Positions 1 through 5 - Farming Priority & Laning

Every Dota 2 team line-up can be classified by the priority ranking by which each hero is given some of the available farm (ancients, neutrals, lane creeps) on the map.  These positions also relate to where these heroes get laned, and the roles they play on the team.

Summary:
Position 1 = highest farming priority, safest farm (hard carry)
Position 2 = 2nd highest farming priority (mid lane carry or mid ganker/semi-carry)
Position 3 = third-core or utility hero (solo offlane)
Position 4 = greedy support or utility hero (roamer or tri-lane pulling)
Position 5 = low-item support, "ward bitch" (lane support for position 1)

Safe vs. Offlane:  Definition

The easiest definition of safelane is:  the lane closest to your team's jungle, either at the top (dire) or bottom (radiant) of the map.

Up to patch 6.85, the radiant offlane was considered to be easier than the dire offlane, because you could side-pull the large camp into the lane.  You used to be able to stack the Dire Ancient camp from the Dire Offlane, for later farming with your offlane hero (such as Tidehunter or Beastmaster), later map changes to the Rosh pit and Dire Ancients made this impossible, and much less convenient for Dire.

In patch 6.86, significant map changes were made, moving neutral camps around and changing pull timings, such that dire and radiant offlanes are a bit more balanced (hopefully).

Lane Setups and Positions

The most typical team-based lane setup is A, or sometimes B.
The most typical pub setup is C, but is becoming more common in pro play.
Pro teams have also run D and E ... but it's not very common, and is done in specific circumstances.

A) Safe Tri-Lane, solo mid, solo offlane (1-1-3)

Position 1, 4, and 5 in safelane.  Position 4 may be jungling.
Position 2 in mid
Position 3 solo offlane (usually against enemy tri-lane)

B) Aggro Tri-Lane, solo mid, solo safelane (3-1-1)

Position 1, 4, and 5 in offlane, against enemy safelane tri or dual lane.
Position 2 in mid
Position 3 in safelane, solo against enemy solo offlaner.

C) Dual Offlane, solo Mid, Dual Safe (2-1-2)

Position 1 & 5 in safelane (against enemy solo offlane or dual lane)
Position 2 in mid
Position 3 and 4 in offlane* (against enemy safe tri-lane or dual lane)
*Pro teams may run Doom + Lich in this setup, in the offlane, or some very aggressive laners, such as Tusk + Undying or Spiritbreaker + Bane.

D) Dual mid, Dual Safelane, solo offlane (1-2-2)

Position 1 & 5 in safelane
Position 2 & 4 in mid lane (e.g. Tiny + Io)
Position 3 in offlane


E) Dual Offlane, Dual Mid, Solo Safe (2-2-1)

Positions 3 and 5 in offlane
Positions 2 & 4 in mid lane
Position 1 in safe lane (solo)

If-Then Drafting Tips

More Drafting Articles:

Generic Counter-Pick Heroes
Basic Drafting Tips
List of Hero Synergies for Drafting

If-Then Drafting & Banning Tips:

Healers:

• If you want to draft direct, burst healers (Omni, Dazzle, Undying), ban Ancient Apparition (Ice Blast)
• If you want to run Dazzle, ban Axe and/or Necrophos.  Both heroes make Shallow Grave fairly useless.  Ancient Apparition is also very annoying, as his Ice Blast makes healing useless.

Ban (or Pick) Pugna When:

• You want Sand King (Nether Ward disables Blink Dagger when channeling Epi)
• You want Skywrath Mage or Zeus (Nether Ward counters both quite handily)
• You want Lina or Lion

Armor Reduction:

• If you run armor-reduction strat, ban Omniknight (Guardian Angel counters physical damage)
• Winter Wyvern is also annoying, as Cold Embrace blocks all physical damage.

