Speeed, Insania, and Quinn discussed the importance of finishing off creeps in Dota 2

Speeed: I don’t think people realize just how good top mid laners are at last-hitting creeps. It’s just terrible. You realize that every time you’re 0.2 seconds too late on a last-hit. I’m playing against RCY in a 1v1 custom game in some random tournament. I’m losing matchups that are impossible to lose. It’s just crazy how good some mid laners are at last-hitting creeps. And we’re just talking about last-hitting. If you want to boost your rating, you can just learn to last-hit minions well, and, I don’t know, you’ll be surprised at how easy it is to win mid just by doing that. Literally just by doing that.

Insania: I’m glad you brought that up, because I think that’s the main thing I constantly advise all my friends with 4,000–5,000 MMR. Just hop into the lobby and practice last-hitting minions for 10 minutes a day. And don’t just try to last-hit minions—learn to do it with perfect timing. Once you master this, you’ll suddenly find that you have an extra thousand gold in every game, and playing will become much easier.

Quinn: Yeah, that’s really, really important. And I’m completely serious. Early in my career, I was a terrible laner. Back when I played for OpTic Gaming during that era of North American Dota 2, I was really bad at laning. I was constantly getting crushed. Every time I played against Limmp on the lane, he’d just tear me apart. And then at some point, I decided, “Alright, whatever you say.” And every day, when I woke up and sat down to play, I’d practice last-hitting creeps for 30 minutes. The key is to time your attack so it follows the one that brings the creep’s health down to the right level. You have to time your attack as precisely as possible for that moment. And I did that every day. At some point, you just go out to the lane, start hitting creeps, keep hitting creeps—and suddenly you’re already a thousand gold ahead, and the game is over.

Insania: I think this is especially noticeable in regular matches. You literally start to realize how poorly people finish off minions once you master this skill yourself. If you practice like this for a whole month and don’t get better, I’ll be shocked. I think a pro player needs to practice this for half an hour a day, but if you’re just playing in public matches, 10 minutes of daily practice is enough. That’s all you need.