How to be a happy Dota 2 player

Welcome to the guide

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Welcome to my guide on How to become a happier Dota 2 player!


Dota 2 is known for having a "toxic" community. Lots of people flame and blame each other, even those on the same team. If you are reading this guide, then you are probably one of the many players who get angry easily when playing Dota.

You've probably asked yourself, "How do I not get angry? How do I stop flaming my teammates? How do I play Dota happily?".

Not to worry, because I have written this guide just for you! I wrote this guide because I want to change the way Dota 2 players behave. I want to get rid of the "toxic" environment that we all play in.

This is an effective 5 step guide to help you play Dota with a positive and happy mindset. Hopefully this guide will change your thinking and make you a happier player.

I know this guide may seem quite long and it may look like a huge wall of text, but trust me, it will be a good read. So sit back, relax, and enjoy reading :)

My Story

Before we begin, let me tell you a little bit about myself:

I started playing Dota 2 about 3 years ago. I made the mistake of calibrating my MMR while I was still learning the game, so I ended up calibrating at 1.8K MMR.
At that time, I was an angry Dota 2 player. I couldn't raise my MMR, and I kept blaming my team for that. Every time we were losing, I would start flaming and pinging my teammates. After a hundred games, I was still stuck at 1.8K.

I thought it was all my team's fault. I thought I should be at least 3K MMR. The fact that I was at 1.8K MMR made me very disappointed - not in myself, but in my teammates.

One day, I decided to watch some of my own replays, just to see how "noob" my teammates really were.

It was then that I found out, I was no different from my teammates.
By watching the replay, I realised that I made tons of mistakes, the very same mistakes that my teammates were making. I found out the truth - I was no better than my teammates were.

From then on, I decided to stop flaming and blaming my team and actually work on improving myself as a player. I watched the replays of the matches that I lost and looked at the mistakes I made. Whenever my team was playing badly, I would inform them of their mistakes instead calling them "noob team". I finally saw my MMR start to increase.

After almost a year, I managed to hit 3K MMR. I was very happy with myself. I managed to climb over 1000 MMR, all because I decided to change my attitude towards the game.

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So, I wrote this guide based on my experiences. I used to be an angry player, but I managed to change myself. I rarely find myself getting angry at Dota 2 anymore. I've learned how to stop being angry. Today, I am here to share with you my knowledge and experiences and use them to change your thinking.

Remember, I am just an ordinary player like you. So if I change, then so can you!

So without further ado, let's begin...

Step #1: Stop blaming your teammates

Heard these before eh? But did you say these before?


The first step to becoming a happier Dota 2 player is to stop blaming your team.

We are humans. Whenever we make mistakes, we tend to find fault in others. We tend to blame other people for our own wrongdoings. Why? Because we are too afraid to take responsibility for our own actions. It's human nature.

However, if you want to go far in life, you have to learn to be responsible for your own actions. The same goes for Dota 2 - if you want to improve as a player, you have to take the blame for your own mistakes.

So, how exactly do you "stop blaming your teammates?"

Here are 5 tips to help you stop blaming your team:


Tip #1) Everyone makes mistakes

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The first thing you have to understand is this - we are all humans, which means we all make mistakes. Even professional players make mistakes.

For example, everyone knows that Dendi is one of the best Pudge players, but even he misses hooks sometimes, and believe it or not, he occassionally gets called "noob" by some of his teammates.

So, don't call the Pudge on your team "noob" just because he misses 2 or 3 hooks.
Don't start flaming someone the moment they make a couple of mistakes.



Tip #2) Know your mistakes

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Everyone makes mistakes. That includes YOU.

So let's say your teammate Pudge missed a hook on a Sniper who was standing still. Do you start flaming him and calling him noob?

Pudge missed a hook on a stationary enemy. That was his mistake.

Now, what about your mistakes?

Let's say you are playing as Anti-Mage. You decide to push the enemy tower, even though there are 3 enemy heroes missing on the minimap. As a result, you get ganked by these 3 enemy heroes, and you die.
So, your mistake was pushing the tower even though there were 3 enemy heroes missing.

Pudge's mistake was missing the hook. Your mistake was pushing the tower.