Ban Silencer when:

• you use initiators with combos (Magnus, Brewmaster, Sand King, Storm Spirit, Puck, etc)

Ban Rubick when:

• you want to run Enigma, Phoenix, Witch Doctor, Bane, Pugna, or anyone with a channeled ult.
• The enemy team needs a disabler or hard support
• You plan to have stronger teamfight than the enemy team

Initiators:

• If you run a squishy carry as a mid hero with no escape, consider banning Vengeful Spirit, Ogre Magi, Rubick, Crystal Maiden, Earthshaker (early ganks) or Batrider (midgame initiation).
• If you run a squishy, ranged right-click hero (Drow, Sniper, Clinkz, Shadowfiend), consider banning Storm Spirit, Batrider, Axe, or Legion Commander
• If you want a squishy carry that relies on escapes (Weaver, Clinkz, Bounty), or is highly dependent on low-cooldown abilities (Storm Spirit, QoP, etc), consider banning Doom (and possibly Silencer).  Skywrath isn't a bad ban in this case, either (long silence).
  

Dual Mids:

You may encounter a dual mid if any of the following occur:

• Io pick (add Tiny, CK, Sven, PA, etc)
• Lich + Hard Carry (Terrorblade, Faceless, etc)
• Two strong semi-carry solo laners picked (e.g. Bristle + Brewmaster)
• The enemy is running a three-core lineup, and none of the heroes are strong mids

Counter-Initiators:

• If you run a burst lineup, ban Vengeful Spirit (Swap) or Dazzle (Shallow Grave). Chen is also very annoying, but not usually ban-worthy.
• If you want Batrider, consider banning Vengeful Spirit (Nether Swap out of Lasso)
• If you are against heroes with good-over-time ultimates (Death Prophet, Brewmaster, Jakiro), consider picking Naga (wait out their ultimates, re-engage).
• If you want to draft a big-teamfight-ultimate team, consider banning Rubick, Silencer or Naga.  Ban Rubick to prevent spell-stealing, Silencer if you rely on combos, and Naga if you rely on abilities with temporary buffs (Primal Split, etc).

Disablers:

• If you are facing heroes that typically go BKB as a core item (Sven, Luna, Gyro), consider picking a BKB-piercing disabler (Bane, Enigma, Beastmaster, Magnus).

Illusion Carries:

• If you want an illusion-based carry (Terrorblade, Naga, CK, PL, etc), consider banning carries with Cleave or multi-target right-click (Luna, Sven, Gyro, Medusa, Dragon Knight).  Alternately, pick your carry last.
• If you want Meepo, consider banning single-target bursty heroes (Lina/Lion/Centaur/Zeus)

Countering Carries:

• If you need to counter a tough melee carry, consider a ranged carry that can "kite" the melee carry:  Viper, Weaver, Drow.  Alternately, go Lifestealer and use that health pool against him.
• If you draft a squishy, farm-dependent hard carry like Spectre, PA, or Terrorblade, ensure that you pick defensive (i.e. not greedy) supports that would do well against an enemy tri-lane.  Ban common enemy tri-lane heroes, or gankers (such as Bounty Hunter or Storm Spirit) if you intend to spend a lot of time jungling.
• If you want Broodmother, ban Earthshaker.  Echo Slam will destroy you unless you are very good at micro'ing your broodlings separately (and away from) your hero.  Alternately, run a non-Broodling build on Broodmother to mess with your opponents.

Picking Stealth Carries (Riki, Bounty, Clinkz)

• If you want Riki or Nyx, DON'T ban Slardar or Bounty Hunter - it's too obvious.  Instead, pick the stealth hero later in your draft (or ban Slardar/Bounty if you get last ban).

Drafting Analysis: Good Draft, Stupid Lanes

Foreword

I didn't draft this game, but I was watching it.  I thought "yeah, that's a decent draft", and then the guy totally messed up the lanes. Thus, I thought it would be a good example to explain why the lanes wouldn't (likely) work, even though the draft itself is fine.

The Draft:

http://dota2draft.the-cluster.org/show?fp=d&pick=S1Zk0zb1Y2Zy1ZY4t4ZR2r0b1&ban=ZfZdMZmLzgZCKOze

Analysis:

The way these lanes sit, all Dire lanes will lose, even though I think they have a more balanced draft with better hero synergies.

Morph against Razor:  Razor has a longer attack range, can steal Morph's damage, and harass Morph a lot.  Yes, the roamers that the draft proposed COULD shift the balance, but only if the Razor was bad at denying and the lane stayed pushed out, or the Razor played badly when the supports were missing.

