So, what's the meta like in Dota 2?

Introduction
I've been an avid League of Legends player for almost a year now. I've also had Dota 2 for a few months,and I play it every now and then. I'm still a newbie at heart, but with experience from another MOBA, and from reading up on forums and on the wiki, I know the basics of what makes the game tick, and the only thing left to do is to get used to it/adapt to it by playing actual games,seeing as how I've done nothing but play against bots. That being said,I've been thinking about actually getting serious about Dota 2 and I'm considering getting into actual gameplay. The only reason I haven't is because I have my own goals to achieve on LoL.

About me and League of Legends
Problem with that is, if you're an active League player,you'd know that in the recent months, or rather, since the beginning of Season 3, the meta has shifted to the point of changing the way matches play out significantly. Whereas your average MOBA consists of two teams mixed with different characters with different strengths that are better suited to different jobs working together so that eventually, when teamfights happen, your tanks can easily initiate and disrupt the enemy team, the carries can blow them down with sustained damage output, and casters can throw in nukes to help out. In the current state of league, all these roles still exist, but Season 3 has given many buffs to champions that are strong early game,regardless of role. Ask any league player how games normally end in most normal matches, and they'll tell you they end very early. This is because many teams go for early stomp-outs, crushing any attempts to turtle,farm, or play passively, and they play champions that can easily dominate early to mid game,making it easy to push quickly and end matches extremely early.

With this in mind, many champions can't shine at all anymore. Alot of them are designed to do their job late game, whether it be because of their item-dependent damage output(Like some of the AD Carries such as Graves,Kog'Maw,Tristana,Vayne,Twitch,etc) or because of them having strong AoE/CC abilities that make teamfights easier to win(Like initiators such as Amumu,Malphite,Wukong, or nukers that scale really hard like Viktor,Veigar,Ryze). Yet they can't reach their full potential(At least the item-dependent ones can't) because every game progresses too quickly for them to finish even half their build. They reach the teamfighting stage of the match before they're ready. Most of these late game champions rely on games lasting a while so they can farm and take advantage of the passive gold gain(Because lets face it, in any MOBA with a passive gold gain, you'll have alot more gold 40 minutes in than 15 minutes in,whether you farm and get kills or not) so that either they themselves can have a strong build(Because thats how they get their damage output), or so that their teammates can have a strong build(Because the champion is really strong in teamfights due to initiation/nuking power, their teammates need to survive past the initiation as well).

Why I want to transition over to Dota 2
Having said all this,I quite frankly don't like the current League of Legends Meta, because my play style revolves around being mostly passive early game. This is why I'm thinking about moving over to Dota 2 for the time being, at least until the meta shifts back. This is because I've read that there isn't really a set meta in the Dota 2 scene(Aside from the basics that is). This means that different strategic team compositions can still work if played correctly. Which is unlike the current league of legends, where even a team that would be unstoppable end game due to their teamfighting power (I'm thinking Twitch or Graves AD Carry,Sona or Nami support,Anivia or Viktor mid,Malphite or Amumu Jungle,Wukong or Nasus top) can be easily easily stomped by a complete early game team (Such as Caitlyn or "Blue" Ezreal AD Carry,Blitzcrank support, an assassin such as Leblanc,Akali,or Katarina mid, Xin Zhao jungle, and a lane bully such as Riven,Garen,or Darius top), regardless of skill level. From my point of view, this is completely different from League's old play stale, as well as that of most regular MOBAs, where even when faced with a team full of characters that are overpowered early game, you can still take advantage of the fact that they're useless(Or close to it) in a teamfight by turtling and playing defensive until the game reaches the stage in which your team's characters are meant to do be at their full potential in. In this case, actual skill matters. The aggressive early game team would have to strategically force engages, while the lategame team would have to avoid engages. This sounds alot better than "Whichever team can bully the other out of lane and take as many towers as they can as quickly as possible will win". Another way to look at it is "In most MOBAs, if you get bullied out of lane by an opponent that's stronger than you early game,its not the end of the world. You're just fighting an uphill battle until you can catch up, since they have a small advantage from being more farmed. But in Season 3 league of legends, being up against a strong early game opponent means you'll be bullied out of lane the entire game. You will not catch up, and your opponent will not fall off late game,because your opponent has the power to ensure there is no late game. You're not fighting an uphill battle,you're fighting an impossible battle.

Ending Questions
Now of course,I know there are impossible battles in every MOBA, but the way I see it, most of the time it's because the enemy team has a composition that's stronger in teamfights, which is the way it's supposed to be,right? That's the way I like it. So should I get into Dota 2? If I did, would there be anyone willing to mentor me/help me get used to the game? It's not exactly that I expect every match to be possible to win, it's just I feel that the current state of League encourages one team being stronger than another for all the wrong reasons. The current meta just seems really out of whack, and I've always heard Dota 2 has a lot "looser" of a meta, but getting into the game and getting used to it will take some time, so is it worth it?

I don't think anyone here will tell you that Dota 2 is not worth it.

