Year In Review: Our Top Stories of 2017

By eggs on Dec 19, 2017 21:58 UTC

A year of pub tier lists, event coverage, and guides have gone by. We celebrated our five year anniversary of Dotabuff. We endured the post-TI blues until the Dueling Fates update. We've written about how to cope with losing streaks, how to improve your warding, and how to stop last picking jungle heroes in pubs. Here are some of our favorite posts of 2017.

Patch 7.00 And The Magic Damage Ember Spirit

2016 ended with the long anticipated patch 7.00, and it was in the new year, as pro events picked up again, that we started seeing the diversity of new builds with the introduction of Talent trees. Ember Spirit’s magic damage variant was a surprising look in how Talents could pivot a heroes strengths.

Does Windranger Need A Buff?

Windranger had a brief spotlight in the meta in 2016, and though Talents might have given her a needed boost, it still wasn’t enough to bring back a fan favorite hero. Not every hero can be in the meta, but it’s been quite awhile for such a popular hero to be underpowered.

Crystal Maiden: The Queen of Pubs

Image by Zipfinator

Crystal Maiden is one of the most effective supports in Dota, and even more in pubs since she her aura benefits the team just by existing. We went through the base mechanics of the hero, what to build throughout the game, and how Talents have changed the hero.

Playing On Tilt

How do you recover from a loss streak? It seems that as it happens, we’re powerless to change the inevitable down spiral. Our own team is against us, the opponents are stacked, and we’re left exhausted. Sometimes there isn’t much that can be helped, but there are a few things to consider to manage losing in Dota.

Why Is Winter Wyvern Dominating in 5k Pubs?

Five months ago kawaiisocks wrote this post, and it’s still relevant today, as Winter Wyvern rises as one of the top supports in the meta.

An Interview With Aui_2000

Ahead of TI qualifiers, Skim talked to Aui_2000 to talk about team NP, how his views have changed on the support role, and the importance of coaching.

The State Of Chinese Dota

Three years ago, China’s Dota teams had no equal in any other region. They dominated TI4, taking 5 out of the top 8 places of the tournament. In this post leading up to TI7, we look into the history of Chinese teams in Dota, and where it all went wrong.

TI7 Meta Recap

Team Liquid sweeps Newbee in the Grand Finals, and at the same time launching a period of post-TI blues of waiting until the next patch. But before that, there’s a small window to experiment and play the heroes of the tournament, which had its own meta.

Reliving The Biggest Moments of TI7

We covered the hundreds of games throughout TI7, but here are some of our favorite highlights of the event. This also showcased the debut of our clips feature, which showcases highlights from events, teams, matches, and heroes.

Five Years of Dotabuff

We celebrated our five year anniversary of Dotabuff in 2017. Here’s a look in how the site has changed over the years, starting from just a simple homepage driven by search and basic player statistics.

From Pub to Pro: The Timado Story

He started from 3.9k MMR and now he’s here: 16 years old and qualified for TI. We look into his ascent, and how he worked to find his way into Dota’s competitive pro scene.

How To Not Last Pick A Jungle Hero

Image by Sandara

Even with Iron Talon removed, pub players are still trying to wedge every hero into jungle roles. The idea is simple: you can’t lose the lane if you’re not in it. The jungle is peaceful and safe (for the most part). You can eat dinner and grab a beer while playing Dota, if your’e in the jungle. But going auto-pilot in the jungle also comes at a cost.

Dealing With Invisibility

Image by Jigglypuff

This post is a necessary PSA for newcomers to Dota. Even though invisibility is a mechanic that is overwhelming strong in low to mid level pubs, it’s also effective in higher MMR and pro games, where concepts like creating pressure and space on the map come into play.

Dota Concepts For The Casual Viewer

Even watching Dota can be just as overwhelming as playing it. Hundreds of things can happen on the map simultaneously, while casters are riffing off the action like an auctioneer. Here are a few general concepts to get started on parsing the chaos of a Dota game.

Improve Your Warding

There’s more to warding than placing the ones at the start of the game. Warding is its own game within the game, an underground battle between opposing supports trying to outwit the other. We wrote about how to play the clock, hide your movements on the map, and when to exactly ward.

The Importance of Turn Rates

Turn rate is a quirky mechanic to Dota that can be frustrating for gamers of other MOBAs. But some heroes couldn’t exist if this interaction wasn’t part of the game. Melee heroes would be endlessly kited. Earthshaker would be overpowered if he could pull off an instant-180-Fissure. Over time, turn rates have been an essential part of Dota’s game design and maturity.

Fun