Notice: I will not be posting till 6th March because of my exams, although I may still check my blog once in a while to reply to comments. Sorry for the inactivity =(
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Okay, so it's been half a month since I started this blog, and I'm going to be inactive for a few days as stated above. So I'd like to know how my blog has been so far. How do you like my blog's theme? How are the posts? Do you want any changes in blog layout? What kind of posts do you want to see in the future? Anything.
Comments and suggestions to improve the blog are greatly appreciated and I will try to implement them if they seem appealing.

This post will also serve as a permanent comments and suggestions page and I will link it to the blog's main page.

Here's a list of links to all the posts:
1) Introduction: First Post
2) Linear Skill Growth vs. Exponential Skill Growth
3) Understanding hero combos
4) Top 5 Most Useful DotA Programs
5) Advanced Last-hitting strategies
6) Garena and B.net comparison
7) v6.59 Update commentary
8) Analysis post -- Tanks: The DotA Meatshields
9) Warcraft 4... is there ever going to be one?
10) Earthshaker - most accountable team hero
11) Sun Tzu's Art of War and DotA
12) DotA Actions Hierarchy
13) INT Heroes' late-game potential

Common idea: INT heroes are good early-mid game but they become quite useless late game. Wrong. Actually, INT Heroes are strong early-late. It's just their usage and playstyle that changes. In the laning phase, they're important because of the sheer power of their nukes and stuns which is extremely useful for any team situation. Not to mention their ability to arrive on the scene and kill quickly (which gives flexibility for planning strategies spontaneously.)

In fact, I believe that INT heroes are 'carry carries', because they're the ones that hold the game long enough for the true carries to get powerful. Which is why they're picked in each and every game.

So let's get to the topic: How INT heroes can be useful late-game (even in public games)
For one thing, we know that some of the INT heroes can become semi-carries (sometimes, the main carry) late game. Examples are Nortrom, Obsidian Destroyer, QoP, Alleria, so on.

Though some may disagree, nukes are still powerful late-game because of their RELIABILITY. Look at my 'Understanding hero combos' post for more details. Nothing beats arriving to the scene and dealing quick and instant burst damage. I'd like to call nukes as the early game 'EARLY GAME OBLITERATORS' and the 'LATE-GAME CARRY COUNTERS'
Early game, you dominate by relying on your nukes' damage. But how they're useful late-game is what's interesting.

Late game is when most carry heroes rely on their physical attacks (Troll, Morphling, etc.) and have to stand and trade hits to deal damage. So when you're up against such a hero (farmed), standing and trading hits with him is not the best idea. A better idea is to stall for time and waiting for the initiators/nukers arrive. Nukers don't have to trade hits; because they can quickly and efficiently deal damage regardless of how strong the opponent is. This is what makes them important 'carry counters'. When it's an AGI vs. AGI it depends on who has more DPS (bash chance, lifesteal, etc. also comes into play; but let's keep things simple). The weaker person can't hold his own in a stand-ground duel vs. the enemy carry. But NUKERS can ninja a spell from afar.

Let me illustrate this with an example: Zeus, an INT nuker.
Early game your nukes hurt hard, and if you play your cards right, the game shouldn't last very long. Mid-game you take on the role of a ganker. Late-game (where most people believe you're weak) is where it's different. Now, heroes can take on your spells and still survive. So you have to move into the 'second-line' of attack and change your playstyle to 'ninja' mode. Before the bulk of the battle begins, try to get in a Lightning Strike on a key hero; it helps more than you think it does. Even a -200 HP to start with makes your team target that hero first. Also you're good at initiating a 'focus-fire sequence' because of the huge casting spell effect. Improvise.

There are loads of other things which you can do late-game as well. Here are a few:
Initiate 'focus-fire sequence' with a Guinsoo (which most people buy for INT heroes); provide solid support to your team in the form of a Shiva's Guard; massive AoE, mind games (because of your low cooldown-spells and a disable if you've purchased a Guinsoo), ability to counter carries, so on and so forth. The possibilities are endless.

Sometimes, overfarmed carries tend to think gung-ho and look down on their team's casters and nukers. And you know what'd happen to such a team.

3) Outfarming your opponents: A sure-shot way to win, and just a LITTLE less important than the above. Items often determine a game. They're what allow a carry hero to carry. Watching an overfarmed Troll killing you like ants isn't an uncommon or surprising sight. Ganking and killing is all well and good, but if you don't atleast TRY to farm, you're going to lose out on items (unless you're getting all the hero kills). Farming this way is good, because you have a back-up in case your enemy Troll just escaped a few ganks with 5 hp and is now saving up gold.

If I had to pick just one hero in every game for the rest of my life regardless of the enemy heroes, I would pick the Earthshaker. I can count on him in every game. As an AoE attacker, his spells combo well with most other heroes (esp. other AoE heroes). From pubs to the highest level of games, you know you can count on Raigor. He's the best hero to counter pushes and also to initiate pushes. With his 1000 range Fissure spell which can stun a hero from far, it also has dozens of other uses like saving allies/trapping enemies with its blockade-ability. Really flexible spell. Once he has a blink dagger, he can wipe out entire enemy lineups in the blink of an eye... especially with another AoE damager (like QoP). With the Blink-Fissure-Enchant Totem-Echo Slam (or blink-echo-enchant-fissure) combo you can completely destroy enemy pushes. Late game image carries like TB, Naga or Phantom Lancer are no match for ES's Echo Slam. And if you get a refresher, they don't stand a chance.

