This week featured a number of exciting games including this weekend’s conclusion to the RaidCall EMS One tournament, but the game which I found to be most exciting came much earlier in the week between QPAD Red Pandas and Na’Vi. While maybe not the most important game in the grand scheme of things (this wasn’t a final, and the first round of a minor tournament) the game was still very close and undoubtedly well played by both sides.
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Crystal Maiden is the archetypal hard support hero in the game. She gets very little gold, usually lanes with the team’s carry, and the little gold she does have is spent on support items like Sentry Wards or Dust of Appearance. At the same time however, she can set the entire pace of the game during the first 10 minutes.
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Dota 2 is not an easy game to just pick up and play. Even for a seasoned League of Legends player already familiar with the mechanics of how the game is played, there is still a ton of minutiae and information to take in. Introducing new players to the game, what heroes they should play, who they should play with, and how they play, are all topics that as Dota 2 grows in popularity have been on my mind. There are a lot of different opinions out there, but based on my own experiences I disagree and agree with these methods to varying degrees.
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Clockwerk is one of the heroes that I had never experienced playing Warcraft III DotA, and as such had to learn how he played in Dota 2. When I did learn his abilities and role, I thought he would be a hero I would never want to play just because of how difficult his abilities seemed. After having played him however, I can now say that Clockwerk is nowhere near as imposing as I initially thought, and is personally one of the most fun initiators/gankers in the game for me to play.
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This weekend marked the finale of the Star Series tournament, with the Lan finals being played out between undoubtedly two of the best European teams at the moment in NTH and Fnatic. While all of the games played are worth watching, game 1 in particular was interesting as NTH not only opted for the oddly trending Treant Protector, but also for a surprise Ogre Magi, which personally I have only seen picked up seriously in one other game up to now.
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For a certain period of time, Clinkz was viewed as a terrible hero. People saw his low hp and horrible attack animation as making him too weak of a carry and incapable as a ganker. Over time however, people found a way to take advantage of the extreme early damage he can output to make him into a quite capable pick. Currently it is not uncommon at all to see a Clinkz picked up or to see a Clinkz dominate as a team’s primary carry.
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