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Introduction [WARNING: WALL OF CHINA TEXT INCOMING]
Greetings, everyone! I'm Vesper and today I'll be guiding you on how to get the best out of Dota 2's Solo Ranked MMR matchmaking. I finished this guide at May 20, 2017 and by that time it has been made based on my 1500 hours of gameplay in the SEA/Japan servers so I was well aware (and still aware) of the toxicity that our community has. I am confident to say that I've played with all the different "types" of players and I've found ways to deal with them. Anyways, I hope you enjoy this guide and please don't forget to leave a rating and comment what you feel about it :)
P.S. This guide is mostly made up of tips and tricks that boosted my MMR from 1400 to 2900 in just around 3 months. It would surely help a lot though if you have some social skills (unlike me, before).
Before you read this guide, you have to know first if Solo Ranked MMR is what you REALLY want!
PROS:
* Unless you have a dedicated team, this is the best way for you to learn and get better in Dota 2!
* With the proper mindset and strategies, you can easily outplay the majority of players!
* The best mode to play if you're the competitive type of person :D
* If you're serious about Dota 2, then you HAVE to play this :p
* Winning streaks can really boost up your mood since it means that your efforts weren't wasted!
CONS:
* Due to its competitive nature, it brings out the worst in people's personalities
* Toxicity is even worse here than in Normal Matchmaking (as if that wasn't bad enough)
* Leads to more harm than good if you play while tilted (negative emotional state)
* In order to be successful, you need to have a VERY positive mindset and a great amount of understanding for your imperfect teammates.
* Losing streaks can really get you down since MMR is a hard-earned resource.
Wait! Before you press that "Find Match" button...
As a rule of thumb, I always follow this self-made checklist of mine before I press "Find Match". I know it's tempting, (especially if you just lost a game recently) but you have to be ready in both mind and body if you want to maximize your chances of victory!
1. Make sure that you aren't hungry/thirsty/sleepy/drunk! Explanation: If you want your body to fully cooperate with you in-game, then you better satisfy it first.
2. Are you in a good mood? Not tilted in any way? Explanation: Emotions can make or break us. I can assure you that a depressed player can never compete with an inspired one. Negative emotions WILL decrease your skill in-game!
3. No plans anytime soon? Finish your duties in real life first. Explanation: Worrying about all the things going on in-game is already hard enough. Having to constantly worry about real life too will just make things worse!
4. Last but definitely not the least, DONT STRETCH YOURSELF! Explanation: There are times that even after 6 games in a row, you still feel happy but... At this point, I can assure you that you aren't at your maximum potential anymore. Until you can get some rest, your chances of winning will decrease as you keep on playing. And since this is MMR we're talking about here, you might wanna reconsider!
I know this list doesn't have much to do with you being skilled in-game but I promise you that performing a reality check can help you A LOT.
Assuming that you've followed the checklist before finding a match, now it's time to get serious! Make sure to ALWAYS keep these things in mind while playing a Solo Ranked Match:
1. The MMRtrench is just an illusion for incompetent and hopeless players. Don't believe in it! Explanation: If you always strive to learn more and adapt to all kinds of situations, then you'll NEVER EVER be stuck at any MMR level.
2. If you don't suck, then the maximum number of noobs your team can have is 4 while your enemy team has a maximum of 5. Explanation: This means that you'll always have a positive winrate until you decide to stop learning.
3. ALWAYS expect less from your teammates. Don't expect them to be perfect! Explanation: This will remind you to always do your best and to never set your expectations too high. If you wanted good teammates, then you should go and create a team yourself.
4. There's always something new to learn for every game you play Explanation: Assuming that you want to win, then you should always keep up by applying the things you've learned from your previous games. Every Dota match is different from the previous one so you can never expect the EXACT same results as last time.
5. The best players are the ones who can adapt to any situation Explanation: In order to be a good player, you must learn to adapt to all sorts of situations such as supporting as a carry or going for alternate item builds. Never be fixated on just one path and always open up to more (this applies to real life too)!
