GANK

[PSA GO AROUND AND KILL] by FortyeniN “If your enemy is equal, prepare for him. If stronger, elude him. If weaker, crush him.”

Ish’Kafel the Dark Seer.

Ganking has and still remains one of the most challenging but rewarding aspects of DoTA because it requires players to process information rapidly and to ‘outplay’ their opponent. The ‘Ganker’ is the guerrilla warfare specialist of the team. His job is to disrupt the enemy team by killing enemy heroes and by setting up kills. In doing so the Ganker helps control the map and forces the enemy team to either stick together or to be picked off, giving your carry ample room and time to farm his core items. However unlike every other role in DoTA, any hero can gank and every hero can contribute to a gank regardless of their items. The key differences between good Gankers and bad Gankers lies in knowing when to gank and knowing how to gank. This post will focus on the latter and focus on the mindset required.

THE RESOURCE SYSTEM OF DOTA

DoTA has three key and very distinct resources that both teams must utilize if they wish to win. Gold which is necessary for items, Experience which is necessary for abilities and Time which dictates cooldowns, day/night cycles and Roshan. While most players are very aware of gold and exp, very few are aware of the concept of time as a resource. Let’s use an example of a gank set up by the mid Lion on the Radiant safe lane. The two Dire heroes, Vengeful Spirit and Skeleton King are met by Lion, Lina and Sand King. Sand King burrowstrikes into Skeleton King and Lina follows up with a LSA. Sand King immediately channels his epicenter and Lion promptly uses Finger on the low hp Skeleton King. Skeleton King reincarnates and is promptly Impaled and Hexed into oblivion while the Vengeful Spirit hastily flees. In this example the Radiant team has blown two high cooldown spells to grab a single kill on a medium priority hero. For the next two minutes Lion’s burst combo is cut down to 33% and with the mana expended he has no choice but to run back to the fountain. This example while grossly exaggerated demonstrates the need for the Ganker to emphasize the resource of time. Unlike Carries who need a combination of gold and experience or Pushers who simply need gold, the Ganker is working against the clock and therefore must maximize this resource to the best of his ability. Because the Ganker peaks in effectiveness faster than any other role he must acquire a significant kill lead for his team during the first twenty minutes of the game. That Lion in the example who wasted his Finger has wasted almost three minutes of effective time because he has the 120 second cooldown and the minute wasted first moving in for the gank from the mid lane and then heading back to the fountain to replenish his mana. While he can still gank and contribute to kills with his Impale and his Hex the Finger allows him to gank on his own and to rapidly burst down high priority targets.

