TI players are not necessarily the best. They are just the people who got there.

We need more educational DotA 2 content that is standardized, formal, all inclusive, fully detailed, contains all there is when it comes to DotA 2, like the DotA 2 wiki, but in video format, on YouTube. Content that takes players from zero to hero, so that the only thing that is holding people back from winning, climbing MMR, competing professionally, even in TI, is not lack of knowledge, but lack of skill and ability. Simply put, you can then comfortably say, if you don’t make it, you simply don’t have what it takes. Not that knowledge is completely hidden from you, or locked behind financial barriers.

We need content that takes all players from zero to hero, from herald to high immortal. So that, only skill and ability and IQ, shall hold you back from competing with the greats.

I watched pros play their pubs for years in the DotA 2 client. Trying to learn. 

Maybe Quinn is tilted, don’t judge. He is here for practice, not to flex. 

Maybe Yatoro is playing while drunk. Maybe he’s sad. 

I give them excuses, but they are nothing compared to any random smurf I encounter with multiple VAC bans on record and multiple game bans on record in terms of EVERYTHING. 

And then I watch Quinn in TI the last two years, and I think to myself, is this guy top 10, and second place in TI? How come? 

And then the final nail in the coffin. Topson last year, TI 2024, average herald I smurf. Identical in every way. I thought I’d see a literal God in mid IN A GAME HE WON, but, I was embarrassed for him. 

Disappointed humongously, colossally, endlessly, to say the least, in every way. Shocked, at how SLOW, he is. 

Let me explain. Imagine living under extremely harsh conditions in the Navy Seal department of the US military. 

And then looking at tough people who brag about how strong they are like Jeff Nippard or even Andrew Tate who thinks he’s the ultimate alpha male. And then thinking to yourself, is this it? Is this all you can conjure you Saruman? 

And then you laugh at other people worshipping them. 

I am not smurfing. But I have lost count of how many times my “hard noob feeder” teammates have suddenly risen from the dead, rallying around me, PROTECTING me with their lives, in games where the score was 50 – 8 at minute 25 or so, until I showed up. 

I am not here trying to convince you. I’m here asking, is there a way to passively climb MMR like you guys did, without having to go full blown “I’ll kill them, I’ll kill them all.” John Wick, chapter 2, mode?

This is like measuring people’s IQ based upon the size of their bank account. Your MMR does not equal to or even directly correlate with how good you are at the game, necessarily.

People at TI are like my children. I don’t want to stomp on them. I want to help them. 

If I go all in, it’d be something like, master Skywalker, there are too many of them, what are we going to do?

Even in TI my friend. I can go as far as saying, especially in TI. 

I’m asking for help here because YouTube videos are boring coaching sessions that take an hour plus long even though content that is actually educational, even if not new to me, could be summed up, much less explained in full detail, in two minutes.

I asked zquixotix for a series that takes the herald player from zero to hero, from herald to high immortal, but he didn’t respond.

Pain DotA has a good video about that, but he just mentions titles, no full complete training.

And BSJ requires me to be a multi-millionaire to get full training until my skills are complete if you know what I mean. He’s American and his prices are astronomical, and he doesn’t have time for me. I wish I was in Eri Neeman’s place, I would’ve been high immortal long ago.

Please be respectful when responding. You never know who you’re talking to could be in a few years.

Pursuing higher MMR in DotA 2 is worth it. It is not a waste of time or energy.

Gaining MMR is not an addiction, or a bad thing, in the slightest.

It’s the cure.

Failing to gain MMR, however, is the problem. Not having it, or having too little of it, is the problem. Not having high enough MMR, if you really care about DotA at all, is a problem. And it has nothing to do with the quality of your games. You get balanced high quality games in unranked, provided you have maximum behavior score and communication score.

The endless pursuit of it, however, without ever attaining any of it, is what could be considered a total waste of time and energy.

That is, if you’re gaining MMR, you’re on the right track. Keep going. Yes, it’s worth it.

But if you’re spending all your time and energy trying to gain MMR, and failing at it, that’s what’s a total waste of time, energy, and life. Like the pursuit of any goal that is unattainable, as in impossible to attain, ever.

That does not necessarily mean you should think small, settle for less, or lower your standards. That doesn’t mean give up on your dreams and goals, because they’re unattainable, and too hard to get.

But I just wanted to clarify, that if it were possible for you to gain MMR in DotA 2, and you went all in, and you gave it your all, and you gave it all your time and energy, even if for years, that it’ll still be totally and absolutely worth it, and it’s not because it is addictive. It’s because it is worthy of attaining. Worthy of having. It is simply, worth it. It means serotonin. More Serotonin and Dopamine all the time, regardless.

Your placement in the competence and dominance hierarchy affects your serotonin levels.

It is not like chasing pleasure that is fleeting. That is what you get from winning in unranked. It doesn’t last.

But gaining MMR, and staying high MMR, is permanent. Long-term positive effect on your mental health and well-being.

It is like getting promoted in your company, as opposed to getting a raise.

It does not ruin your life. It fixes it.

It has nothing to do with winning. It has nothing to do with addiction. It has nothing to do with empty meaningless pleasure that changes nothing. It means better mental health, and neurological functioning. Especially executive functioning. Psychological well-being, mental well-being, emotional well-being, everything gets fixed.

Simply because it means, you’re better.