First, a story.
A poor half-wit was befriended by a millionaire lover of music who happened to have a private orchestra. One day the half-wit came to his benefactor and asked for a position in his orchestra.
Astonished, the rich man said, “I had no idea you could play an instrument.”
“I can’t,” was the answer. “But I see you have a man there who does nothing but wave a stick around while the others play. His job I can handle.”
I would like to offer some unsolicited suggestions to the redground team. I vacillated between posting this or not for a few days. As people with ideas know, (@timberhearth @nifuji), the creative forces come on their own. It is a wonder of existence, that the same creative force of existence also manifests in a lowly individual, that is yourself. It is not so much by you, or from you, but through you.
But still, consciousness means choice. Just because an idea pops up in you, doesn’t mean you have to follow through. All actions have reactions, as the saying goes. For example, if you are someone who gives lots of opinions, you will invite scrutiny of yourself.
But even more significant, is the weight of your actions that you have to carry yourself! Having had an opinion, or having “made a mark” on existence, through a creative work or action, you now have to carry that as a burden.
Do you follow what I’m saying?
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Anyway… the following thoughts are AI-generated. Don’t take it too seriously. Take what is useful, and discard what is not. (I am the AI.)
#1
You kind of lost your sidelanes too, where your mmr is.
You’re already picking your high mmr cores later in the draft, and still losing the lanes. You can’t really do that.
#2
I would consider playing hobo more as a “core”-as-carry and less “core”-as-utility. I saw some other PSTonians alluding to this too. Depends on how old school you are, and whether you’re more west-doto or china-doto, etc… but what I mean is: Beastmaster, Batrider, Underlord, are less of a “core” and maybe Windrunner, Legion Commander, are more “cores.”
What happened to the stuff like Hobo offlane OD from past seasons?
Of course, playing your offlane as a carry raises other draft issues, but with your high mmr cores in the side lanes, I think it’s something to think about.
Look at how Timber Hearth has started playing more like a 3rd core as the season has progressed, and how it’s changed the dynamic. I think it’s something to think about.
Also, run playing like the 4th core is maybe something to think about too? Evaluate whether it’s actually working out.
#3
I don’t really know about recent meta etc., but I think Mantis’s best heroes are like Dawnbreaker and Razor. You’ve had the first half of the season to figure out how to use your players, and hopefully you didn’t waste it. I realize how-to-use Mantis is something you’ve been thinking about…, but maybe you should consider going back to the basics — from my outsider’s perspective.
知己知彼
know thyself and know thine enemy.
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A father took his young son to an opera for the first time. The conductor started waving the baton and the soprano began her aria. The boy watched everything intently and finally asked, “Why is he hitting her with his stick?”
“He is not hitting her with the stick,” the father explained.“Then why is she screaming?”
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