HOW TO GANK

Because any hero in the game can gank in the early to midgame before teamfights start to occur ganking is of crucial importance. In order to do so you must remember to fight dirty. A gank is never a fair fight. Your job is to outnumber, outmaneuver and to limit the options available to the enemy hero(s). This is why Furion and Nightstalker are first bans and first picks. Their ability to simultaneously fulfill all three allows them to play aggressively and dominate the game. While you certainly can gank when the enemy is equal the closer matched it is the more likely you are to incur casualties of your own or have a failed gank. Ganks break down into three phases: Preparation, Initiation and the Chase. Ganking is one of the most fundamental elements of DoTA and it is one that boils down almost exclusively to experience because you must be aware of all options available not just to yourself but to the enemy. In the matter of seconds you have to process how the enemy will react, who to focus and how many spells you need to secure a kill because slip ups in these areas will lead to either gross overkills or to failed ganks and a Ganker does not have the luxury of time. Because ganking is universal in all games practice it constantly. Consciously remind yourself to not stack stuns on a single target or to prioritize a single target instead of aimlessly attacking someone else. Check your mini map and estimate where the enemy heroes will are and what paths they might take when fleeing. Practice until it becomes internalized because the only way to avoid being ganked yourself is to be able to think like one and to play like one. FOR CLARIFICATION:
 * Preparation: This is the movement that occurs on the map to set up a gank. Smoke of Deceit or Mirana’s ult or an invisibility rune helps in being able to set up unnoticed by enemy wards or vision. During this phase you must keep in mind the vision available to the enemy and utilize the fog of war. During daytime most heroes will have 1800 vision provided nothing is in the way (trees, cliffs, etc). Because of this enemy heroes will see you coming if you approach them directly. Taking slower more circuitous routes through the jungle will make it much more difficult for the enemy to spot you without wards and smoke nullifies the information wards provide. You must analyze the heroes involved in the gank and identify which one is the highest priority. Carries are to be targeted first but heroes with disables or snares must be taken into account as well. Be sure to ping or to type which hero to focus for your allies benefit and keep an eye on the minimap for your allies position. Unless if the enemy heroes pull back before your teammates are ready do not go in as you will most likely need their help. Remember that both you and the enemy have a finite series of options available so you must consider them ahead of time and quickly decide on a way to limit your opponents ones. For instance when ganking Morphling you must keep into account his waveform and to position yourselves so that once he comes out of his waveform you can catch him out. Coming in from behind them leaves them sandwiched between you and your allies and heroes with abilities like Fissure or Shrapnel can limit their angles of movement. Instead of aiming skillshot abilities (Kunkka Torrent for instance) right on the enemy, always aim an ability slightly behind them (so that you still catch them in the original aoe) this way even if you miss the enemy hero is forced to move out of his original path to avoid your spell.
 * Initiation: As with before you must analyze the opposing heroes and identify the highest priority target. Heroes with escape mechanisms (like Burrowstrike or Windrun) must either be dealt with (silence/stun) or ignored completely in favor of a guaranteed kill. Heroes who can disrupt your gank (disablers or healers) need to be disabled or focused depending on the priority of the other hero. Carries are to be prioritized unless you are unlikely of killing them (i.e ganking AM with no long duration silence/stun). Slow moving heroes or those without escape mechanisms are essentially guaranteed kills and should be delegated last unless they are close to their tower. Do not waste high cooldown spells on a target that would die anyway. Do not ‘stack’ (that is cast while the effect is still on) stuns or snares on a target (a useful way of timing is by autoattacks. 1 second stun merits a single autoattack before stunning again, 2 seconds is 2, etc) as you will need every ability to secure a kill. Make sure to animation cancel your spells and attacks and to continuously move toward the enemy so that you can land those extra 1-2 attacks. On high priority targets don’t be afraid to waste high cooldown spells SO LONG AS YOU CAN GUARANTEE A KILL. Dropping Shadow Shaman wards or a Finger or a Laguna blade is perfectly fine if you can kill the opposing teams carry as those spells essentially merit a free kill otherwise. If you see your allies attacking a target then join them, try not to split fire between two targets unless one is already almost dead. Remember that the goal of a gank is to kill the opposing hero. It doesn’t necessarily matter who got the kill (although ideally it would be nice if the carry got the last hit) provided that a high cooldown spell was not used to steal the kill. Don’t get upset over ‘kill stealing’ because any way you look at it the enemy hero is dead. If you wanted gold you can farm a lane or go into the jungle, this is not Call of Duty where you can circlejerk over your kill/death ratio. In a team game you shouldn’t give a damn provided no one wasted a high cooldown spell on a hero who was already dead.
 * Chase: This is the panicked flight moment following the initiation when the surviving enemy heroes are fleeing toward their nearest tower and a difficult decision faces you. Do you ‘dive’ the enemy tower in pursuit of the fleeing enemy or do you call it a day and transition over to another lane. During this phase you must have considered all possible options both for yourself and for your enemy because a single mistake will lead to you dying. Generally you do not want to dive unless you are either very tanky or very mobile. There are few exceptions to this rule because the enemy can stun or slow you in range of the tower or support can teleport in to finish you off. However if you are confident that you can secure a kill on the enemy carry then do not be afraid to dive and do so (assuming you are a ganker) because the enemy still loses more from dying than you do. Rinse and repeat this cycle until your enemy is forced to stick together in a big group (at which point you can split push and split farm or clash thanks to your gold/exp advantage). Do not sit in a lane farming as a ganker once you have finished your core (usually things like Urn, Blink Dagger, Forcestaff, etc) because your effectiveness runs out by the 20 minute mark.

Carries should not be ganking unless it is within their lane as their job is to farm their core items. Support heroes unless they are either protecting the carry, warding or pulling/stacking should generally be involved in ganks.

Heroes who excellent gankers possess a combination of high magic damage and snares or stuns. Semi carries who peak quickly like Drow Ranger or Viper can also double as gankers because they possess powerful snares. Gankers are generally very item independent outside of a few core items (i.e Tiny Blink Dagger) and should for the most part be either setting up kills or helping supports ward/counterward offensively (in the enemies jungle) or defensively.