Dota 2 has gone through a lot of changes recently changing so much that release notes made my eyes bleed. There is, unfortunately, some things that I think will never change, and that is those annoying types of Dota 2 players that I fear playing with, but I almost always find some of them in public matches.
Get all five in your match, and it is the perfect storm, but even just one can ruin a match for everyone else involved. Here are my top 5 most annoying types of Dota 2 players, so let the ranting commence!
Mid or Feed
The middle role in Dota 2 has always been seen as somewhat of a glory position, and with the new meta where many professional teams run the four protect one strategy focusing on the mid role, it is even more prestigious. The thing is, you need to be a skilled player, know your matches and mid heroes will enough to be able to handle the pressure of the mid role.
There are some players who only want to play the mid role but have no clue how to execute the playstyle properly. Then, to make things worse, they keep calling mid even if someone picked the role first. When push comes to shove and they are relegated to another role, they try to spoil the game for everyone. This type of incident doesn’t just happen with the mid role, but in my experience, it is the role where it occurs in the most.
The Wardless Maiden
If you pick a support hero and position in the lanes, then that’s what you should be doing, even if it is not a “super serious” match for you. That’s one thing I see a lot of support players in public matches just not get. Keep in mind that this isn’t all support players in public matches, far from it, but there are some really bad apples out there who try to make life harder for the team, by not purchasing wards, dust or anything else support should.
This issue has been there since the start of Dota 2 and I sometimes feel as if it is getting worse. Some players continuously take the last hits from their carries and instead of buying wards and helping out, they continue to farm for something like a Boots of Travel, Blink Dagger into Radiance Crystal Maiden, as an example.
One always has to remember that there are nine other players in a game with you and it is their time you will also be wasting if you pick a role but don’t follow up on what you have to do. That goes for core players as well. The life of a support isn’t glorious, but in the end, someone has to do it.
The One Hero…Hero
In this case, all heroes definitely do not wear capes. You’ve probably seen a lot of these players, who only choose to play one specific hero in public matches. What transpires if they don’t get the hero is basically bouts of rage, gaming ruining actions and just generally being salty throughout the match. Now don’t get me wrong, there is nothing bad about wanting to practice a specific hero over and over again, I did it with Slark quite a while ago and I don’t regret that.
Since two new heroes, the Pangolier and Dark Willow, recently got released, we will probably see an uptick in players who only want to choose one of these heroes and practice them. What is wrong, however, is when players ruin a game because they don’t get to play that specific hero they wanted, since someone else chose it first. Right from the start of the match, they will continuously complain, rage and maybe even blame the other player who picked “their hero” if things go sideways or keep hammering on the other player’s item build choice.
The Salt-Bringer
Some call the Salt-Bringer a troll, others a hero. Whatever your stance on the Salt-Bringer, this type of player is someone who wants to make others salty. Actions or words can do the trick, with some examples being trolling others to get a reaction, then basking in their “saltiness”. They go out of their way to anger people and then just call them “salty” until finally, someone on the opposing team, or even their allies, quit or just give up on the match.
I don’t know if this is some kind of deviation of a troll, or a specific subset of players who just like using the word “salty” over and over again, but it is definitely annoying. Especially if you just want to get back into the game after a long break, these players can really put you off. It almost feels as if this type of player has an old Victorian bathtub stashed away somewhere which they plan to bath in as soon as they can gather enough salty tears from their allies.
Mr MMR Matters
How much does your MMR really matter in a public game? Players gain MMR in Ranked matches, which is a completely different ballgame compared to public matches. You would think everyone knows that by now, but some players put so much emphasis on MMR and continue to talk about it in a public match that it becomes one of the most annoying things ever.
One example is that of a player who comes into a match and before all the heroes are even picked, he starts talking about how the game is doomed because one of the players has a low (or no) MMR rating. Alternatively, they start blaming their “low MMR scrub team” when the enemy team takes a clear advantage. There are much more examples of Mr MMR Matters, but the overarching theme is that even in a public game, they blame the players with low MMR.
Keep in mind that I am talking from my experience in South African public matches, and there are tonnes of players who don’t even play Ranked at all due to the high ping of international servers or the long queue time for local Ranked matches.
Have you met some these types players in a public match or are you maybe one of them? Can you think of any other types of annoying Dota 2 players? Let us know in the comment section below and share your stories with us.