Play for 50 hours and find out. People rarely give it up after that.

The dota 2 meta changes every patch and a small buff or nerf can decide whether a hero is in the meta or not. For example, we have seen more bloodseeker picked up now that his ulti is hp removal. This means that bkb carries cant just run around anymore. However, even with aghs buffs to Doom and Necrolyte, we still dont seem to have them be picked up. In general, its oriented at a getting the carires up quickly so we see teamfights happening around 15 minutes. The amound of trilane v trilanes has seemed to of diminished a bit. As always, the game is very positional but favors aggresive heros. The popular carries are still there like lifestealer and gyro. However,there have been a few that are picked up more like morph.

To really expeicecne the meta, you need to play and see how it transforms. Just like any other game, even not mobas, like sc2, nerfs and buffs change the way a games is played. A few years ago, the 4 protect 1 strat was the meta and then alittle bit after that was the push meta to counter it.

Hope you play dota fulltime and if you have any more questions, id be happy to answer them. Hope i gave a good answer :)

This comes from a player that has more than 3000 matches of lol and about 1000 of dota2 and I can tell you that the meta is always shifting, I mean if there's a darkseer that should go suicide lane but for some reason they have a templar assassin mid the darkseer will shift to mid just to coutner that, it's more counter-based but you can still win if you know how to play, there are diffrent playstyles for each hero and you see them in chinese dota where they are always experimenting with something new.

Hope this helps and keep on playing DotA2 ^_^

Guess I'll just have to start doing real matches and find out. Also, one last question regarding the meta of both games. In the current LoL meta(Or rather,how it's been for a long time now) carries have almost always been ranged. The only 4 melee carries in the game are considered obsolete, mainly because the standard team setup calls for having the main carry of the team (Called the AD Carry) going bot lane paired with a support. This AD Carry is normally ranged, and in most cases the support is as well. In teamfights, this carry is expected to be a glass cannon that sits in the back line during teamfights.Even with a full build, they have to do this because they stil have no survivability. Obviously, having a melee carry is obsolete in LoL since they have all the weaknessess of a ranged carry(Being squishy,no survivability,easily focused down) but they're instead close-ranged,meaning they have to be in the front lines,which makes them even easier to focus down. And that's just in teamfights. If they were to go bot with the support, they'd get harrassed to no end by the enemy AD Carry and support,since they would both be ranged. They just can't fit into team compositions in LoL.

However,I've found that almost the opposite is true in Dota 2. Though I haven't experienced it myself, I've read that though most of the ranged carries in the game can be somewhat of semi-carries, they don't do nearly as well of a job as the melee carries. According to most players, melee carries scale even harder with items than the ranged ones do,and are referred to as hypercarries. And again,I've never experienced it for myself,but still just looking at some of their kits, this seems to be true (I've love to see the potential of a fed Faceless Void). What still confuses me is the fact that you'd assume that carries are still glass cannons. So why is it that melee carries in Dota 2 don't face the exact same problems that League carries do? Sure laning is alot different in Dota 2, unlike on league where if you go bot lane you know you'll be up against two ranged champions,but teamfights are still a thing where you don't wanna let yourself get focused down so easily. Could someone with some experience from both games explain to me how being on the front lines isn't a problem for melee carries in Dota like it is in League?

Most carries are melee yes, but the upside is they have a better attack animation and base damage in most cases. However, they will get harass in lane and thats one reason why we have supports. Some are still glass cannons like AM but he gets tankiness througharmor, spell shield and items. Most carries dont have the best stat gain but have some ability, mostly passives, that scale hard. Like Faveless voids bash. In a teamfight, the carry waits for some form of initiation, ie a magnus RP or a bat lasso. They then go in and deal the damage while the opponent is stunned or trying to catch up. I've never played LoL so sorry if I cant compare the 2. Also, many carries have somewhat of a survavbility facter. Like a blink on AM or shukuchi on weaver, or they rely on lifesteal. Ultimately the items of a carry are what allows them to be on the front lines and deal dps. If you take a look at a regular game, its alot easier to see rather than me trying to explain. Watch a few pro games and see how they initiate and run though a teamfight.

The CC is harder in DotA.The game revolves around having a lot of CC, and a type of hero called" initiator". This guy's main thing is the CC he has, usually under the form of an ultimate.Be it:

• Tidehunter -> Ravage
• Magnus -> Reverse Polarity
• Earthshaker Echo Slam
• Dark Seer -> Vacuum and Wall of Replica
• Kunkka -> Torrent and ghost ship (he is a good carry)
• Elder Titan -> Echo Stomp and Earth Splitter
• Enigma -> Black Hole
• Faceless Void -> Chronosphere

And the list could go on.The point is, that melee carries in DotA have somewhat means of CCing the enemies(be it them or their allies), while LoL melee carries have almost nothing:

• Tryndamere -> A slow
• Gangplank ->A MS boost, and a passive slow that is kinda bad.
• Master Yi -> Super Sayan speed but no CC

This is why DotA melee carries shine, but ranged ones are good too,for example outworld devourer.