Dota all night in Adventure Log [01]

Friday is going to be a holiday, so we decided to do something fun from Thursday night ‘til dawn. What better idea is there than Dota? I need a life, hahaha.

The last time Luther and I pulled an all-nighter in Dota was a few months ago, when I was an utter beginner, and we were still playing Dota 1. We left the cafe at around 2 AM and we were tired as hell. This time, we played Dota 2 until 5 AM, and we were still okay for some reason.

We started our Thursday adventure at school, getting some paperwork done. I got to meet some of Luther’s teachers and they seemed like a friendly bunch. We then went to this new restaurant for an early dinner at 5 PM. We shared this sandwich called cheese steak (no kidding) and some fries with bacon on it.

While eating, we got to talk about a bunch of stuff. At some point, he admitted to me that he doesn’t really like talking all of the time; I forgot how we got to that part. I highly appreciated it because I thought I was the only one. Luther does seem to be the extroverted type at first since he’s good with people, and I’m glad to learn that you can still be introverted and yet have people skills. I will learn this.

We also talked about our plans of going to Med school. We thought of sharing an apartment when we do, and we’ll study together and enjoy the med student life. I told him that whenever we would eat together, we’d end up talking about the latest lecture of the day, and a bunch of Dota stuff. It might sound sad for other people, but this kind of thing genuinely makes me happy. I’m the kind of person who enjoys learning, but not bookish or what. It’s also why I’m drawn to Dota– you keep learning over time, and it’s not just some mindless game.

Afterwards, we went to the mall since Luther had to buy a pair of sandals for his Singapore trip. Seriously, a new pair just for a trip. Maybe I’m just cheap, haha. Luther and I went on our separate ways, and prepared for our bootcamp later on in the evening.

I got home and showered. Because of that, I grew really sleepy, but I got dressed anyways and waited for him. It was already almost 8 PM, and he still wasn’t there. I almost changed into my pyjamas when he came around. He said he got sleepy as well especially after showering. Guess that’s a thing, eh.

We arrived at the cafe and there were a lot of units available. It was also cold because there were only a few people and the air conditioning is having a blast. As it got late, the cafe was getting more and more people. There are others still in their uniform, too. 1 AM, 2 AM, the cafe was really loud and lively as usual. We honestly thought it would be deserted, but we were wrong.

When Luther and I logged in Steam at around 8 PM, our friends were surprised. Usually, we’d play at around 5 PM, and leave by 9 so it’s understandable. We joked around and told them we finally bought ourselves gaming PCs so we can play whenever we wanted. How I wish that were true.

So we had a full party. Myself, Luther, Stan, Jace, and Tyson. Those other three– I like playing with them because they actually respond. Whenever we wait while queuing, it’s no trouble making small talk and actually avoid awkward silences. Jace is a guy I met through one of my matches. Then he introduced Tyson to us, his cousin. Stan is my internet friend for five years or so. And Luther, well, my friend for more than a decade.

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[nth match - hero played: k/d/a; xpm/gpm]

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First match - Pudge: 6/5/16; 471/357

Tyson, Jace, and Stan weren’t around yet at that time, so it was just Luther and I. I decided to try out heroes I still haven’t, and went with Pudge. Luther was Spectre. We had a Bloodseeker mid, Spec was offlane with the Disruptor because why the hell not, and I was on top with Lina (Dire team). I think the BS is good with the hero, and Luther is good with Spec, so I was free to fool around and be useless.

I got to practice hooking and found myself warding more as Pudge so I can do surprise hooks. Our BS went crazy and bought Eblade and Dagon 5; he had 44 kills by the end of the game. Even though I didn’t have much impact, I thought Pudge was fun to play and would try him out again soon for practice.

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Second match - Keeper of the Swag: 3/3/28; 548/394

This is when we had a full party. I was KotL, Luther was Warruner, Jace was Puck, Tyson a Skywrath, and Stan a Juggernaut. They were all playing their usual heroes, so I thought it was safe for me to mess around with a new, weird hero.

I laned with Stan on safelane (Dire). He was so aggressive, he fed the Luna and Witch Doctor early game. I’m not sure what he’s expecting from KotL other than free mana and messing his CS with my Illuminate spam, hahaha. Sometimes when he charges in, I get tired and just get the CS for myself. KotL carry for the win.

