In Dota 2, initiation is the spark that ignites the fire. A good initiation sets the stage for a decisive team fight, catching enemies off guard and forcing them to react on your terms. A bad initiation, on the other hand, can instantly hand momentum to the opponent or leave your teammates scrambling in disarray. Whether you’re the player blinking in or the one following up, understanding how to initiate properly is one of the most important skills you can develop.

The Core Idea of Initiation

Initiation is not simply the act of jumping onto an enemy hero. At its heart, initiation is about creating an advantage before the fight even begins. You want to start an engagement where you are the one dictating the terms. When you choose the moment, the angle, and the target, you gain control over the fight’s flow.

Great initiations often come from heroes built for this job: Earthshaker, Tidehunter, Centaur Warrunner, Magnus, Axe, and Sand King are among the classic initiators. They combine reliable lockdown, AoE control, and durable presence so they don’t immediately evaporate after jumping in. But even heroes not traditionally thought of as initiators can do the job—Shadow Shaman with Blink Hex, Rubick with Telekinesis, or even a ranged disable from Lion or Nyx Assassin.

Initiation doesn’t happen in isolation. It’s the product of vision, timing, positioning, and preparation. You can’t expect to blink in and survive if your team isn’t ready to follow up. You can’t expect your stun to matter if you don’t know whether the enemy is prepared to counter-initiate. Proper initiation is about more than mechanical skill—it’s about reading the game’s tempo and coordinating with your team.

Vision and Information

Vision is the foundation of every good initiation. If you don’t see your target, you’re gambling. The best initiations come when you have full information—wards revealing enemy positioning, heroes showing on lanes, and knowledge of who has buyback or key items.

For this reason, supports play a vital role in initiation. They set up the vision that allows the initiator to find the angle. They often carry Sentry Wards or Dust to ensure they don’t jump into a trap. Smoke of Deceit is another critical piece of the puzzle, letting you bypass enemy wards and approach from unexpected directions.

If you lack vision, you can still initiate—but you must be more conservative. Sometimes, it’s better to poke with spells or illusions to force the enemy to reveal themselves. Other times, you may need to bait an enemy into a trap rather than diving blindly into fog.

Positioning and Patience

A hallmark of good initiators is patience. You don’t always have to jump the first hero you see. The best initiators look for priority targets—often backliners or damage dealers. For example, in a fight against Drow Ranger, Crystal Maiden, and Tidehunter, you might be tempted to go on Tidehunter because he’s in front. But if you burn your initiation on him, you risk getting counter-initiated and losing the fight. Instead, you wait for the opening to blink past him and catch the squishy damage cores.

Positioning for initiation often requires staying hidden or off the map. If you show yourself in lane, the enemy knows you aren’t ready to jump. Skilled players deliberately disappear from vision, creating pressure simply by not being seen. The threat of initiation can be as powerful as the initiation itself, forcing opponents to play cautiously and clump near towers.

This patience doesn’t mean you should wait forever. Sometimes, the longer you hesitate, the worse your window becomes. The key is recognizing when the enemy is out of position or distracted. If you see them hitting Roshan or split across multiple lanes, that’s your moment. You jump decisively, before they have time to regroup.

Timing and Cooldowns

Another pillar of good initiation is understanding cooldowns—both yours and your enemy’s. Jumping in when your team’s ultimates are unavailable or your damage dealers are farming elsewhere is usually a recipe for disaster. Likewise, jumping while the enemy has every spell ready can result in your entire team getting wiped.

Often, initiation is strongest immediately after a cooldown advantage appears. If the enemy just used Ravage or Black Hole, you know they have limited options to respond. That’s when you seize the moment and engage.

It’s also vital to consider item timings. If your cores just finished BKB, or you’ve picked up Blink Dagger, you are at your strongest. That window is often when your initiation is most lethal. Conversely, if the enemy carries have farmed BKBs of their own, you may need to adjust your approach, perhaps targeting supports or baiting out defensive spells before committing.

Communication and Follow-up

Even the most flawless initiation fails without follow-up. Initiation is only step one; the rest of your team must be ready to chain their spells and damage immediately. This requires clear communication, whether it’s in voice chat or with quick pings and chat wheels.

Before you initiate, you should know where your teammates are and whether they are prepared to commit. Nothing is more demoralizing than blinking in and realizing your cores are halfway across the map. Good teams talk about their plans: who will disable, who will focus which target, who will counter-initiate if the fight turns.

Follow-up also involves layering your control correctly. If you stack all your stuns at once, the enemy might get out with a BKB or Force Staff as soon as the disables end. Instead, coordinate so that stuns and silences are staggered, ensuring the target stays locked down long enough to be killed.

Adapting to the Situation

No two games require exactly the same initiation approach. Sometimes you are the aggressor, dictating tempo with frequent jumps. Other times, you must play more reactive, waiting to counter-initiate when the enemy overextends. A good initiator knows when to press forward and when to hold position.

Adaptation also means recognizing when you aren’t the ideal initiator. Perhaps the enemy has too many defensive tools—Lotus Orbs, Linken’s Spheres, Glimmer Capes—that make it risky for you to jump first. In these situations, you might let someone else force the enemy to react, then blink in after key spells are used.

Closing Thoughts

Initiation in Dota 2 is both an art and a science. It requires more than quick fingers and a Blink Dagger. It demands vision, information, timing, patience, communication, and the confidence to commit when you see your opening. Done well, a perfect initiation can swing the entire game in your favor. Done poorly, it can gift your opponents the chance to seize control.

Learning to initiate properly is one of the most rewarding skills you can master, whether you’re a support looking to make space or a core leading the charge. So the next time you hold your Blink Dagger and watch the enemy dance just outside your reach, remember: a good initiation doesn’t just start the fight—it wins it before the first spell is even cast.