EPTBetter late than never, right? I'm always going to force myself to do one blog each month. Remember that everything expressed in these blogs are just my thoughts. Often times they are Dota related and other times not so much.
Feel free to follow and tweet at me @LiquidFLUFF. I make an effort to interact with everyone and, of course, you'll be the first to know when I put up a new blog. Everyone's support is greatly appreciated, so thank you.
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.
Without further ado, here are the things that I intend to elaborate on in this blog:
A. Nerd-chills
B. Stagnant Growth and Perspective
C. Losing
No doubt you've seen the mess of results that my team's been experiencing for the past month or two, since our inception with Liquid. I want to talk a little bit about why losing is important and how perspective contributes to growth.
A. Nerd-chills
Yes, I went there. Nerd-chills are something that each and every one of us should unapologetically be able to talk about. It's one of those feelings that are so pivotal, yet so seemingly lame at the same time.
What is the significance to me? Whenever I lose my drive or lose sight of my vision, I watch the videos that remind me of why I will continue to sacrifice to reach my goals. Revisiting videos from The International fuels and reinforces a lot of the positive emotions that I've always had.
The way that the audience's booming energy collectively surged throughout every crevice in the room was unforgettable. Not only from a players perspective, atop the grandest stage in Dota's history, but that of a spectator's as well. Everything and everyone felt completely intertwined. There's no way to describe how amazing it feels to close my eyes and listen to the uproars. It leaves me feeling rejuvenated and hungry for so much more.
B. Stagnant Growth and Perspective
Our recent performances have been lackluster to say the least. We've been having a tough time calibrating our strengths and weaknesses with this roster. With little practice in the month of December, due to holidays, we kept charging into matches without a plan. As far as I'm concerned, action without intent is the recipe for stagnant growth. Though, I'm not too worried because the potential of our team is really high. I can only see good things happening, as we practice more. In fact we've finally been putting in a lot of hours together and I'm really pleased with the direction we've taken, as of late.
I'll be the first one to assume responsibility as the captain. There was even one point this month in which I had TC take over drafts over the course of a week.This is another tool that I've used on several occasions, with the understanding that it'd be temporary (coL). When things are not working, the pressures mount and, very rapidly, doubt consumes the leader. It's important to take a step back instead of banging one's head against a wall.
*Tangent on Banging your head against a wall*
+ Show Spoiler +
A lot of the time it becomes hard to identify exactly what you need to do to improve at a competitive level. My initial reaction to stagnation is to try and reflect on matches and stare at the hero pool. It hardly ever works and just frustrates me. As if to beckon to the universe and yell, "give me ideas dammit!". Rather unrealistic, don't you agree?
I've found that the cliche (paraphrased) "You'll find what you're looking for when you least expect it" to be very true. I don't know how many hundreds of hours I've spent looking at replays. Hoping to find something to special, a spark for motivation. All the same, I've spent so much time glaring at every hero in the hero tab repeatedly to no avail.
All my best ideas are brought about when I clear my mind and become present. Whether it be through unconsciously drafting a cool new lineup and playing it without any expectations or after exercising, most of the time my best ideas come to me when I'm not actively looking for any answers. From there I feel it's best to identify what works and what doesn't, then take all factors into account to create a strategy.
I've found that the cliche (paraphrased) "You'll find what you're looking for when you least expect it" to be very true. I don't know how many hundreds of hours I've spent looking at replays. Hoping to find something to special, a spark for motivation. All the same, I've spent so much time glaring at every hero in the hero tab repeatedly to no avail.
All my best ideas are brought about when I clear my mind and become present. Whether it be through unconsciously drafting a cool new lineup and playing it without any expectations or after exercising, most of the time my best ideas come to me when I'm not actively looking for any answers. From there I feel it's best to identify what works and what doesn't, then take all factors into account to create a strategy.
What this technique allows me to do, is to take in a different perspective: that of a player and not a captain. I must admit, it's quite nice to take no responsibility whatsoever with the drafts. I can go eat cereal, tab out and browse the internet; It is always so relaxing! However, I'm not one to sit back.
