Examining 'Game Sense' and how you can begin to develop your own

We hear the term game sense all the time. A sixth sense that pro players have, allowing them to get out of lane just before they get ganked, or know exactly when the enemy is trying to Roshan. Casters whisper it in hushed tones as players seem to read the other team’s mind, able to anticipate their every move. How do they do it? Have they been bitten by radioactive spiders? I can’t guarantee they haven’t, but usually the answer is much more simple.

Players use a combination of both knowledge and experience to anticipate what their opponent is going to do next. But you don’t need to be a member of Alliance to start developing these skills. By breaking it down into its basic parts, game sense becomes less mystical and more manageable for anyone to start using to their advantage.

Knowledge

Knowledge is an important part of game sense. The more you know about your opponents, the more you can narrow down what actions they’re able to take. Knowledge is the easiest part of game sense because it’s all there in front of you, but what exactly are you looking for?

Good map vision is an important part of developing good game sense. With good vision you can keep a close eye on enemy movement and begin to make your first predictions. Take a look at the minimaps below. One shows good coverage of the river and enemy jungle, and the other has no wards. The more of the map you can see, the more the enemies plans are revealed. Are they all farming the lanes and jungle? Or are they all missing? If they're missing, when were they last seen and what direction were they heading? If you can see most of the map and the opposing team suddenly disappears it's a safe bet that they're up to something. This is a great start, but can we make more specific predictions?

This map shows excellent coverage, although I cheated and used five wards for this example

With the map hidden, the enemies plans are shrouded in mystery

Learning the ins and outs of every hero is a difficult but unavoidable part of playing Dota. If you've got no idea what that skeleton with the bow can do, then countering him becomes a very difficult task. Knowledge of the heroes on the enemy team means you can start to make some more specific predictions. Knowing that when Bounty Hunter, Riki or Nyx Assassin hit level six they will start popping up all over the map trying to secure kills means you can be ready for them with dust, and avoid being an easy target for them to hunt.

Looking at what items each hero has can also give you some important clues about the enemy's plans as well. If every hero on their team has built a Midas, you can be reasonably sure the enemy want to take the game late. Items can also suggest how the hero is going to be played. In the example below, one Nature’s Prophet is build towards helping out his team in a fight, and the other is a ratodoto build that would make AdmiralBulldog blush. See if you can guess which is which, then mouse over the picture for the answer. Looking out for Blink Daggers on their initiator or a BKB on their carry also allows you to estimate how ready your opponent is to start team fighting. By looking at an opponent's item progression you can start to judge whether one team has an advantage. When everyone on your side has at least one big item up and the other team is still running around with branches, it might be time to press your advantage and start pushing.

  
The split pushing (ratdoto) build

The helpful team mate

Knowing your enemy's play style will also make predictions much easier. In the pro scene each team has their own style of play that they prefer, Obviously this won't be possible to do if you're just solo queueing but you can still make some predictions based off their lineup. If they have a Nature's Prophet, Clinkz and Phantom Lancer you can probably expect them to go full rat doto. Or if they have three carries you probably want to try to finish the game before they can all get farmed. By judging when the enemy team is going to be the most effective you can start to plan the right time to strike for victory.

 

Experience

Ultimately game sense is looking at the enemy team and working out how they want to win the game. Good players put themselves in their opponents shoes, but the best players get inside their opponent's heads. What does your opponent think will win them the game? In time gathering knowledge, experience and making accurate predictions about your opponent will become second nature. It may seem like a lot to be keeping track of all at once now, but just pick one thing to improve on each game and before long you’ll get the ultimate game sense compliment: you’ll be accused of map hacking.