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Pick another hero

Hero Mastery

Dark Willow

A cunning fae: Bramble Maze roots with thorns, Shadow Realm bursts from invisibility, Cursed Crown lays a delayed AoE stun, and Terrorize fears enemies.

Pos 4 · Soft SupportPos 5 · Hard Support
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Mastery parameters

Your XP and damage per game against other Dark Willow players — average vs Top 20%. Supports are not graded on GPM.

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Learning journey

  1. 1 Know the kit
  2. 2 Win the lane
  3. 3 Timing & rotations
  4. 4 Win the fights
  5. 5 Master

5 stages, each with one target from your own games and one short quiz. Make Dark Willow your mastery hero to start — progress shows on Home and Arcana.

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Phase by phase

Laning: zone their carry with your offlaner

You 40%Team 60%

  • Skills in lane — Pro supports max Bramble Maze (Q) first — 93% of 397 games since patch 7.41, then Shadow Realm (W). First talent at level 11.

  • Cursed Crown → Maze → Shadow Realm — Cursed Crown a target, Bramble Maze holds them until the stun pops, then Shadow Realm bursts them.

Skills 1–7

  1. Q1
  2. W2
  3. Q3
  4. E4
  5. Q5
  6. R6
  7. Q7

Starting items

  • Iron Branch24%
  • Tango16%
  • Faerie Fire15%
  • Blood Grenade15%
  • Sentry Ward9%
  • Ring of Regen7%

Items this phase

  • Tango
  • Clarity
  • Observer Ward
  • Sentry Ward
  • Iron Branch
  • Magic Wand
  • Boots of Speed
The Soft Support's job this phase
  • Stand between the enemy carry and the creeps — make them choose between XP and HP.
  • Secure the minute-6 power rune for your mid — that's your first rotation.
  • Place Observers on rune spots or enemy rotation paths, not random cliffs.

Dark Willow

Counters & weaknesses

Fragile hero (easy to catch)

The items that shut Dark Willow down, 3 heroes that trouble it, and your answer when you play it.

Members only
Why this way? How OpenAI Five learned

  1. One hero, one role first

    OpenAI's first bot played only Shadow Fiend, only mid, until it mastered it. Stay on Dark Willow in one role before moving on.

  2. Small, measurable rewards

    OpenAI Five was rewarded for last hits and staying alive long before it understood winning. That's why each journey stage has one number to hit.

  3. From yourself to the team

    Its 'team spirit' rose over the game: early on, look after yourself; late, play for the team. Each phase's meter shows the split.

  4. Use proven builds

    OpenAI Five's builds were hand-written, not trial and error. Start from the pro build, then experiment.

Phase items: what pros buy on this hero (OpenDota). Parameters: percentiles of players on this hero (OpenDota). Item effects checked against Valve's own item data.