Get Dunked: Dota Tuesdays

S4 The Drafter
This weeks Get Dunked is a shout out to the most under-rated drafter on the scene: s4.

Gustav 's4' Magnusson's skills as a mid-laner are unquestioned; winning the 1v1 tournament at TI4 and coming second in A Fist Full of Tangoes. His LAN results with [A]lliance/No Tidehunter and Team Secret speak for themselves.

What is puzzling, however, is that s4 is rarely spoken of in the same breath as some of the great drafters of the game like his current team-mate Puppey, EG's PPD, Aui_2000 (when at C9) or even Artstyle of Na'vi.

S4, in my opinion, is better than them all.

Out of the way.

This is not an in-depth look at s4's drafts, but more an overview of his seemingly unique talent of picking to his team's strengths and, in doing so, shaping the meta-game around the teams he plays in.

[A]lliance/No Tidehunter's hold on Dota 2 in the run up to TI3 seems to have been forgotten by most; they were unbeatable throughout 6.78c. A large part of that was due to the fact that [A]lliance always got something they knew could win them the game in their draft, more often than not a Nature's Profit for Admiral Bulldog, Akke's Chen, or a 'play-making' mid for s4 himself. It was only Puppey at the TI3 Grand Finals who came close to matching s4's drafts by banning out Akke's heroes rather than Bulldog's.

Now they're both on Team Secret and s4 is the drafter and in game captain; they've never looked stronger. It does help that Team Secret have arguably five of the top ten best individually skilled players in the west, but we all saw the disastrous results of Zai drafting. It is often overlooked that Puppey, considered one of the best drafters (if not the best) in the world, isn't the drafter. Like on [A]lliance with Admiral Bulldog, s4 has by far the best player in his position in the world at his disposal, and builds everything around them. I am of course talking about Arteezy. Just like Admiral Bulldog at his peak, Arteezy has not just some of the best mechanical skills in the game, but the decision making to match it. It's no coincidence that with those two players at his disposal, s4 has created teams that even when they appear to be behind have already won.

s4 and Arteezy

With s4 drafting, Team Secret are basically unbeatable. Let's hope it lasts until TI5 because it's a pleasure to watch.