Dota 2 Escape Plan Fails, Thanks To One Push

In the recent Captains Draft 4.0 match, Evil Geniuses were pushing high ground when the fight started to go the wrong way. Clinton “Fear” Loomis hit the escape button, but thanks to a tiny, very Dota interaction, the rest of his teammates didn’t come with him.

Loomis was playing Underlord, a beefy fella who can root and drop fiery rain on foes. But his ultimate, Dark Rift, gives his team a global presence. It opens a rift that will, after a short delay, teleport the Underlord and any teammate near him to whatever unit he targeted.

It’s great for moving as one, and especially for escaping — it’s very difficult for the other team to stop, and usually the best option is to just kill the Underlord.

So while Evil Geniuses was pushing up the high ground and things started to go a little south, Loomis started up the getaway rift and positioned himself in the middle of his team. It looked great, until one little shove sent him flying away from his squad and he rifted away, alone.

A cheap, effective item in Dota 2 is the Force Staff, which I like to call the “push stick.” Using it on a unit shoves them a short distance in whatever direction they are currently facing. It’s great for hopping into a fight or jumping out, but here, Team Secret used that interaction to ensure the only one riding the rift home would be Loomis.

Using some replay magic, I went back and found that Yazied “YapzOr” Jaradat was the hero who pushed at just the right moment.

EG lost two on that push, and Secret would take game one off the back of that play, eventually winning the series 2-1. EG went home, while Team Secret now sits in the grand finals after a 2-0 over Mineski.