See? We all make our own mistakes! So, even if one of your teammates makes a mistake, you shouldn't start flaming him, because YOU have made your own mistakes as well.



Tip #3) Lower your expectations

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The reason we get angry at other players is because we expect them to play well. We expect them to be able to play as well as us.
Then, once they make a few mistakes, we get angry, because they did not meet our expectations.

So, you have to learn to lower your expectations of other players.

You are playing in a public match with 4 other random strangers on your team. Do you really think all of them will be of the same skill level as you? No, of course not! Some of them may be worse than you, while some of them may even be better than you.

Let's say you really are the best player on your team, and the people on your team are playing badly. So what? This is a pub match, where you meet many random people. Not everyone you meet will be as good as you, so don't expect them to be as good as you.

You are playing public matches with random people. Don't expect them to play the way you want them to.
By lowering your expectations, you will feel less angry if your teammates really do play badly.



Tip #4) Flaming doesn't help

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Let's pretend you are one of those "noob" players on your team. Your teammates flame you and scold you for playing badly. Now, do you honestly think that is going to help you play better?

No, of course not. It will only make you feel worse. It will only make you hate your teammates. And if you hate your teammates, why would you want to play well for them?

You see? Flaming your teammates won't make them play better. It will only make them play worse, which will only make you more angry.

Instead of flaming them, you should inform them of their mistakes, and tell them how they can improve. At least this might help them to play a little better. Or if they choose not to listen to your advice, then at least they won't play worse. Just remember that flaming only makes things worse.

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Another reason why you shouldn't flame is because it draws your focus away from the game.
Instead of focusing on trying to win the game, you are focusing on scolding your teammates and calling them noobs.

Let me give you an example:
You are in the safe lane playing as Phantom Assassin. You start to flame your lane support for playing badly. You type, "noob support never pull never ward steal last hits noob!"

You decide to keep flaming your teammate, and as a result, you miss a lot of last hits, you miss stack timings, you miss the chance to take the bounty rune, you don't realise the enemy Pudge is missing on the minimap, and as a result you get ganked by him and you DIE.

Why did you miss so many things and end up dying? Because you were too busy flaming your teammate!

You see? Flaming draws your focus away from the game.
Getting last hits, looking out for missing enemies, denying, farming the jungle camps, pulling the camps, stacking the camps, destroying enemy towers - these are the things you should be focusing on, NOT flaming your teammates.



Tip #5) Learn to take the blame

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And now we have come to the most important tip - learning how to take the blame for your mistakes.

The best way to stop blaming your teammates, is to start blaming yourself.

Let's go back to the example I gave earlier:
You are playing as Anti-Mage and you decided to push the enemy tower even though 3 enemy heroes were missing on the minimap. As a result, you got ganked and died.

So, the reason you got ganked is because you didn't see the enemies coming.
But you could have seen them coming if there were wards, right?

So, is it your support's fault for not placing wards?

3 enemies were missing on the minimap, yet you still decided to push the enemy tower.
Even without wards, you still shouldn't have pushed the enemy tower.

So it's YOUR fault for pushing the enemy tower, not your support's fault. Remember what I said earlier - Don't expect pub players to play the way you want them to. So don't expect your support to place wards.

Don't blame your support for "not placing wards", blame yourself for not having map awareness.

Here's another example:
You are playing as Sniper in the safe lane. All of a sudden, the enemy mid Queen of Pain comes to gank you, and you die.
You start to blame your mid laner Storm Spirit for not saying "Missing mid".

But is it really Storm Spirit's fault for not reporting missing? Or is it your fault for not paying attention to your minimap?

You should have seen the Queen of Pain missing on the minimap. When Queen of Pain went missing, you should have played more cautiously.

So, don't blame your Storm Spirit for not reporting missing, blame yourself for not having map awareness.

Every time you die, instead of just saying "We need wards" or blaming your team, think about what YOU could have done to avoid dying.

By blaming yourself, you can know your own mistakes, and make sure not to make them again in the future.
Learning to blame yourself will not only make you a happier player, it will also help you become a better player!

So remember - learn to always take the blame.

