My Dota Endeavors - Looking for feedback

I'm a Dota beginner, with about 300 matches under my belt. I'm constantly looking to improve myself, as well as have fun playing pub games. I did have this idea that I could post some of my games here, and get feedback on what I did right, what I did wrong, and what I could do better. I'll post links of my games, and if you guys could give me feedback, that would be great. Thanks!


For starters, here is a game that we lost. http://dotabuff.com/matches/708814823

I'm not sure what I could have done better. First, I had to lane 1v2 against Lich/Undying, while Lifestealer farmed a 20 minute treads + magic stick by jungling full time. Mid game, I tried to roam around and get ganks, but we eventually got crushed. If someone can watch the demo and tell me what I could do different, that'd be great.

I cant watch the game right now but from what i see you dont lasthit very much, which is a common mistake when people play riki.
Personally i farm a lot on riki and never really sit behind enemies waiting for my allies to assist me in my gank attempt.

The second thing is that you should have gotten a black king bar.
Sange and yasha does nothing to help you, if i get yasha i perfer to turn it into a manta style becouse of the utility and the chaos that illusions provide, as well as the manaburn from a potential diffusal blade.
But in this game you should have gotten a BKB 100%
Just the shadow shaman warrants the BKB purchase, but there is also a wraith king, a lich with slows and nukes, a strom with massive initiaton range and an undying who amplifies magic damage.

a BKB would have been good as said above. Honestly they had a better draft than your team, better supports and more of them. It would have been hard for you to get kills as they where so tanky, I think either a damage item of some sort or a vlads to make long fights go well for you could have been better.

With the new riki patch you have insane lane control, you should have gotten 2 tangosearly on to take the harass but you can effectively completely deny the farm from them and last hit with Backstab

Honestly your picks where just kinda bad and didn't synergise and I think your magnus judging from items and KDA couldn't RP for ****, At least he had a blink dagger

This is all judging from the dotabuff stats
and yeah that ls sucked a bit

I agree.. BKB was the next item I was planning on building.. But I think you're right.. I should have gone for a BKB before the SnY..

Also, I couldn't last hit comfortably since, like I said, LS decided to jungle full time, and I was 1v2 against Undying and Lich.. I might have done better with a support this game, but I end up with terrible carries when playing pubs, and I have better odds carrying a game with bad supports with a carry than I have carrying a game with bad carries with a support..

having a quick look heres what i think might have helped a bit.

1. i would have not suggested picking a riki. with their lineup and yours, enigma or a lion or even a witch might have been better options. you have an offlaner a mid a jungler and a carry. picking another carry wasnt the best. a early game impact support like jakiro or witch would have wrecked that line up in teamfights and witch has great synergy with your team (thats if they werent idiots)

though that combo is insane

infest magnus >> Blink in >> RP >> Un-infest haha>> Storm Hammer >> Mystic Flare ... lol

2. unless your ganking solo, i would have farmed up a bit in non occupied lanes and as soon as you see someone out of position tp to nearest tower and go for them
(with riki i would scout around solo targets a bit to make sure it isnt a trap)

3. Max Smoke first. its one of the best abilities in the game and you dont "really" need backstab till later when your agility is higher.

4. your item build was nice but bkb is a must and in this game i would have also built an orchid as the 30% damage amplification is insane with your backstab, diff blade and smoke and the attack speed increase is also nice as well as the mana regen.

Smoke>>Purge>>Back Stabs>>orchid>>Blink

orchid would also have shut down lich and ss in the game and made Storm useless.

5. nice k/d/a ratio and nice tower damage seems like you were the only one pushing haha.

i would suggest playing with a mate and going some serious combo's that own. makes everything easier haha.

I might watch the replay later if I've got no one to play with, but for now...


Pretty much this ^

Manta Style is amazing on Riki, but you really need a Black King Bar before that, almost every Hero needs it almost every game, save very few exceptions (I'd never get Black King Bar on a Tidehunter for example, and sometimes, the other Team will play no-Stun-Doto, which is fun if you can Tank what they throw at you 8{D )

Here's another match that I lost: http://dotabuff.com/matches/727666400

Any input on that one?

One thing I should mention is that, I did not build the MoM all game. Only when we teamwiped the enemy in our base, and had our base swarming with mega creeps did I buy the MoM to clear the creep waves fast since our ancient was going down fast.

My item build was Wraith Band --> Power Treads --> Maelstrom --> Black King Bar --> Daedalus

I was hoping to build a Butterfly or a Mjollnir next so I could throw the active on Doom Bringer.

Here is another match that I lost: http://dotabuff.com/matches/744960399

I thought I had a relatively decent time on the battlefury, and was farming OK. However, we let the enemy team snowball. Any thoughts on what I could have done different there?

Could have repicked, they have Bloodseeker, who can silence the **** out of you, and Faceless Void, the hero that outcarries you hard. There is nothing you could have done to stop their rampage unless they were really, really stupid.

Desolater is pretty good on sniper...