Hey Guys!

It's been awhile since I've blogged, but I kept getting tilted from the AHC, so I decided to learn other heroes and figure out what my play style was rather than trying to fit a circle peg into a square hole.

I found out I like Morana more than Sniper, but I don't think I've figured out how to properly play her. My tendency to go support has made me a very defensive player and I have gotten yelled at on more than one time for using her ult for defense. Now... I'm not a coward, but when it's four on two and my partner isn't smart enough to fall back, that's the time I see fit to pop the ult so we can both retreat for a better opportunity. *shrug* I think I'll watch some pro matches on her. One friend introduced me to the concept of Roaming Support and I'm still trying to wrap my head around how to perform that properly.

I also realized that, while I had a couple of damage dealers on my roster, the tankiest person I knew how to play outside of the cursed Ursa was Viper. I wasn't too keen on melee characters, so I was leaning with Tide at first, but then I was introduced to Ogre Magi. Oh God, I love this guy! Stuns, can make tower harassment worse during lane, an AOE, and he's a freaking brick wall. I might main him over my dear Lich because I find that I picked him up just as quickly.

I'm learning the art of positioning with Ogre much better than Ursa. I'm still a little uneasy with the blink dagger. I keep thinking that there's a single target out by their lonesome, but it's rare that I make the gank. I either attack foes that I don't realize are tankier than I am and end up owned, or I teleport right into a 3-4 man gank... X_x How do you know that something isn't a bait, or should I invest into items that deal more damage?

I also was recently introduced to a strategy that I hadn't run into at my level of play before... camp stacking and pulling. I know it's supposed to deny the enemy exp, but I'm still trying to get the hang of WHEN to do it because I tend to really muck up the equilibrium when I attempt this. Is it just a safe lane thing or can this be done on off lane? I know stacking can be done anywhere there's a camp at the right time, but the pulling part. Meh. I know mastering this will make me a better support, but I only recently understood the importance of the night and day cycles. I'm still learning the art of knowing the clock. I'm starting to watch it for Bounty Runes, so it's a small start.

I'm also starting to learn how to determine if we're going to win a match or not. There's both psychology, party dynamics, and just how flipping broken the heroes chosen can be. I've learned not to trust a person who randoms. This may change when I'm playing with higher level people, but it's hard to just do random unless you've played Single Draft your entire time on DOTA. Another problem I seem to run across is the arrogance some players have. If you truly have the skills you say you have, then to win the match you would understand that you need to be proactive with younger players. Gaming isn't just about pointing and clicking, it's also about morale and perseverance.

I've done pro wrestling before... talking down to an opponent is part of the job. I never start it, but if someone talks **** to me, I fling it right back. It's counter productive, however, when you do it to your own team. It takes a lot to offend me. Dude, Glados is my announcer for my game. She helps me deal with sarcasm and trolls. While I don't get offended easily, I don't put up with BS on my team like people whining about the other players, or giving up on the match before the ancient is down. Some days they suck it up and keep going. Other days I have a carousel of *******s.

I'm used to *******s, though.

Peace!

Ursula