Currently smurf free!

Possibly the most well programmed; most compelling MOBA available, and for children of all ages with such a knot in their personal lives they've nothing better to do than cyber bully.

Even though Valve continues to roll out ban waves, these people (kids) refuse to take their fair share of accountability. They choose to come back on alts mainly to keep playing, but in doing so they exploit and tarnish the game for other players.
If this even remotely describes you, please stop, take a long break, don't make a new account, and only contact Steam / Valve support about your account after you get some perspective.
Protect your steam account. Explain the importance to the people you live with to not play multiplayer games on your account, and if they can't respect that you have other options like helping them make their own account, steam family sharing, contacting Steam Support etc. Save your motivation for the matches not for the people that allow you to play.

Smurfing is reportable and mitigated relatively well. You need a steam account and an active phone number to be able to make a second account. Thank you Valve, thank you IceFrog -no one should have to play with others deliberately trying to derank.

I've played League's ranked matchmaking off and on (2019 - 2023). Dota arguably provides less stacked (pre-hero select) ranked matches per que (less dodges too; post hero select).
You'll reach what I call your post inflated skill bracket with arguably less time and less frustration than League's equivalent (assuming you're not intentionally throwing / feeding / trolling / etc).
You'll do so without the many lv30 bots you'll see in League thanks to Dota's strict 100hr phone verification requirement to play ranked.

Unranked and 5 man parties are way more lenient, you'll be matched with players far outside your rank much more often. Dota's MMR system is outdated like most other team based competitive multiplayer games. Don't assume it accurately reflects your skill (or your ego) as player or more importantly as a teammate. //rank =! skill =! ego

I took a break when IceFrog turned the jungle into a wannabe neutral item casino but they've since regained control over that type of RNG. The map expansion as ambitious as it was, continues to offer numerous player options. Things like talents and facets can go pretty crazy but I wouldn't call the concepts deal breakers (at least until the late scalers near lv25).

Updates / Balancing / Meta shifts are tricky to figure out, especially when they occur too often. They typically break certain aspects of a few abilities, items and upgrades. Players will eventually find, utilize and abuse a combination of these mechanics; until IceFrog deems it too strong or game breaking (wish I saw the term oversight used more).

IceFrog is more focused on the quality of pro matches than the other 90% of their player base (although I understand why). What works for a highly skilled party of 5 does not translate for 5 randoms that don't / can't communicate.
I want to see more types of pings that can be assigned to the ping wheel. It already resolves a lot of miscommunication and League's ping wheel has shown how an overhaul can work wonders.

I get what they're doing with Dota Plus but quality matchmaking should be for everyone, not just for Dota Plus subscribers.

DotA 2 isn't perfectly balanced; it's addicting; it's a huge time sink, but if you enjoy a blend of real time strategy, tactics or quick reflexes with your friends, then it might actually be worth sorting through all the negative spite.

69 out of 100 mega creeps