Bottle Crow Reborn

The real Immortals aren’t the items you equip to your heroes. It’s the players who claim the Aegis at the International. With TI7 beginning in just a few days, Nick coaches Colin on how to safelane carry, PPD coaches Nahaz on how to watch his mouth, and we make our predictions for TI winners. Plus, we imagine up possible kits for a Water Spirit, and we figure out the difference between...

Just because things are going great doesn’t mean everything isn’t terrible. The player-run Team NP turns to an old master to aid its journey to Seattle. A shop whose very existence was a secret ceased to be. A Starcraft 2 commentator will host The International. The king of observers bows out, and eyebrows are raised. It should have been a quiet week. It was anything but. We’re on iTun...

So maybe I freak out a little too much about how crazy this MMR distribution data is, but… like, can you blame me? It’s really somethin’ else. The Immortal 3s are out, and we have Thoughts about Dota Fashion. (Gold is still terrible.) Blitz delivered some incredible knowledge to Day9, and by proxy the rest of the community, about how we should be thinking of mid, and I’m st...

Man. Valve dropped a bombshell on us in the form of the 2017-2018 competitive season announcement this week, and we’re still poking our heads out cautiously to make sure everything’s okay. Majors aren’t Valve-run anymore, and we also have Minors! What can this all mean?! At least The International is still here… and almost upon us! We’ve got all eighteen qualified tea...

Do you like us talking in circles? No? Not a fan? Well… do you like us talking in circles? Okay, cool. On this episode of Bottle Crow, we struggle to understand the format of TI7 Regional Qualifiers, and who has or hasn’t won them. Then we mourn the absence of Redeye as a host for this year, and try to figure out who could possibly replace them. We really… aren’t sure. It&#...

Tell me something, folks. Inform me,  enlighten me. Is the primary qualifier of whether something is food how smooth the process of it leaving your body is? Cause that don’t seem right to me. Also, what is a vitamin? Why don’t we have vitamin immortals? Can’t be worse than these gold ones. Nick and Colin talk edible gold, the Battle Level Bundle, more talk about third party...

Not all that glitters is gold, my friends. That would be a far worse world, because I’d take a handful of glitter over one of gold any day… assuming I’m not allowed to just sell it, because in that case the hypothetical is not very interesting. With that in mind, Nick and Colin take another dive into the troubled world of third party tournaments, toss about the idea of MMR stagna...

After much hype and a small delay, the cooperative adventure campaign for Dota 2, Siltbreaker, has been added. Nick and Colin immediately dove in with a full team of friends to experience it, and after several hours and runs, they’re ready to report their thoughts. What happens when Dota goes Diablo? How do the systems of our favorite MOBA hold up in a campaign setting? And with Valve pushin...

This week on Bottle Crow, is it Valve’s fault that 3rd party tournaments are struggling in the Majors era of Dota? Spoilers: no. It isn’t. Don’t be ridiculous. We check in with the TI7 Collector’s Cache for another hat update, Thunderbirds have moved on to a new team name, and we’ve got two new hero concepts for you! All this and more! We’re on iTunes, Google Play, an...

Turns out you don’t have to sponsor this show to get us to talk about stupid garbage for a long time! Colin’s mad about Reddit (again), Nick went deep into the ACE drama, neither of them can believe what the Coke eSports twitter has been tweeting. Statsmen battle, sodas fly, you will weep. And we’ll be back next week with a (hopefully) less trash episode. We’re on iTunes, Google...

As we crest over fifty episodes, Colin commits to relearning solo mid, while Nick brings the beef over Hand of Midas. Respawn talents are gone- how are we feeling their absence? What do you do if you talent incorrectly? Phantom Assassin takes the Aghs of the Week, and our Lore of the Week is perhaps the lore of  every week- how did Dota even happen? What decisions led us down the path that ev...

Suffer alike, king and spirit. A tear in the pattern, shackled together. The best death yet gets even better. From the world on the rim, a new possibility. I predict escaping fate will prove more challenging. Deny the deny. Deso and blight, split by night. Death’s grip lasts just that little bit longer. A curse on the lanes of gold. Nick and Colin present the patch 7.06 special. We’re on iTu...

Hello, listeners. Welcome. In the wake of the Kiev Major, we’ve got beef. Why should we care what investors think? Nick wants you to know that Dota isn’t dying, it’s thriving. Colin calls out a commentator. We get confused and talk about polo shirts. An ancient explodes. We’re on iTunes, Google Play, and Stitcher! You can subscribe on those, and leave a review if you like! That w...

