EPTWhy Na'Vi.Puppey must trust his teammates.
Abstract:
Dota 2 is a complex game, where endless variables are part of a match result equation. All these variables converge into what it is called a State of Mind, where confidence (at individual and team level), cooperation and teamwork defines the disposition of a team towards the game, and is eventually the most important aspect of the game. In this opinion blog, a long thought idea is developed to reach what this State of Mind means, and examples among professional competitive Dota.
At a first glance, Dota is a simple game. Two teams of five players each, battle strategically to advance and conquer the opponent’s base. Yet, once the game starts at the pick and ban phase, thousands of variables enter the equation that yields the result of the match. A roster of more than a hundred unique heroes, an asymmetric map and players’ skill and experience are just an example. But, at the highest professional and competitive level, what is the key for success?
Throughout Dota’s competitive history, theories have come and go trying to find and explain the key to success: players’ skill and/or experience, preparation and training, strategy and hero drafts. All of them have rotated as answers.
Last month, iG.YYF stated in an interview that Dota is a state of mind game, and the reason they look unbeatable comes from the confidence gained after their victory at Seattle last year. Suddenly, all pieces fit together. The state of mind iG.YYF refers can be derived by not one, but all of the reasons that where stated above. The confidence he talks about coms from the fact that all of iG’s players are highly skilled and experienced. Their strict training regime prepares them to execute at the highest perfection possible, their time spent lets them study the opponent to understand it and create a successful strategy against it. All these factors converge in a confidence in themselves at an individual and team level, yielding a team with great teamwork and cooperation that works as one entity with tremendous concentration. The fact that they can play concentrated in their roles in the team, without worrying if whether your teammates are actually doing their job right, is definitely a strong attribute.
After the first The International at Gamescon Cologne, Germany, Dendi and ArtStyle (then captain of Na’Vi ) gave their thoughts and side of the story after their one million victory against EHOME. Out of what both said, two points should be highlighted: First, once the tournament began, they both knew that odds where heavily stacked in their favor to win. Second, ArtStyle, legendary captain and probably the most innovative in history, gave the reason why he was such a great leader: During his commanding and decisions, he always tried to involve his teammates and hear their thoughts, making sure they felt comfortable. In one of the video interviews in Cologne, he explained how he had to contain all the stress accumulated throughout the tournament to keep his team with confidence. Every error would be his his, and victories belong to themselves and the team, preserving the initial state of mind with which they reached the tournament and allowed them to cruise to victory.
Another example can be extracted from TL.Bulba’s Q&A with Team Liquid’s forum. In one occasion he stressed how bad it is to be taken out of your comfort zone while playing Dota. During his Invoker vs Templar Assassin mid matchup against iG.Ferrari_430 at TI2, the significance of such event and Ferrari’s skill were so overwhelming that he lost focus and freaked out. Such state would eventually lead him to commit several mistakes to lose the mid matchup heavily.
Alliance (NTH) internal issues with EternalEnvy can be studied from a State of Mind perspective. After a few shaky results and strategies post Dreamhack victory, EE himself stated how he started to take rushed in-game decisions, specifically when the team navigated aimlessly during games. His doubts about such decisions eventually spread through the team, undermining teamwork and confidence in leadership that resulted in bad performances. Enter EGM, and the team’s performance, at individual and team level, rises tenfold. Loda stops committing mistakes, Akke’s movement becomes sharper and S4 shows his brilliant skill and execution. Such a change in very short time can’t be explained with the removal and addition of a player by technical standards, but by how releasing EE uncluttered a clogged State of Mind among the time.
Going even further, small and up-and-coming teams exhibit such behavior and strengthen the argument. Just before the QPAD Red Pandas removed Wagamama from the drafting and carry position, Wagamama did one of his worst drafts ever with an ultra-defensive and passive Lich, Void, Nyx safe-lane tri-lane. Such a draft can be easily explained assuming his internal fear against errors coming from reckless plays. Such kind of thought eventually blinded him in the following way:
• Lack of confidence in his farm and carrying ability, makes him pick Void and play it passive.
• Fear on the team’s ability to hold itself during the laning stage results in Lich pick, normally a passive hero with little to no presence in the map.
• Ask Nyx to play passive and protect Void’s farm.
Such decisions in competitive level gameplay would eventually led the QPAD Red Pandas to lose control of the map, and eventually the game.
Last but not least, the greatest example of them all, Na’Vi whose internal conflicts leading to The International 2 where no secret. Lack of focus, complacency and over-confidence all added up for an atrocious start in the groups stage, barely avoiding the losers bracket. A wake up call, practice with Team Zenith during the break days and what could be describe as support from the “Home” crowd saw them resurrect and reach almost perfection in their games. You could see how they were enjoying the game, laughing during picks and bans and celebrating as one. Such behavior is expected when all the pieces of the optimal state of mind are present together.
Now Na’Vi, as a newly reformed team following the dismissal of LightOfHeaven and Smile to alleviate tensions among the team, faces the same problem. Puppey’s dismissal of his teammates thoughts and ideas, to favor what could be describes as old, slow and predictable ideas is making work against his team performance. One could understand this as lack of confidence towards his teammates on executing fresh new ideas that would give them an edge, fearing reckless mistakes. This is a point that almost any team Captain of Dota should have faced, and it is up to them to either follow ArtStyle steps and care for the team, or fall as many others have done it.
