Drafting Tips

I'm compiling a bunch of tips on drafting, as I collect them from the 'net.  I'm not an expert myself, but it seems that a lot of the tips online are hidden away in videos or posts.

Checklist:

·  Pushing ability (and with this, counterpushing)

·  Ganking ability (or counter-gank:  escapes, stuns, slows)
- Initiator (preferably tanky)

·  Global presence (if they got Furion and Tinker, this might get annoying)

·  Your ability to get vision and info (BM Hawk, BH Track, Veno Wards, etc.)

·  Reach (spells such as Illuminate, Powershot, heroes such as Storm)

·  SOURCE OF DAMAGE (physical, magical, burst vs attrition ^{damn you Dirge} )

·  TIMING (when does my lineup peak, do I have to end before 35 minutes, will their semi carries kick in before my carry if I don't feed him enough?)

·  Ability to jungle (both while laning and taking down stacked ancients)

·  Ability to Rosh (early with NP/Ursa, with very few heroes, etc.)

·  Presence of invis heroes

·  TEAMFIGHT (will I immediately get rocked if their Mag lands an RP or do we have something like Tide to bail us out?)

·  If you are out of bans, but you CANNOT let them get their hands on a hero, pick him. It's.. like a ban....

·  What are your players comfortable playing?? Try to pick into their strengths and avoid heroes they don't have a firm grap of.

The cliff notes version is generally going to be something like:

• Plan out what kind of line-up you want to run
• Prioritize your team's composition over counter-picks
• Ban out things that will fuck your team composition / your team is bad at dealing with
• Ban out things the other team is missing (e.g. they have QoP and Beastmaster, odds are they won't be getting another solo laner, so ban out supports and carries that synergize with those picks)
• Know what your team is comfortable with (e.g. you can pick an amazing lineup, but if your team doesn't have the coordination, it goes to waste)

I feel like the new teams focus too much on the flavor of the month heroes despite not having any players that excel at those. In lower tier matches you can make anything work as long as you have good teamwork, syngery and feel confident with your heroes.

Next level:  Adapting for Dire vs. Radiant laning.  Dire = easier Rosh, Offlane Ancient stacking, Learning the Pull-throughs, etc.
Tips:

1) Defensive Supports
Good defensive supports include SD, jakiro, KOTL, nyx, and lion, amongst others. Notice the trend of long range spells that can hit multiple heroes. These are useful for keeping your carry safe while also maintaining a safe distance themselves.  You need this for squishy hard carries like Spectre, etc.

2) General rules:

If you run a carry, you wanna have some antipush.
If you run gank, you wanna have some push.
If you jungle, it has different effects depending what hero you jungle.

http://forum.gamesports.net/dota/showthread.php?5101-Wagamama-s-Guide-to-better-dota!


Video of Na'Vi drafting:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oChSU77y-HE

Worst Teams:

Lots of Melee

No ganker

Position 5 player doesn’t ward

No stuns

Not grouping up for teamfights soon enough (or participating in teamfights before core items, or away from towers, or getting suckered in with a Lure)