Meanwhile, Centaur isn't going to do well against Tide's Anchor Smash.  Tide can spam it, meaning that Centaur will find it hard to get CS.  Tide is also VERY tough, and hard to burst down.  Again, the roaming supports could make a difference, but the way the lane stands, it will lose.  Tide will get Blink before Centaur, and team fights will swing the way of Radiant.

Sven isn't up against a lot of disables in his lane, so he actually might survive, although with that much healing, the enemy tri-lane isn't going to worry about diving the tower.  Also, Necrophos' Heartstopper aura might drive Sven out of lane all by itself, even without much aggression from Rubick and Abaddon.  Sven won't be able to contest pulls, and Warcry isn't a huge movement buff for escaping.  Unlike using Centaur as a solo offlaner, Sven doesn't really get a game-changing ultimate at Level 6, and needs a lot more farm than just a Blink Dagger.

While I think the Radiant lineup lacks damage, push, and is healing-heavy, the lanes are quite strong.  Furthermore, after Sven is driven off or at a level disadvantage, Rubick and Abaddon can also roam, probably just to keep Razor safe and to annoy Morphling further.

In summary, I like the idea of Venge + Sky roaming (or pulling), and the Centaur solo.  Morph might do okay if the roamers get kills, but Sven cannot handle suicide lane - he's only got enough mana for 1 stun, and he MIGHT escape with Warcry, but he can't spam it.  Likely, he's going to be driven off lane, or feed.  He can't catch up easily by doing ancients early, unlike Tidehunter.

I would have laned Dire like this:
Mid:  Skywrath (vs. Razor) - Skywrath has long attack range, and can harass with nukes.  Instead of early-game roaming, he can go ganking once he gets level 6 (and might even kill Razor in lane).

Bottom:  Morph + Sven + Venge (vs. Tidehunter)  - supports could probably roam, or pull, or stay and drive Tidehunter away or even possibly kill him with Storm Hammer + Magic Missile + Waveform/Adaptive Strike.

Offlane:  Centaur (vs. Def trilane) - Centaur isn't going to get much farm, but his Level 6 ultimate is game-changing, and all he really needs is a Blink Dagger, and going early Tranquil Boots to help him survive this lane doesn't hurt his build or effectiveness.

Alternate Laning Strategy for Dire:
Mid:  Sven + Skywrath (vs. Razor) - Sven's farm is secured with the help of Skywrath's harass.  Could probably get a kill early on Razor, especially with a rotation from Venge.  Skywrath could also help with (top) rune control, while Venge secures bottom rune.

Bottom:  Morph + Venge (vs. Tidehunter) -  Morph isn't likely to get ganked and could probably solo this lane adequately against Tidehunter, but denying Tidehunter an early Blink Dagger is probably a good reason to keep Venge near this lane.  A haste rune from Skywrath could enable a gank on Tide.

Offlane:  Centaur (vs. tri-lane):  given the defensive tri-lane, this isn't a bad choice, for the same reasons mentioned above.

Drafting: Heroes that act as generic counter-picks

There are a few heroes that counter a lot of different heroes.  When you're stuck against a lineup that might demolish you in some specific way, consider some of these:

Solo Split Pushers:

These heroes allow you to give ground instead of team-fighting, knowing that your split-pusher is going to force them to break off or lose ground of their own.  Note:  as of patch 6.82b, split-pushing is a lot more dangerous, as the enemy team can get a lot more gold/XP from a single pick-off.

• Tinker
• Nature's Prophet
• Lycan
• Weaver (somewhat less so)
• Phantom Lancer (once he gets going)
• Ember Spirit (with Boots of Travel, especially)

Teamfight Counters & Counter-Initiators

These heroes basically make team-fighting a lot more difficult for the opponent, with a single hero pick:

• Centaur Warrunner (Stampede to retreat / avoid team-fight, or counter-initiate)
• Silencer (obvious; Global Silence)
• Earthshaker (Fissure makes good long-range interrupt or wall).
• Pugna (Nether Ward)
• Dark Seer (Wall of Replica)
• Rubick (steals your good team-fight ultimates)
• Shadow Demon (protects the focus target)
• Naga Siren (Song of the Siren stops the team-fight)
• Honourable Mention:  Keeper of the Light (spams Illuminate over the teamfighting area)

Global Anti-Push

These heroes allow you to remain with your comrades, but still anti-push from across the map.

