General DiscussionHOW DO YOU DRAFT?

pick blues, ban greens. always works.

srsly, i base my drafts on game intuition and dont estimate everything conciously. it just "feels" that axe doesnt interact well with necrophos, windranger is bad against jugg, etc. the more experience u have (both ur own and streams count), the better drafter you become.

ofc some details that u analyze conciously also matter, you cant afford playing against enigma without any stuns, or you need diff type maincarry against omni, etc. but i guess u know this stuff well enough.

Yeah, I don't have experience so I was looking for tips or advice for bans/picks or whatever like for example "axe is bad with necro"

Not sure how often these sites are edited though.

http://ezdrafts.com/
http://dotateam.me/

just give up, you're trash

a rather low skilled team (<5500 mmr) should pick what they can play rather than "counter" the enemy.
a guy who has 300 AA games better play aa than try to counter a hero with batrider and fail at it.

If you want to win, draft for your team. Don't worry too much about the enemy. Make sure that first of all you are picking heroes that your team can actually play well, has practiced together, have real synergy. You should have a game plan for how and when you will win the game. If your plan is not obviously one-dimensional it won't be possible to effectively "counter-pick" it. Even if you do pick a wombo-combo team, you can still easily win the game against split push if you win the lanes and control the tempo (when and where you fight).

Whatever the case, have your plan, practice it, and stick to the plan. Don't panic because they picked meepo or a broodmother or whatever. If you can get information about what the opponent normally plays, ban those heroes. Ban a category. If they start picking carries, ban their favorite supports. Etc.

Make sure you have some flexibility in case one of your heroes does get banned. Have one back-up pick at least for each player. Teams that win TI have had at least 5 heroes each player might play.

If your plan centers around a particular hero, like wisp, or meepo - then pick it first. If you are going to do a "surprise" pick it will only work once. After everyone there knows you can play it, they will ban it. Instead play like Alliance did to win TI3. Just play the same heroes every game until people ban them or prove they can beat them. After teams have decided they have to ban your tiny-wisp or whatever it may be, then switch to your back-up plan.

Again the most important thing for the draft is to play a game your players know how to win. If you like to dive and gank, do that. If you like to farm and stack camps, do that. If you 5-man mid the minute your chen gets mech, do that. Play your game, not the enemies' game and you will be much happier.

If you are focused on winning. Draft a lineup that your team can play and has great synergy

Always have atleast 2-3 options just incase an unlucky ban/pick comes up

Try to counter the enemies supports with your carry, BUT MAKE SURE THE CARRY CAN PLAY THE HERO YOU PICK FOR THEM. Pick varied supports, don't lock yourself into nothing but teamfight (tidehunter + silencer + phoenix*) and don't draft nothing but burst damage (pugna + lina +skywrath) Get a bit of everything and try to keep this phrase in mind "Can my team win 5v5 encounters well?" if yes then ask this question "Can my team get a kill (you)3v2(enemy) without wasting too many spells?" If yes then you drafted a good support lineup

Don't just ban heroes that you hate, ban a few that your team hates but also focus on being a jerk to the enemy team's lineup.

Don't go too much focus into one objective. Don't go full push, don't go full teamfight, don't go full earlygame, don't go full lategame. You need to always have a team that can beat the enemies lineup in atleast 2/5 catergories.
Categories:Laning phase dominance, spacing power, teamfight potential, outcarry ability, pushing power. If you can't beat them in teamfight then draft lategame and pushing.

Just keep this in mind and keep calm and focused :P

*thank you for pointing that our kitrak

@kitrak
With the aoe stun, the possible AoE nuke with aghanims scepter, the hex,

I included him in that little bundle simply because, while he may not be the best, he is commonly used to add some more crowd control to your lineup.
And thank you for pointing that out, I actually meant to put down phoenix there and not lion :P

u take the entire knowledge you have and make the best of it

thanks for replies this helps a lot.

If your team is actually good just pick meta heroes (make sure each player has 3-4 good heroes) and don't get outdrafted- if you give away too many broken heroes/synergies you lose before the game starts. If they pick wisp, ban tiny/sven etc. Drafting against a GOOD team is about the meta and synergy, if you want to be mediocre then pick what your teammates ask.

i thought relentless quit dotabuff :o

you cant kill that which has no life

so deep sam

pick a team that is flexible and can't be countered by one big hero/item etc. Like don't draft lich, cm, tide and sk and be shocked you lose every team fight once enemy has bkbs on their carries. Or picking necro and dazzle and they whip out AA. But since you know basics you probably realize all that. I'd just focus on 3-4 heroes each position can play and construct lineups from those based on what enemy has.