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DOTA 2: Climbing MMR and Dealing with Toxicity

Community figure, lore guru, and content creator SirActionSlacks shares his insights on grinding to Immortal rank and how it... Fragster | 3. October 2021

Community figure, lore guru, and content creator SirActionSlacks shares his insights on grinding to Immortal rank and how it changed him psychologically. 

SirActionSlacks— a mad scientist in disguise

SirActionSlacks (or Slacks for short) is either a beloved or notorious community figure in the DOTA 2 scene. From despicable techies guides to somewhat useful guides for Omniknight and Windranger, his content might make it hard to pin him to a certain disposition. But don’t let the manchild demeanor fool you— Slacks is actually a strategical mastermind. He uses his education as a psychology and neuroscience major to manipulate his pub randoms into cooperating and leading them to victory.

He recently reached Immortal rank and posted his experience on Reddit. He reflected on how his personality changed along the way, and how something he enjoyed slowly turned into a toxic obsession.

Slack’s Stages of Playing Dota

Playing a competitive game with four strangers requires a strong mental resolve a high tolerance for toxicity, usually from others but also from within. Slacks attempts to describe playing DOTA by formulating his own allegory of DOTA players going through stages before “ascending to DOTA zen”.

Honeymoon Phase

This is the part where everything feels amazing because it’s a new experience. You hop into the tutorial and you understand the basics, then you try a few games to see what it’s about. This is when the game is actually fun because you are playing “with no care for wins or losses, only the joy of new experiences and learning”. 

For example, a novice would be ecstatic at every single kill, objective, or successful fight— when more experienced veterans would simply disregard it.

tyler

TYLER1 celebrates a successful team fight engagement. Usually a League of Legends streamer, he tried DOTA 2 for a change. (via YouTube)

Specialization Phase

This phase is when players have tried most playstyles and roles available in the game. Similar to how Team Fortress classifies their agents as offensive, defensive, or support, DOTA heroes, as well as players, play certain roles better than others. This is when players start to optimize for the specific playstyles that they want or enjoy.

“Get Good” Phase

Slacks describes this as the longest and most stressful phase for most players. This is where you “start to care less about having fun, [and] more about seeing how good you can get if you tried.” 

This is when people start raging because they dedicate time and effort to get to the top. This is when people watch tournaments and read guides to understand the “meta”; it might even be the reason you’re reading this now. Inevitably, tryharding symptoms kick in— every mistake feels worse and the blame game starts. 

This is when players are most passionate— and consequently, when they are most prone to burnout.

Self-actualization

If you are familiar with ex-pro SingSing, you might know him for being a tryhard but he has matured into one of the most chill streamers today. Slacks labels this phase as the self-actualization of the player. It is the moment wherein the player accepts that “this is where they can get if I really tried” and they are once again free to enjoy the game, win or lose. 

The hardest thing to do in DOTA

Slacks explains that some players will be more invested in grinding MMR than others. This discrepancy causes most of the stress linked to underperforming teammates. Doing (or seeming to do) everything right yourself will make your team’s mistakes even more frustrating. 

He explains that there is no perfect MMR bracket and that there will always be griefers, casual players, and game ruiners. This leads us to the hardest thing to do in DOTA according to Slacks: “to be good, but not be a piece of shit.”

The solution to toxicity

Slacks gives a few pointers to help players become stable in the face of toxic teammates and avoid being toxic themselves.

  • Try to control your emotions — “It’s only game, why you have to be mad?
  • Learn something every game. 
  • Realize your mistakes and apologize for them.
  • De-tilt yourself after losing straight games.
  • Move on. Internalize your mistakes and do better next game.

Conclusion

Getting better might last for a long time, but remember that the journey to the top is not supposed to be easy. Realizing that you yourself have the tendency to be toxic is a great step to self-actualization. Slacks’ advice is to try and get more people to realize this themselves. “It’s time to help rather than flame. [It’s time] to become a leader once again.” 

 

(Header image via ESL | Bart Oerbekke)