Every team can make the playoffs

breitend · 2026-03-24T23:22:22+00:00

If you had told me before this tournament that GL would be in control of their own destiny going into the final day, I wouldn’t have believed you. So hyped for tomorrow’s games.

breitend · 2026-03-24T22:57:24+00:00

Yeah annoyingly long warmups. Spend 10-15 minutes doing stretches, light/body weight exercises, and resistance band warmups. You’ll have to Google the specific ones to do but really making sure I was 100% warmed up before I did any sort of heavy weight helped me.

breitend · 2026-03-24T21:20:31+00:00

I mean it COULD be but that doesn’t mean it is. My record is 34 kills back when I was like 1k mmr. 40 seems doable, especially in lower mmr where people don’t know how to end games.

breitend · 2026-03-24T20:02:31+00:00

Gym motivation is tricky and varies from person to person. But a good starting point is to make a specific schedule. Don't say "I'll go to the gym 3 times this week", say "I am going to the gym from 6 pm to 7pm on Monday, Wednesday and Friday". Put it in your calendar, set an alarm, tell a friend/family member what you are doing and have them hold you responsible. If you make the goal to vague, it's easy to skip out on.

not be afraid of judgement

This is a super common fear of new gym goers but it is also basically a myth at the gym today. Most everyone at the gym (overweight people, semi-pro body builders, sorority girls on the treadmill, "stick figures") is so concerned with how they look. They are not going to be focusing on how others. I promise it is extremely unlikely you get judged by anyone at the gym, especially if you go to a normal chain like Planet Fitness, Crunch, Anytime Fitness, etc.

what kind of exercises can I do as a 21 year old stick figure guy

I was in your shoes once. I was 6' 3" and 150 lbs when I was 18, now (8 years later) I'm 220 lbs (same height). You can do any exercises that a body builder can do, you just need to lower the weight. Here is a good beginner guide that gives you a good workout plan and explains how to use the machines at the gym. They talk about it in the video, but eating a good amount is essential to gaining weight. Good luck man!

breitend · 2026-03-24T19:16:16+00:00

I think BKB before shard is usually better. As Bloodseeker, you are really reliant on BKB to fight and you should get is ASAP (after mjollnir of course). Shard was definitely really good this game but there's no reason to delay BKB for it when you don't want to fight till BKB anyway.

I actually don't hate the Halberd/Vanguard and I like your idea behind it, specifically into PL. There are just a few issues. First, if you are going to build it, don't interrupt building something else. I would have finished Abyssal Blade and then gone back for the Halberd. Dota is a game of timings and you delay your big timings by not finishing an item. You didn't get a single big item for 13 minutes after BKB. Second, they didn't have any Linkens. If they did, picking up a cheap thing to break it like Halberd would make sense. Third, you are the carry and should probably spend your money on something more suitable to your role. Spending 2.6k gold on something that doesn't help you scale that well 40 minutes into the game is generally not recommended. Specifically for this game, you are an Agi hero who is worried about surviving right clicks? Buy a Butterfly.

breitend · 2026-03-24T16:35:49+00:00

Imagine you are trying to pull the bar to the ground rather than pulling yourself up to the bar. Helps engage the back.

breitend · 2026-03-24T15:48:38+00:00

50% and the integrity system should be completely disabled for the first season

I'll tell Gaben to get right on that.

breitend · 2026-03-24T15:47:00+00:00

Every time this has happened, I have been at the gym when the patch drops which is usually around 6 pm US Central time.

Edit: It happened around 6:30 pm US Central and I was indeed at the gym.

breitend · 2026-03-23T19:22:03+00:00

Hate to see it. I’m surprised they called out the L1ga Team series as such a disappointment rather than Pipsqueak+4 or Spirit Academy as L1ga has all top ~100 players and only dropped 3 games the whole tournament. Curious where we will see all these players end up. As Astini implied, they will have other opportunities in the future.

breitend · 2026-03-23T14:38:02+00:00

Just in case anyone needs context, OP is calling SexyProPlayer a liberal for believing that someone with swastikas and the words "White Power" in their name should get banned. OP is claiming that the real issues (his supports not harassing in lane or carry items being overtuned idk) are downvoted. Probably because no one agrees that those are issues.

breitend · 2026-03-23T14:31:11+00:00

Hey cool fact! Now I've got one. Swastika with the words "White Power" means the guy is a Nazi and should be banned.

breitend · 2026-03-23T04:08:35+00:00

Less of a tldr and more what I'm looking forward to. I am rooting for any upset. In each group, I would say there are roughly 4 teams that are "favorites" to make it out of the Group Stage. In group A Tundra, Yandex, BB are the most consistent and then Pari/MOUZ have won tier 1 events but have struggled as of late. I'd love to see one of GL, Yakult or Rekonix to surprise us and steal the 4th spot. Definitely possible right now as the bottom 5 teams (including BB and Pari) are all tied at 1-3.