• Ancient Apparition (Ice Blast)
• Clockwerk (Flare)
• Gyrocopter (with Agh's upgrade)
• Visage (send Familiars)
• Nature's Prophet (Nature's Wrath, Teleport)
• Keeper of the Light (Recall allows someone to push out the wave, and then be back for the teamfight)

Anti-Burst

If the enemy team has a lot of burst, and is likely going to try and focus down one hero as the fight begins, consider some of these counters:

• Shadow Demon:  Disruption
• Vengeful Spirit: Nether Swap
• Dazzle:  Shallow Grave
• Omniknight:  Repel, Guardian Angel
• Outworld Devourer:  Astral Prison
• Abaddon: Mist Coil, Shield

... or you can just pick tankier heroes.

Anti-Carry Heroes

• Razor - counters non-illusion carries by stealing their damage
• Elder Titan - counters Agility heroes by eliminating armor from agility gain and base armor
• Lifestealer - counters beefy Strength carries by doing dmg proportional to health.
• Shadow Demon - creates illusions of hard-hitting carry
• Dark Seer - Wall of Replica creates illusions of hard-hitting carry

Anti-Pickoff Supports

Sometimes you need tankier supports with an escape or stun so they can run away.  Here are some examples.  I'm not including the typical "healing" supports (Abaddon, Dazzle, Omni, etc).

• Windrunner (Windrun)
• Shadow Demon (Disruption, Purge)
• Disruptor (Glimpse)
• Witch Doctor (Cask, Heal)
• Jakiro (tough, and Ice Path helps)
• Bane (tanky, Nightmare)
• Rubick (Telekinesis + Fade Bolt both deter aggression)
• Sand King (Sandstorm + Burrowstrike to escape)
• Tidehunter (he's just really damn tough, and Anchor Smash reduces enemy right-click)
• Earthshaker (tough, and can wall off the pursuit)
• Io/Wisp (Tether and run)
• Wraith King (after L6)
• Phoenix (Dive away)
• Earth Spirit (boulder away)
• Tusk (Snowball away)

Flash Farming Carries

Sometimes your lineup severely lacks push or "quick recovery by farming".  These are carry heroes that can farm absurdly fast, farm stacked ancients, or push lanes super-quickly, with their base abilities (i.e. they don't require additional items):

• Gyrocopter (Flak Cannon)
• Shadow Fiend (Razes)
• Luna (Glaives)
• Alchemist (Chemical Rage)
• Dragon Knight (Dragon Form - Red Dragon or above)
• Meepo (Clones)
• Kunkka (Tidebringer)
• Tinker (March of the Machines - no longer affects ancients)
• Medusa (Split Shot)

List of Hero Synergies for Drafting

As I've been practicing my drafting, I've gradually learned some combos to look out for, and heroes to ban based on my opponent's picks.  I'll add to this as time goes on.

Drow + Visage = very powerful familiars.  Add Venge or SFiend for additional pain.

Drow + Windrunner = very high-damage Focus Fire (add Desolator on WR for tower melting)

Drow Precision Aura (or Lycan Howl) + Clinkz / Windrunner = very effective Strafe / Focus Fire

Spectre + Troll = very fast-hitting Haunt illusions (with max Desolate).  Hell on supports.  Requires dual lanes, or for Troll to go mid (preferably against a weak enemy mid).  You might get away with "support Troll" if no aggro-tri against you.

Faceless Void + Witch Doctor / Jakiro / Lich  = very good damage-dealing synergy with Chrono, plus defensive supports to protect a farming 1-position Void.  Note: it's far easier to ban out the Void than trying to ban out the multiple supports that are good with Chrono!

Wisp + Tiny/CK/Sven + Nature's Prophet = a very powerful global ganking combination.  While you may not be able to prevent the Wisp + Carry, at least don't let them get both Wisp and NP!  AA, Clockwerk, and Invoker are also good with this combo.

Lycan + Death Prophet = painful pushing power.  Lycan runs around the back to demolish supports, while Exorcism goes to work on the rest of the team.

Lycan + Broodmother = Howl makes for very dangerous broodlings.

