How not to suck at Dota 2’s ability draft

It has been out for a while now, but Dota 2’s ability draft mode is still loads of fun. That is, until your team gets stomped yet again because your teammates threw the game in the ability-choosing phase.

(See: MOBA madness: 5 helpful Dota 2 tips for helping your friends suck less)

The mode has been available for months, giving people plenty of time to discover killer ability combinations. But it seems like the vast majority would rather ignore the good advice floating around the internet. Instead, they continue to make the same mistakes over and over.

A few simple dos and don’ts are all it takes to jump from losing the game for your team, to playing as well as you do in regular games (or better, considering the opponents might be making the same mistakes you used to). How many of these do you already follow?

Don’t just build a right-clicking god every time

This is probably the most frequent mistake I see made both by players who’re new to the mode and those who aren’t, who should know better. It might seem like a great idea to build Wraith King’s Mortal Strike, Sven’s Great Cleave, Huskar’s Berserker’s Blood, and Phantom Assassin’s Coup de Grace—your attacks will be fast, deal splash damage, frequently deal critical damage, and heal you to boot!

Except that anyone with a decent set of abilities can keep you at range, stunned, or otherwise unable to actually land many of those oh-so-deadly auto-attacks of yours. And if you’re caught out of position, surrounded and outnumbered, how exactly do you plan to escape?

(See: The 7 kinds of noobs you will encounter in Dota 2)

Building a good right-clicker can be a smart choice in a well-organised team, but you should not be building this as a default when in solo-queue.

Do pick a more balanced set of abilities

Even if you want to build a powerful auto-attack carry, you’ll need to be able to look after yourself if you’re in solo queue and can’t rely on teammates to cover for your (extensive) weaknesses,. A decent policy is having a way to get in (a stun, a dash or teleport, or whatnot), and a way to get out. These can be the same ability, but only if you’re able to use it twice in quick succession if that sure-kill you were after turns out to be a trap.