Guide to being a Captain in Captain's Mode

In this guide i will teach you how to be a succesful Captain in Captain's Mode. I will teach you which heroes you should probably ban and pick, as well as providing some premade lineups. I will also provide a list of populair Pro Tier picks and i will also tell you what your duties are during game.

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Introduction

Besides All Pick, Captain's Mode is the most famous and most played gamemode of DotA 2. Almost every eSport tournament is played in this gamemode. CM is a very interesting gamemode, since it stimulates teamplay and it allows you to play in a way that AP pub players would call 'foolish', 'retarded' or 'nooby'. For example, your team probably won't call you names if you stand behind the enemies' Tier 1 tower as Bounty Hunter, waiting for 2 minutes for the enemy courier to arrive. If you want to create or join a team, you'll have to know how you must play in CM. If you do so, and become a good captain, you can even earn money by playing DotA 2, just like Puppey, ChuaN and s4.

Drafting: Know yourself

The first thing you'll have to do is knowing yourself. You'll have to know which heroes you can play and against which heroes you suck. If you want to try something new, or play a new hero, DON'T DO THIS IN CAPTAINS MODE! If it goes wrong, you're team will shout at you, even more than in AP. You also need to know how to counterpick and how to play against most heroes. Don't play CM if you don't know all heroes and items. And even if you do know these things, don't play Captain's Mode if you aren't in a party with at least 2 others. If you are in a party, use Skype or Teamspeak to improve your communication.

Drafting: Know your Allies

The next step is knowing your team. If your playing with random teammates, you should ask them which heroes they can and want to play. Believe me, if you select heroes for your team that they don't want to or can't play, you have likely lost already. If your team is angry at you, because you've given them heroes they don't want to play, they may play bad, or pick the hero you wanted to play. Be nice, discuss which heroes to pick and ban and don't forget to press Y and select Well Played! from time to time.

Drafting: Know your Enemy

I know you're gonna say that you can't possibly know five random players in around 5 minutes. And that's true, but that isn't what i'm saying. I mean drafting. You have to look at the bans and picks of the enemy. Did they ban Bounty Hunter and don't have a carry? Then they will probably pick Weaver or an other carry with invisibility. Did they pick Tiny and don't have an initiator? Then they will probably pick someone with a big and powerful AoE hero who needs a Blink Dagger, like Enigma or Tidehunter. You'll have to realize which heroes the enemies wants to pick, and ban them.

Drafting

And so begins the Drafting Phase. Which heroes do i have to ban? Which heroes should i pick?
To help you, i'll provide an overview of bans and picks. You can also simulate drafting @ http://dota2draft.the-cluster.org/

1. The enemy banned Bounty Hunter or Slardar.
The enemy will probably pick a hero with invisibility. Does their team have a hard carry? If the answer is no, you should ban Weaver or Clinkz.
2. The enemy picked a Hard Carry/banned a pusher
The enemy wants to extend the match into the late game. Pick pushers to end the game quickly or gankers to shut the carry down early. Some good options are Lone Druid, Leshrac, Lycan, Pudge and Night Stalker.
3. The enemy picked a powerful pusher/banned a Hard Carry or Counterpusher
The enemy wants to end the game as quickly as possible. To counter this you should pick a carry AND a counterpusher. Some good counterpushers are Tinker, Venomancer, Invoker and Lina. Some good Hard Carries are Doom, PA and Faceless Void.
4. The enemy picked a powerful AoE initiator.
There are two ways to counter this. Picking an AoE disable or avoiding teamfights. For the first option you'll need to pick a hero with an AoE disable that allows your team to escape or turn the tides. Some good examples of heroes who have this ability are Naga Siren, Medusa and Faceless Void.
5. The enemy picked a powerful ganker.
There is only one way to counter those heroes; picking a support with CC who buys wards.
Especially the jungle and offlane need wards. Ward the runes, so you can keep track of the enemy ganker. If you ward the lane adjacent to the offlane and safelane, it will prevent the enemy ganker from doing his job. Examples of supports with CC are Lion, Shadow Shaman and Shadow Demon.
6. The enemy picked Io.
A classic one. When the enemy picks Io, they want to pick a short range Ganker to assist him. Ban heroes who can gank, but have to be close to a target, like CK or Tiny. The best way to counter Io ganks is to pay attention to your lane. If a white dot appears go back to your tower ASAP or buy a TP at the side shop.
7. The enemy picked a Jungler.
Lucky you. A Jungler is very easy to shutdown. Pick a powerful Ganker, so he can disturb the enemy jungler. Let your support buy wards and give them to the ganker, so he can block the farm of the enemy jungler. Examples of these gankers are Enchantress, Nyx Assassin and Night Stalker.
8. The enemy picked an early-Roshan-slayer.
This problem is easy to solve. Buy wards and place them near the Roshan pit. Problem solved. However, if you think the enemy is smart enough to buy smoke, you could pick someone who can provide vision of the pit. Examples of these heroes are Beastmaster, Templar Assassin and Venomancer.
9. The enemy picked Rubick.
The Grand Magus is one nasty fella. He can and WILL use your best spells against you. Well, this isn't a reason to sip an AoE Initiator. Keep track of the Magus with wards, and pay attention. Don't let him steal that Eclipse or Ravage, since it provides an additional initiation to his team. You could pick Initiators with a low-mana cost spell to counter him. Examples are Pudge, Tidehunter and Nyx Assassin. Another way to counter him is by picking master gankers.`
10. The enemy has a pro player like Dendi, Lod[A] or H4nn1.
Don't loose faith. I know, those guys play for money and own, but you can still try. Please do not be like RoX.KiS, who picked 3 mid heroes just because Dendi was on the opposing team. Just ban 1 or 2 of their best heroes, and play safe.

