Dogs or Cats? Coffee or Tea? Android or iOS? There are only few questions as basic but fundamental as these in the world of esports. But one of them is most certainly: Dota or LoL?
Here is a (totally non-biased of course) opinion on why Valve’s Dota 2 is the superior Game to Riot’s League of Legends. If you are Team LoL, maybe you should head over to this article: Why LoL is better than Dota
You can be as creative as you want
Dota 2 is a game that thrives on creativity and thinking outside of the box. Be it itembuilds, drafts or just new ways to lane, Dota 2 is continuously evolving and unbound by a “correct” way to play. Of course there still is an accepted meta and the 1 to 5 position system is the basis of it all, but even with these in mind you can still make almost everything work. Go wild and find the newest broken combo as pro players do in every major patch to shake up the meta.
Where else could you play one character either as hard-hitting late game carry or as a support or the other way around? Just the most recent examples of Io and Gyrocopter being playable in those two extremes shows just how wide you can stretch the boundaries of this game. No shenanigans about a fixed itembuild or a character only fitting one role. Dota 2 is the game where you can play how and what you want, as long as you are good enough to pull it off.
“How is that balanced?”
“But what about game balance” I hear you say, “That is just too broken!” If you are used to League of Legends with its short crowd control times, you might look at a any single skill from Dota and think “how is that balanced?”
The truth is: Nothing is balanced and therein lies the beauty and balance of Dota. Whenever you think something might be broken beyond redemption, there is a counter to it out there in the game, you just have to find it. And the odds are that it is just as broken as the first skill you were trying to counter. Icefrog does not take away your favourite broken mechanic, he just makes sure there is another piece of the puzzle out there to help others deal with you.
Learning the ins and outs for each item, hero and situation is frustrating but incredibly rewarding once you get it and pull it off in your game. Obviously it is a daunting task to do so, but the game design and philosophy behind that is just so much better. Why should you be limited in your options, just let others have the same kind of OPness to counter you.
Never give up, never surrender
What feels better than winning a game of Dota? That is an easy answer: Winning a game of Dota after staging a comeback. There is no surrender option in Dota and it is the better game for it.
Not just in pubs but also in the pro scene, a game of Dota is not over until the ancient falls. Countless comebacks have shown that fact: Be it TI6’s EG against EHOME or more recently OG’s miracle run in TI8 that saw possibly the greatest underdog story of all time come to fruition.
Look, I know that, if the lanes go horribly bad, most of the matches turn into shitflinging fests of “GG afk fountain” 10 minutes into the match. But even with all that toxicity (or the rare actual positive team) we will still defend the base with everything we got. Although in most cases you will just get choked out of the map and lose unceremoniously 30 minutes later, we are still going to dig deep for that 1% chance of a comeback before relinquishing our throne. There are no quitters in Dota and the game is never over until the throne falls.
Also money by the way
As we all know money makes the world go round. We may not have the largest numbers in Dota 2 if you compare it to the worldwide phenomenon that is LoL, but for all the luster and glitter of Worlds, we still got them beat by a landslide for our yearly The International. Year for year the prize pool breaks another record as the community pours its money into the Battle Pass. Although I do not always agree with the way Valve spends (or rather seems to not spend) the yearly multi-million Battle Pass cash, myself and many others still love this game and so everyone contributes their part to keep Dota 2’s record.
It all boils down to the fact, that this game, that has seen so many highs and lows throughout the years, is simply an important part for us. Dota 2 is not “just a game” we play, Dota 2 is a fascination, that stays with you, even if you stop playing it actively. It is the place we return to even after all these years, because it is simply the best game in the world.
Read more:
- Why LoL is better than Dota
- Dota 2 versus League of Legends – Different yet the same?
- Dota 101 – All about warding
- Which Characters from Dota Dragon’s Blood could become new Heroes?
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Image Credits: Riot Games/Valve