Dota 2 MMR Hell is real. Follow these 10 tips to win more games and escape mmr hell
So you want to increase your Solo MMR eh? Well, good luck, I’ll see you on the other side—just kidding.
Increasing your MMR in Dota 2 is a daunting task that will undoubtedly leave you frustrated and in need of excessive amounts of alcohol, or maybe that’s just me. Here to mitigate some of the troubles you might face on your journey are 10 Secrets to Quickly Increase Your Dota 2 Solo MMR.
Enjoy.
1. Pick what the team needs
I know, everyone wants to be the carry because let's face it, carries are cool. Everyone wants to be that six slotted whatever that can one shot enemy heroes and have over 1000 last hits, but sometimes, you just can’t.
Sometimes, instead of being the badass everyone fears, you have to be the Crystal Maiden who only has three bracers for 40 minutes and does nothing more than tend to the wards and help with team fights.
Other times, you'll have to be that tank who must throw themselves on the grenade, just to get that perfect initiation so the rest of your team can clean up. It's a hard life, but somebody's got to do it.
So if you want to improve your MMR, be patient when picking your character, see what the team needs. Don't assume your teammates know what they're doing, because they probably don't.
2. Don't be a Jackass
Look, everyone knows Dota 2 can be a pain in the ass. My first time playing Dota, way back in the Warcraft 3 days, was an extremely painful experience.
I didn't understand the items, or the lanes, or anything really, and not even a minute into my first game I was put on blast. At some point, I believe everyone has received a verbal beating of some sort on the internet because of something they did, but what we have to remember is to let it go.
So when you're playing, and one of your teammates does something that, well, just doesn't make any sense, relax. Instead of beating them down with criticism, help them. Show them the way. What's the line? You'll attract more bees with honey than vinegar?
You'll have a better shot of winning and increasing your precious MMR if everyone is working together and having a good time. Also, if it's someone else on the team who is losing their sh*t, say something about it. Be nice of course, but don't let them bring down the morale of the team.
3. Pick Counter Heroes
It may sound cheap, but it works. Play enough Dota and you'll start to see that most characters have a counter of some sort. Do they have a Slark? Pick Bloodseeker. They have some magic-wielding freak playing mid? Pick viper. Did they pick Phantom Assassin? Try Razor.
The list goes on and on, and there are plenty of resources out there on the internet to help you along the way. The point is, don't go into an MMR match with some preconceived notion of who you're going to pick. Watch any professional Dota 2 match, and a large portion of the match is dedicated to the hero selection segment. It's like a mini-game in its own right.
Truth be told, matches can be won or lost in this stage—so pick wisely.
4. Die less, kill more
This may seem obvious to anyone who has spent time with Dota 2, but it cannot be emphasized enough. Playing Dota is like walking on a frozen lake in the first week of spring. Sure, most of it is probably still pretty solid from winter, but you never know if the ice is going to break. So you proceed with caution.
Proceed with caution. Dying is detrimental to your team's success, and if you're going to die, make sure it's for a good cause. If dying enables your team to win an important team fight, it was definitely worth it. However, if you died crossing the river, just to nab an illusion rune, you are greatly decreasing your chances of winning and increasing your MMR.
So, buy wards, call out when heroes are missing from your lane, and for the love of God pay attention to the minimap. If the enemy is missing completely from the map, don't go out wandering by yourself just to kill a neutral for 20 gold because chances are you're about to get wrecked.
This doesn't mean you have to play like a scaredy cat. Killing is after all an essential part of winning a Dota match. Communicate with your teammates to set up devastating combos. Organize ganks on important enemy heroes. Buy smokes and find their jungler. Just always remember to proceed with caution.
5. Making that gold
Your GPM, gold per minute, is an essential part of winning a Dota match. Relying on hero and tower kills for gold is a big mistake. This means that if you’re a carry, you cannot miss your last hits. This means that if you're a support, you need stack neutral creep spawns, pull lanes, and work with your other supports to get any sort of gold you can. Tip: since neutral creeps spawn every minute, if you lure them far enough away from the camp, the neutrals will spawn and viola! You have yourself a stacked camp.
Obtaining a high GPM isn't always about creep kills either. Sometimes, the situation calls for a Hands of Midas to speed things up. While expensive, HoM will dramatically increase your GPM and your experience gain. HoM is typically gotten by carries, but supports can get it as well.
Here are some guides on how to farm the jungle.