Mirana + Bane / Shadow Demon / Crystal Maiden = very good set-up for arrows.

Visage = heralds an aggro tri-lane (usually).  May also prompt a Drow last-pick.

Vengeful Spirit = heralds a roaming support or roaming pair.  Avoid leaving squishy carries alone if they don't have an escape skill!

Earth Spirit = heralds a WTF (just kidding!)

Disruptor + Axe / Undying = very mean "cage match" with Helix or Tombstone.  Sometimes done as an offlane duo, or as part of aggro tri-lane.  Jakiro also combos really well with this.  Countered by heroes with escapes or healing supports.

Centaur / Shadow Shaman + Skywrath Mage = good control and good damage; very potent roaming pair

Clockwerk + Skywrath = put enemies in a box and nuke them, while interrupting them constantly.

Clockwerk + Invoker (Exhort) =  Cogs makes the killbox, Sunstrike makes the kill.

Nature's Prophet + Skywrath = surround them with trees and nuke them from the sky.

Magnus + Anti-Mage/Phantom Assassin/Faceless Void = carry doesn't need Battlefury to farm effectively.  Hard carry can do massive damage during Reverse Polarity.

Warlock + Undying/Elder Titan/Kunkka/Phoenix = it's bad when you're in a massive pool of syrup and can't get out of the way.  Add Pugna with Nether Ward for additional enemy frustration. It's a good idea to pick another support with a teamfight ult so that the enemy has to choose between targets to interrupt.  See also Team Ideas around Delayed AOE.

Anti-mage or Phantom Assassin = may prompt a last-pick Magnus, for the "free Battlefury" from Empower.

Heroes that are Helped by Heroes:

Anti-mage --> helped by --> Magnus (Empower = "free Battlefury")
Axe -->  Disruptor, Undying
Bloodseeker --> Zeus (get targets low health faster)
Bounty Hunter -->  Lycan (Howl), for massive Jinada strike
Clockwerk --> Invoker (Sunstrike), Skywrath (ult), Gyrocopter (Call Down), Lina/Lesh, Kunkka (Ghost Ship)
Doom -->  Abaddon, Dark Seer, Dazzle
Dragon Knight -->  Beastmaster aura, Crystal Maiden aura (DK needs AS and mana regen)
Faceless Void -->  Dark Seer, Magnus (setup for Chrono)
Undying -->  Broodmother, Nature's Prophet, Chen (numbers around Undying boosts Soul Rip)


See also:  List of Initiators by Ability Type

See also: Team Ideas from Hero Synergies

Building a Team Around a Support

Dota 2 Exercise:  Building around a support

For this exercise, I decided to try building a team around Crystal Maiden (CM), with her mana-aura.  I picked heroes that are generally limited by their early-game mana, but can be very dangerous with additional mana early game.

Team Sample #1: Low-Mana Str heroes + CM

Sven/CK + CM (w/Basilius)

Nightstalker/Dragon Knight (mid)

Offlaners:  Clockwerk

Junglers:  Enigma

Other mana-dependent heroes:  Leshrac, Zeus, Pugna

Team Sample #2 (Dual Lanes)

Axe + Disruptor offlane
Shadowfiend mid
Luna/Gyro/Razor/Sven + CM safe lane (spam Lucent Beam, Missile, Field, or Hammer)

Flowchart: Hero Selection

This needs to be put in a flowchart, but it's a work-in-progress for now.

Dota 2 Flow Chart for Hero Selection:

Choose your strat:

1. Pushing (see pushing heroes to pick & anti-push heroes to ban)
   1. Choose pushing-supports as your first picks. Try to select heroes with good teamfight to obscure your choice of strategy, and to be able to win fights when you group up to push.
   2. Choose a semi-carry or early-effect carry who can push (Luna, CK, Gyro, Tiny, DK, Juggernaut, etc).
   3. Choose a mid with push (Tinker, QoP, Puck, Zeus, etc.)
   4. Know that you need to end the game early (before 30 mins if possible).
2. Teamfight (choose most flexible heroes first, then mid, then carry last)
3. Gank & Snowball
   1. No more than 1 invis hero (too easy to counter whole team if > 1)
   2. Mid should be ganker hero who can farm enemies at L6, and dominate mid.
   3. Consider aggressive tri-lane to shut down enemy carry
   4. Supports should have nukes/disables and some push to take towers after successful ganks.
   5. Good idea to ban the type of heroes that could counter-gank (Wisp, KotL, NP) or counter-push (KotL, Dazzle, Lina, Tinker)
4. Split Push / Global Strat (see mobile heroes and split-push heroes – ban gankers & supports with teleports such as Wisp, KotL, etc). First-pick NP if possible.

