If only I actually had that much rhythm...

One thing i can recommend as well to new players is Purges videos and LD and Lumi's Dota show, they cover the Chinese # system of farm in great detail for even a noob to understand.

1. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w0GRBkQS6fc&feature=plcp this one talks about hero roles and rethinking them


2. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=64hTs8hv46I&feature=plcp this one is for our supports <3 all about counter warding


3. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UTNGTAUXdW8&feature=plcp want to learn the basics of captaining? it all starts with picks and bans and finding a strat.


4. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8oa_lzTzb-Q&feature=plcp Everyones favorite balls to the wall role, initiator is here.


5. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dOjEoOGP72g&feature=plcp this focuses on spectre, but theres some awesome CS tips here!

I cant recommend watching dota enough, if people are too scared to play, at least watch. you get these ideas in your mind and you can see what other people are doing and sort of adapt your own playstyle to pick up on what someone is doing well or what you think you should be doing. like if you see a support struggling to ward, maybe you figure out what they could have done so when your in a similar situation you can come out for the better. I know when im farming pretty terribly i get a tendency to go afk in the jangle. statistics show that if you can clear the jangle in a minute then your doing about 500+ gpm.. what if you do that for 5-6 minutes? thats a reaver, or that BKB you desperately need! i would have never figured that out by doing some research and figuring out timings by watching old school dota, and now that people are even better theyve become more efficient so now more than ever is the time to watch!

TLDR linked some great videos by Lumi and LD in some great topics and talked about that IH or MM anxiety and how to overcome it!

 _ATLAS that was an awesome post. I cleaned it up a bit by making the links clickable and making it into a list.

I haven't seen at least half of these videos, so I guess I have to queue them up and make some popcorn Thanks much.

LD and Lumi did an hour long show about the chinese number system of farm, i cant track that one down ill start a post for yall when i find it!

as to the dota show videos id say its the day9 daily if dota theyre that good!

One thing that I have noticed with the inhouses is that people will build an optimal team without the people to fill the roles. i am comfortable with the group and am able to speak up with my preferences, but newer people may not have the comfort level. I think that its important to communicate what sort of strategy we will be attempting with a clear definition of the role expected from each character. As a captain, one should remember the varying skill levels in the group and make sure that no player is forced to play a character with which they are not comfortable or do not enjoy.

This is an amazingly complicated thing to do for even an experienced drafter. Just selecting the proper heroes for a certain strategy within the time limit is overwhelming. The main thing I'd like to express though, is that drafting inhouses under captains mode is a no-pressure environment and I understand that there are heroes people are completely uncomfortable with, but everyone should be open to trying something new, even if it doesn't work out. There's no way for a captain to learn 4 different people's list of comfortable heroes in the time it takes to draft.

Unless the game is AP at least one or two people are going to likely be playing heroes they are unfamiliar with, and that's okay. While you shouldn't draft Chen, Anti-Mage, Tinker, Leshrac, and Beastmaster as a captain, players should feel comfortable to step outside of their toolkit of heroes and try something new. That's how we all get better.

I see what you're saying. Its probably not super simple to build a team with optimal make-up based on five people's preference. In my suggestion I intentionally left out the words inexperienced because I agree that it shouldnt be an excuse. I was focusing on comfort and enjoyability. If the group. for example wanted me to play a jungle Chen, I would not enjoy that. I have tried Chen and watched videos, but I cant get the micro down. I dont enjoy it enough to work on it. I was specifically bringing it up in terms of comfort. Another example, I personally need a lot of work on carries. If the group put me on AM, I would not be comfortable with that role for the group. He requires insane farm and the opposing team is going to focus on not letting him have it. By the end of the match I would feel personally responsible for a loss if I was farmed to a god-like status with a million kills. I'm not saying "let everyone pick their favorite" but listen to the group, communicate the picks. Its all for fun and learning, but everyone wants their team to do well.

I know that many people don't feel comfortable on certain heroes, but what I'm saying is that this is the best environment to learn. Half the people in every inhouse will lose, so I try to advocate for focusing on what you as an individual learned from each match rather than the outcome, even if you did poorly. No one should back themselves into a corner by saying "I just can't play x, y, or z" because in all likelihood that's not true, it just needs a bit of practice.

To sort of go along with what LoveIsDead is saying, it's at least of my opinion that the inhouse games are a great place to try new heroes or try new things out in a better enviornment than a matchmaking game or a pub, the fact that games like TMM games are tied to your account statistics shys people away from doing something they normally might not do, so what better place to try something new than the inhouses.. who knows you might find a build or a hero you really like that you normally wouldnt ahve tried

Just played my first inhouse and had a good 60+minute game that was a lot of fun. Also I watched this video awhile ago and found it really helpful, on zone control and positioning. Which is really a huge impact on how a game plays out.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=9ihVc2swLPQ

Fierce does good work, definately brings up some of the lesser talked about topics but still really important!