When I started playing Dota 2 I absolutely hated it. I refused to play it. No one could convince me to go through the pain and suffering of repeatedly dying, being outplayed by everyone and the abuse that came with those performances. During The International 3, I decided to make an effort to watch the tournament and it completely blew me away. Orange tearing through the Losers Bracket, taking out DK and pushing towards the finals. The commentators were going wild, I had absolutely no idea what was actually going on but I knew it was epic. This brought me back to the game. We're now in the middle of The International 4 a n entire year later, I now have over 700 hours played and almost 450 games listed on my Dotabuff.

Dota 2 is like an abusive relationship. It's a genuinely great game, competitive gaming at its near finest. When you do well you feel fantastic, you've earned it - you outplayed and outsmarted the opponents. You'll have games you won't forget about with big performances and dramatic team fights. But there are games that will haunt you due to ferocious emotional abuse from team mates. These games don't end quickly, you can be harassed for half an hour during a slow and painful loss. The community isn't as bad as other MOBAs, but it's very easy to blame other people. If you win, people will sing your praises through the game. If you lose, and if you're a support like myself - prepare yourself.

I've played a fair amount of MOBAs, from League of Legends and HoN to the more abstract Awesomenauts and Smashmuck Champions. Dota 2 has to be rated as the best. It's tactically sound, it's gorgeous to look at, the 100+ heroes are all interesting and challenging and the team synergy is there to be picked up on. You can win games by choosing a more aggressive or pushing lineup. Go for team fight heroes and combine to wipe out the opponents or make space for certain heroes to keep the game going for as long as possible and win late into the game. Games can range from 10 minute stomps to 75+ epics.

The game mechanics are for your team to gain gold and experience from killing creeps and opponents, but also to deny gold and experience by denying creeps and team mates - killing them so they can't get the kill. Everything is tactical, where you go in the map, at which times, controlling vision, acquiring runes or when to defend and when to push for towers or ancients. This is again, why the entry point into the game is so difficult. There is a very steep learning curve. You also have a shop menu to work out which items you should buy to help your heroes in different ways. You will learn this with experience. I have put this much time, effort and stupidity into this game and I still don't know a lot of things about the game. I still don't fully understand what heroes counter which, and I don't have full understanding of some abilities or item builds. It takes time and patience.

Dota 2. It's a game I grew to really appreciate, but still a game that can ruin your day in one disastrous game. The competitive scene is great and fully supported by the game developers, it's constantly updated with community created cosmetics, mini events or new heroes. And the only time that in-game purchases are required is for specialist things like team pennants, tournament passes or cosmetics for your courier or hero unlike that of other MOBAs that require you to earn or purchase heroes to have the chance to broaden your playing experience. Easily recommended, but just be wary and try to keep your team mates relaxed and mediate them during those bad losses. You can't win every game.

When I started playing Dota 2 I absolutely hated it. I refused to play it. No one could convince me to go through the pain and suffering of repeatedly dying, being outplayed by everyone and the abuse that came with those performances. During The International 3, I decided to make an effort to watch the tournament and it completely blew me away. Orange tearing through the Losers Bracket, taking out DK and pushing towards the finals. The commentators were going wild, I had absolutely no idea what was actually going on but I knew it was epic. This brought me back to the game. We're now in the middle of The International 4 a n entire year later, I now have over 700 hours played and almost 450 games listed on my Dotabuff. Dota 2 is like an abusive relationship. It's a genuinely great game, competitive gaming at its near finest. When you do well you feel fantastic, you've earned it - you outplayed and outsmarted the opponents. You'll have games you won't forget about with big performances and dramatic team fights. But there are games that will haunt you due to ferocious emotional abuse from team mates. These games don't end quickly, you can be harassed for half an hour during a slow and painful loss. The community isn't as bad as other MOBAs, but it's very easy to blame other people. If you win, people will sing your praises through the game. If you lose, and if you're a support like myself - prepare yourself. I've played a fair amount of MOBAs, from League of Legends and HoN to the more abstract Awesomenauts and Smashmuck Champions. Dota 2 has to be rated as the best. It's tactically sound, it's gorgeous to look at, the 100+ heroes are all interesting and challenging and the team synergy is there to be picked up on. You can win games by choosing a more aggressive or pushing lineup. Go for team fight heroes and combine to wipe out the opponents or make space for certain heroes to keep the game going for as long as possible and win late into the game. Games can range from 10 minute stomps to 75+ epics. The game mechanics are for your team to gain gold and experience from killing creeps and opponents, but also to deny gold and experience by denying creeps and team mates - killing them so they can't get the kill. Everything is tactical, where you go in the map, at which times, controlling vision, acquiring runes or when to defend and when to push for towers or ancients. This is again, why the entry point into the game is so difficult. There is a very steep learning curve. You also have a shop menu to work out which items you should buy to help your heroes in different ways. You will learn this with experience. I have put this much time, effort and stupidity into this game and I still don't know a lot of things about the game. I still don't fully understand what heroes counter which, and I don't have full understanding of some abilities or item builds. It takes time and patience. Dota 2. It's a game I grew to really appreciate, but still a game that can ruin your day in one disastrous game. The competitive scene is great and fully supported by the game developers, it's constantly updated with community created cosmetics, mini events or new heroes. And the only time that in-game purchases are required is for specialist things like team pennants, tournament passes or cosmetics for your courier or hero unlike that of other MOBAs that require you to earn or purchase heroes to have the chance to broaden your playing experience. Easily recommended, but just be wary and try to keep your team mates relaxed and mediate them during those bad losses. You can't win every game.