Dota 2 team’s big bluff pays off, wins game despite 27,000 gold disadvantage

Hold!
Image via Valve

Teams battle over resources and around their ability timings in Dota 2. In addition to skill cooldowns, the buyback mechanic allows players to spawn instantly in exchange for some gold. When a player buys back into the match, they are ineligible to do so for the next eight minutes. Players also can’t buy back if they don’t have enough gold.

Recommended Videos

Though it’s easy to keep track of your enemies’ buyback status, guessing their gold status could be tougher. Dota 2 streamer and analyst, Jenkins, was watching a match replay yesterday, which highlighted how impactful bluffing can be in Dota 2.

The Radiant team was down by 23 kills and playing with a 27,000 gold difference. The team had already had all of their heroes inside the base and decided to forfeit the game by calling “GG,” as the Dire team was already taking its second set of barracks to seal the victory. Teams can only concede a match when they queue as a party of five and doing so starts a 10-second timer that can also be canceled.

Though it looks like the Radiant team was set to forfeit the game and move on to the next match, it was only the first step of their master plan. Approximately after nine seconds of calling GG, the Radiant team canceled the timer and teleported to the enemy base with Underlord’s ultimate, Fiend’s Gate.

Radiant’s Drow Ranger, Vengeful Spirit, Viper, Underlord, and Shadow Fiend quickly took down the enemy tier three top tower and moved onto the tier four towers while fighting against the backdoor protection. Realizing the situation, the Dire team quickly responded by using Town Portal Scrolls and defending their base by taking down all the members of Radiant.

Shortly after losing the fight inside Dire’s base, Radiant’s Shadow Fiend bought back into the match to defend their base. Considering the Dire already had two sets of barracks down and they also wiped the Radiant team, they rushed down the mid-lane to end the match.

Team Radiant had one last trump card to play, however, since all the members of the team had buybacks and Underlord’s Refresher Orb was also ready to go. The Refresher Orb resets the cooldown of all abilities and items of its user. The Radiant was patient with their buybacks, however. The team didn’t want Dire to back off from trying to end the game. They held onto their buybacks as long as possible while expressing their fake frustration on chat, giving the impression to the Dire team that they may not even have buybacks.

The remaining four members of Team Radiant bought back into the game after Dire stepped into their base, and the whole team teleported into Dire’s ancient once again with Underlord’s ultimate, turning the situation into an unexpected base race. Since the Dire team used their Town Portal Scrolls for Radiant’s first attempt, they weren’t able to teleport back to defend their base and lost the game despite having an enormous lead as a result.


Dot Esports is supported by our audience. When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn a small affiliate commission. Learn more
related content
Read Article Elite League Dota 2 2024: Tournament schedule, results, streams, and more
The Elite League logo transposed on a background of Dota 2 heroes.
Read Article Valve will finally help you dodge toxic Dota 2 players, but it’s going to cost you
Vengeful Spirit and Underlord in Dota 2
Read Article Not another letter patch: Dota 2 players left disappointed by Patch 7.35d’s small changes
Omniknight in Dota 2 versus Pudge and Witch Doctor
Related Content
Read Article Elite League Dota 2 2024: Tournament schedule, results, streams, and more
The Elite League logo transposed on a background of Dota 2 heroes.
Read Article Valve will finally help you dodge toxic Dota 2 players, but it’s going to cost you
Vengeful Spirit and Underlord in Dota 2
Read Article Not another letter patch: Dota 2 players left disappointed by Patch 7.35d’s small changes
Omniknight in Dota 2 versus Pudge and Witch Doctor
Author
Gökhan Çakır
Gökhan is a Staff Writer and Fortnite Lead at Dot Esports. Gökhan graduated as an industrial engineer in 2020 and has since been with Dot Esports. As a natural-born gamer, he honed his skills to a professional level in Dota 2. Upon giving up on the Aegis of Champions in 2019, Gökhan started his writing career, covering all things gaming, while his heart remains a lifetime defender of the Ancients.