Dota 2: Guide to mid, why 20/0 still lose as usual?

Here’s a tutorial by xuisoko on Reddit:

Have you ever had a hero you are leading 20/0 but still can’t WIN the game? That’s because you’re hunting the wrong hero targets. This article will guide you how to play mid effectively. Here are a few things I’ve learned:

1. Every game is different. Don’t let others tell you how to gank or push turrets like that if you want to win.
2. Have to adapt to each game and find out how to adapt.
3. I will talk about how to apply pressure and relieve pressure around the map.

You can watch the tutorial youtube video here

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yvZKsgsYCpM

At the beginning of each game, you have to ask yourself the following questions:

1. Which heroes are the enemy’s win conditions? (Let’s put pressure by chasing them)
2. Which enemy heroes can push wave creeps? (Reduce the pressure on the team by handling them)
3. Which heroes can I solo kill?
4. Which heroes on the team can help you kill someone? (extremely hard to gank a lane when the alchemist carry team is still farming at 8 minutes and doesn’t contribute anything. You can only gank in lane if you can solo kill heroes in that lane or with help from support ).

Typical examples:

In the video, I analyzed Supream playing Invoker W/Q and he can almost solo every enemy hero if they are not full HP (60-70%). That means Invoker can kill every hero with help from another teammate.

In such a situation (a very good Invoker or a game where you play sublime) you shouldn’t just run around the map looking for random lives.

Here are typical examples:

• Killing Bane doesn’t make any sense unless you force your opponent to teamfight or immediately get an important objective afterwards. If you kill Bane in the middle of the map, you create almost no pressure on the opponent nor reduce the pressure on your team.
• However, killing Treant Protector takes a lot of pressure off the map, as Treant will push lanes, protect and heal turrets. No matter where you kill Treant, it’s still much more profitable than killing Bane, unless you force the opponent to teamfight afterwards.
• The heroes that push the lane should be the top priority
• At the beginning of the game, gank the opponent’s win conditions. (It’s much easier to kill Medusa at 7-8 minutes when the hero is jungling, rather than killing Medusa at 25 minutes, when farming Ancient, the ward/sentry area and highground near 3 enemy towers).
• When you can’t gank Medusa anymore, focus on heroes that push wave creeps.
• In some games, there is always a thero that can prevent teamfight from happening. Imagine you are a Faceless Void, while the opponent is an OD holding a green cane that can save everyone infected with Chronosphere. Then this is the hero you want to find and deal with first.

What hero are you playing?

If you play a hero that pushes lane very quickly, puts pressure and relieves pressure by pushing waves, then Boots of Travel is a must-have item for heroes like Lina, Leshrac, Invoker.

The moment of the match determines the direction of movement in the map

• Early game: you can chase enemy win condition hero. You can encroach on forests, triangle areas, etc…
• Mid game: you have to apply pressure and relieve pressure by choosing the right objectives explained above.
• Late game: you must always fight away from home.
• Which team lane has the MOST TURES remaining, and the opponent has fewer turrets? That’s the lane you want to fight.

It’s the enemy’s dead lane! Be it a top or a bot. (it doesn’t matter what area of ​​the map the opponent is playing, usually this is the opponent’s safelane, but sometimes vice versa).

If you have T1 and T2 turrets intact in the bot, while the enemy is gone, fight here late game, near the enemy’s house. If you die, you won’t lose much other than T1 or T2 turrets. In the game I analyzed in the video, Radiant wins by doing exactly the above. In addition, if you win the teamfight in such a situation, you will also win the game later.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yvZKsgsYCpM

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