UnrulySupportGuy's Guide to Position 6

Thank you guys again for reading the guide, it means a whole lot to me, especially since I plan on getting back into this in my free time (which there's a lot of at my work surprisingly.)

To ChiChi's first comments:
Generally yes, I am nowhere near that coveted 4k range, and thus there's a lot of mistakes, errors, bad calls, and generally just a lower skill level, which is why I included the green, red, and orange analyses that you like, as kind of an overview of this one game.

Blink Dagger is definitely one of Lion's core items, and I usually rush that first in order to make sure I get the best positioning possible for my team. It actually saved my Juggernaut in the semifinals of the Battle Cup last Sunday. The reason I opted for the Hand of Midas was for the guaranteed ward money, which I wanted to make sure I always had, even if we were doing good. This did make a lot of battles harder on us, but due to the cooperation of my teammates, it wasn't fully necessary, even though it would have been better to have if our initiation potential was a lot weaker.

I will also have to disagree with you on your point of Venge. With the increasing amount of buffs and changes to her, while she can still be a decent position 4 or 5, she is closer to approaching the circle of cores, similiar to that of Mirana , who depending on her early game, can transfer late. Especially with her level scaling and BKB piercing elements, it's almost a waste if time given to her isn't spent on something to kill the enemies faster, especially if they are Black King Bar carries, in which case, you can't rely on your Magic Missile damage output to be reliable.

But yes, ChiChi, as a general perspective, your points are valid and right on Lion and itemization, and this particular guide reflects on the match itself. I plan on making a better guide to being the support and update a few other guides. PPD is basically my spirit animal. Salty about everything, supports anyway. XD

For Kianmir: I am a decent Lion player, I'm definitely not the worst but I'm not Cr1t either. This game was way more slow paced than it probably should have been, but you're also right that there's a lot of gold to be made off how much damage a Lion can output, but when you're stuck in mid babysitting an Invoker from two Agi heroes that can reduce armor and silence you, it's hard to wander the lanes too much. And I appreciate your thanks, and I will continue to make better guides. Please look forward to them.

For michimatsch: I opted for the Arcane Boots over Tranqs because of our Faceless Void and Invoker . Void wants to be able to jump around with his Time Walk and Voke's spells aren't cheap to constantly throw out, especially not early. There was a lot of elongated skirmishes that would turn into pushing, so I wanted to make sure everyone had enough for that one extra spell that may save their life.

I agree with most of ChiChi's points. Except the fact lion might not be the 6# out there because of his big need : Mana. a simple Aether Lens or something like that can be a LOT better than a midas. i can say some better pos 6s in the game are : Vengeful spirit,Rubick and even Witch doctor. These heroes Don't have more needs. witch doctor doesn't need mana nor does vengeful. an agh's on WD or an agh's on Rubick are the same as a agh's on lion : unneeded for a support or non-core hero. i myself am a lion player. and i can say.. in all honesty. IF you play lion aggressively. you will get a blink dagger+agh's+wards Very easily. even with assist gold. lion is such a strong ganker and a extremely aggressive support. i can say using him to babysit a spectre is not the best idea. he needs a aggressive core like himself. mirana. faceless void. or even Medusa with her quite strong nuking powers and her ultimate's disable. That was all i had to say. Keep up guides like this. but try to show a example where aggresion is rewarded. taking risks is key to improving. That's all i had to say! Thanks for making these amazing support guides. lucky for us dota-fire supports we have you and ChiChi and TheFrosto ;)

This is a very interesting and unusual guide, mate. I think that, for starters, you should indicate what your purpose is more clearly in some kind of introduction: not to give us a guide on Lion but more of a general gameplay when you have to play the #6?

Now, off to what you say: most is true, and very interesting, but there are indeed some details that make it clear you are not playing skilled games at all, or that you are learning more from playing experience than from watching better players. Example: if you're a Lion, there is one item that you should want most of all, Blink Dagger. You need it because the reason Lion is picked as a support instead of another hero is his power of disabling enemies, so you need to make sure you can initiate on the right target to ensure that. It's a lot of gold to have at a time though, so you need to learn how to play in order to have an equilibrium between supporting and still getting it (or at least getting a Force Staff instead).

Hand of Midas, contrary to what you said, it's not a good pick up on Lion at all because it makes you miss your Blink timing, and because he actually doesn't need XP and levels as much as other heroes at all. In comparison: if you're playing let's say Ancient Apparition, you might need more the Midas then anything else, because the strong point of your hero is to be sitting behind spamming your ultimate, that you want to have maxed asap. For that reason, AA should be played as a #4 and not as #5 (and especially not as the #6).

Let's look at another very famous #6 though: Vengeful Spirit. She is picked because she doesn't need almost anything to be useful, offering a cheap disable, an aura and a less armor, besides an amazing ultimate that with only one point is good enough already. No one goes Midas on her, because that's actually just a waste of money that could be better allocated somewhere else. Don't forget that Midas costs money also and it doesn't pay for itself in most cases if you're not a core, since to be worth it you need to play a lenghty game.

Another way for you to decide if you want it or not is: Think what can you get that is more useful for your team? Is it just having more levels and marginal more gold, or having an important item, or having consumables? Another thing you should consider is: how are the best players in the world playing this hero? You will find, for instance, that Pie is one of the best Lions in the world, to the point of making the hero have to be banned in pro games. Check his way of playing and his item choices: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Uft2EP3-wAc

I hope we can talk more about this as you play more games as well, cause your analysis of the mistakes made and the general "being a #6" is really interesting. I happen to have a pendant for being the #6 myself too, or PPD style, so I know the struggle and I've learned the advantages and disadvantages of it :) it might seem like you've discovered something amazing, the impact you can have if you starve yourself for the sake of the team, but sometimes that's actually not the best choice.

If you want, give a look at my dotabuff as well: http://www.dotabuff.com/players/175327573

Cheers,
ChiChi