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So, hopefully now you realise why flaming and blaming your teammates is BAD. The more you flame and blame, the more angry you will become. So, the first step to becoming a happier player is to stop flaming and blaming your team.

You might find it hard at first to stop blaming your team. If you really feel the urge to start flaming and blaming your teammates, just remember the 5 tips.

Step #2: Ignore the haters

If you hate the haters, doesn't that make you the hater? :thinking:


So, you have learned how to stop blaming your teammates.

Now the question is - How do you stop your teammates from blaming you?

The answer is - you can't. There will always be people who flame and blame you for making mistakes. You can't stop your teammates from flaming and blaming you, because you can't control the minds of other people.

But what you CAN do is learn how to ignore them. Learning how to ignore the haters will help you stay focused on the game and not them.

So here are 2 great tips to help you ignore the haters:


Tip #1) Use the mute button

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The mute button is the most powerful tool in Dota 2. Believe me, I'm not even kidding.

If I had to write down the number of times the mute button has helped me, it would be longer than this guide.

The mute button allows you to mute any player you like, anytime you want. Don't like how this Rubick is talking to you? No worries, just mute him and you won't have to listen to him for the rest of the game.
Now that you've muted him, you can focus on winning the game, instead of having to listen to his trash talk, which will only distract you and make you angry.

I always mute players at the first sign of toxic behaviour. Even if their flaming is not directed at me, I will still mute them because no matter who the flaming is directed at, it will distract everyone equally.

Remember, you have the power to mute anybody you want. So, make good use of this power. Mute anyone who you think deserves to be muted. This way, you can keep your focus on the game and not on them.



Tip #2) Stop caring about what they think

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We have all been called "noob" before. I myself have been called "noob" more times than I can count. No matter how good you are at Dota 2, there will always be people who call you "noob" when you make mistakes.

Remember the last time someone called you "noob"? You must have felt angry. You must have thought, "How dare he call me noob! He is the real noob here!"
And then you proceeded to start flaming him back, which only made you more angry.

But, ask yourself this - Is he speaking the truth? Do you believe you are a "noob"?

The reason we get angry at people who talk bad about us is because we care too much about what others think. We are afraid of people judging us. That's human nature.
But if you continue to care what others think about you, you will only feel more and more insecure about yourself. Your self-confidence will only fall.

So, stop caring about what others think of you. This guy calls you a noob, but are you really a noob? No? Then just ignore him. That's just his opinion, it's not actually true. Don't start flaming him back, because it will only make you more angry.
As long as you believe you are not a noob, then you shouldn't care what other people think about you.

Let me share with you a famous quote from one of my favourite TV shows, Game of Thrones:




Every time someone starts to flame me and call me "noob", I will think of this quote. It really is one of my favourite quotes of all time.
The next time someone flames you or calls you noob, just remember this quote. The person flaming you is the "sheep". You are the "lion". You do not concern yourself with his opinions. You just mute him, and continue to enjoy your game.

The sooner you stop caring about what others think of you, the sooner you can become a more confident and happy Dota player.

Step #3: Stop caring so much about your MMR

Everyone has a target MMR, but will you ever truly be happy with your MMR?


Why do we feel so unhappy when we lose a game of Dota?
Especially when we lose a ranked game?

The answer is simple - Because we care too much about our Matchmaking Rating (also known as MMR).

MMR is supposed to be a representation of your skill level. If you have high MMR, people will look up to you, and think of you as a good player.

We all want to be looked up to by others. We all want to be considered "good players".

That is why, when we lose MMR, we get angry (especially at lower MMR levels). Because we are losing the chance to become a "good player".

We don't want people to see us as "bad players". This is why we care so much about our MMR.

But caring about your MMR has turned you into an angry player. You feel angry and frustrated when you lose a ranked match, because you care too much.
That is why, it's time to stop caring so much.

But it seems impossible, doesn't it? You care so much about your MMR, how is it possible for you to just "stop caring"?
Don't worry, it is possible, and I am here to guide you through it.

Here are the 3 great tips to help you stop caring so much about your MMR:


Tip #1) Accept where you belong

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Right now, you have an MMR that you think should be much higher.
You might be a 2K player thinking, "I should be at least 3K! I don't belong in 2K!".