If at least 1 true support on our team  take Lion (Tranq boots, Wand, Soul Ring, Eul’s)

If no supports, or only semi-supports  Lich (try for Force Staff) or Shadow Shaman (Regen, Eul’s)

If no carry -> melee carry -> Lifestealer, Chaos Knight, Sven, Dragon Knight, Alchemist

If need jungler -> Lifestealer or Ursa, Enigma, Legion Commander

If need ranged carry -> Drow Ranger, Luna, Shadowfiend, Viper, Gyro, Medusa

If need ganker -> Nyx Assassin, QoP, Slardar, Storm Spirit, etc.

If need support pusher -> Shadow Shaman, KotL, Leshrac, Lina, Veno

If need split pusher -> Nature’s Prophet, Tinker, Lycan

Paired with gank-style carry:  Shadow Shaman, Keeper, Lion, Leshrac, Shadow Demon, Veno

Paired with weak melee carry:  Lich, Crystal Maiden, Lion

Support - If lots of melee on team -> Vengeful spirit, Beastmaster, Dazzle

Lots of mana-dependent enemies, with big ultimates -> Silencer, Nyx

Need to counter a melee carry -> Lifestealer, Viper, Ursa, Razor

Need AOE damage -> Earthshaker, Sand King, Venomancer, Gyrocopter, Ancient Apparition, Obsidian Destroyer (Int based), Tidehunter, Warlock

Need AOE disable/positioning -> Naga, Enigma, Magnus, Dark Seer, Clockwerk (cogs),Wyvern, Earthshaker.

Match an enemy hard carry -> Faceless Void, Phantom Assassin, Alchemist, Anti-mage, Sven

If your Hard Carry = Chaos Knight, Skeleton King or Tiny, then good pick = Wisp, Shadow Shaman, Lich, Dazzle

Level 1 Roshan Line-Ups

Dota 2 - Early Roshan

This team liquid link to early Roshan is a great guide for non-obvious early Roshan drafting.

List of Level 1 Roshan Heroes:

NP (Treants)

Enigma (Plague wards or Treants into Eidolons?)

Beastmaster (attack speed aura)

Luna (fixed damage aura)

Wraith King (lifesteal aura)

Naga (Riptide armor reduction)

Venge (Wave armor reduction)

Alchemist (Acid spray armor reduction)

Lich (Frost Armor)

Centaur (return, tanky)

Ogre Magi (tanky, high armor, can remove Roshan Linkens)

Spiritbreaker (tanky, high hp & armor)
Nightstalker (tanky, high armor and base dmg)

Enchantress (Untouchable for tanking, Spirits for healing)

Viper (Tank w/Corrosive skin, or use Nethertoxin for extra dmg)

Treant (high base dmg, Living Armor)

Veno (plague wards)

Dark Seer (ion shell, tanky)

Leshrac (edict does extremely high amount of physical dmg level 1)

Templar Assassin (Refraction bonus dmg or tank 3 “free” hits)

Lifestealer (Feast does not work on Rosh)

Sample Teams:

#1: Luna (aura), Lich (ice armor), Ogre/NStalker (tank), DS (ion), Venge (wave)

Laned as: NStalker / Ogre mid, Luna+venge+lich Safelane, DS solo offlane

#2:  Axe (swipe), Fiend (aura), Beastmaster (aura), Enigma (Eidolons from treants), NP (treants)

Laned as:  Fiend Mid, Beastmaster / Axe / Enigma offlane (take tower), NP solo safe lane.

