Dota 2 Principles #5: Staying off the Map
This week we will focus on the mini-map, and staying off of it. LIke seriously, the minimap is looked at pretty much every second by myself after the laning phase. And even during the laning phase, if I’m a hard carry focused on last hitting, I still try to keep the corner of my eye one it. You may adjust the size of it in options to where is needed.
In order to show you how important staying off the mini-map is, let me explain to you how I use the mini-map’s advantages. Most important is location, but you can also tell when enemy is about to gank. You can click on them or your teammates can and you can estimate how close they are to an item. Usually if you see someone show themselves, you know they might jungle nearby then you can gank those places. And probably most applicable to pubs, knowing if they are 5-man or just greed farming. With that, you can smoke and pick off a few, or choose to push/defend a tower. (Note: With an opposing PA, make sure to check with your actual screen, which is good in general to be honest due to particle bugs you may see enemy in roshan or jungling even through the fog of war).
With that said, you can use some mindgames,with manta or illusion rune, or pushing a creepwave fast, retreating, then tping to smoke with your team while the enemy thinks you might be jungling nearby. THe possibilities are endless.
TL:DR-Try to stay off the mini-map when not farming, and always watch your own mini-map to predict where the enemy might come from.