I did my best to be a good support throughout the game; warded, bought Mekansm, tried to keep the team alive. I don’t think I play supports that often (I do it as needed), and it was a nice change of pace and good practice. I liked KotL’s ultimate so much, I bought an Aghanim’s Scepter so it would be on permanently. I got a Force Staff because I like messing around with it. Save an ally’s life, pull an enemy out of position, help with chasing, etc. I also was a walking Arcane Boots. The Skywrath loved me I bet.

One time, Luther was being chased by the entire enemy group by himself. I thought of using my ultimate and cast Recall on him. I think he was really focusing on getting away from the team because when his hero disappeared, he was all bewildered and was going ‘what the fuck?’ in real life. When he realized what happened, he and I laughed hard about it.

Also, I found a good use for KotL’s blast thing. Instead of using it to push enemies away, I use it in a way that it would actually push them towards my team. Something like a Force Staff, but AoE. Luther was impressed; I felt good.

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Third match - Vengeful Spirit: 2/10/17; 411/318

This time, the guys decided they want an all-girls team because why the hell not. They were calling dibs on their favorite female hero, and I reserved Broodmother for myself (the sexiest of them all, obviously).

They all went with their respective faves, so I decided to play a hero I usually don’t. Luther was Enchantress and he was a beast as her in that last match we had some time ago, so I decided to play support for practice. Stan was Luna, Tyson was Lina, Jace was Legion Commander. I wanted to play Mirana, but I guess a hard support would be a better choice in this lineup.

The chat was really amusing. Mostly composed of talking about how we are going to rekt the boys over at team Radiant.

I laned top with LC; we got harassed so badly by Dazzle and ever Stormbolt-spamming Sven. I’m not sure whether Jace is new with the hero or not. We weren’t getting farm, so I figured it’s better for LC to jungle and get gold and exp, while I just leech exp and maybe some last hits by being solo on the lane. Sad to say, LC did that at a much later time. It messed up both our gpm and xpm.

Because of that, I thought I should run VS as semi-carry just in case. So I got Power Treads because I’m a dumbass, and then a Mek, all the wards, and Force Staff. So Stan was doing his usual thing in teamfights– rush in and die. I usually save my ultimate just to save his ass, thus the numerous deaths. I feel proud of doing that, since he’s supposed to be the carry and I feel like I’m doing the team a favor that way.

When I got the money, I picked up a Desolator and Boots of Travel. We were getting stomped hard; Radiant had around 20 more kills than us; we couldn’t win teamfights at all. I liked the challenge a lot. I placed wards in good spots, called out when we needed to Rosh, looked for pick offs, and most importantly pushed towers and raxes. It feels like being a team manager, and I enjoy that role.

We did win in the end; we were desperate to finish it since we were close to getting raxed hard ourselves. Secretly, I am proud of how I did in that match. I realized how important supports are, even if they’re not the ones getting the kills.

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Fourth match - Slark: ???

It was a lobby match since mine and Luther’s connection were abysmal. We were embarrassed how we kept getting disconnected whenever we queue, so lobby it is. Luther tried out Lion and he was sorry about feeding. I’ll update this entry if I ever find the stats for this match. It doesn’t show on Dotabuff, too bad.

I played Slark, one of Luther’s top heroes. I haven’t really played him, so I was excited to learn what made him tick. I asked Luther what items he usually gets for Slark. He nonchalantly tells me that after his Skull Basher, he would go for an Eye of Skadi. I’ve always thought that Skadi was a late game item and was difficult to farm for, but I didn’t want to look weak.

So a few minutes later, kaching; I got a Skadi. Luther was so surprised at the speed of how I got it, hahaha. But he keeps on laughing at the Pounces I couldn’t land. I’m laughing too, so whatever. I thought Slark was ridiculously powerful. He moves really fast, he has good attack speed, I don’t know. I was able to solo Roshan with him, too.
I’d like to practice with this guy more soon.

We had a Chaos Knight enemy. I don’t think we had team fight heroes and had a hard time controlling the CK. We lost that match, and it was okay. I learned a lot, and I think I did a good job with Slark.