The International 7 approaches, and you know what that means: a new Battle Pass! New immortals, new quests, new taunts, new terrain, new new NEW! How stoked are you? Because you should be incredibly stoked. Let Nick and Colin tell you what’s good. We’re on iTunes, Google Play, and Stitcher! You can subscribe on those, and leave a review if you like! That would really help us out. Tell your D...

Gosh, remember Dogpile? No? It was a search engine that searched other search engines, en masse. What if that had become the thing? What if we all used Dogpile? Imagine how different the world would be. Imagine if every search was the equivalent of a five man gank. Overkill? Yes. But certain destruction. I have… lost track of this metaphor. Pro scene drama! Jingu Mastery v Primal Spring (con...

Why should a simian monarch’s roaming capabilities divide us so? We all play Dota. We all Blink via Dagger, not a one of us can pronounce “salve” correctly. We have so much in common! Don’t let Monkey King divide you, friends. Come together, as one. Ward and farm and frolic. Shady lanes and sunny glades await. Unless you pick Jingu Mastery first, because then you won’...

Stop the presses! Nick and Colin threw everything out the window to rush to deliver this special update on… an update. Ranked matchmaking is about to go through a  lot of big changes, and the Bottles Crow have you covered. How should you feel? Well. We can’t tell you that. But here’s how  we feel, at least. We’re on iTunes, Google Play, Soundcloud, and Stitcher! You can...

Wraith King, Sand King, Monkey King… whom shall be our next liege? I’m waiting until an all-king draft is possible. Don’t hold your breath for a kingly podcast, though- this is just a patch notes special. Nick and Colin get together to break down the patch notes special, and argue about position 4 Monkey King builds for a while. So, we recorded this podcast. And then immediately...

The pro scene’s rumbling as the Kiev Major approachs, and Nick and Colin are on the job. Jacky Mao’s compulsive support-kicking strikes again, while Fnatic forms a whole new roster of killers to represent southeast Asia, and the former Ad Finem has found a new and unlikely home. Ideas for other Dota-universe games are discussed, and the two hosts do a post-season breakdown for their Am...

This week on Bottle Crow Reborn, Colin and Nick are taking a look at the contenders for the Kiev Major… and whether they should even care given that DAC looks potentially more interesting. They also discuss Half-Life 3 (???), the slow death of cosmetics, the position of a captain, and whether or not Colin knows what year it is. Does any of us, really? What is a year? A miserable little pile...

Are you ready to get spooky scary with Juggernaut? He’s possessed by a ghOooOooOooOOoOost! Colin and Nick are here to break down the patch notes for patch 7.03. Jakiro’s got a new look, Pudge has got a worse hook, and the Enchantress buffs are okay in my book. New Captain’s Mode UI! That’s CAPTAIN Monkey King to you! It’s all here! We’re on iTunes, Google Play, Soundc...

As a veteran podcaster, I can confidently say that this episode is in fact one of those. Podcasts, I mean. Guarantees beyond that are impossible to offer. Nick and Colin run together at the eleventh hour to record an episode about Group MMR, the Treasure 3, terrible metaphors, Overwatch?, licking Switch cartridges??, and more. I don’t even know. We’re on iTunes, Google Play, Soundcloud, and...

IceFrog’s little brother IceFraud is back, and this time he’s got a guest- Purge’s big brother, Surge! Between the two of them, can they solve all of Dota’s problems? No. They probably can’t even solve one. But they do have an idea for a new primary stat, new items, and two new heroes. Terrible ideas abound, and a special song just for you. Happy belated Valentines&#8...

I apologize to any former League of Legends players whom our episode title has triggered flashbacks to a darker time in their life. The Dark Moon rises, and our interest in it wanes. Grab yourself a Winter Battle Pass, and pay no attention to Colin blatantly contradicting himself on whether or not he likes the new Troll set. And holy shit, learn how to make ramen from scratch. No, I’m not ki...

It’s true, from dust we come and to dust we return. But what kind of dust? Hearthstone players must dissolve into that dust that they break their cards down into. Counter-Strike players… I dunno. Something poisonous. And Dota players… ah, isn’t it all too obvious? We were born of salt, and we return to salt. Our pro players are toxic, their ways reprehensible. It can’...