6. Playing the Odds
I'm a gamblin’ man, so I'm always considering the odds whenever faced with a difficult decision. So I look at this:
http://www.dotabuff.com/heroes/winning
And I see who's winning, and who's not. By just looking at the statistics, you can see which heroes might give you an edge in winning. This is important because, well let's face it, your favorite hero might be Io who has a win rate this month of 39.44%, which means you're probably going to lose.
This isn't to say Io is a bad character because he's not, but he is a character that requires a great deal of coordination and teamwork. If your sole purpose is to try and increase your MMR, stick to the characters that have a higher win rate, because after all, they're winning for a reason.
7. Don't forget about those sentry wards
Now, everyone seems to know that buying regular wards is important, but the reality is buying sentry wards is equally important. Why you ask? Because Dota 2, like actual warfare, is a game about information.
Typically in warfare, the side who the most update to date intelligence is going to win. While regular wards may give you sight, this doesn't help much if the enemy can see you as well. Sentry wards help keep your opponents in the dark so that they will have a harder time seeing what you're up to and more importantly when you are staging an attack.
With sentry wards in place, they will help you discover the enemy's wards so that you can destroy them, a task known as dewarding, and its benefits are huge. Dewarding will allow you to secure runes safer, jungle safer, and set up more successful ganks.
Oh, and, of course, there are all the other invisible dangers in Dota 2 that can get you killed. Mines, Bounty Hunter, Riki, heroes with a shadow blade—these are all threats to your safety. But never fear, as long as you have some sentries on hand, you can travel safer.
8. Positioning
Positioning is everything. Keeping tabs on the position of your character is one of the most important elements in Dota 2. Successful ganks are all about positioning. Team fights are all about positioning. Even last hitting is primarily about where you are in relation to your opponent.
Just take a look at this:
Study this video. Watch it a hundred times if you have to. What unfolds in the video is directly related to positioning (and some serious skill).
In more general terms, you always have to be aware of where you are on the map. A skilled opponent will punish you hard when they see you drifting out of position. No matter what role you play, where you are in a fight makes all the difference in the world.
There's no point if having an Omniknight if he's too far away from the fight to use his lifesaving ultimate. There's no point in having an Enigma who gets stunned instantly and is unable to unleash his black hole because he was too far forward. There's no point in attempting a gank on an enemy hero who is out of position if you reveal yourself on the map to an enemy creep. Understand?
Play smart, know where you are, and you will have success.
9. Be persistent
Like chasing that perfect mate when they repeatedly turn you down, persistence is key. You see, eventually they will break and give into your wishes. Well, maybe not, but a person can dream, right?
Dota 2 is a difficult game, and it’s a difficult game that you can only get better at by playing. So keep playing. Keep watching YouTube. Keep reading internet guides. Keep playing Dota 2.
Have a bad match? Play again. Someone called you a “newb?” Play again. You just got stomped in 20 minutes? Take a breather, and then play again. It’s truly the only way you are going to get any better. Have fun of course, but don’t think you’re are going to get any better without playing. Playing is everything.
10. Communicate
They say the key to any good relationship is communication. Well, if you plan on increasing your Dota 2 MMR, you’re going to have to work on your communication skills. Being friendly to your teammates isn’t enough—although it is important.
First, you must be able to effectively communicate with your teammates during the hero pick stage. Introduce yourself, then quickly find out who can play what. Try your best to delay your teammates from impulse picking. Clearly identify who is going where by placing your character’s avatar on the minimap. And when the round starts, stick to the plan, try not to make any last minute changes as things can get real confusing, real quick.
Communicate with your teammates while you are in lane. Are you playing carry and your support is competing with you for last hits? Ask him nicely to chill. Are you playing with a carry who is a little squeamish? Comfort him by telling him how you are going to set up a gank.
And most importantly, you must always be thinking of the big picture. If you see something isn’t right, fix it. Everyone has experienced this at one point or another, a sinking feeling that things are just not working out. For example: The laning stage of the game is just going horribly for you, and you happen to notice that another one of your teammates is playing a hero better suited for your lane, so, ask him to switch. Whether or not he listens to you or not is another matter, but it doesn’t hurt to try.
The point is, no one is going to do anything unless someone says something, and sometimes that person who is going to have to break the silence, is going to be you.
So there you have it, 10 Secrets to Quickly Increase your Dota 2 Solo MMR. What do you guys think? Agree? Disagree? Think I’m full of it? Let me know down below in the comments, jerks.
