MMR Boosting Guide:
How to increase the Rank in Dota 2

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Chapter 1	Dota 2 Ranks
Chapter 2	Preparing for the Uprank
Chapter 3	Ingame Behaviour
Chapter 4	How to Rank up
Chapter 5	Strategies & Pro Tips

What’s inside?
What is really needed to improve the MMR and to reach the next level? Deep Insights on how to manage to get a better-ranked player.

Chapter 1: MMR Basics – Understanding
the Dota 2 Ranks

To rank up, first of all, it’s essential to know the Dota 2 MMR algorithmn in and out.

Each skill rank, has a typical player behavior to compare with – look into the mirror and change what is needed to change. 😉

About the Dota 2 MMR Ranks:

The Dota 2 Match Making Rating (MMR) displays the skill of a player through a rank symbol. These ranks are seasonal – every 6 month Dota players have to recalibrate their profile again.

While MMR had been distributed into solo and party in the past, it afterwards have been splitted into support and core MMR to guarantee a better role system for the five Dota 2 positions.

Nowadays the Dota 2 rank is based on one single rank with role performances. Everyone starts with a basic score and dependend on his performance the rank will drop or increase.

Dota 2 MMR Table for each Rank:

Why does every Dota 2 Player
want to have a higher rank?

• It’s an ego thing. Players want to show the world how great they are. A Dota 2 rank is like the ultimate classification that will affect their whole Dota life and the acceptance & respect in front of others.
• A higher rank (high is just an interpretation, high can be just more than your existent average score) feels better. It will give you a good feeling about the nice performance in the last matches.
• Low MMR players (players that lost a lot of MMR compared to their existent average score) often get another painful classification: They are told to play support and that’s the only role everyone accepts – which is just nonsense anyway.

Chapter 2: Before ranking Up

Are you ready? Maybe not.
Let’s improve your level of concentration:

What does it really need to win the next match? Before even starting you can prepare a lot to find the optimal starting conditions.

1.Set a Goal how much MMR you want to have:

Of course, every Dota 2 player wants 5000+ MMR. Although it is not a piece of cake – come out of the fantasy world and try to join the reality. 😀
Even for professional Dota 2 players, it is not an easy task, Dota is a super complex game. A few years ago Sumail set a goal of 8000 MMR, and it took him 11 months, to climb from 7023 to 8000 MMR.

Your rank should fit to your lifestyle:

Do not compare yourself with professional Dota 2 players. They do not have to worry about time management, study, job, etc. However, most of you do have to, your final MMR goal should be a suitable rank for your lifestyle:
Your starting conditions, like the gaming experience and the available playing time, determine where you will be on the ladder, but that doesn’t have to be the final rank. Through learning, great focus and right decisions you can manage to improve the rank in the same amount of time, but be honest, you can’t climb thousands of MMR.

Write down the starting point and your desired MMR:

First of all, write down your current MMR and admit that you have that. It’s you, but you can change it – your new life started right now! 😉 Write down the ultimate goal that you want to reach within 3 months: This can be 500 MMR or 1000 MMR for example. Do you think that’s not enough? It is, the most Dota 2 players set their goals too high and find themself at the same rank FOR YEARS!

Now comes the important part: Split the goal into small milestones, which can be steps of 100 MMR. For a 500 MMR goal, you have 5 milestones, for a 1000 MMR goal you have 10 milestones. Now just concentrate onto the next small milestone and everything else is not important. You will automatically gain more focus to reach the next stage no matter what is happening: It will unleash the ultimate desire to just get this next win and the +25 MMR!

3. Never stop Learning or you will
get Stuck on the same Level:

Do you know when a player stays on the same level and never leaves it? When he/she stops learning new things and stick to the easy stuff. If you do not want to stay in the same bracket, then keep improving yourself.

Start watching gameplays of professional players like the Dota 2 International events with a sensational prize pool. It is the best time to enhance your skills, watch all your favorite teams and analyze them.

Before moving towards the journey of increasing the MMR, improve your reactions, use of essential items, and come up with new strategies. Otherwise, your journey of increasing the MMR will shift into the journey of losing MMR.

Chapter 3: Ingame Behaviour to Rank up

MMR Boosting can start!

How should you play to really increase the MMR?

Ingame behavior tips and picking choices to get onto the next level!

Which Dota 2 Hero should I pick to rank up?

There are so many possibilities in a 5vs5 Dota 2 match, all heroes have their right to exist and can be played on a maximum level!All of the counters, synergies and situational good and bad choices make picking in Dota 2 a complex task. If you focus on winning, don’t get overwhelmed by this task, follow some easy rules on how to behave in ranked matches.

• Be Flexible inside your Main Dota 2 Role:

  No matter which Dota 2 position your are playing, having a high flexibility inside this role, boosts your MMR. Picking is about countering and for each situation you should be ready. Stop picking heroes because of fun and passion, pick because that hero is strong against the enemy line up.

