10 Ganking and Supporting Defense of the Ancients Guide

10 Ganking and Supporting Defense of the Ancients Guide

"Supports are the true 'carriers' of the team."

I have been playing support role since forever because I find this role the most fun role in the game. I love actions and I love getting into fights as early as possible. It was a good thing though because most players here want to play farmer and carry. Farming is important but I find it boring because you become an insurance for the team. You simply stick to your lane and try to farm as much as you can at early game. I know you have to dominate your lane too but if your hero have disadvantages at early game against your opponent, you'll have to play passively. I was known for being a great support for our team back then. But I have to admit, after watching one of my team mate play support role, I realized that someone became a lot better than me. I don't play too often now but I still watch replays and I see a lot of boring support players. They would often act as slaves for the team. You wont even recognize them.

 LWP.Marky will change your boring impression about supporting role.

Last Friday, Mafia, one of the finest team in Bicol came to play against itsme. They had 3 games and itsme won all of them. It was quite a surprise to win 3-0 against them because the last match against them was a devastating lost. I, then, decided to watch the replays. I realized that having Jam and Ldrige on the team made a big difference. They are totally comfortable with each other and played as one. But, the one who stepped up the most was Jam. He controlled the gank and map awareness for the team. He made the plans and most are successful. Itsme would always dominate early game in all of the 3 games against Mafia. Thanks to these excellent supports.

These are some things you can learn from itsme.JAM and be a better support player for your team.

Have a Gank Strategy Plan

Killing a hero is not easy if it is controlled by a good player. Good players are aware of gankers. In this screen shot from game 1, their strategy is to hide near at the secret merchant where most players wont expect gankers to come from there. This wasn't done in the next games because if they've done it again, the opponents will trap them and easily kill them.

Planning your ganks that would surprise your opponents will leave them unguarded and will be easier for you to kill them. Ganks that are monotonous may be successful at the first time but good opponents will easily learn your strategy and will build higher fences against it. You can find a lot of suggestions in ganking here - Dota Ganking Style. Ganks should be planned and smoothly executed. There must be a perfect timing on when to engage, who's the first one to cast spells and who to aim.


Unique Ward Placement

Supports are the masterminds of observer wards. Placing observer wards in important areas like rune spots is very important. Mid heroes will have great advantage dominating the rune. Defensively, wards are important to counter opponent's gank threats. But in most cases, opponents will predict where you placed your wards and either destroy them or find another place to hide. Having your wards in unique spots is a wise decision. It will be hard for opponents to deward and will make your opponents waste their time waiting.

In this case, Jam placed a ward infront of the opponent's tower. Placing this ward here is very tricky. You would know if a support is hiding behind the carry for back up and you would be able to ensure successful attacks.

This picture right here showed how this ward helped in killing Necrolyte. Necrolyte thought that he wont be seen in buying his item from the secret merchant but the ward shows very clearly that he went there. The supports then took advantage of trapping him and killing him easily.






Learn to Wait

In ganking, you cannot be impatient. You should always wait for the perfect timing to engage. The game shows how patient Jam was waiting for the perfect timing to kill Dragon Knight as shown in the pictures below.

venge got invi

He positioned himself and wait for the perfect timing.

and waited...

and waited...

When DK finally showed up and was far enough from the tower

venge stunned him, giving more time for Alchemist to respond.

DK is in big trouble now and tried to hide in the forest which I think was not a good move.

Then, they finally killed DK.

Waiting for the perfect timing gives more chances of killing your target and make it safer for you.

Never get tired of trying

Jam was quite successful in most of his attempts. It is the combination of prediction and luck. Luck, unfortunately, is included in the game but good gankers would always bet their effort and time. In the games played against Mafia, you would see Jam hiding in the forest waiting for an opponent to farm.

These are some screen shots where venge(Jam) is waiting for a prey to be ganked.

And these are the results of waiting and trying...

Try to gank more instead of sticking to lane. Don't wait for your opponents to be strong and farm items that will kill you in 3 hits. Make it hard for them by being a big pest on their lanes.