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Fifth match - Earthshaker: 7/6/21; 519/473

This time, Jace, Tyson, and Stan left. It was 3 AM and they were tired, hahaha. So Luther and I had to queue by ourselves. We faced another CK, so I instapicked Earthshaker. So much salt from the previous match, haha.

Even if I am kind of decent with Earthshaker, it’s just so difficult to farm with him. So I tried the role of a roaming ganker on him because laning would be a waste of time if I can’t get CS. I really needed items: Arcane Boots, Blink Dagger, and an Aghanim’s. When I’m not anticipating any fights soon, I waste all my mana on CS and jungling.

It makes me wonder why I like this hero so much. It’s such a pain to farm. But then I remember those satisfying Echo Slams and well-placed Fissures, so my doubts go away, haha. Earlier today I got 18/8/24 on Shaker. I didn’t know we were playing with new guys. I ended up trying to play Shaker from semi-support into carry because everyone just kept dying with 10+ deaths, especially our Huskar.

It was probably the first time that I played Shaker as core (or whatever you call it). I had Aghs, Shiva, Tarrasque, Daedalus, Arcanes, and a Blink. I never had this much farm as Shaker before, and it feels good. With his Enchant Totem, he deals up to 2k worth of damage when he crits, and that is insane. My favorite part was when I solo-killed the fed Riki and ended his streak.

Okay, back to the match. Our Sniper rushed a Moon Shard because why not. Luther was Bristleback, one of his aces. We had a Nyx which did nothing but kill steal with his Dagon 5 combo. So when we were throning and I noticed that only one hero was left, I called missing. Nyx went to the fountain to do his usual thing and I locked him there with a Fissure. I could hardly breathe as I told Luther of the assholery I just did. Laughed so hard even though it was around 4 in the morning.

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Sixth match - Huskar: 18/2/11; 682/542

This was our last match for the entire thing. I saw that our Riki picker was very new with the game. I waited until the last second to pick because I wanted to compliment everyone’s pick. The next pick for our team was Nature’s Prophet. The three of us waited until the last second to pick our heroes. I got tired of waiting, so I instapicked Huskar. At the same time, Luther went with Silencer, and Mickey with Troll Warlord.

All-carry team for the win.

Because of the time, I felt a little woozy, so I had to focus well. I didn’t want to lax just in case the Riki and the NP feeds. Had to try my best to carry the team. Carry the carries, new meta. I called mid because I want to have the game under my control. As soon as I hit level 6, I went around the map and started killing as much as I can. This one time that I died, I went to top lane (we were team Dire) where Riki was by himself, and there were two enemies. I jumped in since Riki was in position, too. All he did was just stare and, yeah, I died. So I decided not to trust Riki to follow up from that point on.

All Riki does is just stand around. He doesn’t even get CS. It’s kind of weird. He doesn’t even move around. He just…stands. But he went 8/0/11, so I guess he’s doing something right.

The other time that I died was when I messed around with Armlet-toggling. I died to a creep, lol.

This Nature’s Prophet told us that he was a newbie at the beginning of the match. I guess that’s another reason why I went with Huskar. There was this one time when he was constantly asking for help in chat. When I panned the camera on to his hero, we found him stuck on Radiant’s cliff where you usually put wards. It was ridiculously funny to us; I laughed as I typed about this. That’s when I realized that the NP wasn’t a newbie at all and was just being a funny, troll-ish guy. He got himself up there, pretty sure he could get himself down.

I mean, yelling out ‘help!’ on chat when you’re stuck on a cliff? It’s so funny, seriously. What can we even do for you? Nonetheless, it was a fun match. Snowballed pretty hard. Everyone was talking in chat, except the Riki who continued on being mysteriously quiet and immobile.

We got out, the sun was starting to rise. We had breakfast at our usual place; it’s open 24/7. Luther went home instead of staying at my place since it was not dangerous anymore on his way back. I slept at around 5:30 AM, and woke up at 3 PM.

I may have decided to ‘waste’ my time in Dota, but it was time well-spent. I had fun, I got to hang out with friends, there were no drugs involved, I didn’t have to spend money, I do not have a hangover, and I learned stuff. I write this entry so when I look back, I’ll have something to remind myself on how much I’ve enjoyed life.

Last updated July 17, 2015