From a "broken" ranked system to consistently poor teammates and every excuse in between, gamers always find something they believe is holding them back. However, five Dota 2 players set aside their excuses and faced off against the world's best player in a five-vs-one showdown—and it wasn't even close.
Gaming Gladiator mid-laner Quinn Callahan teamed up with commentator Jenkins for the Herald challenge on April 2, where one highly-ranked player takes on five of the statistically worst players in Dota to see if they stand a chance. Jenkins confessed he thought Quinn would struggle and the five Heralds would emerge victorious in the match. But he couldn't have been more mistaken.
In just over 31 minutes, Quinn annihilated the Herald five-stack with his Bristleback. The kill count speaks volumes: The Heralds managed to eliminate Quinn twice throughout the entire game. Quinn, on the other hand? He racked up 52 kills. "Yeah, I was pretty confident I would win," Quinn remarked after his triumph. "The only plan I had was to pick Bristleback and get a Bloodstone—everything else I did on the fly."
Quinn took his Bristleback to the mid lane, which typically would have been the only accessible part of the map for all five players—but in this challenge, the entire map was open, giving the Heralds complete access to all three lanes and the jungle to farm. Sadly, they chose to confront Quinn directly, with three players splitting gold and experience.
Quinn made them regret it, reaching level six before any of his mid-lane opponents could even hit level three and diving past towers for kills. Just seven minutes into the game, Quinn was dominating against all five Heralds, scoring another slew of kills, and completing his Bloodstone—and from then on, it was all one-sided.
To their credit, the Heralds demonstrated a grasp of the basics of Dota: They began pushing other lanes while Quinn was away, constantly placed wards for vision, and tailored their items to counter Bristleback—but once he gained the advantage, there was no stopping him.
Ultimately, Jenkins likened the thrashing to that of a serial killer or a session of Dead by Daylight as Quinn cruised to victory and then quickly left to grab a pizza before gearing up for his next tournament, ESL One Birmingham, starting in a fortnight.
As for our valiant Heralds? Let's hope they stick around in Dota for a while longer, but it's evident—the pros truly are that skilled, and if you're not in the Divine bracket yet, you've got a long way to go to match players like Quinn.