Bottle Crow Reborn

Well, lesson learned- if I get Emily and Nick in the same (virtual) room, have a very specific plan or things will go pretty far astray. We talk a bit about adapting to the 7.XX playstyle, and pro team change-ups, but mostly we end up talking about Dota 98? As in Dota but like Windows 98? With Clippy? And the startup music, and… listen. This one really got away from me. At least there’...

Originally aired January 2nd, 2017 Welcome to the new year, and to our special guest episode! Nick and our new friend IceFraud will dazzle you with their amazing vision for the future of Dota. Brief cameo by Colin before he has to leave in favor of our guest. New heroes! Monkey King Ags! Windranger talents! The reason 6.83 happened! The future is now. We’re on iTunes, Google Play, Soundcloud, and...

This week on Bottle Crow, Colin, Jesse, and Nick get together to… well, let’s be real. Complain? It’s mostly complaining. 7.01 is going strong, and we all have THOUGHTS about how it is shaking out. Jesse doesn’t think Monkey King is OP, Nick doesn’t think this fighting meta will last, Colin doesn’t think Windranger was buffed enough. Jakiro- great or garbage? XP...

I always call these patch notes “specials,” but this one genuinely IS special. Colin is joined by guest Nick Seese to break down the biggest Dota patch in… forever? A long damn time. Monkey King in the streets, Viper in the sheets. Dota’s got Talent. The map has changed, illusions got GOT, and Windranger got screwed. Again. I gotta be honest, it’s starting to feel per...

Emily is back, so that she and Colin can determine who  really won the Boston Major! Well. It was OG. What a dumb question. But seriously- how did the single elimination format distort the competition? How much Ad Finem stock should you be buying? Did a certain man astound with his ability to fuck up every time? Why, oh why, oh  why did DC pick Windranger? She’s so bad right now. D...

Originally aired December 10th, 2016 A brief message from host Colin, just so that there’s something on the feed. Not that it’s not worth listening to! It’s just short. Proper episode tomorrow morning! We’re on iTunes, Google Play, Soundcloud, and Stitcher! You can subscribe on those, and leave a review if you like! That would really help us out. Tell your Dota friends about us,...

Originally aired November 30th, 2016 This week on Bottle Crow, it’s just me (Colin), so I decided to do something pretty different. What follows is the first Bottle Crow Solo Queue, which I imagine I’ll have to do again someday. This one is a thorough look at the current pub and pro metas of Dota 2, in anticipation of the next big patch in under two weeks now. What’s great about...

Originally aired November 15th, 2016 This week, Colin and Jesse are briefly joined by special guest Gabe Newell* to talk about paying teams to stay together, knives, and cheeseburgers. We’re pretty sure OG.Ana is gonna get OG.Fired, we’ve got ideas for an Underlord Ags, and I wrote a little song for you. My friend’s got a boyfriend and she hates his Lich/She tells me every day/He...

Originally aired October 29th, 2016 We’re filled with rage this week on Bottle Crow. How do teams work, anyway? I don’t know, but boy I sure am angry about it! I’m also FURIOUS about muh skill cap, and Dota turning into Diablo. Maybe I just had too much of NP’s new sponsor, FYM Hot Sauce. The world is a strange place, and apparently the only solution is to inappropriately m...

Originally released October 18th, 2016 “Axe is Axe, nyx nyx,” – that is all ye know on earth, and all ye need to know. Hear about Jesse’s trials as a captain in amateur Dota leagues, hear Colin geek out about getting to play commentator, and prepare for the Boston Major. We have a release date for 6.89! Maybe we were all wrong about Puppey. And the cardinal sin- Colin&#8217...

Originally released September 23rd, 2016 So when they say Windranger is “favored by the wind,” is that… you know what, no. I was gonna make a fart joke, and I’m better than that. WE’RE better than that. Maybe we have terrible ideas for Phantom Lancer Aghanim’s. Maybe I should really stop pushing this “Globetrotters of Dota” idea. Maybe all of this wa...

What would you do if you stepped out of a movie theater, checked your phone, and your team was gone? Would you cry? Would you ask for help? Would you wonder where this hypothetical is going? Ask PPD- we don’t know either. The pro scene shuffle madness continues, we talk about the joys of five stacks, we talk out of our asses about the relationship between Arteezy and PPD, and so much more. P...

