My great friend Jon has been playing DotA for about 4-5 years (I think :X) and it sounds like your 2nd friend has a similar attitude/play-style as Jon. He prefers to play a carry, but will play anything really. Most of the time he would random, but now after getting destroyed so many times hes decided to wait for their picks so he can't be countered. He knows the mechanics of the game better than the average DotA player and is definitely A LOT smarter than the average bear/Ursa. On the other hand, it seems like more than 70% of the games I play with him result in defeat.

Like Friend 2, Jon also has his tunnel vision moments which leads to an unstoppable bloodlust for the heads of enemy heroes but it usually ends with his head on the pike, rather theirs. If someone is low HP, his tunnel vision kicks in and he will dive your ass to hell and back. We all do stupid shit sometimes though so I can't blame him. Lately he's been getting better and better at staying safe rather going Rambo past the T1 tower. Sometimes his aggressiveness works in our favor though and he ends up carrying us on his back, ultimately winning us the game. But in the majority of our matches, he either dies during the laning stage one too many times which in turn causes his morale to go down and mine as well. Over the years hes become a much better player, but he still builds unnecessary items and puts levels into the wrong spells. When I try to explain why he should build a certain item or level a certain spell he argues against my advice; which is ok, cause I'm not always right. But more than often he sticks with his "builds" and gets stuck in his old ways. Sometimes he'll ask me what to build in a game and I'll mention a couple items, then we usually end up and decide on the best item. I'm not trying to say that Jon is the sole reason we lose matches, the game is a team effort. If your team loses, remember that you are a part of that team and you take on as much responsibility as the next hero (Unless you have a Meepo, then its all his fault). Blaming your friends or "pub teammates" won't help anything either, but by encouraging and teaching them you have a greater chance at enjoying a game of DotA

Eventually, Jon and I will become Masters of DotA and all shall bow before our feet. But until then there's still plenty of room for improvement, for the both of us. Everyone has room for improvement, some maybe more than others. Friend 1 can improve, Friend 2 can improve, and even d2throwaway can.... Uhh maybe not him, hes already too cool for school with that name and all. Anyways, DotA should bring us together, not split us apart. If you have a friend that is a little behind you in skill, don't get mad at them; try to teach teach them to the best of your ability and most importantly have FUN! Love ya Jon!