EPT*Notes*
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Firstly, I'd like to say that I'm very pleased with the reception my last two blogs received. I honestly hadn't thought more than a couple dozen people would value what I had to say. It's very motivating for me to have people express interest in my blogs. I hope that I can continue with the momentum and provide valuable insight and content.
I'd like to make these blogs much more accessible. I'll provide my twitter, where I'll post each new blog: twitter.com/wkbrianlee
Please do contact me with any inquiries concerning topics that I can address. I'd love to help and answer questions.
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Okay, on to the blog.
I want to reflect, once again, on the ongoing issues competitive and amateur teams face.
The first topic that comes to mind is stability.
Stability seems to be the biggest issue within the DotA scene. Finding capable teammates isn't really an issue. There are plenty of mechanically skilled players out there. It is in my belief that mechanical skill has a cap. At the very least, if not a cap, a threshold.
There are so many other factors that play into creating a successful team. Mechanics are the least of any competitive teams worries. Many teams seem to believe that raw skill and a star-studded roster will produce the greatest results. History has proven, time and time again, that all-star teams very rarely equal results and stability.
There are, of course, exceptions to this theory such as Invictus Gaming. For those of you who aren't as keen on the topic, iG was once two separate teams. Long story short, the club decided to merge their two teams into one. The main issue with the merge was that there were many conflicting roles between the selected members. The second issue was that their roster only had one single established support player. YYF, 430, and Chuan were all amazing mid players. Chuan and 430 were two of the most hyped players at that time, both showcasing intricate and intense micro. However, as we all know, there are only so many core heroes to each lineup. It was Chuan who eventually stepped down to take a supportive role.
The reason why I bring up iG's story is that it segues into my next point. One successful behavior of stable teams is role distribution. In part 1, I briefly describe what the roles are, if you don't know what I'm talking about: http://www.complexitygaming.com/forums/entry.php?b=2021.
Why are roles important and why is it an issue? Roles, in my opinion, are vital to a teams growth. Up until players actively seek competition, they usually forgo playing support.A vast majority of the players out there consider themselves a carry, solo, or ganker. Therein lies a great issue. Players who showcase great amounts of skill through micro intensive heroes often receive praise and recognition. Whilst the support players often find themselves as the pitied "bitches".
So what happens when people prefer to choose carry over support? The disparity between carry players and support players become noticeably great. While you have many great and skilled carries, you have very little impactful and amazing support players.
