From a Noobs Perspective: The differences Inbetween...

New Blog Series!!!

SO EXCITE!

"in the words of the great and wise Wulfstan WHY THE **** WOULD YOU DO THAT?

so prologue incoming!

recently and for the past maybe 5 months i have been doing my part for the dota community.

Coaching!!!

good god why would you be coaching you scrublet !

OI ill have you know im decent enough to help those beneath me ....WAAAAY BENEATH ME MUWAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAH


*AHEM*



anyway.


so i have been doing coaching for as of yet a roster of 4. i coach 3 newbies and 1 team. As of yet the funny thing is that it hasnt just changed them it has also changed me!

WHAT?

yes MEEEEE. now let me explain with songggggg ... er no jokes i wont do that, what i will do is explain some things.

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The three things noobs do, that experienced noobs dont

1. Check the map

in my recent experiences of coaching i have noticed this simple and telling thing. They never check the map. ever. ok maybe sometimes to like FURIOUSLY SPAM THE PING BUTTON WHAT THE **** ARE YOU DOING THAT FOR YOU HAVE A MICROPHONE USE IT ...*ahem* as you can see i usually only have push to talk on because of .... reasons .... salt aside.

new players only seem tot think of the map as a ping ***** that only gives treats if pinged the **** out of. *puns intended ;)*. this isnt the case. a wuick check of the map will provide you with a multitude of cues that you wont be privy too normally. liiike

missing heroes that aren't called.
runes.
ganking heroes in vision
movement of enemy heroes in vision.
extra heroes in lane.
checking builds and items of heroes in vision
missing heroes that arent called.

missing heroes that arent called

MISSING ****ING HEROES THAT ARENT CALLED SERIOUSLY CALL MISSING YOU PBVUP$B%PV&B$@(BV@$(V

^ that is what happens at lower levels, they rely upon others to do the checking.

dont. map awareness is key to progressing so i drill it into my students.

always check your map every minute or so.


2. Calculation

you ready? you ready? ok here goes.

"**** sorry i thought i had more mana for that"

"oh **** what WHAT i had more hp then that WTF"

"oh **** i didnt think he had the mana for that"

"what the **** HOW IS THAT OF COOLDOWN"

"wtf WTF WHAT. THE. ****. WTF. wtfwtfwtfwtfwtfwtf"

^ do they sound familiar ... they should because we have all at one time or another uttered those exact words.

as i have noticed moving out of the scrub levels is that i constantly check mana on enemies and friends alike i count down cd's on skills in my hed and i try and calculate the damage potential skills will do to me.

"ok so i have 720 hp i blink him and do my combo thats 500 damage he will get a 1.5 second stun off and then run he has a 345 ms i have 330 so i will need to blink which means i will only have enough mana for my q after i blink and after combo my blink will be 5 seconds of cd while his stun has a 8 second cooldown so if i can get an extra right click in before blinking his final health will be around 100 before blink then i blink q and that should kill him before his stun is back up."

cal. cu. lation.

use it ... a lot... i tell my students this in quite pleasent and polite terms...

"YOU ****ING ****ER **** ****ED ****ING ALWAYS CALCULATE YOUR **** "

^ seeee im so lovely


3. decision making.

this is probably the biggest thing i try and instil in my students.

DECISION MAKING.

"why you do something" is the best why i can describe it.

it is a combination of the first two and a third element. Stupidity.

the less stupid **** you do the better you are. for example.

dont: run into 5 heroes screaming LEEERRROOOOYYYYY JEEEENNNKKKIIIINNNNNSSSS

do: assess the situation, plot outcomes. communicate strategy. execute to the plan. communicate current situations.

dont: run around enemy jungle with 1 tenth hp

do: instant tp home

dont: dive a tower on 3/5ths hp and no back up for a kill on a hero with a stun

do: push the lane. get creep cover. communicate to lane partner your intentions. assesss risks. execute plan.

the decisions made by noobs are similar to experienced noobs but with differences that are harder to learn.

example number TWO:

"i recently coached a student in one of their first all pick pub games. then went sniper safe lane and did everything right cause i was telling them what to do and im always right GIT IT GUD! anyway they then were able to nearly kill a venge at bottom rune as he was running away the venge was able to make it to high ground.(direside) now my "student" DECIDED to chase onto high ground. whn he did he got stunned by venge and killed by the rotating mid (queens of pain)"

NOW PAUSE.

calming my self down before talking a politely asked him why he DECIDED to chase the venge. Something along the lines of

"WHAT THE **** WHY THE **** WOULD YOU I CANT EVEN HOW WHY ARE YOU ******ED"

^ see polite as always.

anyway i asked him to run through his thought process in that time and this is his response.

1. i only needed one more hit to kill.
2. i didnt think QoP would come.
3. i just needed high ground to see him.
4. my shrapnel was nearly off cooldown.
5. i could have got the kill
and my favourite.
6. why didnt my mid come help?

so i then proceeded to tell him what my thought process would have been.

1. no vision
2. close to their mid.
3. high ground no vision and miss chance.
4. she hasn't used stun yet and has the mana for it.
5. ive just nearly killed a support forcing her to run back to base (win)
6. where is the mid?
7. i dont have shrapnel.
8. im losing farm.

can you see the difference?

he thinks about him and only him what he CAN do, until he decided to transfer responsibility to someone else. i think about everything i CANT do or see.

i CANT get vision i CANT see mid i CANT use shrapnel i CANT i CANT I CANT.

when you start to think about everything OUTSIDE of your own abilities and your own self you can start to more ACCURATELY predict how things will work.

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those three things are core at how to prgress from student to ... someone who doesnt have me raging at them!!! :D


but as with anything progress is slow and teaching is one of the most fulfilling experiences since you can see those you teach become something more then OMG ARE U SERIOUS WHY THE **** ARE YOU DOING THAT? WHAT? THAT IS THE STUPIDEST EXCUSE I HAV EVER HEARD! NO NO WHY HOW .... ARE YOU ******ED NO THATS NOT RIGHT ... DONT MAKE ME GET MY BELT!!!



*ahem*


Enjoy your dota people :D