The Solo-queue Mentality:

The best only way to get good.

Way back in 2015 when I first calibrated my rank I was certain I was a 2,000 mmr player. You can imagine my shock when after playing ten games, I was met with a three-digit number. I was not a 925 mmr player. I was convinced of this fact. I did not play well in my calibration games. Yeah, that must be it. I continued playing, and after twenty more frustrating games, it became glaringly apparent what my problem was: my teammates were the problem. I was so much better than my teammates. They held me back.

This is a problem that plagues, not only a vast portion of the DOTA 2 player base but most competitive games. What is this problem exactly? I think the best way to address this problem directly is to take a look at something known as the ‘growth mindset.’

I am not a sports psychologist so my description will be basic. If you would like to read more about growth and fixed mindsets I suggest you read Carol Dweck’s book Mindset: The New Psychology of Success. Most players stuck in their respective climbs in the DOTA 2 ladder have a ‘fixed mindset.’ People with a fixed mindset experience the following behaviors: they avoid challenges, they ignore feedback that is not positive, and they thrive on the failures of others. These flaws in mindset lead to getting ‘hard stuck’ at an mmr. As you have probably already guessed, the opposite of a fixed minded is known as a growth mindset. People with growth mindsets meet challenges head-on, accept critical feedback, and most importantly look for lessons in the behaviors of the more successful.

How does someone apply or develop, a growth mindset for DOTA 2? As someone who struggled to develop this mindset, I created a solution that I think most players can apply to themselves. I sat down and wrote out all of the challenges that I faced when attempting to climb in mmr. If that is struggling with last hitting, missing out on fights, or making bad teleports around the map write them down. Now you do not have a list of things you are bad at; you have a list of obstacles to overcome on your climb. I kept my list next to me whenever I played, and when a mistake was made I would put a tally mark next to that behavior. This helped me develop a more conscious recognition of my mistakes. Instead of being frustrated every time I was caught out of position and died, I began to tell myself: ‘You made a mistake that you are trying to improve on, you should have just nuked the wave and left immediately.’ Developing this behavior through repetition will slowly promote a better mindset that in time will lead to improvement. You may make the same mistake the following game, but you will make it one time less. Improvement is a process. Deal with it.

Okay… Remember when I said there was just one problem players had when they are hard stuck? There are two. The second big problem I see when I am coaching players stuck at their current rank is not understanding negativity bias. When two things happen in equal amounts, with one being negative and one being positive, one will tend to focus on the negative side rather than the positive. This means that you will focus much more on a player on your team feeding than the enemy’s team. Focusing on lessening the effects of negativity bias is important to your personal development as a player. If you look at your games objectively, you will find that the enemy team has just as many griefers and smurfs as yours does.

This concept of negativity bias has led to a theory that I call the 20% theory. A friend of mine and I came up with this idea a few years ago, and I still think about it every day. The numbers have moved around a lot over the years, but I think that I have them right finally.

In any given sample size of games in DOTA 2, I believe that 20% of your games are impossible to win through no fault of your own. 20% of your games are free wins, even if you feed relentlessly. This leaves you with 60% of your games. The outcome of this remaining 60 % of games relies solely on your performance in them.

Adhering to a philosophy like this one can help keep you more sane during an extended period of grinding ranked games. Every so often you will lose games that are out of your control, and you have to let it go. I just mentioned this, but it is extremely important to remember. Sometimes your Sven will die with no buyback at minute 50. Sometimes the enemy team does have a smurf. On the other side of the same coin, you will get free games 20% of the time. Maybe your mid ember goes 20-1. Maybe the enemy carry deletes their items. It is so important to recognize this. Do not focus on those games, or at least the outcomes of those games. You will continue to make mistakes in them, just focus on you. If you just focus on them being ‘free wins’ or ‘impossible games’ you will lose your mind.

This leaves 60% of games, give or take, that you can directly influence. You have to accept the blame entirely for these losses. It is easy to look at a teammate’s mistake and blame the loss on that. You can always play better and play in such a manner that doesn’t create a situation where your teammate is even allowed to make that mistake. What could you have done to get more from the map before the enemy comes high-ground? Could you have won an additional lane by rotating? Did you not join a critical fight and your team lost?

These questions are so important to ask yourself because if you are focusing on these instead of your teammate’s mistakes you will find yourself solo-carrying games more often. Maybe you find yourself splitting people to death on AM, while your team feeds and you win anyway. It’s all in the mindset you have.

No guide will make you better. No amount of coaching will help you to improve.

Nothing matters until you have the right mindset.

Don’t focus your energy on the 20% games. Focus your energy on how to win the other 60% of unwinnable games, and I promise you will find ways to win them regardless.