I can tout for him to be the 'most useful hero for every situation' in DotA. There's no bad time to pick him. He's useful in every game regardless of enemy heroes. Just get him a Bottle and Dagger and he can still own. Raigor's gold-effectiveness ratio is excellent. He combos well with most heroes.

There's no reason not to pick this cow in every game.

With the release of StarCraft 2 and Diablo 3, I assume that Blizzard had its hands full on these two major projects. Not to mention WoW. So will we ever get to see a Warcraft 4? If so, when?

As expected from Blizzard, the game will be awesome if it ever is made. And IceFrog will probably create a DotA map for WC4 as well. The transition of heroes and items from WC3 to WC4 can be done relatively easily, but the problem is with strategies. It will completely change, and it'll be almost like playing a new game. Does it mean the end of WC3?

I'm guessing it'll become something like the Quake series. Even after Quake 4's release, people still play more of multiplayer Quake 3. WC3 will retain its charm for AGES to come. With millions of people already into DotA, I wouldn't be surprised if they don't shift to WC4 overnight. The cycle starts all over again. Let's just hope that IceFrog is still there for us when WC4 comes out.

Bye.

Wikipedia defines a tank (gaming) as: "In gaming jargon, a tank is a player or unit designated to protect weaker players or units in combat by drawing enemy attacks and absorbing damage. Compared to other units, tanks have a high damage tolerance and specialize in melee combat. The term meat shield is roughly synonymous with tank, often carrying the additional connotation that the unit is relatively expendable or inconsequential and its death is preferred to the death of the units it protects."

Tanks are one of the most important players in a team, and without them the team will easily fall. A team needs atleast one tank. So let's analyse tanks to gain a better understanding.

A common misconception among DotA players is that the only tanks are the high-STR heroes with massive HP. They tend to overlook other key factors like armour, evasion and overall EHP (effective hitpoints, which factors in both armour and evasion)
They believe that tanks are solely for taking the damage, and are usually incapable of dishing out damage and carrying the team.

Sure, the Wikipedia definition is true... tanks must have high health, must be capable of taking in damage, and must die for the team. That's what we all want -- our team's tank taking all the punishment for us so that the lower-HP heroes can survive and attack the opposing heroes. And that's what we believe our tanks are doing... stocking on HP items before even considering what would be the best way to help the team.

This, is the ideal concept of a tank. But no one, and I mean NO ONE who's decent at DotA will target and focus fire on a tank UNLESS he's of some threat or hindrance to them.

I would like to partially rephrase the 'tank' term to suit the game of DotA - 'A tank is someone who can take the punishment for his team, acting as a meatshield and getting focus fired but at the same time can deal significant damage to the enemy.' A tank's presence must be felt. He must have the ability to last long in battle and contribute to the team as much as possible. Getting focus fired means that you're buying more time for your team mates to attack your enemies, and possibly saving your main carry.

This is why it is advisable to buy a Radiance for ALL TANKS. It's a key item for tanks and is what allows you to take the role of a tank. Immolation damage is invaluable to your team and I believe that there should be one on your team in almost every game. This is because with immolation, people will target you first (which is what you want) because it damages them over time. Coupled with your stuns/disables, you can really cause problems for them. Almost always, you should get it before a heart. Because if you get a Heart first then you would delay the Radiance taking it into late-game where it's not as effective as in the mid-game stages. Also, most tanks have some form of block damage either by skill or item, which helps them to play some mindgames coupled with their strong HP regen. Life-steal and the uncommon evasion on tanks (ex. Panda) also helps.

That said, a tank doesn't always have to be a STR hero. Even late-game agility carries like Troll Warlord, Faceless Void, Phantom Lancer, Mortred can become tanks in some cases because it's hard to bring them down with physical attacks (with the exception of magic/exact damage, which in fact tells us about the usefulness of INT heroes late game) because of their high armour and excellent evasion.

With this, it's easy to understand why heroes like Centaur, Axe, Bristleback*, Syllabear*, Davion, Leviathan, Sven, Panda, Balanar, Barathrum are commonly picked tanks. If you notice, ALL of them are also capable of carrying the team if the team requires one.

*Bristleback: Even after the nerfs (STR gain decrease), Bristleback remains one of the best tanks. This is because of his incredible ability to stay in battle because of his BB skill, and stouts/vanguard which you'll buy for him. He gets focus fired, but can still deal damage in an area with quillspray. Coupled with Radiance, you can dish out lots of damage in an area. And his STR gain nerf is nothing to worry about, because in the end, its just about a 10 STR less at level 25 (190 HP less, 10 damage less, and a small decrement in HP regen). He still has his awesome skills.

*Syllabear: After he gets True Form at level 16, he gets a MASSIVE 1k HP boost along with the skill "One" which enables him to share half the damage received with his bear. And you can keep it on endlessly. It's really hard to bring this guy down once he's fully farmed.

Oh, and tanks are fun. =)

Recently, Garena just reached 10 million registered users. A staggering number. Who would have thought that the GG-C would have risen to such heights. But is it enough to beat the old-timer B.net at its own game? Let's see...

Garena:

1. An excellent client for playing games with players from other countries. (I get better pings from Singapore players than my own country's server. Amazing isn't it?). B.net on the other hand lags a lot if you're playing with other countries. Inter-continental games are not uncommon.
2. No more -em games. Period.
   
3. Lags less.
4. With its new ladder system, games are a lot more fun in Garena now. Especially when there are high level players (MYM and SK to name a few) playing in clan rooms.
5. GG-TV which allows users to watch live matches.
6. It has a 'level-up your char' feeling like in MMO games.
7. Easy to make friends. Friends are your biggest asset if you want to play any game online.