Enzo Gianoli, better known by his handle Timado and a member of Virtus.pro's Dota 2 roster, explained in an interview during DreamLeague Season 27 how experience in other games has helped him read and play Dota 2 differently. He said that switching between genres recently altered his approach to movement, map use and decision making in Valve's MOBA.
Timado described the past month as one in which he spent significant time playing League of Legends and Vampire Survivors. He compared playing the hero Jagger to the loop of Vampire Survivors: constantly collecting items and running around to farm camps. That repetition of item collection and continuous rotation, he said, translated into a different feel for resource management and positioning in Dota.
He also highlighted a mechanical and tactical lesson taken from League of Legends: because LoL lacks a high ground mechanic, players must rely heavily on bushes for concealment and surprise. Timado noted that when he plays at lower ratings — for example, Platinum — he often hides in bushes and frequently sees opponents walk into them and die to a quick ambush. Observing that Dota has an abundance of trees that function similarly, he pointed out that many players do not use those areas as often to set up plays or to evade attacks. That, he argued, makes certain heroes, like Slark, harder to predict: if Slark disappears into the trees, it becomes difficult to know where he will emerge. The exposure to LoL shifted how he analyzes opportunities for ambush and safety windows in Dota.
As part of DreamLeague Season 27, Timado's Virtus.pro defeated MOUZ with a 2:0 scoreline. The tournament is being held online from December 10 to December 21, featuring 24 teams competing for a $1,000,000 prize pool and 19,500 EPT points. Timado's comments came in the context of that event and reflect how cross‑genre play can influence high‑level decision making in competitive Dota 2.