To become a true professional player in Dota 2, you must excel in two basic game concepts: micro and macro skills. Even if you started playing recently.
A micro-skill is the ability to push buttons effectively, react quickly in stressful situations, and have knowledge of game characters. To effectively increase your micro-skills, you need to play public or league Dota 2 matches. Micro skills generally equate to mechanical skills in playing Dota 2.
Macro skill, in turn, refers to theoretical knowledge. Watch the Dota 2 live matches as the professionals play, to understand what we are talking about. The macro includes an understanding of gameplay, the ability to navigate well on the map and communicate competently with teammates. Macro Skill is the easiest to improve in a team game, such as a tournament.
The matchmaking rating is considered the main indicator of the player’s average micro and macro skills. The numbers don’t mean anything — it’s a rather famous expression. If it is true, it is for a very small number of players.
If you are an established professional player, then to you, MMR is just a number. If you’re someone who wants to qualify to call yourself a pro player in Dota 2, however, you can’t do without this cherished number. The doors to the elite leagues will be closed, the pass to the most famous teams will be unavailable to you.
Advice For Those Who Want To Become Professionals
- There are great examples of real-life stories of young guys from the top 70 rankings in Europe, which is already a good achievement, no one was interested in. But then a calibration happens, in which the player passes well and goes to the top of the European rankings. Dota 2 scores have not changed. After that, he begins to call for a test of all sorts of Tir-2 and even Tir-1. And the only thing that has changed is the number in the profile.
- It does not matter how you get to the high ranking: by spamming a hero, a Brudu flipper, or another way.
- The experience of many players shows that the end justifies the means in this matter.
- Friends and connections are just as important as a high rating. Many players have gone into downtime because they did not or still do not have enough friends in the Dota scene. The term “Esports friends” has its place.
- Whether you want to become a professional player or get a job in the industry, making the right connections will greatly increase your chances.
- Start building connections as early as possible. Be friendly. Feel free to add high-ranked and professional players as friends. There are many examples where people in a similar way and extra persistence got the opportunity to get to the test and the team.
- Luck. You can’t go anywhere without luck. It has to do with everything, but it’s incredibly important nonetheless. Some professional players may notice you in a pub. Someone you know may mention you in a conversation with a pro friend.
- Of course, you might play one good game in a tournament and catch the eye of one of the players on the opposing team. That’s the kind of thing that can jump-start your playing career.
- Don’t act like a dick — the unspoken rule of modern Dota. Although historically, this point was not so important for doters, trends are actively changing.
- You can run into huge problems by creating a negative image of yourself.
Let’s recap:
- Build your base by gaining micro-skills and racking up your MMR;
- Begin looking for a team once you’ve reached at least 6000 MMR. Playing in a team, you will begin to learn the basics of the macro game, improving your understanding and ability to communicate in the game;
- Use the knowledge you gain with your team to increase your MMR even further. Until you reach the top 1, you can’t stop;
- Build connections and make friendships with other highly ranked and professional players. Having a lot of friends in Dot will greatly increase your chances of getting on a good team;
- Work on your reputation. You can live with a bad reputation as an established professional player.
Never stop and never give up. You will have bad and even terrible days. Find a way to switch and keep working. If you start today, right now, you have a good chance of qualifying for the upcoming TI.
