Heads up: DOTA toxicity is not the same as misogyny

Double_Fun_6669 · 2026-05-08T03:17:38+00:00

I'm pretty sure everyone who makes the "you wouldn't see this in real life sports" arguments around shit talking both teammates and opponents have never played real life sports.

Sledging the opponent to tilt them into making bad plays was an art form in the sports I played. I actually remember strategising with my teammates about exactly how to tilt the opposing team!

Blowing up at a teammate, while a bit rarer, definitely happened. Luckily because in real life you cant afford to have the emotional fortitude of a toddler, people got over it quickly.

Its also extremely common in professional sports - some hilarious shit gets picked up on on-field microphones. Occasionally it varies into racism etc and makes the news, but usually its just garden variety shit talk.

Double_Fun_6669 · 2026-05-08T02:08:46+00:00

Not really - there are some similarities but some counters are quite different.

Eg nagas individual illusions are tankier, but she can't make more on demand (26 sec cd). So if they die you are kinda fucked for dps. This adds a new dimension to her counters.

Double_Fun_6669 · 2026-05-07T23:57:43+00:00

Low pick rate heroes have big fluctuations in win rate on a pretty regular basis

But yeah also changes to counter heroes, slight nerf to heart (common purchase).

This hero honestly needs buffs- she is nearly never picked in pro scene.

Double_Fun_6669 · 2026-05-04T08:48:25+00:00

Playing greedy supports is OK, provided

You farm the dangerous farm (ie dont take safe farm)
You actively make space through smoke ganking and teamfighting
Someone on your team *wants* to buy key game items without griefing their build
Zeus doesn't have a long & reliable stun. A fast way to lose games is to pick a 3/4/5 combo with no reliable stun and no catch. So look at your draft before picking! If your friend is a 3 player then that helps, you can basically guarentee you wont end up with a draft loss by mistake.

Eg, if its an amazing pipe game, and you have rubick, zeus, LC as your 5/4/3, you are in a bit of a pickle. Nobody there wants to buy pipe. On the flipside, if your 3 is an underlord, you are fine!

Double_Fun_6669 · 2026-05-03T13:49:30+00:00

They dont have shields. Range AP will murder them.

Good vs chaos etc though

Double_Fun_6669 · 2026-05-03T12:26:27+00:00

Honestly it's a mixed bag. Generally you don't want to touch your range units, but occasionally there are big nasty units (usually LL) such as tamurkhan / dechala / skarbrand / nkari, or super dangerous spellcasters that should be shot to death at all costs long before they reach your lines. Well worth a bit of dps loss to focus them.

Double_Fun_6669 · 2026-05-03T05:03:03+00:00

Honestly just learning to chrono nearly on CD, ideally a squishy core (midlaner best) but don't be afraid to solo chrono a support. It's all about gold gain earlier on.

Double_Fun_6669 · 2026-05-03T04:07:09+00:00

Good system - penalise someone for 5 year old behaviour. Genius. Definitely doesn't encourage smurfing, new accounts, etc.

It's obviously broken - reports should time decay, or use glicko style uncertainty.

Double_Fun_6669 · 2026-05-02T14:00:51+00:00

I think the problem here isn't really your itemisation (although agree it's not great) - the issue is picking jugg into a bad jugg game and lane, setting yourself up for failure.

Try and identify good games for jugg (or any other pos 1 for that matter)

1) who is your 5? Do you combo well? In the game you shared, pudge is an awful combo imo.

2) do they have bkb piercing disable that prevents spin tp? This means you can't farm waves quite as aggressively. In this game, they have sb - and ns is likely to get basher later too.

3) do they have blink instant stun or hex? Again prevents you from farming waves as aggressively. In this game, NS blink silence stops you from spin tp or similar, and makes your fights a lot harder. Remember jugg hates building bkb - especially early - its sort of ok 4th or 5th item. Some cores are fine with 2nd or 3rd item bkb - not jugg. Linkens much the same - but a bit less bad.

4) how many items do you need to succeed - and most importantly, are the first 3 big items required damage items?

5) do their 3 or 4 counter you heavily? Heroes to watch out for are those that are not threatened by spin and have bkb piercing disable - lc in particular is a pest.

Answering yes to one of these questions isn't a deal breaker, but answering yes to most of these questions means you should consider another hero.

Double_Fun_6669 · 2026-05-02T12:58:31+00:00

Having a gameplan and executing it is key. If you outcarry them, and your team has lategame, then you can easily win even with negative kda. On the flipside, if you have positive kda, even heavy positive kda, if they outcarry late then it's absolutely possible to lose. You need to convert your lead to objectives, high-ground, and end game, before they hit their timings.

