Developing the mindset of a winner

Every once and a while, I find myself sliding from 3.6k to 3.4k MMR or lower with a series of games, most of which I couldn’t have done anything to change the outcome. When this happens, I need to refresh my mindset because it’s draining. I don’t want to get caught up in the negative aspect of the game I just played. To avoid this, I take advantage of two powerful feedback mechanisms that everyone has: reframing and perspective. The reframe changes your mind set from your current state to a desired state. Perspective gives you a reference point for progress in your game. With these two strategies, I perpetuate the mindset of a winner.

I am a senior electrical/computer engineering (EE or ECE) student at a small private college. The EE curriculum is a mix of required classes and technical electives.  The one technical elective that all EEs should take is control systems. In controls, the idea is to keep a system stable, i.e. keep the system from tilting, using a certain type of controller.  You mind operates on some of the same principles which means it’s up to you to control your attitude. A very easy way to do this is called the reframe. The idea is that every time you feel yourself descending into a mindset that you don’t want to identify with, you physically and mentally change that mindset. There are a few simple strategies you can employ to do this:

-          Tell yourself something out loud. Phrases like “I’m still the best”, “even good players have bad games”, and “I’ll get them next time” can go a long way to improving your attitude.

-          Watch a replay of yourself playing well, a highlight reel (like DOTA Cinema’s Symphony of Skills) or favorite player. These will help get your head back into a winning mindset

-          Develop a pre- and post-game routine. There’s a reason sports teams huddle together to pump each other up before and shake hands after a game – it works! This doesn’t have to be some super in depth ritual. I always begin my DOTA session by watching some live games to get myself in the right mind set and get some water after each game to walk around.

In controls, the reframe would be called a feedback approach and the perspective a feedforward approach. Basically, you use the game you’re playing today to influence the game you will play tomorrow.  While you’re playing the game, the only moment that exists is the current one. After the game is over, you can look at the whole game, noticing how certain events shaped each team’s play. This information translates into a greater understanding of how to play in those situations the next time they come around. If you watch professional players, they do this as they play because their reference experience is so large that they see minute details and courses of action that the average doesn’t. They then translate this into an advantage and that advantage into a win.

When you combine these two ideas, you create a potent control system for your game. It helps you stay positive, get more enjoyment out of the game and progress as a player. In order to really embrace these ideas, you need to do them constantly so that they become part of your normal thought patterns. Remember, however, to only focus on improving one thing at a time. I would recommend starting with learning to reframe because the time investment is smaller and you will see results from it sooner.  

It's almost time for that new patch smell

Many people have hopes and dreams for the next patch and rounds of balances. The big ones that come to mind are:
- Reworking buybacks interaction with reliable gold, experience, and the comeback mechanics and
- Balancing some of pub stars: Troll, Juggernaut, Lion, Sniper, and Axe come quickly to mind.
Outside of those two things glaring straight at The International, DOTA2 is in a good place. The support hero pool is large and diverse. www.DOTABuff.com just ran a three part series highlighting 10 of the most viable supports you can pick (you can find part 3 here: http://www.dotabuff.com/blog/2015-04-02-introducing-top-tier-supports--part-3). To that list I would add the Ogre Magi, Treant Protector, and Sand King. There are only a few heroes considered unplayable (Sorry Kunkka). The mid lane is seeing a Rock- Paper-Scissors-Hammer-Blade-Scream… between Shadow Fiend, Sniper, Storm Spirit, your magic nuker of choice (usually Lina or Queen of Pain) and the maverick picks ( Ember Spirit, Brewmaster, Magnus, Viper, and even Artzeey on the Razor). With that said, there are still somethings that need fixing so here’s my wish list.
There are a few abilities that need to receive minor nerfs. Sniper’s shrapnel is crazy good at 50 mana and a 40 second recharge rate. Either the mana cost needs to increase enough to where you actually have to consider the cost of casting it, the recharge rate should be increased, or a combination of the 2. I don’t think it’s that far off from being viable but not overpowered. The other ability that stands out is Lion’s Impale. This spell is targeted so as long as you reach the cast point, the stun will land unless they are super far away. This leads to some stuns that are a bit on the questionable side. The solution here is to either have it remain targeted but once you cast it, it goes a fixed distance in the direction of the target or make it a skill shot but increase its range a little. The trend has been to make things more skill intensive; think Fissure for the Earth Shaker or Impale for Nyx.
A few heroes would really benefit from a bump because they are narrowly situational, they are a worse something else, or they are just unplayable. Visage best fits the narrowly situational pick because you almost never see him without a Drow or another pushing hero. Chen has pushed out almost every other pushing hero except for the Enigma. The buff to his abilities is a welcome change, however now the situation exists where Enchantress is a worse something else. Maybe she needs a rework to compete like buffing the damage her creeps have or increasing her healing effectiveness. Finally, the unplayable heroes: Kunka, Alchemist, Leshrac, Chaos Knight and Lifestealer just cannot be picked because they are situationally worse than everything else. A buff to these heroes would be welcome, especially Leshrac. He puts out a ton of damage, but has to compete with QoP, Lina, and Storm for the position of mid int. hero and he can’t. He’s also not a good support because he damage is reliant on being alive for the duration of a fight. A buff in either direction would be most welcome and I think it starts with Lightning Storm.
Hopefully the next patch freshens up the current meta, bringing new heroes to prominence and pushing down some of the current stars. What are your picks for heroes that need nerfs? Buffs? Let me know in the Comments.