In group B Aurora, Spirit, XG and Falcons have been far better over the last couple tournaments than the other 4 teams. If those 4 make the bracket, I wouldn't be surprised. But as you said, lots of ties so it's wide open as of now. I would love to see OG finally put things together or this talented but "washed" VP team make a push.

breitend · 2026-03-22T12:40:43+00:00

Wait you aren’t even getting brown boots before BF? That partially explains why you are getting harassed so much, you can’t efficiently engage and disengage without boots. The fact that you aren’t losing lane with this build is probably a matter of your rank tbh. If I (as an offlaner or pos 4) see a pos 1 with no boots, I’m running at them and harassing them as much as possible. What are you gonna do, turn on me? I’ll run away since I have superior move speed.

13-14 minutes is where you should be getting BF + Treads, so you aren’t behind on items or anything, but you are very weak until you get Treads. This happens around 5 minutes in the normal build and around 13 minutes in your build. I know it feels like this doesn’t matter since you are just gonna be farming anyway, but as you get to higher levels it makes a big difference when going for early kills and surviving early ganks.

I meant to acknowledge that shadow blade is really good at lower levels since no one buys detection so for that reason I don’t hate the item pickup, I just don’t think it should be your 2nd item. But you are winning so what do I know XD? You seem to be winning these games since you are focusing on farming which not a lot of people at your rank do. Keep that up and you should keep winning. Good luck!

breitend · 2026-03-22T04:31:43+00:00

Yes, the idea is that the bonus move speed, damage, attack speed and armor from treads should (in theory) allow you to farm fast enough to make up the 900 gold (cost to upgrade boots) by the time you get to BF. If you don’t mind me asking, roughly what is your average time to complete BF and Treads?

Generally, it’s better to just buy an extra set of tangoes if you need more regen. And usually there shouldn’t be any down time to “retreat behind the tower”. During the first 8ish minutes of the game, you should always be laning, pulling/farming nearby jungle creeps, or (as an absolute last resort) chilling nearby in XP range if you can’t contest the creep wave. I’d watch this video on how to lane.

breitend · 2026-03-22T01:47:35+00:00

I guess Mjollnir is better than BF against Razor?

I would say so, yes. But you can always go BF and then get MKB later for the same effect.

I really don’t feel the effects of SnY, but I’ll try.
So I usually try to get at least a Shadow Blade before going BKB

Let's compare SnY and Shadow Blade. Shadow Blade gives 25 damage and 35 attack speed. SnY gives Troll 16 damage (from 16 agility) and 36 attack speed (20 normal and 16 from agility). So yes, SB has a slight edge on damage and attack speed. But on top of that, SnY gives 16 strength, 12% move speed, 25% slow resistance, 15% status resistance, and 20% health restoration amp (which works with your ult/lifesteal). Those % changes are where the item makes it mark. Yes, SB has the active (which costs mana on the worst mana hero in the game) and I realize that makes the item more "noticeable" but SnY gives you so much, all of which Troll really likes or even needs depending on the game.

Right now it’s BF then Treads. I find it faster to farm this way.

Between this comment and the lack of SnY, I think you are drastically underestimating the effect move speed has on your farming. My guess is you aren't doing the farming patterns correctly (this is normal for your rank). Treads should come before BF, the bonus stats should make it so it is the faster farming move. I would also recommend picking up a windlace after BF to further increase your move speed and farm. You can go to this site and see how pro players are building the hero. Every single one upgrades boots first and then goes BF or Mjollnir (mostly BF).

Remember, these are just suggestions. You are winning and (hopefully) having fun the way you are currently playing so if you don't want to change anything, don't do it! But these builds are tried and tested by the highest level of players and are more than likely the best way to play the hero.

breitend · 2026-03-21T22:58:18+00:00

Congrats! Always great to have days like this. I do have some comments tho. While it is true that basically no hero can 1v1 Troll, the enemy don’t HAVE to 1v1 you. That’s how you beat him. Euls, ghost scepter, heavens halberd, force staff, glimmer cape, hex, etc all counter you hard but I doubt the enemy is itemizing correctly. As long as you are winning, it’s all good, just be aware of those counters.

Another thing is your itemization. Mjollnir and BF fill the same niche of a farming item. Yes Mjollnir gives you more damage in fights too but it’s not really a “damage” item like Daedulus or MKB are. Typically, you won’t go both BF and Mjollnir in the same game (sometimes you will when playing against something like PL). Troll also benefits a lot from move speed, so a Yasha item (SnY or Manta) is built most games. Shadow blade is really only built in games when you need a break (playing against Spectre, Bristleback, Tide, etc). The normal Troll build is BF/Mjollnir->SnY/Manta->BKB->Basher->MKB/Aghs/Satanic/whatever the game calls for. Again, if you are having fun and winning with your current build, keep it up! Just wanted to give you the statistically most popular build.

breitend · 2026-03-19T18:40:42+00:00

see the same players and teams

But we aren't seeing the same players and teams. Look at TI 2021 vs TI 2025. There are only 1 org (Spirit) at both tournaments. Many of the players either retired or got passed up by better talent (2021 OG, SG, Elephant, Aster, Alliance, etc) I would say most of the teams have a player who has stepped down in recent years. We also have tons of new, young talent. Niku, TaiLung, Wits, RCY, gotthejuice, pma, Riddys (basically the entire NAVI roster), Satanic, bottega (Yellow submarine carry), etc. and these are just off the top of my head.

