EPT*Preface*
Hello readers, new and old. This will be my very first blog with Team Liquid and I will do my very best to put up at least one per month. Happy holidays to all, this blog will be about one of my New Year's resolutions.
For those of you who don't know me: My name is Brian "FLUFFNSTUFF" Lee and I'm the captain of Team Liquid's newly acquired Dota 2 squad. I'm 20 years old and I mainly play supportive roles. I live in California and I have 6-7 years worth of Dota experience altogether. My blogs are usually just about my thoughts, observations and reflections upon competitive Dota 2. I'll repost all of my older blogs here, so check them out if you'd like.
For my returning readers: Hey guys, I know it's been quite a long time since I've put up a blog. The reason for this is because I took a short leave from the competitive scene to reflect after TI2. I really wanted to reevaluate my goals, hopes, and, more importantly, tend to real life matters that I put off for Dota that year. Thanks for supporting me and my team.
Please Note: The majority of my blogs are written in one sitting with cursory editing methods. The reason for this is because I tend to delete a large portion of the material I write. To counteract that, I try not to dwell on it too much and leave it be. I also use and abuse comma's, sorry in advance :D.
*Passion*
Passion, to me, was that invisible force that drove my every action and intention. It told me to follow my gut, to remain visceral. It told me that an unknown player, with an unknown team could be invited to The International 2. It led me to take a year off from school to pursue my dream. Many sacrifices were made, grief-ridden and regretful (at the time). It led me to write a 42,000 word essay for my team nearly one year ago: its contents littered with goals, aspirations, method and principle. In moments like those, I wore my heart on my sleeve. For a reserved kid like me, that was uniquely unusual.
I think people tend to love the idea of passion, yet they rarely make an effort to actualize anything at all. The idea of passion, to me, is this insatiable sensation that commandeers your thoughts, actions, and belief systems to fanatical levels. However, very recently, I've discovered a different aspect of this spectrum: Practicality.
*Practicality*
Pragmatism is, very much so, tied into the whole concept of passion. I've found that passion breeds a fairly equal ratio of good and bad. The good comes from finding intrinsic motivation to achieve, create, believe and so on. The bad, however, comes in regret, doubt, and pain spurred about through brash actions. You see, passion can be blinding. I suppose in some ways, you need to be a bit off to pursue Dota 2 or any competitive game for that matter. Delusion and passion go hand-in-hand. Many times the case, sometimes not seeing or thinking ahead can get you through doubt and foggy thoughts. Nonetheless, a blind spot should never be left unchecked.
Stay with me, I'll tie this into Dota. What are the blindspots of an ambitious captain? An example of my downfalls as a captain this past year, would include being irrational. I relied very heavily on the idealistic notion that "it would all work out" and that my "gut" would lead me through the chaos.
I'll elaborate: You've seen me play Priestess of the Moon on occassion, yes?
A couple of people asked me this question, "Why did you pick Mirana in the most important tournament of your life, are you stupid?". I'll give you the short answer: yes. What was my answer before? I said, "Because it's fun and I love it".
Truthfully and honestly, the entire concept of running a support PotM was potentially stupid. However, stupid doesn't always mean it's incorrect (I still believe in it). There are certain advantages that I sought out in the hero, specifically unique to trilanes. However, you'll have to take my word for it (I wouldn't want to reveal any strategic details here). The main concept was the ability to create something that could react and thrive in chaos. Part of the reason why I didn't see beyond the horizon was because it worked many times in practice before TI2: I became complacent.
Chaos: the inherent unpredictability in the behavior of a complex natural system
Chaos was my ideal medium for success as a support player. I wholeheartedly believed in being forever unpredictable and fully-capable of reacting to any situation with excellence and precision. In essence, I wanted to disrupt and dismantle the carefully planned tactics of my opponents and strike fast. It's a skill that I've been developing for a long time, yet there was a flaw. I put insane amounts of faith into the reactionary aspect of things. I completely neglected method, application, and execution. I always followed my heart before my head, not only in play, but also in draft.
Though reactionary picks and play will win games, it simply isn't a consistent means for success. Consistency comes with practicality. Practicality assumes that you do what works and precision is the process by which we fine-tune.
*Precision*
A little ambiguous, perhaps? I don't mean to say that following "metagames" and picking accordingly will bring about consistency. Let me make this clear: Anything can work. What I mean to say is that, as a captain, you need to implement method and strategy into everything you do. If you want to pick Warlock, make a strategy and don't just put him in as a filler. Examine all the shortcomings of your lineup, the gaps you need to fill as well as the heroes that need to get banned. Think about the applications: Where and how this strategy will succeed. Practice, practice, practice, practice, practice, practice. Was that an excessive amount of repetition? No, not even close- 'bub'.
I'm no saint either. Though I've done preparation like this in the past (unknowingly) and I do watch a lot of replays, I've arrogantly put my heart first and head second every time. So therein lies the issue: I'm a captain that broodingly feeds off of emotion. The dark truth of it all, is that I almost need to get angry or mad to lead optimally. Subsequently, my voice grow stronger and commands are made more decisively. Just something about it gives me an acute focus and clarity of thought, that I haven't fully mastered in a calm state. My teammates bear with me because at the root of it all, they know that I'm coming from a place other than belligerence. It's just something that needs to be invoked in order to supersede my very mellow nature.
There are many analogies for this in life, storytelling and proverbial sayings. My goal is to put head over heart in this upcoming year and have the ability to find assurance in my forethought. I believe that I can reach the next level and I know how to get there, which gives me a great amount of hope for 2013. So if there's a lesson to be learned here, it's this: Pathos (emotions) cannot overtake Logos (logic), rather we all need to strike a balance.
I may have gone on a tangent there, but the point I was trying to make was that strategy, practice and repetition are the keys to consistency. Often times I would switch focus and strategy depending on mood, even complete randomness. I would try to use too many heroes and I took the focus off of "what I know" and sought "what I feel". However, I'm now realizing the error in my ways. I want to be able to pump my state on demand and feel confident in its method because of the preparation I've put in place. Our team will focus a lot more on execution and practice until it drives us insane.
So for this next year, 2013, I will be focusing on practicing individual strategies instead of trying to utilize too much all at once: Less is more.
*Final Thought*
Many new teams are driven to success through passion, good teams will find success with practicality, and great teams will maintain success with precision.
Follow me on twitter for more updates <a href="http://www.twitter.com/liquidfluff">@LiquidFLUFF</a>
-FLUFF