The Game: Support

When you're captain and playing as the team's Support, it's your duty to ward important spots.
After that's done, you should pull and stack camps for your Carry. Always carry TP's, since you can help your team in a gank or teamfight. Look at the other lanes every 5 seconds in order to motice ganks and TP to them. Next on the list is dewarding. Buy Sentry Wards and place them on populair ward spots, since the enemy's map control will decrease if you do so. This makes ganking enemies easier for your team. Communicate with your team's Midlaner to set up potential ganks on the enemy Midlaner. Buy Smoke of Deceit when you try to gank to avoid detection. If you are captain, you should play Support, since this is the most efficient role for a captain. This is because you are close to your team's Carry and you rule the early game thanks to your high early damage and CC.

The Game: Carry

Being a carry brings great responsibilities. You'll have to carry your team to victory, and in order to do that you'll need a lot of farm. As a captain, you should communicate with your team's Support, since he will be the one to protect you in the early game. Ask him to stack camps and pull camps, so your farm will increase significantly. Also ask him to ward the jungle, since it will prevent ganks. Ganks are the nightmare of every carry, since you'll lose gold and you can't farm for a long time. Also ask your team's Solo Mid to gank you're lane in order to create a safe farming environment. In the lategame you MUST carry TP Scrolls AT ALL TIMES or have Boots of Travel , so you can join your team in a teamfight across the map.

The Game: Solo Mid

Solo Mid is also a very good role for a Captain. The reason for this is that the Solo Mid is very strong during the Midgame, and has most of the team's damage before the 30-minute mark. Listen to your team; Which lane needs a gank or which lane is being ganked? Always have TP Scrolls in your inventory, so you can react to the enemy team, wherever they may be. Be aware of the map so you can see an enemy gank and TP to the lane so you can help your allies. Don't go to enemy territory by yourself, unless you have smoke, since you will be dead when the enemy spots you.
When you're ganking a lane, communicate with your allies while travelling to that lane. Discuss who will initiate, and what you will do after. Please, nothing is more embarassing than launching 3 stuns at the same time at the same target. This will really spoil your ganks.

The Game: Jungler

When Jungling, you should Always communicate with the lane adjacent to you. If they want someone to pull, be their man/woman. Hopefully your support will stack camps once in a while for you. And when they need help, don't sit there and farm. Go into that lane and launch some spell/rightclicks at unsuspecting enemies. A lot of pub players play Junglers like ♥♥♥♥♥; AFK farming for 25 minutes. Don't do that, Gank the adjacent lane once in a while. Wait untill the lane is pushed to your tower, then go behind the enemy and ambush them. With a liitle help from your teammates, this could be one/two easy kills.

The Game: Offlaner

Offlaner isn't the best role for a captain, since you'll be spending the first 15 minutes alone in the offlane. Ask your support to ward the adjacent jungle for you. Don't be afraid to ask for a gank. Even a little bit of harassment from an allied ranged hero would be nice. When the laning phase has ended, you should do what your hero has to do. This really depends upon the hero. If you're Mirana or Batrider, you should initiate for your team, if you're Clinkz you should RAT Doto Push.
One piece of advice; When you're captain, you should'nt pick an offlaner for yourself, and when you want to play offlane you should'nt become a captain.

Ending

I hope this guide taught you how to be a better captain. When you're confident enough about your leadership, you can create a team with 4 friends and play in TeamMatchmaking. And don't forget to tell the DotA 2 community who learned you to be a captain when you're team plays at the International! ;)

If you have suggestions or comments, feel free to post them in the comment section below. U can also add me if u want to conversate about this guide or other things.

[⛧"get schwifty"⛧]

nice guide but realy?? which captain open with a bounty or sladar ban?.... progamers maybe ^^

[Rektz]

nice guide . hopefully we got an update for this

[Fruge]

Great guide, m8. Hope you update it to the latest meta tho.

[swello]

Dude my best hero is weaver, and literally NOBODY in pub CM bans him. They choose like 1 mid tank, 1 support and 3 squishies. I end each game with nearly 30 kills. It's like, in pub CM, everybody just bans riki, pudge and bloodseeker and then craps themselves when they get owned by more obscure heroes like DK, Lesh and Weaver. :)

[yuo're mom]

Nice guide :D

[Brader]

Thanks man.

[ErstKnight]

Cool guide man I will give this to my friend when we play CM.

[JungKaputt]

Thanks for this Guide

[76561198117935549]

nice guide.

[yetanotherus3r]

"Please do not be like RoX.KiS, who picked 3 mid heroes just because Dendi was on the opposing team."

any chance anyone can find the VOD for this match? :D