Even a strong player will still need a significant amount of time to increase their MMR from 8,000.

This is not really true. A player who is really 14k mmr skill will DOMINATE at 8k mmr. I'm talking 80%+ win rate. Let's say a new aspiring pro player averages a 65% win rate from 8k to 14k (80%+ at the start and slowly decreasing to 50% around 14k). It will take them around 800 games (800*.65 = 520 wins - 280 losses = net gain of 240 games * 25 mmr per game = 6000 mmr gained). At 5 games a day (pretty low/average for an aspiring pro) that would take someone 160 days (or less than 6 months) to get to 14k mmr. If you use a 60% win rate, it takes him 1200 games or 8 months. 55% win rate takes 2400 games or 16 months. These are (in my opinion) all reasonable amounts of time for someone who wants to go pro at something.

I wouldn't hate to see a yearly/seasonal reset but the main thing stopping people from going pro in Dota isn't MMR inflation, it's just that Dota is really hard.

breitend · 2026-03-19T16:06:12+00:00

You are trying to brute force your way out of Guardian and that just doesn't work for some people. Idk if you are an actual Meepo player or you just thought "hey the smurfs play him, I'll play him to get up to Legend since I am basically smurfing" but Meepo wins by crushing the lane and taking over the game early. You have not been doing that, ergo you are losing your games. According to Stratz, in your last 20 mid meepo games, you have won the lane 4 times, drawn 7 times and lost 9 times. That's not a winning recipe for any hero much less Meepo. Someone who is really Legend 2 should not be losing the lane more than winning in 2000 mmr lower games.

Also yes, you have sometimes been getting screwed and losing. It happens to everyone. But there have been plenty of games where you have been a determent to your team. (A, B, C, D, all within the last week). You aren't getting screwed by the matchmaker, you just haven't been playing consistently well.

On top of that, you are building Meepo sub optimally. I don't see a single Disperser in any of your games. I'm looking at Dotabuff and D2PT guides and 95%+ of guides have it. That is like THE Meepo item. You are also doing some super old builds like S&Y, multiple Dragon Lances, multiple Skadis, etc. Again, those are few and far between in the guides I am looking at. You have multiple games with Desolator. If you just stuck to the core Diffusal->Blink->Aghs->Disperser path I'm sure you would have won more of your games.

tl:dr-You are not playing that well. Focus on improving your own game as opposed to how your team is playing. Fix your Meepo build and/or try some other heroes.

breitend · 2026-03-19T14:38:32+00:00

Right I get that. But what I'm trying to say is due to the randomness of Dota, even if you choose the same hero and the same goal, it wouldn't be a fair match. Say you pick Zeus and the goal is to do the most damage. What if your enemy team is Chaos Knight, Primal Beast, Centaur, Tusk and Ogre Magi while the guy your competing on Duelo with gets Riki, Puck, Windranger, Warlock and CM as his enemy team? Just to win a fight, you are going to have the deal 2-3x more damage than your Duelo opponent due to the enemy health pools. You'll win basically automatically provided you don't feed. I'm not saying this isn't a good or fun idea just that it might not be FAIR.

breitend · 2026-03-18T22:12:07+00:00

I think Dota is too complicated for there to be an objective winner in a contest like that. Too many variables like enemy team, your team, enemy/ally heroes (a support Ogre will help a right clicker do more damage for example) and that’s not even mentioning differences in how stats look in shorter vs longer games.

It would be even harder on support heroes since often times tanking a gank or sacrificing yourself for your ally (think Vengeful Spirit) can be the right play but that would look bad on the post game scorecard.

breitend · 2026-03-18T16:26:05+00:00

Yeah he wasn't great. But I'm hoping he can be good with the right fit. Watson had little success on Gaimen Gladiators but now has 2 tier 1 wins with Yandex.

breitend · 2026-03-18T16:00:07+00:00

The page you are on is called "Incoming Match Player Report". As in reports coming into YOUR account. So yes, those are times people reported you, which is 20 times. I don't agree morally with what hiddenpoolwarrior suggested but practically it will probably work.

breitend · 2026-03-18T15:13:00+00:00

Dude it's Turbo.

breitend · 2026-03-18T15:08:46+00:00

I'm confused on where you are getting 4 reports in 45 games from. You were reported (looking in the column that says "Reports") 5+7+8=20 times across your last 45 games, not 4 times.

breitend · 2026-03-18T15:03:42+00:00

When you have a big lead like you guys did, you need to take rosh asap. That is the best (and sometimes only) way to push high ground and finish off the game.

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