  To get better at drafting checkout this guide:
  Dota 2 Drafting and Picking Guide

  For example, if you are a position 3 player on the offlane, it’s essential to learn offensive heroes like Windrunner or Clinkz as well as defensive heroes like Centaur or Tide. With a good picking decision from your side, your team will gain powerful strength right from the start!

  Support players can find this Dota 2 support role guide and carrys can find this Dota 2 carry role guide. 🙂

• Increase your Versatility on the Long Run:

  The higher you climb the higher should be your versatility: It’s great to become an expert with one hero of each type (Strength, Intelligence, and Agility).
  Moreover, become an expert in switching roles as well. Sometimes an allied pick can ruin the whole matchup, if you still have a remaining pick, you have the power to compensate the current picks and put it onto another level – for each hero setup the perfect next pick can be made.
  Even if the picks are totally f*cked up, a chaos making pick can bring you back to 50% for the chances of winning. Those can be a Broodmother, Clinkz, Meepo, Arc Warden, etc.

• When is the Right Time to Pick in Dota 2?

  Never pick core and carries heroes early or the enemy team will easily counter it. Always let supports pick first, it will let the enemy stay in the dark!
  Afterward, pick a tank or offlane hero. The last two picks should always be mid and carry.
  Analyze your team that what time of hero it is missing. For example, if the support and offlane are range/low HP heroes, go for a strong melee hero. It’s also always nice to make suggestions for the team because the others are in the same situation to think about the best possible pick.

  In the end, pick a core hero who can counter at least three enemy heroes — feeling confused while picking up the core? Use your Dota plus suggestion feature. Select a hero, and it will show the percentage of the hero and how effective the hero is against the enemy heroes. If the rate is red, it means it is the wrong choice. If the percentage is green, go for it.

• Never Make New Experiments in a Ranked Match:

  Experimenting with new heroes is a  good thing. However, testing in ranked matches is the worst thing you can do in your Dota 2 career. Chances to lose this match will be much higher. If you want to experiment with new heroes, tactics or builds use normal matches!
  Also, stop trolling and trying fun builds in ranked matches, just because you think you are cool. 😀
  For example, in some games, you will see players making foolish builds for heroes, such as Vladimir’s Aura for Invoker. These types of actions ruin your gaming experience and also reports will fly in. With a lot of reports your Dota 2 behaviour score will drop.

Learn the Critical
Mechanics of Dota 2:

What’s really necessary to win the next match?

• Know the importance of your role. If you are playing, never think you are useless. You are playing a central role that can decide the game with good moves and actions. Every Dota 2 position can just own a fight trough the right decisions. It’s up to you.
• Vision is the most crucial thing during a ranked match. It decreases your death rate and increases your kill rate: It’s much easier to gank with vision.
• Focus onto the map, wards are useless unless you are not focussing on the map, check it as often as you can with your eyes, be alerted.
• Cooperate with your teammates and build items that can help your allies as well (Support and tanks mostly perform this action).
• Babysit your core and carry hero in the early game. In the late game, they will lead you to victory. Ultimately your MMR will increase.
• Try to adjust in roles do not bother other team members.
• Use smokes for ganks, in higher brackets the usage of smokes is high!

Chapter 4: Tips & Tricks How to Rank up in Dota 2

Which tips and tricks will lead you to victory? Dota 2 needs to be mastered, learn these steps by heart and you will make progress.

Prepare for Basic Rules and direct tips to rank up!

4 Basic Rules to
Rank Up in Dota 2:

• Basic Rule #1: Focus on the win:
  Concentrate on a win instead of focusing on farm and kills. Dota 2 is a game in which any moment can turn the tables.
  Many players get overconfident after taking a few kills. If you have pushed back the enemy, do not waste more time on farm. Directly go for the towers and end the game.

  In the Dota 2 International 2017, Vitus Pro did the same thing against Evil Geniuses. Monkey King of Virtus Pro dragged the game, and it gave a chance to Sumail’s Storm Spirit. In the end, Virtus Pro lost a won match.

• Basic Rule #2: Accept the Picks (Never Look Back):
  Do not be selfish if you play carry, it does not mean you are the only carry in the world. Other players can also mark the carry role if someone does then appreciate their decision and move on to another lane.
• Basic Rule #3: Play with the right Guys:
  Play in a party with good average MMR, if few players in your team have high or low MMR, you will face enemies according to that. In both situations, you have disadvantages. If you play with people far away from your own rank, play unranked, it’s better for your MMR health. 😉
• Basic Rule #4: Favor Confident Picks instead of Forced Picks:
  According to the situation, go for your best hero. Sometimes a favored hero of you can be just outstanding and stomp the enemy team – this is more valuable compared to a “statistically good pick” that you can just play average.
  If you are pretty confident like Dendi that you can counter the enemy with your best hero, go for your best hero without seeing enemy heroes. A strong execution can easily dominate a game even if your enemies have good counters.

