Master itemization, the key to immortality.

How to turn unwinnable games into easy MMR, in DOTA 2.

You are losing because you build the same items every single game regardless of the situation.

This isn’t a joke. 

You must understand, that every hero has a counter matchup or hero, sometimes as straight forward as antimage counters Medusa, but sometimes as subtle as ancient apparition OBLITERATES poor IO entirely. I literally tell my teammates, kill Ancient Apparition first, and I’ll heal you all better than the fountain. 

He also counters huskar, but that’s a good thing.

And, the point that I’m trying to make here is; every single hero CAN be potentially countered through items. In fact, the entirety of the enemy team can be countered by a single hero, who buys the right items. 

Counter heroes, counter items. 

Itemization, in my opinion, is the hardest thing ever to learn and master in DotA. Literally the hardest to understand. So, I’m not going to spend a ton of time trying to help you with it, when you’re under 6k MMR, unless you’ve mastered everything else first, because mastering everything else combined is still easier, and more doable. ~ BSJ (I’m paraphrasing, he said that a gazillion times before, and he is right about that, but not for me). 

The problem isn’t buying the recommended items on DotA plus assistant, or DotA 2 pro tracker. 

It’s buying the SAME ITEMS EVERY SINGLE GAME REGARDLESS OF THE SITUATION. 

Does that mean I should buy different items every single game just for the love of it to game the system? 

NO. 

Buy items ACCORDING TO WHAT CAN MAKE YOU WIN THIS GAME. And in the right order. 

Ask yourself, what do I need to have, in order to not just die instantly right after I join team fights. How can I make kills. How can I survive and escape. How can I disable the support with escape, and how can I become unkillable if need be. How can I always get the kill. 

To unbalance it. ~ The Oracle 

You don’t have to itemize in a balanced way. Balancing escape, survival, with damage, and tanking. 

You only have to itemize according to what can help you do what you want. 

For example, I blink with Axe and I die instantly, because even if I have BKB, they might overwhelm me with physical damage and I die on my way out. BKB is active, taunt is on cool down, blink dagger is on cool down. 

I might die to hits, unless I have a Silver Edge. (Wind Waker, they are just waiting for you to land). 

That is an example. Not the way forward regardless of the situation. 

I need blade mail on Crystal Maiden, buy it. 

I need BKB on Juggernaut. Why not. 

I need Linken Sphere on PA. I saw a pudge once just walk towards me while my BKB is active, and just ulti me. THE AUDACITY.

Sell battle Fury, buy Linken Sphere instead. BUT THE DAMAGE BRUH? 

You can’t deal damage, if you’re dead..

You cannot change your hero after the picking phase is over, but you can always change your items. 

Do that, and watch your MMR skyrocket in no time.

Why you are losing because of your main heroes.

I’m glad you’re awake, I wanted to show you. 

I don’t have, anyone else.. – Ultron

Everybody has their main heroes. The key is to understand that you will be forced to pick your main heroes when you’re on a losing streak, no matter what. 

Once you understand this, you’ll understand why you must expand your hero pool to the best of your ability. This is key to raising your win rate that works better than anything else you can ever learn. 

You will get tilted, and you will pick your main heroes nonstop until you win. It is inevitable. That is just fact. 

What are you trying to say to me? Are you trying to say to me that I should pick my main heroes only when I’m struggling with winning? 

I’m saying when you’re ready, you won’t have to. 

Make sure the heroes that are your main are strong enough to solo carry the games and win you the unwinnable games. 

My main hero 5 years ago or so was Lina. I will ALWAYS lose late game if I’m a Lina BECAUSE I’m a Lina. 

You will pick your Grandmaster heroes when tilted. EVEN IN TI. Think Quinn on Pangolier or Ame on Juggernaut. 

Make sure your main heroes don’t suck, otherwise you will always be held back by how strong they can be or the height of what they’re capable of when they are at their full potential. 

Make sure your main heroes are strong enough, because you will tilt pick them anyway when you’re losing, even against counters, and if the heroes are bad carries for example, you will always lose because of them, even if you are doing everything right when it comes to the general stuff. No, strong heroes, not weak heroes that are only good when they’re meta. Heroes that will always own. Winter Wyvern, for example, is a helpless squishy support hero. You will never solo carry the game against all odds in unbalanced games regardless of the meta on a hero like Winter Wyvern.

When the hero is good because the hero is meta, that doesn’t mean anything. 

The hero itself has to be strong even at its lowest meta. For example, Mars will always be an OP offlaner. Regardless of the meta. Unless they REMOVE the hero from the game, he will always be something. 

Yes, but if your best heroes are also the strongest of DotA heroes even when nerfed, even against counters, you will have a much higher win rate. As in 70 percent, instead of 51 percent. 

Even if you “know” the hero, your speed and performance on said hero will exponentially increase the closer you get from grandmaster rank on the hero. Make sure your mains are worth it. You will win or lose because of them. 

Make sure your main heroes are strong enough to always be capable of winning unwinnable games, otherwise, you will lose because of them, because you will be compelled to pick them when tilted, desperate, or on a losing streak. 

Why, no matter how much you accomplish in any given day, you still feel it’s not enough, and you’re never going to make it.

You feel like what you’ve accomplished today was still not enough, even if you’ve literally moved mountains today, because the fact remains, you haven’t made it yet to where exactly you want to be in life. You’re still too far away from where you’re heading towards. That’s why you always have the feeling of no matter what I do, I’m still not going to make it. This feeling doesn’t come to you because you really are never going to make it someday no matter what you do, but because you haven’t made it yet. And your mind cannot tell the difference between the two. Am I too far away from my goals and dreams and aspirations? Yes, I am. Have I made massive progress and significant movement forward towards my goals today, regardless? Yes, I did. Do not let that feeling slow you down, or make you stop. You ARE going to make it, one day, I promise. You just need to get started, even if you don’t feel like it, and you just have to keep going, until satisfied.