With the Dota pro shuffle in full effect, we call in Jesse Cox to tell it how it is. OG, DC, the future of the pro scene? Lofty aspirations and dirty realities collide in this discussion of competitive gaming’s bad habits. Not really, I guess, but that sentence sounded cool, so I wrote it. Mostly we just talk about how much we like MoonMeander. Colin recovers from a long session of tilt, Jes...

Boy. Well, at least we got it out the door. This is the most technologically messy episode we’ve put out, by far. It just… the things didn’t work like they should have. There’s some good conversation here! We hope you enjoy it! But there’s a lot more good conversation on the cutting room floor, because of the number of devices that broke in the production of this epis...

This week on Bottle Crow, we travel back… way back. Watching pro Dota 2 from TI1-TI2 era, we’ve come to some realizations about commentary, pro player insight, and what needs to be done with Pudge. The solo queue life is getting Colin down, and Valve’s negligence is getting on everyone’s nerves. Sorry for the bummer episode, but in times like these, what else can we offer?...

On this Bottle Crow Special Colin interviews Michael Capps, a longtime friend of his, about his gradual fallout with Dota, slide into more casual play, and how Overwatch got him interested in the concept of competitive gaming again. It’s just a little thing, but I didn’t want the RSS feed to go… unfed just because Emily wasn’t feeling up to it. Regular Bottle Crow coming so...

Emily’s gonna be pretty upset with me when she sees what I did with the title of this one. The Manila Major is over, and the International 6 has begun! At least, its open qualifiers have. EG and Secret exploded and reformed  again , Aui got screwed  again , we were right to be OG fans  again . What a weird time for Dota. As we study the 6.88 meta, we realize that while it&#821...

When did it become “Arteezy” instead of “RTZ?” It was definitely RTZ when I first got into Dota. Oh, gotta apologize up front- I checked my Dotabuff, and this was technically my SECOND longest game of Dota ever, by about five minutes. Still- quite the endeavor. The Manila Major approaches, the Battle Pass beckons, and Axe sings Scarborough Fair. Join us! We’re on iTun...

Nobody blink, Bottle Crow is back! Listen, I’m gonna be honest. I’m not really sure what I meant by that. It sounded better in my head. Moscow’s Epicenter LAN is over, with perhaps a hint of what the Manila Major will bring. We’ve played some 6.87, and maybe it’s not the WORST thing that’s ever happened to us. Bounty Hunter needs himself an Aghanim’s, the...

Be careful what you wish for- you just might get it. A day after we posted a podcast joking about how 6.87 was never coming, it came. And we’re… mixed on it? Lame Ags upgrades, a crazy new recon ability for the whole team, nerfs, buffs, weird items… it’s been a few days since we recorded this, and my emotional progression with this patch has been =O =) =| =\. We’ll se...

Icefrog, plz. We want some excitement in our lives. Too long has the Learned One ruled us from a throne of ten spells. Too long has our intelligence been stolen and our sanity shattered. Deliver us to the next patch, to the next compendium, to the next horizon. Help us, Icefrog. You’re our only hope. Also, Na’vi is back. The hell? We’re on iTunes! You can subscribe there , and le...

It’s been a year now. How is the hat scene in Dota? It’s… a mixed bag. Emily and Colin dive deep into the wild world of cosmetics for their heroes. Come on guys, playing dress-up in your video game isn’t enough, let’s play critic of dress-up in the video game. We’re on iTunes! You can subscribe there , and leave a review if you like! That would really help us ou...

The Dota 2 pro scene has exploded. Spring Cleaning has spawned a shower of bugs. The MMR climb is endless. This week, I’m joined by listener Jesse Cox to talk about clawing your way out of the trenches with good mental attitudes, smart planning, and knowing your own weaknesses. Dota 2’s March came in like Lion, but it’s going out like a lamb. We’re on iTunes! You can subscr...

Hey, man. How’s it going? How was your day? Sit down. Take a deep breath, and relax. The Shanghai Major’s stunning conclusion’s here for us to discuss. Did Colin throw in one of the games he and Emily played together? A fanfic imbued with the spirit of brevity. So, so much more. May this Dota Nightmare never end. We’re on iTunes! You can subscribe there , and leave a review...

The Shanghai Major rolls on, and the games have been as good as the production has been bad. We make some predictions that are already wrong by the time this comes out, we get super hyped about a team that then got knocked out in the first round, and we talk mid heroes, and why it’s so haaaaard. Also we talk fanfic, and jesus god this one is some super super NSFW nonsense. Serious listener a...