spirit just returned, and the fact that the enemy lane should not be able to bring you down if you aren't out of position.

In general you should look out for things you can improve rather than point out others' and for this case you should practise your laning.

I think you just misplayed your lane. Their lane was not very strong. Why do people off lane with ET? Because he needs levels, but not items. Why do people send lich long lane? To starve a farm dependent hero with E spam. I fail to see how their lane is strong against ET. What if you went long lane and necro/lich was their short lane? Do you think you would have won it long lane but not short lane? ET excels against dual lanes and tri lanes because he can get enough farm for his soul ring within a few minutes, then just hang back and sap exp. all that he needs to participate in a fight is a well positioned spirit with maxed passive. That's it. He doesn't need a huge stomp or a 5 man ult. They're great, but not realistic.

Only thing I disagree with here. Stomp and ult are insanely good, don't go 0-4-4-0 in this meta.(never implied you said that Angelo, but that's what usually people do, and it's so wrong on offlane ET) Right now ET is a bit like DS, every single point you skill matters. It's like going 2-4-2-1 on DS, same should be done on ET. Stomp is too good, aura is too good as well, 1 level of splitter just like 1 level of wall, and Astral Spirit is his Ion Shell.

I understand what you're saying but I can't stress enough that SK was 10 feet away in the jungle and did nothing until our entire top lane was lost. He literally let them waltz straight through our jungle and continue to farm while they walked right past him. If he wasn't hiding in the corner of an already farmed camp waiting for them to respawn he would just sandstorm and run away if anyone bothered him. Any pings/requests for help were ignored. I'm pretty sure that's *not* how you play jungle.

I think that stomp and splitter are amazing, but I'm just trying to say that the bare minimum that you need to do as an ET is plant your spirit in the middle of a fight and AFK. This is a problem with a lot of players I party with. Earlier OP said that he would land a perfect initiation but his team would run; that isn't necessary. I have a feeling that OP was over extending in lane and that's why he lost to lich and necro. I think that stomp/splitter is an absolutely fight winning combo if you land it, but I don't expect it from my friends. Just like I don't expect ET to have anything other than brown boots and soul ring for a while.

I'm just saying OP: don't expect so much from yourself. Sometimes hanging back and doing nothing, or getting a one man stomp/splitter, is the most you can do.

Here's the thing OP: People never make mistakes on purpose. There's a good chance you're making a lot of mistakes every game and not realizing it. Maybe that sand King didn't know any better. Maybe he was afraid of dying.

One time I was skywrath bot radiant and I was supporting EE on slark. We were against solo lich who was 7 and we were like 5/3 or something. EE yells "Are you going to slow him or what?" Lich was at his T2 at like... 8 minutes or so. Like... Wtf can we do if I slow? Well I did, and he dove and killed him at t3, then tped back to lane. I really underestimated slarks diving potential in that situation. I realized "Wow... I'm probably the worst player here" and it was humbling.

Sometimes you'll be the best player on your team, but usually you're average... And sometimes you're the worst. There is ALWAYS a trench. EE probably thought "this skywrath is trash" because I'm a lot worse than him. So just remember that. Noobs don't know what they're doing wrong. Just like how if you played with pros you would be completely lost. There will always be players worse than you, and it's up to you to play that much better to make up for them, instead of blaming them for your loss.

AFK junglers are an annoyance for many people - especially the ones who won't seem to lift a finger or get involved at all in the game if they can avoid doing so. Unfortunately you will get team mates like this, and will have to deal with them.

But...I'd have to fundamentally agree with Angelo on his various points - you chose to play ET against that lane...and learning to lose a lane "well" is a valuable skill.