4Game

I’ve been playing Dota for maybe two years, and ranked for about a year and a half of that. I’m a position 4/5 player and initially calibrated Guardian I, and from there bounced between there and Crusader II or so, often getting really discouraged when I fell back down to low Guardian even though I was working so hard to improve. The game often felt totally out of my hands even when I believed I had played well.

A week or two ago I hit Crusader IV, and since then my winrate has been ~90%, no exaggeration whatsoever. I’m showing 18-2 at the beginning of games and getting called a booster. The game just feels way, way easier and I’ve gotten to Archon IV effortlessly when I struggled in Guardian for a year. I know I’ve improved over time, but this is way too sudden, and I now feel like I’m too skilled for my current rank. My working theory is that cores in this bracket are able to actually take advantage of the space that I create and respond to my ganks, stacking etc., but I’m honestly kind of baffled.

Do you think there’s a “support trench” in Dota, or a trench in general? Do certain types of player struggle more in some brackets and do better in others? Interested in hearing other more experienced players’ thoughts on this.