20 Dota 2 Tips and Tricks to rank up in 2 Weeks:

• Be near to your professional friends: Join their Discord, chat with them. It will give you a massive boost to your party MMR. 😉 Avoid friends that are stuck onto a low level.
• It is necessary to play a smooth game. In Dota 2 a complete team can vanish in a few seconds. Do not start a game if you are facing high ping. If the ping is excellent and the game is still lagging, then check out my ping guide.
• Play in a time frame in which you are incredibly comfortable. Otherwise, you will be in a rush, and your focus towards win will shift.
• Select the hotkeys that are on your fingertips. It will help in making instant moves.
• Avoid all the distractions, in-game, and outside the game. Do not let your siblings/kids disturb you. Get rid of toxics players as well. Mute them after the game starts.
• Be physically fit. Most gamers have one major problem: They do not leave the system. However, it reduces the level of understanding. Keep yourself fit, go for a morning walk, work out, or jogging is also an option. It will keep you both mentally and physically fit.
• Stop doing home chores during the game. Your complete focus should be on the game.
• Keep your focus on the in-game events such as ganks, bounty, and power up runes.
• Spam your all-time favorite hero if you keep on winning. It’s great to spam a flexible support hero, he can be adjusted in almost every situation.
• Never lose your hope even if you are losing too many games. Give your best and continuously increase your skills. If you are losing too many games, use the MMR tokens (if you have any). It will give you x2 MMR, and you will cover two loses in one game.
• You can make minor mistakes during the game but do not create a major one. Minor mistakes will only affect you, but the impact of the significant mistakes will hurt the team.
• Continuously harass the enemy hero by denying creeps. Tell your support to make some perfect pulls. It will automatically reduce the GPM and XPM of the enemy lane heroes. Do not know how to pull? Check out the creep stacking and lane pulling guide.
• Do not blame your teammates even they are making a mistake. Motivate them to play well. Fighting and arguing will make the situation worse.
• Take a quick break after every match, move in and out. Do your quick works and get back for the next game.
• Convince one of your pro friends to act as a match. A good coach can increase the chances of winning by 60%.
• Do not offend if your teammate is teaching you something better. It would be best if you always were willing to learn and adapt to excellent skills quickly. Never stop learning new things – it will directly affect your rank!
• Let the most experienced player act as the captain. Always consult your captain before picking a hero, get help from the best player.
• Help your teammates who are having a hard time in laning. Make quick gank and stabilize the lane for your teammate.
• Always set realistic goals that you can complete without making too many efforts. Massive goals are harder to achieve, and it has higher chances of losing.
• Long killing streaks look good. However, it has massive disadvantages as well. When heroes with long killing spree die, it gives a high amount of gold to the enemy. In most cases that much gold is enough to make a hero fat. If you are holding a streak, be more careful and avoid going first in clashes.

Chapter 5: Strategies & Pro Tips in Dota 2

If you already advanced to a high level player, try to adapt better and better techniques.

Never stop learning – like that you will climb the ladder!

How do Pro Players even Rank Up with Support Heroes?

In the Dota 2 community, 75% of all players see the support role as a disgrace and a waste of time. This concept is wrong. Pos 4 and Pos 5 heroes have the most crucial role in Dota 2. International players prefer good support heroes instead of carry heroes. According to Kuroky, Support role made his Dota 2 career, an excellent support can make you win a losing game!
Sacrifices that a Support Hero does for the Team:

• Supports pick first so the enemy team cannot counter carry and core hero.
• Buys all the items that help the whole Team, such as courier, wards, dust, smoke, Arcane boots, etc.
• Let the carry and offlane hero take the farm, focuses on harassing the enemy.
• Losing GPM and XPM continuously due to continuous ganks and switching of lanes.
• Pulling and stacking the creeps to give a disadvantage to the enemy heroes and create an edge for Allie.
• Sacrificing for core and carry hero.
• Nuking, Silencing, and Stunning enemies. (A massive advantage in ganks).
• Sometimes it gets boring to play support, but players still play for their team.

Excellent supports keep their allies alive. Moreover, they can win a lost game.
You may have heard one sentence for sure: “In fight kill the supports first!” That is showing how much impact supports can have!

Conclusion:

That’s it, now write down your desired MMR improvement and the exact timeframe.
Take a pen and a paper and start the new progress!

Write down the following:
Starting MMR: 3200 (Your current MMR)
Goal: 3700 (+500)
Timeframe: 3 Months
Milestones: 5×100 MMR

Now it’s time to tackle the first milestone and to boost that rank! 😉

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