6. Never give in to your emotions if you want to win Explanation: Don't let other people bring you down. Just focus on doing your best and pray that it's enough for you to win!
7. Be empathetic towards your fellow Dota 2 players! Explanation: Remember that they're human beings JUST LIKE YOU. They make mistakes, feel emotions, and have their own problems so just treat them as you would treat yourself.
8. Lastly, remember that Dota 2 is just a game! Explanation: I think it's worth reminding ourselves that Dota 2 is just a game and is meant to be played for fun. If you aren't having fun, then you shouldn't be playing!
"Tilt" is a term used for players entering a state of frustration and confusion which leads to them going for less optimal strategies, usually resulting in them being over-aggressive.
-Wikipedia
Being tilted is such a common incident that it's been considered a norm not just in Dota 2 but in the whole gaming community. It's seen as a bad thing and well... IT IS! Tilt decreases your skill level drastically which leads to you making bad game decisions that will make you LOSE and TILT even more. It's an endless vicious cycle if you don't stop it!
PREVENTION: You can prevent tilting by constantly reminding yourself and your teammates to do well and to never give up no matter how hopeless it may seem. To convince them even more, always tell them that Dota 2 itself has built-in comeback mechanics and your team can abuse that to win a game that should've been lost!
CURE: While I believe that "Prevention is better than cure", sometimes we or our teammates end up tilted anyways. To deal with this, calm yourself down and remind your whole team that letting emotions control us will only make things worse and ensure our defeat. Remind them of what we're fighting for (our MMR in this case) and pray that this will be enough to convince them to play properly again.
However, this "tilt" problem can also apply to the enemy team! In this case, you should take advantage of their situations to ensure your victory.
"end pls noob sven": When this kind of situation occurs, make it a priority for your team to focus down both the person that complained AND the one they're complaining about. Chances are, they'll give up even more and just end up dragging their own team to defeat!
"my team is full of noobs gg": You're probably winning at this point, so just tell your team to keep the pressure up BUT make sure to prevent getting picked off or else you might lose the advantage. Oh, and make sure to focus on objectives NOT kills!
"sad supp no wards": Good! They just gave you very valuable information! From now on, minimize your team's purchase of sentry wards since dewarding is not needed (unless invis heroes are present in the enemy team ofc). Oh, and take advantage of the trees and high ground since the enemy team would have trouble getting vision on you from there!
"gg i'll feed mid": This can be considered as an easy win for you. But be careful! Make sure the one being fed is not a dummy that can end up throwing the game advantage. From now on, just be alert for enemy heroes that are great at picking off or 1v1 fights such as Slark, Phantom Assassin, and Troll Warlord.
The Bad Types of Players and How to Deal with Them
Let's talk about the "types" of Dota players! After all, knowledge is power and knowing your enemies (or your allies) WILL help you A LOT in increasing your chances of winning. Now, nobody is exactly the same but a lot of people are similar to each other. Anyways, we first start off with:
FOREIGNERS-unable to speak English, speaks a language that you don't understand, and cannot properly communicate to the team (unless the entire team is of the same nationality).
These are not necessarily bad players by heart but they can negatively impact your team because COMMUNICATION IS KEY in a team-based game.
P.S: Totally not implying that most of these foreigners are Russian. Definitely... not..
So how do you deal with them?!
This is why Dota 2 has a built-in communication system called the "Chat Wheel" and "Chat Lines". Dota 2 has made it so that these translate into whatever language these players have. This means that you can still communicate to these foreigners about important things such as these:
* Push Now! * Get Back! * Initiate! * Split up and farm * Group up!
These are just SOME of the important lines for a full list please refer to this link:
SQUEAKERS/****TY OPEN MIC PLAYERS-noisy as hell, rarely uses the mic for IMPORTANT things, 90% chance of them being toxic, can be very distracting, will ruin your mood if not dealt with
Ah... These types of players will piss off your team before the game even starts and as the game progresses if they aren't muted immediately. Squeakers tend to scream like animals whenever anything bad happens to them. ****ty Open Mic Players on the other hand, just make a lot of background noise that is very annoying to hear and will mess up your game. Thankfully, most Dota players know how to use the MUTE button so the negative impact they make is minimal.
