[Keyneston]

Our office has a lot of Dota players so we regularly play five man dota. We range in skill from very noob to ex-pro.

The difference in skill between the ex-pro, or even several of the just very talented players and the rest of us is immense.

The trivia helps, knowing counter items and the like helps but at high level play all sorts of things become very important. For example positioning of your unit(s), to either miss a spell being cast or to physically block the person you are trying to kill makes the difference between a major win or complete loss of a fight. Or your ability to farm, last hitting creeps, stacking/jungling and maximizing your gold per second.

So yes at low level Dota is all about the trivia. I'm a better player then a random new player because I know the characters, their abilities and the items. But at the end of the day despite putting in hundreds of hours I pale in comparison to a Excellent player because I don't have the reflexes, or the split second analytical mind. In addition, and most importantly, I've not put in the hours upon hours of purposeful practice that a pro dota player has.

Dota is a skill based game.