You find it impossible to raise your MMR, even though you think you are better than your current MMR.

If you are finding it impossible to raise your MMR, there is only one simple reason for that - This is your true MMR.
Trust me, I speak from experience.

I know it may seem ridiculous. You may be thinking, "No! How is it possible that I belong in this noob MMR?! I am much better than this MMR! There is no way I belong here!"

But if you really can't seem to raise your MMR no matter how hard you try, then that is the truth - you really do belong in your MMR.

If you still don't believe me, go watch some of your own replays. Watch from your own perspective, then from your teammates/opponents perspectives. You will realise that you are actually no better than your teammates or your opponents.

BUT, that is not neccessarily a bad thing! Let me share with you some statistics to help you feel better:

According to OpenDota.com, 50% of Dota 2 players are below 3K MMR. This means that there are more than 6 million players who are below 3K!
So, if you are a 1K or 2K player, don't be upset! There are millions of other players just like you, and you can always improve yourself to become better!

And if you are 3K MMR or above, that means you are already higher than the world average MMR! So you should feel happy, and continue to improve yourself!

So remember - Accept your MMR where you belong, but don't feel upset about it.
Only by accepting your current MMR will you find ways to improve yourself as a player. Then with a bit of time, you will start to see your MMR increase, and one day, you will finally reach your dream MMR :)



Tip #2) MMR is just a number

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The wise Dendi once said, "MMR is just a number".

And he is absolutely correct.

Your MMR is just an imaginary number on your computer screen.

You might be thinking, "But my MMR shows my skill level! How can it not be important?"

Yes, your MMR shows how good you are. But at what?
It shows how good you are at a video game ON YOUR COMPUTER SCREEN.

Notice how I reinforced the words "on your computer screen"? What does that mean?
It means IT'S JUST A GAME.
Dota 2 is just a video game on your computer. MMR is just an imaginary number that shows how good you are at that video game. So yes, MMR really is just a number.

Think about it. In real life, if you spend too much of your money, you will soon become broke. And if you are broke, you can't pay your bills, you can't buy basic necessities. You can't survive without money.
And if you're a student, then your grades must be important to you. Without good grades, you can't get into your school of choice, which will make you unhappy.

Money and Grades - these are some of the "numbers" in life that you should care about, not some random generated number on your computer screen called "MMR".



Tip #3) Remember you're playing Dota for fun

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If you are reading this guide, then you are most probably not a pro player, and most probably will never become one.

That means you're a casual player, just like me.

So, what's the difference between pro players and casual players?

-Pro players play Dota to earn money, because it is their job.
-Casual players play Dota for FUN.

For example, pretend you are a pro player. You just lost a game in The International, and as a result your team got eliminated from the competition. This means you have just lost millions of dollars. When you lose millions of dollars, obviously you would feel angry and disappointed.

Now, let's come back to yourself. You are just a casual player, playing a public game of Dota 2 in the comfort of your own home. You lost the game, and as a result you lost 25 MMR.
That's it. 25 MMR is the only thing you lost . You didn't lose millions of dollars like the pro players did. You only lost 25 units of an imaginary number on your computer screen.

So, next time you feel angry about losing MMR, ask yourself this - Is it really worth getting angry about losing some fake number on my computer screen?"

Remember, you are playing Dota for fun. Even if you are playing a ranked game, it's still just a game. Games are supposed to make you happy, not angry.



Tip #4) Ignore what others think of your MMR

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One of the main reasons why we care so much about our MMR is because we care about what others think of our MMR.

We are a afraid of being called "1K noobs" or "2K scrubs" by other players. We are afraid of being judged by others, that's why we care so much about our MMR.

But if you want to stop being an angry player, you need to stop caring what others think of your MMR.

Remember the quote I shared with you in Step 2?

"A lion does not concern himself with the opinions of the sheep."

So what if someone thinks you're a "1K noob" or a "2K scrub"? Remember that you are the lion and they are the sheep. You don't care what they think of you. You don't concern yourself with their opinions.

