Amateur Dota 2 team takes down enemy tower at the 0-minute mark

Dota 2 is a versatile game and it is no surprise to see innovative drafts and plays styles now and then. An amateur Dota 2 team did just that by taking down the enemy tier 1 tower at the zero-minute mark. As far as we know, this has not been done in the history of Dota 2.

A Dota 2 match during the AD2L League saw an innovative and a possible first in Dota 2’s history. The Dire team marched down the bot lane before the start of the in-game timer. As the casters slowly realized what’s happening, the Dire team was already hitting the tier 1 tower.

The Dire lineup was not optimized for a zero-minute tower push. But with Beastmaster, Nature’s Prophet and Abaddon, this lineup was able to take down the tower very early.

The heroes in Team Illegal (Dire) were as follows:

Nature’s Prophet’s Nature’s Call spawned the Treants that would soak up most of the damage. Beastmaster’s passive, Inner beast allowed all heroes and summons to hit the tower faster.

The enemy team's surprise was evident from Storm Spirit's chat messages. Towards the end of the clip, the Radiant mid-laner even says "WTF, do we do" signaling the team's apparent helplessness to this new strategy.

For starters, Team Illegal started hitting the tower before the zero-minute mark. TP scrolls are on cooldown till the zero-minute mark and so the Radiant team players could not teleport to defend. But there was a small time-gap when Radiant could have TP’ed to defend. Would it have saved the tower? Yes. But Dire would have simply teleported back to its lanes. As the Radiant players would traverse the map to get back to lanes, they would be at a disadvantage. 

The average MMR in this game was around 3.5k, but it's a strategy that has caught the attention of the Dota 2 community. So the next time you spot five heroes in a lane, be prepared for what’s coming. 

Team Illegal spent a lot of time waiting for the enemy safe laner to show up. But this can become a legitimate strategy if the team just smokes up and moves to a lane to take down the tower. Dota 2 teams have taken down Roshan before the start of the game, even during The International events. But this might be the first time that a tower has been destroyed at the 0-minute mark. Maybe professional teams will adopt this as a surprise strategy in the ongoing DPC Season 2.

Sparking Arrow Gaming replicated the same strategy in a professional game. It was a quick tower push in the top lane, but it was not enough to help the team change the game's outcome. However, it was a new record, one that will stay with Sparking Arrow Gaming for sometime.

The Amateur Dota 2 League brings together players of different skill groups to compete in online tournaments. There are three skill groups: Pro, amateur and novice and players can pay an entry fee to enter the league.

Stay tuned to esports.gg for the latest Dota 2 news and updates.