LoL vs. Dota 2. Pro Players Discuss What’s Harder
The topic of comparing League of Legends and Dota 2 in terms of complexity is being actively discussed in the media space. We will tell you how it all began and where it is moving now.
One of the most popular professional players in League of Legends, Ilyan ‘Doublelift’ Peng answered a question about Dota 2 during a stream:
“There is no chance that Dota 2 has a higher mechanical skill ceiling than in the League. There is turning speed, built-in delay, not so many “skill shots”, jerks and mobility.”
“I’d say Dota has more to learn than League when it comes to build diversity, champion pool diversity, [and] map plays,” ‒ Doublelift said in a stream. ‒ “But mechanically, no. There’s a zero percent chance Dota has more mechanical skill ceiling than League.”
“You have more buttons, but they are directional, unlike skill shots, so you do not need to constantly demonstrate a high level of mechanical skills. The whole point is in understanding the game, while the League is really mechanically intense.”
In addition to arguments about the mechanical differences between games, Doublelift admitted that over the past eight years he has been playing Dota many times and in almost every game has “shitstomped” opponents alone thanks to his skills.
After the statement was published on thematic resources, discussions were expectedly raised. Not the last person in the Dota 2 community joined argues, the two-time reigning the International champion Johan ‘n0tail’ Sundstein said:
“I too went into my first and only League games and shitstomped them,” ‒ N0tail said, referencing a quote by Doublelift about outplaying Dota 2 opponents in pub games.
“Real talk though, if on average pro games have 4-5 kills in 30 minutes, what are the critical objectives? Is it like a mega extended laning phase where it’s all about last hits and harassing?” ‒ N0tail asked.
A little later, n0tail offered a very interesting and unprecedented challenge:
“Idea: Me and Ceb will meet with two outstanding players in the League of Legends, discuss the advantages and disadvantages of the scenes that we present. After that, we will have an in-depth discussion of our games. Obviously, both games are great, but I wonder which aspects are more difficult.”
So far, there were no people willing to accept it, and the Dota 2 community already managed to express skepticism about the venture of the OG representative. The first to express his opinion was a Ukrainian talent familiar with both scenes, Michael ‘Olsior’ Zverev:
“By the way, football is more complicated than hockey, because it has a bigger field. And hockey is harder because it is harder to beat with a hockey stick than with a foot. Once upon a time, people will no longer make senseless comparisons of what is more difficult or easier, and they will only enjoy their games.
The most important thing is that it is like a dispute. WHO IS STRONGER BATMAN OR SUPERMAN (of course sup). It is just stupid, senseless and merciless. Every game is complex in its own way, and every competitive game is also hard. It is only a platform where you need to beat another human.”
It is still difficult to argue with the fact that if a meeting of players of this level from different disciplines takes place, it will be at least very interesting for fans of both games. After all, it is one thing when ordinary players who just like their game discuss the advantages and disadvantages, and it’s a completely different situation when all the high-level professionals analyze it in detail.
It is believed that both leaders of the MOBA genre are now in recession. Who knows, maybe the format suggested by n0tail could help the developers of both games adjust the development vector of their projects in the right direction.