Just FYI, this blog is gonna jump around all areas of Dota probably, I'll try to post relatively frequently.

I can't remember the last time I bought a Daedalus.

I've played all the common carriers, Drow Ranger, Medusa, Troll, a few others--but I never feel that I want to invest in the item. But why?

Well, The famous crit stick offers one thing: An attack damage increase through base attack damage and critical hits. It does this really well and you can melt people with it, but what if.

what if the enemy core suddenly grabs evasion and I need MKB, what if the enemy gets a few damage items and I suddenly need to be tankier or get evasion, what if the enemy gets BKBs and I need an Abyssal or Skadi to keep them off of me?

I end up never getting a Daedalus because it only gives me one dimension of usefulness. Eye of Skadi gives me stats, damage, and a slow-- Skull Basher gives me damage and a disable--MKB gives me true strike-- Butterfly gives me damage, attack speed, and evasion. …
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For several years I was completely immersed in following college and professional sports. I could tell you stats, names, schedules, and trades for year after year.

But then all of the sudden I was immune to it. I only saw it as this continual cycle of wins, losses, trades, and scandals(by no means am I bashing the following of sports, just sharing my experience with it). I couldn't get an interest going in it, so my attention gradually shifted toward games--eventually leading to DotA.

Since grabbing my attention, dota has held it firmly. But why?

Balance Patches.

These amazing things allow us to play vastly different games than those of the previous patch were, and the next patch will cause things to be just as different. Sure those strategies can rollover a bit and still be effective, but here's to hoping TI5 will be waaaay better that its predecessor. And if it is, we will have balance patches to thank for it.

Every game of dota even within a patch is markedly different, but a b…
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