Seriously, just ignore anyone who says "2K scrubs" or "1K noobs" or stuff like that.
These are people who are so insecure about their skill level that they have to mock lower skill players just to feel good about themselves. They don't deserve your attention, so just ignore them.

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So, hopefully this section has helped you to stop caring so much about your MMR.
I know it might be hard at first to stop being angry about losing MMR, but just remember what you've read in this section. With time, you will become less angry, and more happy :)

Step #4: Don't feed the trolls

The trolls are hungry. Let them stay hungry.


Before we start this section, let me just say that this has nothing to do with feeding Troll Warlord.

In Step #2 you learned how to ignore the haters.
Now, we will use what you have learned in Step #2 to deal with something worse than haters - Trolls.

"Trolls" in this case refers to people who try to make you angry by trash talking or by intentionally playing badly.
I'm sure you've met these kind of people before, and I'm sure they've made you angry on at least 1 occassion.

Remember that time when your support Force Staffed you into 4 enemies on purpose?
Remember that time your opponent said "EZ" and laughed at you every time he killed you, just to make you feel bad?

Yes, these are the kind of "trolls" I was talking about. These trolls do these things on purpose. They want to make you angry so that they can laugh at you when you start flaming them.

You can't stop the trolls. But what you CAN do is don't feed the trolls. "Don't feed the trolls" in this case means don't give them what they want.

What they want is to make you angry. So to become a happier Dota 2 player, you have to learn how to deal with trolls.

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So, how do you not feed the trolls?

As I said before in Step #2, use the mute button. The mute button allows you to mute both haters AND trolls. I wasn't kidding when I said it was the most powerful tool in Dota 2.

So, mute anyone who you think will distract you from playing your game. DO NOT start trash talking them back, because you will only be giving them what they want, and it will only make you more angry.

Dealing with trolls who trash talk is easy - you just mute them. But now the question is, how do you deal with trolls who play badly on purpose?

For example, how do you stop your teammate Bane from using Nightmare to kill you on purpose? How do you stop your teammate Pudge from hooking you straight onto a hilltop and getting you stuck there?

Let me share with you a useful tool in Dota 2 that most players are not aware of - the "Disable Ally Help" button.

This function allows you to prevent your allies from using certain abilities and items on you.
For example, when you disable ally help, your teammate Pudge can't hook you, your teammate Outworld Devourer can't use Astral Imprisonment on you, your teammate Earth Spirit can't push you, etc.

This function is useful for preventing trolls from using their abilities to detriment you on purpose. No more getting Force Staffed into the enemy team by your allies!

For those who don't know how to disable ally help, here's how you can do it:

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Trolls and haters are almost the same thing, and the way you deal with them is the same - just find a way to ignore them, and continue to enjoy your game.

So remember, never feed the trolls and haters. Don't let them make you angry. Your anger will only make them happier.

They are bad people who make the community toxic, so don't let them turn you into a toxic player.

Step #5: Don't play too much

Relax, you're never going to be like this guy ... hopefully.


Dota 2 is a fun game, nobody can deny that. No matter how toxic the players get or how long your losing streaks last, you still want to play more Dota 2.

But playing too much Dota 2 is a bad thing, as you probably already know.

You may think that if you want to climb MMR faster, you should play as much as possible, so you can quickly gain that extra 100 MMR.

But in reality, playing too much Dota will have a negative effect on your MMR.
Why is this so? Let me tell you why:

I have some friends who play a LOT of Dota 2. One time, one of them played 10 games in a day, and got 5 wins and 5 losses.
This means that after 10 games, he didn't gain any MMR at all.
As a result, he got angry because 10 games were basically wasted.

The reason why playing too much Dota 2 has a negative effect on your MMR is because Dota 2 is a game that requires you to think a lot.

Timing camp stacks, timing last hits, controlling your hero, observing the minimap, planning your skill build, planning your item build, etc. - all these require you to think. And the more you think, the more tired your brain will become.

So the more games you play, the more tired you and your brain will become. If you play too much, it will get to the point where you can't think properly, your reaction time is slowed down, and as a result you will have a higher chance of losing.