So how do you deal with them?!
Since 7.00, Dota 2 has made it so that the mute button for voice and text is separated. THIS IS GOOD! Because that means you can mute their ******* mics but still hear them if they say something important by text. So, just tell your team to mute their mics and if they also happen to be toxic by chat, then tell your team to mute their text chat as well! Easy enough of a solution, am I right? BLAME GAMERS/FEELING PERFECT PLAYERS-blame their team if they lose, always say that they carried their team if they win, the type of guy who says he's stuck at some MMR, have a variety of insults to use against you, criticize you for every single mistake that you make, generally suck at playing Dota 2 themselves, and many more negative traits.
From my experience, these are the most common types of toxic players and can be seen at almost every game. They are far more emotional in ranked than in normal matchmaking and can sometimes be triggered to the point where they just throw the game entirely by feeding the enemy team. The negative impact they can have in your team ranges from minimal to devastating so keep an eye on them.
So how do you deal with them?! PLAN A: First of all, always keep an eye on this guy and make sure to stop any fights that might start between him and your teammates. For example, if he complains that there are no wards and some other guy says that he should just go buy it himself, then either tell your support to buy wards or just suck it up and buy it yourself. For just 65 gold, you can prevent your team from being tilted and stop them from making bad decisions such as throwing the game. I think that's worth the price! Anyways, as much as I hate these types of people, I can't help but feel sorry for them because they're too immature to control their own emotions or take responsibility in their actions.
PLAN B: You can try to tell them what they're doing wrong BUT make sure to also tell them at the same time what they should do instead and why in the kindest way possible. For example, rather than saying "slark stop solo noob quit dota", you should say something like "Slark, please stop going solo or else the enemy might pick you off easily and we will lose our winning advantage". If you are feeling positive enough, then you should go do Plan B because it will greatly help the team as a whole.
WOODEN PC/LAGGING PLAYERS-are most likely tilted if they keep on playing despite connection issues, will be much more passive than normal, are unable to react to situations quickly enough in most cases, will be a heavy burden on the team, complain consistently about high pings and packet losses
Okay, I admit to being one of these players every once in a while. I've been there and it sucks so much especially when MMR is at stake. Their horrible connections will make them less useful than normal depending on what hero they're currently using. If it's someone simple like Wraith King, then they can still somewhat play properly. However, if it's someone like Puck who requires quick thinking, then they'll be almost useless to the team.
So how do you deal with them?! IF MORE THAN 200 PING: Try to convince them to do normal tasks like pushing, warding, and defending the base since they can do these without any issues. Try to avoid full-scale teamfights as your team will be in a 4.5 vs 5 disadvantage. If worse comes to worse though, just try to use them as a "meat shield" to protect your squishy damage-dealers.
IF MORE THAN 500 PING: Consider them as a liability to the team and just play around it. Convince them to ward and serve as initiators by being bait to the enemy team. They can do this by laning solo while you hide behind them and hope that the enemy team falls for it. Remember though, the teamfight will most likely be 4v5 so only do this if you can win despite the odds stacked against you. Another good strategy to use is to splitpush. That way, the team gets more farm and you force the enemy team to split up so that teamfights aren't so hopeless. And since the enemies are split up, you can pick them off quite easily with a few coordinated ganks!
THE DUMMIES/INEXPERIENCED PLAYERS-perform poorly compared to your average teammates, tend to get picked off easily, enable snowballing from the enemy team, rarely communicate with the team, lack knowledge of Dota 2 mechanics such as pulling and stacking
Whether it be luck, account smurfing, or them just having the same mmr as yours, we've all seen these players. Heck, these are the types of players that most people complain about in the Dota 2 community. Most people would complain about how much their team sucks and how they would have higher mmr if it weren't for these types of players. The negative impact they have on your team is usually enough to be a concern and must be dealt with correctly for positive winrates.
So how do you deal with them?!
