Dota 2 Guides

The macrogame doctrine of the Astini in three rules: don't defend the safe lane, play the big jungle theme, and treat the map as if the opponent always has Aegis. With evidence from a series by The International.

All ranks · 7 min read

Defending the tower from its own safe lane feels right and is the gesture that stops the match. What you lose, why TP reacting is bad in 99% of cases, and what to do instead.

All ranks · 5 min read

Taking the opponent's big jungle is worth nothing if the fields haven't formed. The timing criterion, why the total volume of farm is deceiving, and how the Roshan decides which side of the map matters.

Intermediate · 6 min read

The fear of Aegis opponent already produces the right behavior, alone. So the right behavior does not depend on the Aegis. How to use it and why having the Aegis is the most dangerous moment of the match.

All ranks · 6 min read

The smoke doesn't win any fights alone: she only takes five heroes to a place without being seen. How many lanes are pushed, where the group goes, and where the isolated enemy is decide the rest. Measured in 992 smokes from 96 maps of The International 2026.

Intermediate · 14 min read

What the three teams that made it to the end of The International 2026 do with the Smoke of Deceit, and what separates the converts from the exploders. The toughest team in the tournament converted only 22% of attempts, and their carry died in 10% of the windows. Measured in 992 moves from 96 maps.

Advanced · 22 min read

Some heroes go up in smoke to start the fight; others exist so that the fight that goes wrong doesn't cost the match. Measured at 2,628 smokes from 240 maps (the entire The International 2026 plus the Esports World Cup 2026), both roles appear, and one of them is not what the fame says.

Advanced · 13 min read

What 240 maps from The International 2026 and the Esports World Cup say about the decision every 25-minute game puts on the table: you took the T2, now what? In 76% of cases the professional team goes for the T3 next, and wins 92% of those games. Going hero hunting happens in 7% of cases and wins 56%. And forcing TPs with a single hero is not an objective: how many go is what decides.

Intermediate · 12 min read

One of your waves is sitting at their T3 and the wave of the opposite lane is hitting your tower. Someone has to cross the map. In 953 such situations from TI 2026 and the EWC, crossing first decides nothing: the destination decides. The wave owner who follows it to the T3 wins 73%; the one who goes back to defend his own tower, 49%. And the defender who runs to the T3 wins 30%.

Advanced · 8 min read

Vision is not for seeing a hero coming: it is for allowing your team to occupy territory. The placement criterion, the ward that dies for free and the half that no one trains, which is to take away vision.

All ranks · 6 min read

The cost asymmetry that no one explains: the enemy comes walking, you spend TP, time and position. When TP pays, when he destroys your game and what to do instead.

Intermediate · 6 min read

When to take him, how to set it up, and why so many winning teams lose the game right after picking up the Aegis. Roshan decides which half of the map matters.

Intermediate · 6 min read

The climb is where the most game wins are lost. Why the wave decides everything, what the real high ground is, and how to defend without turning the anchored team that can no longer leave.

Intermediate · 6 min read

The difference between split push and not grouping. How to choose the lane, who should go, what the team needs to do in the meantime, and the exact moment to stop.

Intermediate · 6 min read

Wave is the only thing that forces the opponent to show up. What it means to "deal with waves", why walking in five man destroys your own pressure and how to train it in any position.

Intermediate · 6 min read

Resource priority and map responsibility, position by position. No hero lists: what changes is your decision making in each one.

Beginner · 6 min read

What position 1 really delivers to the team, minute by minute: lane, farm cycle in the big jungle, when to stop farming, and why defending your own safe lane destroys your game.

All ranks · 6 min read

How to play position 2 beyond lane dueling: rune control, what a rotation needs to create for real, the mistake of the mid that only farms and map reading from 12 to 30 minutes.

All ranks · 6 min read

Position 3 explained by what it produces, not by what it suffers: surviving the difficult lane, occupying attention, initiating and owning the territory that the team contests.

All ranks · 6 min read

When to rotate, what a rotation has to produce to be worth it, offensive vision, the gate, and why the 4 decides more of the first 15 minutes than any other position.

All ranks · 6 min read

How to play 5 without depending on the scoreboard: what the lane actually delivers, support economy, vision that protects territory, and why dying well is part of the job.

All ranks · 5 min read

What is really disputed in the first ten minutes: control of the creep wave, field pull, use of regeneration and the choice between level and aggression, by position.

Beginner · 6 min read

Item is not an answer to hero, it is bet on the map. The purchase criteria per phase, the hidden cost of the damage item and how to decide between scaling and solving now.

Intermediate · 6 min read

From Herald to Divine: what is the only pattern that, when fixed, unlocks each lane, and why fixing the wrong lane error doesn't change your MMR.

All ranks · 6 min read

The method a coach uses to read a match: where to stop the replay, what four numbers to look at before watching, and how to find out the exact minute your match turned.

All ranks · 6 min read

What to say, when to shut up, and why the match following an angry defeat is the most expensive of your day. Practical, without motivational speech.

All ranks · 6 min read

One mistake at a time, ten games per target, and a weekly replay review. The script we use with the student, what to read and what to measure each week.

All ranks · 6 min read

Both teams' game plan is already written before the match starts. How to spot who has to win early, who wins late, and where your window is.

Intermediate · 5 min read

Juggernaut: the carry that wins by pace, not by item

Why Juggernaut is the easiest carry to play badly with the right item: Blade Fury reading, Healing Ward usage, and the actual Omnislash window, per bracket.

3 min read

Pudge: Why hitting a hook isn't what wins the match

The Pudge is the most picked hero in Brazil and the one who loses the most matches by getting kills. The coach's reading of positioning, Rot and the real cost of each hook.

2 min read

Invoker: the hero whose mechanics are not what is missing

Whoever crashes on the Invoker doesn't crash on combos: it locks on the choice of which of the three schools to play and when the hero is allowed to be on the map.

3 min read

Phantom Assassin: the carry that deceives the player himself

AP is the hero that produces the most beautiful KDA in a losing game. What the crit hides, why the Battle Fury came back, and what is its real window of strength.

3 min read

Lion: the simplest support in the game and the most wasted

Two controllers, a drain and a Finger. The Lion isn't hard to squeeze: it's hard to spend in the right order. Reading the Finger's skill, mana, and target order.

3 min read

Axe: the offlaner who teaches what it is to create space

The Axe doesn't win the lane and doesn't need to: he decides where the game takes place. Reading the Call, the Blink that arrives late and the mistake that costs the midgame.

3 min read

Anti-Mage: the carry who loses the game with a full inventory

Anti-Mage is the hero who farms the most in the game and the one who most often reaches minute 35 without a single tower down. The coach's reading on the clock, map pressure and the right target for Mana Void.

4 min read

Crystal Maiden: not fragile, just in the wrong place

Crystal Maiden is the position 5 that dies the most on the Brazilian server, and almost none of those deaths are the hero's fault. A reading on distance, Frostbite in lane, the pull camp and when the ultimate is worth her life.

4 min read

Sniper: maximum range is not the right range

Sniper wins at low rank and collapses at mid rank for the same reason: the range hides where he is going wrong. A reading on position, Shrapnel as a map tool and what to do when the enemy has someone who can jump on you.

3 min read

Legion Commander: Duel is not the ability, it is the decision

Legion Commander is played as if the game were about stacking Duel damage. That is how she loses: every Duel is a bet placed with the whole team. A reading on the lane, the minute the jungle becomes a trap and when to duel.

4 min read