Sof Izh

Doom is by far the best damn hero in Dota 2. If you do not pick Doom every game then you have no idea what you are doing.

Just look at this guy. He does not fuck around.

When playing pub games, picking Doom is the best way to curbstomp the opposition. You can maintain 500+ GPM and 600+ XPM while instilling the crippling fear of indiscriminate DOOM in the enemy.

The first step to success will be to rearrange your hero selection screen for a quick and efficient victory.

So now you're now halfway there. Since this is a pub game, you're going to disregard your team completely and start with punching neutral creeps. Doom's low armor, low mana pool, awful low rank abilities, and dependence on Devour points will get you slapped as a solo mid. Sidelaning Doom with an incompetent pub support is the fastest route to uninstall the game. It is very important to keep in mind that you will do nothing but concentrate on farming neutrals in the most efficient way possible for at least the first 10 minutes. Do not attempt to waste any time helping your team. You will only end up hurting them in the long run, as a late set of core items will keep everyone on your team in the no fun zone for the rest of the game.

You also want to farm in the safest way possible. Getting caught by a support or someone middle clever enough to know that you can be easily messed with will send you to frowntown. You will stick primarily to the three camps closest to your base, Radiant or Dire side. Farm from a position that will give you adequate vision of an incoming gank with the ability to peace out without getting your shit slapped. Always watch what the enemy middle hero does at each rune spawn, as auto attacking neutrals does not require higher brain function. A haste rune will be your biggest fear, especially in the hands of someone who is familiar with a jungling Doom.

Start with a Tango and some Gloves of Haste to facilitate a faster Hand of Midas. Other safer items such as a Ring of Protection, Stout Shield, or Quelling Blade ultimately result in a delayed Hand of Midas. The Hand of Midas is your absolute priority. Do not attempt to do anything until you have one, regardless of how the game is going. Your XP and gold gain are severely limited at lower levels, especially when jungling.

Early on you will be highly vulnerable to damage, especially considering Doom's starting armor. You will end up deepthroating trees within the first minute if you do not play smart. You will be taking literal damage.

Your starting GPM will be very dependent on spawns, so it is vital that you develop an idea of how to maximize your gold intake. You will have to be flexible here and have at least an undergraduate degree in Dota mechanics to be cost-effective with your Devour cooldown, time, mana, and hitpoints. It will take a lot of trialing to tune this appropriately. You want to prioritize devouring and maintaining a Satyr Hellcaller from a Large Satyr Camp. The passive health regeneration will keep you safe and free from the remote possibility of having to dip back in the well before getting your Hand of Midas. If forced to clear a Hellbear spawn, you will have to burn two Devour cooldowns on the bears. They do too much individual damage to tank early on. Make sure that if you do have a good creep devoured, that you eat the normal Hellbear first to conserve the creep skills. Use Scorched Earth very sparingly and only when you are trying to finish off a Centaur Courser or a Satyr Camp. You should only be casting the Dark Troll Summoner's Raise Dead, as other abilities learned from creeps are not at all cost-effective. When using Raise Dead, be sure to trade aggro between units with attack-clicking friendly units.

As you level, prioritize Devour over Scorched Earth. You should continue killing neutrals without having to run back to the well, pending decent RNG, until you buy your Hand of Midas around the 7-minute mark. If you are delayed somehow, it is still imperative to still buy the Hand of Midas. It will allow you to maximize your ganking uptime and slowly gain an XP advantage. Once you have the Hand of Midas, you should start searching for a Kobold Taskmasker to devour for racecar lane drift ganking purposes. If you cannot get one before 10 minutes, you can settle for a Ghost or a Dark Troll Summoner. Pick up Doom at levels 7-9 depending on how early you got your Midas and your ganking creep. At around the 10-minute mark you should have a good creep devoured and some Phase Boots in your stash for a gank. Head back to the well, pick up the boots, and port to a lane where you will most likely land a kill with your Doom ability.

From this point on, you should be trying to get a kill with Doom every time it is off cooldown. Use Town Portal Scrolls with Smoke of Deceit for maximum effectiveness. Target anyone that is complacent enough to be alone and has extended out of a position. If backup arrives, do not be afraid to just peace out. Disrupting someone's farm and forcing one or more ports is far more effective than getting a kill and then dying. You should always be using Devour and your Hand of Midas whenever possible. Until the lategame, I still like to retain the speed aura from the Kobold Taskmaster to easily transition between ganking and farming. Creep active abilities are still too expensive and you don't do enough damage for the Alpha Wolf's crit to matter too much. However, this is strictly a preference.

Items are where Doom really starts to show his strength. You can retain a solid 500+ GPM with minimal effort while providing amazing ganking utility with Doom when it is off cooldown. Drums or Shadow Blade as your first item is a common choice, as they both greatly improve your ganking potential. From there you should pick items that are most effective against the enemy team's lineup and item loadouts.

You will slowly start to creep above the enemy team in terms of gold and XP because of your incredible farming and ganking power. The time it takes to finish the game from here is variable and depends on lineups and performance, but if you've done well until now you should at the very least have a fun and eventful lategame.