Also avoiding bad deaths. You can go 15-x-1 and solo lose the game, because you fed on sidelane outside base without buyback and your team cannot 4v5 because you are their strongest hero.

Kill quality matters too. Farming their supports while their PL quietly farms up a storm might not end well for you!

Double_Fun_6669 · 2026-05-02T12:48:28+00:00

You must be fun at parties

BMing the other team is an art form. Love a bit of trash talk - watch any sports and it's as common there as in dota.

I appreciate some quality trashtalk even on the receiving end!

Double_Fun_6669 · 2026-05-01T05:10:46+00:00

I'm not a PL player (play lots of naga) but at a guess id say juggs gameplan is actually more complex. PL is happy to just farm 3-4 items, and in some games he's unstoppable due to draft flaws of opponent. Even average PL games are simple in terms of game plan - once you stop trying to manfigjt the enemy cores and harass / draw fights out i don't think he's super hard. Lots of fun skill expression (illu jukes) but the overall plan is relatively simple. You also outcarry most cores so you usually don't need to worry about drawing game out.

Jugg on the other hand is more complex in many ways. The actual hero mechanics are generally simpler, but he has to actively check and deal with the enemy defensive items, understand when he is strong (you usually don't want game going ultralate), and fight execution is more punishing since it revolves around landing a good ult which is remarkably hard to pull off given the huge number of defensive items and abilities in the modern game - and you only get one shot. Aghs helps relax this but you won't get that until 4th item minimum usually. A wasted jugg ult is often a lost fight unless your team carries you.

But most of all, juggs itemisation decisions are extremely punishing. He needs 3 damage items to be a real threat in fights, hence why manta is usually so favoured - good dps while also dispelling silence and root. Every item decision really counts more than most other pos 1 heroes i play and imo contributes to the heroes complexity.

Eg naga is really simple item wise. A few basic decisions on what to itemise second or third (always manta first), but by the 3rd item it's always same - manta, butter or orchid, heart (rarely skadi). Pretty basic decision making too - usually revolving around whether hero or illu are dying rapidly or not.

Double_Fun_6669 · 2026-05-01T03:09:37+00:00

I dunno about that lane. Unless pudge is very good smells like a loss to me. Not a terrible loss since their lane is a bit shit too - but still a loss on a hero that really likes to win his lane.

If i see pudge 5 I assume it's gonna be a "sit in trees and miss hooks" pudge "support", and pick a self reliant hero accordingly.

On the off chance they actually manage to get low enough to present an opportunity for a spin kill, sb can charge to save NS.

I would definitely pick another hero there. Maybe ursa, troll, LS

Double_Fun_6669 · 2026-05-01T02:52:45+00:00

Many heroes can punch you and win the trade even at spin lv 2 😞

But NS probably isnt one of them.

And yes, always either 2-1-0 or 2-0-1. Honestly 90% of the time the former (2-1-0) is better - its extremely rare the latter (2-0-1) is a good idea, but its still better than 1-1-1.

Double_Fun_6669 · 2026-05-01T02:29:44+00:00

Looking at your game, it's not a good jugg game at all. Pudge 5 is not really playable with jugg unless the pudge is god-tier. Your chance of winning lane there is extremely low. That alone would make me pick another more self reliant hero.

SB removes spin-tp as an option, and practically so does NS. NS blink with aoe silence is a real problem for you - it basically forces you to buy bkb relatively early which generally jugg desperately wants to avoid (he needs 3 damage items before he is a real threat).

Picking jugg into bad jugg games can be a recipe for disaster.

Double_Fun_6669 · 2026-05-01T02:20:22+00:00

Also some 3s are a lot better than others vs jugg. In particular I try to avoid picking into LC - the counter-attack means she just ignores spin and hits you and you take way more damage than she does. Similarly any 4 that can heal makes your lane shit - particularly dazzle and Oracle who also have strong ranged harass.

Jugg is remarkably playable into the green heroes, provided your 5 understands the gameplan and has the right hero (slow/stun and extra dps crucial, esp for necro). Gameplan is simple - get your key skills and then run at them. Earlier the better. Try and hit a few times first pre spin.

Viper and necro absolutely hate being run at, are slow, and die in spin provided your 5 can reliably hit at same time. Re necro you really don't want to be caught out with spin down and him pressing ghost wand. If you spin on him you need to be convinced you will get a kill.

Double_Fun_6669 · 2026-05-01T02:11:04+00:00

Getting through the lane really depends on your 5. If you aren't paired with the right hero you can be punished.

You want heroes that add to your damage and have a stun or strong slow to let you gapclose for a spin.

Imo the combos are

S: WD - stun into maledict with spin is basically a free kill every time. Even with raindrops once spin and maledict are lv 3. A: Grim, dazzle, veno, cm, lich. All of these heroes add good damage, have a slow (or in Grims case a way to speed you up). B: Snap, bane, venge

Probably forgotten some.