From my experience, I've realized that while these players obviously suck at Dota 2, most of them are actually willing to learn. This also means that they're more likely to listen to what you have to say. Do your best to guide them and tell them what they're doing wrong, and what they should be doing instead with reasons included. But, make sure you do this in a polite manner or else they might stop listening to you. For example, say something like "Necrophos, please don't use your 2nd skill when you're being ganked by Skywrath Mage. It will only increase the magic damage that you'll take". Of course, not every one of these players are going to listen to you since some of them just play Dota 2 without taking it seriously. In these cases, the best thing you can do is to just capitalize on their mistakes. If you know that they're about to get ganked, then make sure you'll be there to perform a countergank! But, if you know that they'll die to the enemy no matter what, use that time instead to take objectives and push to victory!
THE PESSIMISTS/CRYBABIES-constantly complain about EVERYTHING negative, insult all teammates on a regular basis due to imperfections, the sad players who are stuck on a tilted state, easily give up at the first sign of defeat, harm your team's morale, easily affected by mocking from the enemy team, refuse to cooperate with teammates that aren't "good enough" for them
While losing a game of Dota 2 is normal, it can be frustrating or even devastating at times to most people especially when MMR is lost! This is why these types of players exist and we can't really blame them for it. I mean, who would want to see their efforts in an hour-long game just turn out to be for nothing?! However, it'll only make matters worse for them (and us too!) if they just keep on whining about it. Less talk and more action!
So how do you deal with yourself/them?! IF YOU ARE THIS TYPE OF PLAYER: Let's face it, most of us have been through this and it DOES NOT feel good! But, just like in real life, complaining about our problems like a lil ***** will only make matters worse. So, either you should take a break from Dota 2 for awhile or just suck it up and do better next time! Remember, failure is just another kind of success... the WRONG kind! Oh, and please, give your teammates a break. Haven't they had enough torture from all the other toxic players?
IF IT'S SOME OTHER PERSON: If they start complaining about negative events, tell them what the team should do to prevent said negative events from happening again. For example, if a guy gets picked off, just tell them "Okay, so next time let's just make sure to stay away from unwarded areas." or "Guys, we should play safe if we don't see enemies at the minimap." Chances are, they'd switch their attention from complaining about even more things to avoiding these negative events (which would help the team). But, if they start complaining about the team, just kindly remind them that everybody is trying their best but can still make mistakes like any other human being. This simple reminder will shut them up most of the time since they can't really argue about it.
WELP! THAT WAS A REALLY SHORT LIST, DON'T YA THINK? Hahaha well anyways, while I know more types of players, I personally think these are the only types that are common in Dota 2. If you'd like to see more player types, just tell me in the comments would ya? Thanks!
The Good Types of Players and How to Make them BETTER
Don't worry, this definitely won't be as long as the bad players list... ANYWAYS! Let's talk about the good types of Dota players this time! While they're less common, they do exist and I'm pretty sure you've all met some good players every once in a while!
RESPONSIBLE SUPPORTS/TEAMPLAYERS-are easy to communicate with, are the most cooperative players in a team, have higher potential in making comebacks or securing advantages, may heavily rely on their carry being successful, should be added in your Steam friend list, can become your closest friends when it comes to Dota 2
Let me tell you a short story! Before, I really wasn't much of a sociable guy whenever I played Dota games. I'd just quietly play and communicate ONLY when NEEDED. Until one day, I found this Dota player that was just so kind and understanding that it boosted the whole team's confidence by a lot and helped us greatly in winning the game. This made me realize that I should be more sociable and try to be like "that guy". I wanted to become a leader that inspires his teammates to FIGHT ON and NEVER GIVE UP no matter how grim things may seem. I can say that it's been working very well for me so far! :D
So how do you make them even BETTER?!
By fulfilling their expectations! Since they'll be going for the support role, then you better make sure to choose a core hero that you excel with. Take advantage of the wards that they placed down for you, utilize the space they're making for you to its maximum potential, and do your best to avoid getting killed so that their efforts would be rewarded with that sweet, sweetVICTORY! Another thing to add, try to make it so that your core hero synergizes well with their supports such as the classic " Faceless Void + Witch Doctor" combo.