Create Advantages for Carry

Supports are needed to dominate early game. They have skills that can disable, nuke, give vision, slow, or heal. They doesn't need to farm a lot to be big help. The only problem is heroes with such good skills doesn't have much potential in late game. That's why carry heroes are still needed. Supports should be around to help team mates get kills, help them dominate their lanes, give them vision for better defense and help them survive.

Venge gave vision for tinker to kill ES

Venge helped tinker kill SF

SF died

Be a Ninja

How does a Ninja fight? If you're a ninja fan like me, you're aware that Ninjas attack from unseen areas. You'd feel their swords inside your chest before you even know where they are. Gankers should be like a Ninja because of 2 important reasons. 1st is simply the low health of support heroes. Good opponents would not hesitate getting you out first. 2nd reason is to make the gank more successful. If you are seen before you engage in your gank, the initial reaction of your opponents would be to retreat. You'll then waste the chance of killing that hero. As you can see from the pictures above, Jam hides in the forest a lot, and show himself along with his magic missile.

Always be ready for clash

Supports are very important in early clashes. They have the skills that are deadly for these low level opponents. Stun and nukes are essential to kill most of your opponents. Jam would use his clarity and flask if he has low hp and mana to be ready for team fights. He doesn't loiter around when he has short mana or hp. Jam would run through the fountain quickly and regenerate if there are no other chance to have his mana and hp back. Then run again to lanes where he is much needed. He can cast magic missiles, terror and swap anytime because he didn't waste time loitering instead of regenerating.

Destroy your opponent's wards early

Jam realized that the opponents have wards where he would hide to gank them. He immediately bought sentry wards to remove the opponents defensive advantage. You can see at this picture that it was only 9mins and he already took the initiative buying sentry wards to destroy opponent's wards. Destroying your opponent's wards is very important if you want to gank. Good opponents would always have their eyes on the map and would know if you are planning to gank them. You should never skip buying sentry wards in ganking.


Always back your team mates up when they are in trouble

Map awareness and always having tp scroll with you makes it easier for you to back your team mates up. You can either walk if you sense that team mates in other lanes would be in trouble or you can buy tp scroll and teleport as soon as you see the opponents charging through your team mate. There are big chances that you or your team mate would be the one to kill the opponents who tried to kill him. If not, at least you saved your team mate from losing his golds and letting the opponents have extra gold.


Psych out your opponents

In every game, once you mentally defeat your opponent, he's done. Try to psych out your opponents and make him feel that he should fear you. Like what Jam done here. We all know that this venge cannot kill shadow fiend in this case, but Jam is trying to psych out the Shadow Fiend by trying to show that he can.  Though venge didn't continue killing SF, he left something to SF that wouldn't make him reach his potential, fear.  

Supporting is not boring.  It is up to the player whether it would be boring or not.  Give supporting an art and be a fun to watch player whatever your role is.

"WHAT ARE THE PRO PLAYERS THINK?"

Early Game:

What are my Advantages/Disadvantages?

This is the first question pro players ask themselves in games.  This is why they buy items like more branches if they are low hp, they buy more clarity for mana dependent hero, buy more flask if his hero is prone to harassment.  This is also why they change play styles in different types of hero.  If they are using early painful heroes, they tend to play aggressive and ensure that opponents wont be farming more gold.  When they are using heroes like spectre, their focus would be on how to get more creeps but they still mind supports when they initiate.

What are my opponent's strengths and weaknesses?

The best Dota players in the world detect opponents strengths and weaknesses quickly that they control most of their games they play.  May it be individual hero, team combo or player's gaming nature, pro players are aware of them.

How to win my lane?

These pro players have great desire to win their lanes that's why they would usually counter opponents hero from the hero picking phase.  Once they're on their lanes, they wont allow opponents to have a free lane.  They would usually disturb opponents with their goals which for now is also to win their lanes and to farm.

Should I stay or should I roam?