Everyone's experience with this might be different, but mine's always been very similar. Immediately I notice myself feeling relaxed and almost absolved from defeat. Though we lose here and there, I don't necessarily take it to heart or mull over it. Part of the reason, I suppose, is because I don't take responsibility. Instead, I fixate on regaining my own ideals as to how the game should be played. Sometimes as short as several games or as long as a week with someone else's draft, I quickly regain confidence and feel driven to lead with renewed intensity. A lot of my doubts disperse and with a bird's eye view, I'm able to identify what exactly we need to focus on to improve.
I imagine that this might come off as arrogant, but I always realize that it's up to me. I realize that I'm the leader for a reason and that no one else can do what I do for my team. There's a reason why my four teammates and Team Liquid would put their trust in me. If you're a captain like me, I totally empathize with you. If you're a leader, it's probably because you stepped up or people believed in you. Just own up to it and assume all the responsibilities, hopefully you can learn from my experiences as well.
C. Losing
In the past losing used to be a really huge deal. I used to endure soul-crushing pain with each and every loss. Literally each game, be it scrim or official match, pressed on me. Back then, I thought that I was supposed to ruminate over the losses and feel miserable while doing it.
If I had to give advice to the old me, it would be: It's okay to lose. Not only is it okay to lose, but you need to lose. I'd say that the universe gives you what you need, not necessarily what you want and you're being silly. Losing is important because it keeps you from getting complacent. It'll break you down and build you back up stronger.
So what about now? What about the last couple of weeks? I'll be honest, yes I didn't want to lose, but I didn't let it affect me negatively. Interestingly enough, I actually experienced more negative emotion when we won without merit. By that, I mean when our opponents would make significant mistakes or if we didn't execute properly.
I noticed that after several losses in a row, I was learning more and more. I felt a little guilty that I wasn't feeling badly. Rather, I felt inspired with every loss. I noticed many different things that I never would've thought about, had we won them all without resistance.
A few Lessons I learned:
1. Execution is the more important than hero picks. Assigning your teammates specific actions within teamfights is key. Two really basic examples would be saying, "Venge, stand out of the fight until Enigma black holes and then swap him" or "When you Panda split, cyclone Lone Druid's Bear". Knowing what to do and how to do it is very important.
Another aspect of execution involves timings, such as ganking lanes during night time (6 mins) because of the reduced sight range. Accordingly, your supports should ward up vulnerable lanes in preparation, as well as carrying a teleport scroll.
2. A lot of the time the initiating team gains advantage first.
3. Going out of your way to put a thorn in the enemy team's strategy goes a long way. Teams often have strategies that fit their playstyles, such as turtling for a hard carry like PL or getting quick levels on a Wisp to abuse his ultimate. Pushing teams outside of their comfort zones by placing pressure on their key heroes will disrupt the flow of their strategy in your favor.
4. You have to identify your opponents strategy and make sure it doesn't counter yours. For example, a team with KotL and Tinker will make it VERY difficult for your team to push. So even if you have an awesome pushing lineup, you're putting yourself at an inherent disadvantage because they can hold you off while farming the other lanes.
The thing is that I've been through rough patches before and I realize that our team's potential is nowhere near met. Our goal, first and foremost is TI3. There is no doubt in my mind that we'll grow exponentially in the coming months. Our team is in it for the long-haul and a couple losses aren't going to break our spirits.
Shoutouts
Special shoutout to Bumblebee for being an outstanding manager.
Shoutout to Media Manager Rosy(Grape) and Shoutout to 4 Asians +1, TI3 LAN team:
![[image loading]](http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8463/8405481299_5ea6265564.jpg)
Left to right: Luminous, Me, Purge, Blitz, and Eosin.
Thank you to our fans for your support. I'd also like to thank our sponsors Twitch, Shinythings, Razer and Barracuda Networks.
Again, Follow me on Twitter @LiquidFLUFF
-FLUFF