THE HAPPY/CHEERFUL PLAYERS-are not necessarily pro, great at keeping team morale high, cooperative and easy to communicate with 99% of the time, help cure tilting from fellow teammates, always aim for victory, never give up on winning the match
I love these type of players! They remind you that Dota 2 is a game and is meant to be played for fun and not just for competitive reasons! Sadly, it's rare to actually get one in your team due to the community's toxicity. Once you get one though, it's a blessing sent from the heavens! Tons of fun to play with :)
*Author's note: Can't find a picture of a friendly player sadly haha*
So how do you make them even BETTER?!
Like I said, they're not necessarily great at the game. While they are fun to play with, not all of them are actually good in terms of skill so just refer to *Dealing with Dummies* if needed. Show some respect though as these players are a rare gem in the Dota 2 community. YOUR FRIENDS/CLOSE COMPANIONS-incredibly easy to talk to since they are YOUR FRIENDS, vary greatly in terms of attitude and skill, can have some issues if there's a big skill gap between you and your friends, will prioritize you over some random strangers
Let's not forget that Dota 2 is a multiplayer COOP game so you can actually play with your friends. It's always much more fun to play with people that you know in real life than with just a bunch of random strangers over the internet.
So how do you make them even BETTER?!
Whatever their flaws may be, you can either accept them for who they are or try to help them improve. How you do that is NOT MY BUSINESS!
Anyways, the whole point of this guide is to get you thinking outside of the box for ways to win in Dota 2! It's not all about carrying the whole team on your own OR supporting a core and then praying that they can carry the team later on. Dota 2 is a team-based competitive game and you will NEED your teammates to win the game. Your skill alone might sometimes not be enough to win you the game so that's where your teammates can come in! Do your best to persuade them to fight by your side for the glory of +25 MMR!
Hey everyone!
As of today, June 13 2017, I will be focusing more on my YouTube channel but will still occasionally make guides here on Dotafire! Wish me luck and thank you once again for supporting my guides with constructive criticism (with the exception of DioX). Anyways, for those who are curious, here is my YouTube channel link: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCo-y47zREpyLyDhKvg8_Jzg
BONUSVIDEOSECTION!
Ever wondered why support-main players are rare? This is probably why!
Phantom Assassin with Divine Rapier is <3
4/17/2017: Made guide, finished it up until Wooden PC players section. Will continue tomorrow
4/18/2017: Adding more information as of right now. Guide's only about 20% done :p
4/19/2017: Still awake! Finally got to the second section of the guide. Maybe 30-40% done?
4/19/2017 at 12:30am: Omg I should've used Spoilers so that it doesn't look like a wall of text
4/19/17 at 12:40am: Found bug with {spoiler} treating {/color} as if it was {/spoiler}. Sorry, I guess it'll have to remain as a wall of text
4/19/17 at 6:06pm: I am now officially DONE with this guide! I had to remove some chapters because they would make the guide redundant. Anyways, just tell me in the comments if I've missed something! Thanks for reading and look out for more :D
5/8/17: Added a video for the memes. Hope ya like it! Also made some changes to the guide in general
5/12/17: Added an announcement section that all have links to my future Dota 2 guides! I'm starting to consider this MMR guide as a central hub for all my other guides!
7/22/17: LordVesper has respawned after 2 months! He shall make new guides with his newfound knowledge :3
8/13/17: Updated BONUS VIDEOS because why not
9/2/17: OH MAN! Seeing this guide brings back good memories! Anyways, I heard about the guide contest soooo I suppose I should be making more guides now :)
DOTAFire is the place to find the perfect build guide to take your game to the next level. Learn how to play a new hero, or fine tune your favorite DotA hero’s build and strategy.
Slark, 
Phantom Assassin, and 
Troll Warlord.
Wraith King, then they can still somewhat play properly. However, if it's someone like 
Puck who requires quick thinking, then they'll be almost useless to the team.
Faceless Void + 
Witch Doctor" combo.
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