Choosing when to gank and when to stick to lane is very crucial for serious games.  From my observations experienced players tend to dominate their own lanes first before roaming to dominate other lanes.  Sometimes, when it is impossible to dominate a lane because of poor pick, they tend to roam early to make sure they win other lanes.  Sometimes, players focus on one lane, making it impossible for the opponent's hardcore carry to farm.  Other questions that come up after this are these:  Do other lanes need help?  Do they have wards?  Do we have the potential to destroy opponent's trilane combo?  Who should initiate?  Who goes next?  These are questions you should consider too to take your game to higher level.

Mid Game:

Where are my opponents?

Pro players ask this question to be able to know where they should go.  If they think that the opponents might be hiding nearby for ganks, they would either play passively or ask for assistance to take advantage of the opponents wanting to gank by killing them instead.  They also want to know where are their opponents to be able to gank them at this stage.  Pro players never want to give any gold to their opponents.  They try to limit their free farm place as few as possible.  They also ask this question to answer the following question: to push or not to push?

Push or Not?

Pro teams want to destroy opponent's tower as fast as possible to gain gold and map advantage but they still ask this question to make sure they wont get in trouble.  If their opponents have early advantage, more likely they wont push and fight 5v6.. yup.  5 enemy heroes + 1 enemy tower. If they happen to take down a key hero for the opponent, they would often decide to push.

What's his next move?

In a fight, great players would often predict opponent's next move and act according to their judgments.  You saw how pro players dodge skills perfectly in their dota videos.  Their goal is not to make a dota video.  Their goal is to evade most of the opponent's skills as much as possible to make them harder to be killed.

How should I react?

They think of situations right before it happens.  They judge the heroes combo.  What if they are caught, what would be their means of survival?  What would they do if a team mate is disabled and focused fire at?  What would they do if a shadow fiend with haste suddenly appear behind them?  What would they do if they are silenced?  Preparation is always better than impromptu.

Is it a bait?

They would always think whether to attack a lone hero or not.  They know that they can be wiped out in no time if that hero happened to be a bait.  Sometimes, I saw them attack a bait if they have a follow up plan to attack the entire team, like when they are having a hungry Earthshaker waiting for them to pile up.

Which hero should we take down first?

Plans before clash always have this question present.  Who to kill first?  They would normally go for the key heroes that are easy to take down.  They never plan on taking down a Bristleback first.  They may attack a high hp hero if he is offering a free hit or to deceive the opponents making them think that they are going for that hero but when they finally showed up, a change target will happen.

Where should I position?

I believe that success in Dota is all about positioning.  Pro players would always want to be in places they should be.  It's like a chess game.  Your key hero is your Queen.  You shouldn't trade that for any lower rank army.  Your tanks are your pawns.  They should serve the defense and they should make it easy for the team to attack.  Supports are your bishops and horse.  They should be able to attack as well as to trap opponents.  Other carries are your rooks.  They should be in perfect place to aid the key hero in getting kills or have the kill by themselves.

Late Game:

Do we have the upper hand?

Late game is decided by early game.  If your early game is not that good most probably you are in a level and item gap against your opponents.  They ask this question to know if they can play offensive or should they play defensive game.

Can I pressure lanes?

There are heroes that have escape mechanisms that can pressure lanes making it harder for opponents to push but they still consider if they can survive if opponents start to attack.  What if opponents have Kunkka?  It would be one X-mark away to win the game, specially if that hero cannot buy back.

How can we end the game?

Ending the game is easy if you defeat your opponents badly in items and level.  You can just go directly to their frozen throne after stepping on them.  But, if the game is a close match, it's not that easy.  Sometimes pro players tend to push all lanes to avoid AOE nukes and to pressure the opponent.  Sometimes, they hunt first.  There are tons of different endings in a Dota game and mostly it is dramatic that's why Dota is such a fun game.

Play Dota for fun...  and part of the fun is using your brains.  You may not be pro players but you can also ask these questions while playing.  You'd see big changes in your games if you won't be lazy to analyze things and the only way is to ask.  I'll leave you with this simple message for you to internalize.  "Live Curious."