Let me illustrate this with a picture:


After climbing MMR for a while, you can choose to rest for the day, or you can choose to continue climbing.
If you rest for the day, you can regain your energy for the next climb.
If you continue climbing, you will soon get tired, and you will fall back down to where you started.


Personally, I never play more than 3 games in a day. But what you consider "too much" is entirely up to you.

So here are some Ways to prevent yourself from playing too much Dota:

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Take breaks in between games:

Most Dota 2 players right after finishing a game, they just click "Find Match" again, without taking any breaks at all.

In between games, always make sure you take a break.

Go have a snack, drink some water, visit the bathroom, do some stretching (this is especially useful after sitting down for a long period of time), and also find some way to rest your eyes (e.g. going outside for a short walk, or simply just looking outside the window for a short while).

Personally, I recommend taking a break for at least 5 minutes in between games. What you do during these 5 minutes is entirely up to you. Just make sure the things you do will help you to rest both your mind and your eyes.

Taking a break allows you to rest and regain your energy for the next game. This way, you will feel more confident and ready to play. So remember to always take a break in between games.



Set yourself a fixed gaming time:

Try to set yourself a fixed number of hours for gaming every day.

For example, you can give yourself 2 hours at night on weekdays, and maybe 1 or 2 more hours in the afternoon on weekends.

Or you can also set yourself a fixed number of Dota 2 games every day. For example, maybe let yourself play 2 games on weekdays and 3 or 4 games on weekends.

Make sure you don't exceed the time/game limit you set yourself. If you're not confident of keeping to your time limit, you can ask your parents or a friend to tell you to stop when you've reached your time/game limit.



Pick up a hobby:

A hobby will give you something else to do that you're interested in, instead of just playing Dota 2 all day.

A hobby can be anything - photography, drawing, reading, playing the guitar, playing drums, painting, folding origami, and many other things.

It's good to pick up a hobby, so try to find something interesting that you like.

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If you play too much, you will start to lose games, and since you're already tired and frustrated from playing so many games, you will become very angry.
So remember not to play too much Dota 2.

The tips I mentioned in this section are just to help you stop playing too much. At the end of the day, you yourself must decide what you consider "too much".

Anger management tips

Even after reading everything in this guide, you might still feel a little angry when playing Dota 2. But don't worry, here are some ways you can control your anger:

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Remember that it's just a game!

Whenever you start to feel angry, get out of your chair and take a few steps back from your computer.
Now look at your computer screen, and then look around you.

Tell yourself that it's only a game on your little computer screen. It's not real like the things around you. It's so tiny in your computer screen, compared to your real life which is so big around you.

So, a tiny little video game on your little computer screen is nothing to be angry about.

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Do some deep breathing

Slow and deep breathing is very effective for calming your nerves and lowering your heart rate.

When you feel angry, close your eyes and inhale deeply for about 2 seconds, then exhale for about 2 seconds. Repeat this 4 or 5 times and it should help to calm you down.

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Stay positive

Adopt a positive attitude. Always be positive.

For example, when you win a game, don't just say "GG EZ game". Say something more positive like "Good game, well played" or "Well played everyone!".

And if you lose a game, instead of just saying "report my noob team", say more positive things like "Well played and congrats on the win!". The opponents played better than you and your team, so they deserved the victory. So, congratulate them for it, instead of being upset about how badly you and your team played.

Remember, positive behaviour produces positive feelings. So always stay positive, you will be a happier person this way :)

That's all for now folks

Wow, so you actually read this far. This was a REALLY long guide, so give yourself a pat on the shoulder for making it all the way here.

But now you have come to the end of the guide!

Yep, that's it for now. I really hope this guide has helped you, because I spent a long time writing it.

If this guide has helped you, do share it with others! Help others to become a happy player like you are now.
Or if this guide has not helped you, do tell me why. I'll do my best to try and improve it.

The last thing I want to say is this - no matter how many tips or strategies I write into this guide, at the end of the day, it's up to YOU to decide if you want to be a happy player or not.
This guide is just to help you and give you tips, but remember, only YOU have the power to change your own attitude.

So that's all I have to say. Now go start a game of Dota 2 and start being a happy player!

Bye for now!