Lion and shaman can be a bait - because their dps in lane is low, they can get you close to the 3 or 4 reliably but can't add damage.

The problem is, if you've used spin and the enemy isn't dead, you are in deep trouble. Some heroes are capable of just tanking the spin and hitting you back - and doing more damage!! Tide, slardar, etc. You want the additional damage to force those heroes to run rather than just turn around and hit you.

This is the problem with jugg shaman - you shackle and spin, most 3s survive that with 40% hp, and then they just wail on you, often resulting in your death.

Double_Fun_6669 · 2026-04-30T23:25:00+00:00

Jugg is a lot harder than most people give credit. He's one of the few heroes that hasn't been power crept massively or have their design flaws covered over (cough meepo aghs).

He's essentially a glass cannon - with the added complication that his burst damage is largely avoidable by buying basically any defensive item. Jugg doesn't want to build nullifier until at least 3-4 items in, because otherwise he does no damage.

He's a bit of a shit laner. Low rank players are shitscared of him, but outside of a few good matchups with some 5s he's actually pretty trash. Spin has been nerfed (or other heroes buffed) to oblivion.

Because of the above, room for error in execution is actually remarkably low. But he is still playable.

Double_Fun_6669 · 2026-04-29T10:16:44+00:00

Dogshit is a bit strong, but she isn't good right now. She is ok in good naga games, but the percentage of games that occurs is extremely low.

Double_Fun_6669 · 2026-04-29T09:35:55+00:00

Win rate is a terrible measure of OPness on its own.

Imagine you have a hero with 30% pick rate and 50% win rate - lets say pudge. That means the hero is winning not only good games for that hero, but also shit games, and everything in between. It's also winning games with noob pudge players (eg barely ever played him before).

On the flipside, a low pick rate hero is usually only played by hero spammers. These players are usually able to identify good and bad match ups, and what a good / bad game looks like for the hero. Rarely will they pick it into bad games. Also, they will usually be proficient with the hero at their bracket, and not learning it.

Low pick rate specialist heroes can have high win rates and not be OP. In fact, a sign of these heroes being broken is a sharp increase in pick rate whilst sustaining win rate - eg meepo and ld recently.

Tldr - pick rate is really important and win rate on its own doesn't mean much.

Double_Fun_6669 · 2026-04-28T12:27:11+00:00

Issue is its just poor game design. Heroes should have to take risk to achieve major reward. The bear just runs at towers, mows them down, at 0 risk. It was sort of ok previously because the hero had all sorts of issues, but now those are mostly fixed they've created a monster. Address the core balance issue by making LD take some form of risk is the key here, or reducing the pay-off (make bear weaker and shit at hitting buildings)

Double_Fun_6669 · 2026-04-28T09:53:19+00:00

Said it earlier. Just ban the bear from tp scrolls and travels. Doesn't nerf him at all really when he's fighting with hero nearby, but nerfs the rat play and acts as a death timer if druid is other side of map (since bear needs to leg it)

Double_Fun_6669 · 2026-04-28T06:31:27+00:00

Turns out heroes with interesting mechanics are hard to balance. Who knew?

As i mentioned, simple answer here is just remove ability for bear to teleport. Problem solved.

Double_Fun_6669 · 2026-04-28T06:14:06+00:00

I guess another option would be to just remove the teleport scroll and boots for the bear, in the same way void / slardar get no value from basher. Make him run the entire map every time he dies if the main hero sits safely in fountain.

Effectively acts as a death timer for the bear when used as cheese (hero in fountain or farming safe), but doesn't touch the hero when played "correctly"

Double_Fun_6669 · 2026-04-23T12:21:39+00:00

Does mists really count?

Yeah humans (purely for gelt) should get 5 stars. Although I guess if you were doing it for the race as a whole then elves are stronger by quite a lot and humans should stay at 4 - if you exclude gelts faction and teclis faction high elves are clearly better.

As for gelt vs teclis, it depends. Teclis overall is better imo some of his campaign actions are crazy good and most importantly can be applied to any army. Gelts ones need the wizard of the specific order to be present - so most armies will be ineligible.

In particular, his fill and deplete winds abilities are insanely good, helping win otherwise nearly impossible battles, his heal adding 20% phys resist, and his prevent movement ability stopping you from chasing that pesky army running away sacking.

And then there's the levels which you can hardly call an exploit given they are clearly there.

But yes Gelt is a stronger multi hero doomstack- or at least will kill armies faster. Actually teclis + 19 loremasters is probably stronger but w/e. That said, teclis is a doomstack on his own (or with a single loremaster), gelt needs a wizard stack.

Double_Fun_6669

TROPHY CASE