#3: Ursa + Lich + Skellie (vamp?) + Centaur (tank, return + ice armor) +

#4: Huskar (tank to low hp, then dps), Ogre (lust, tank), Leshrac (edict), Shadow Demon (dmg boost – make sure someone else hits him with a spell first!), Razor (ranged dps only)

Laned as: Razor mid, Huskar/Ogre/Lesh safe lane, SD offlane OR Huskar+Ogre & Lesh+SD offlane, Razor mid.
#5: Enigma, Veno, Luna, Centaur, Nightstalker

Notes:

• You want heroes that will take their “typical” laning abilities (i.e. failed Rosh won’t screw your laning).  For example, while SFiend with armor reduction aura sounds good, you NEED Necromastery for laning.  Failed Roshan = failed lane.
• You want 2 heroes who will tank – both will take Stout/Ring of Protection and 2xPotions each
• If you want to debuff Rosh, you need someone else to purge his Linken’s first with an active ability
• Armor reduction really, really helps (Venge / Naga / Alch )
• You want only 2 melee heroes, otherwise Roshan will use his AOE stomp, inflicting more damage, and stunning melee. 
• Ideally one hero should buy a Basilius for the armor aura.

Some other links:

DotaFire Guide to Early Roshan

Drafting Exercise: Building a Team around a Carry

The following teams are based around Sven.  This post illustrates a thought process where you figure out what a hero needs, and create a team around boosting that carry with appropriate picks.

Sven needs:

-        Attack speed:  Beastmaster, Troll, Ogre

-        Mana regen:  Crystal Maiden (CM), Keeper of the Light (KotL)

-        Slowing/lockdown:  Disruptor, Veno, Invoker, Magnus, Puck, Batrider

-        Lane Babysitter:  CM, Disruptor, AA, Warlock, Lion, Io

Don’t pick Sven against kiters:

-        Drow

-        Viper

-        Lycan

-        Weaver

-        Sniper

Pick Sven against: 

-        Illusion heroes (Naga, CK, PL, etc)

Sven Items:

Start (585):  Tango, Shield, Potion, Branch x 2

Early: Boots, Wand, Helm of Dominator (stacking)

Core:  Power Treads, BKB, TP

Late:  MoM/Satanic, S&Y, Deadalus, BoT

6 Slotted:  BoT, S&Y, BKB, Deadalus, Heart, MoM/Satanic

Sven-based teams:

#1:

Mid:  Kunkka or Luna

Offlane: Solo Darkseer or Centaur

Supports: Disruptor, CM

Safe Carry: Sven

#2:

Mid: Magnus

Offlane: Solo Beastmaster

Supports:  Ogre (Roaming / Pulling), CM (babysitter, early aura)

Carry: Sven

#3:

Mid: Exhort Invoker/AA

Offlane: Solo Timbersaw

Supports:  Shadow Demon/Bane, Sand King

Carry:  Sven

#4:

Mid: Puck (#2) or Storm Spirit

Offlane: Centaur/Magnus/Dark Seer (#3)

Supports:  Wraith King (#4), Disruptor/Warlock (#5)

Carry:  Sven (#1)

#5:

Mid:  Timbersaw/Slark/Puck (ganker)

Offlane:  Lich/Veno/BH/Magnus/Tide

Supports:  Venge (roamer), Disruptor (lane support)

Carry:  Sven

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)

Pub Captain's Mode Opening Statement

I wish all Captains in Pub Dota would say something like the following, when drafting for pub games in Captain's Mode:

“Everyone please list 3-5 heroes you want to play, in order of preference, and indicate what positions you can play with those heroes (1 – Hard Carry, 2 – Mid, 3- Solo / OfflaneFarmer / Jungle, 4 – Pulling/Safe Support; 5 – Warding/Offlane Support).

Indicate if you generally want dual lanes or tri-lane, in CAPS (DUAL or TRI).

Example:  Magnus(2, 3, 4), Lion (5), QoP (2), Bounty Hunter (3), Anti-Mage (1); prefer DUAL.

I’m banning heroes X and Y first*, unless anyone wants those, because they suck to lane/play against at our level.”

As a side note:

*For ban heroes, you could pick PL & Pudge, Sniper & OD, NP & KotL, Riki & BH, etc.
(Alternately, you could ban "top meta" heroes, such as Batrider, Invoker, Lycan, Razor, OD, Tidehunter, Shadow Shaman, Skywrath Mage, etc).