Creep Pulling in Dota 2: How and why you should manipulate the creepwave to win your lane

As a MOBA, a major feature of Dota 2 is opposing creepwaves that clash in every lane.

Creepwaves from both the Radiant and Dire sides of the map meet up along all three lanes. The creeps in Dota 2 have preset pathing and always meet at a specific spot in a lane if not impeded. However, their pathing can be disrupted in several ways. For example, creep blocking is the most common and easiest method of doing this. More advanced manipulation of their pathing requires more advanced techniques, such as pulling.

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Why should one pull in Dota 2?

In Dota 2 jargon, the place where the two opposite creepwaves clash is called the creep equilibrium.

Lane creeps, being the primary source of gold and XP in the early game, cores need to be close to it. While staying in the XP range is easy, they need to be right next to the creep equilibrium in order to attempt last-hitting.

This usually results in a battle of trading and harassing between the opposing cores and supports of the sidelanes in Dota 2. Naturally, everyone takes chip damage over time as a result. Except, in Dota 2, some laners are naturally tanky due to a combination of armor and high natural health regeneration.

One lane having a higher amount of harass or sustain can thus create a significant imbalance. Consequently, the lane that loses in the damage vs sustain war is forced to spend more gold on regen items like Salves and Tangoes. In lanes with nuke damage or multiple stuns, falling behind in sustain can also present a kill threat.

Usually, it is within the sidelaner's interests to keep the creep equilibrium as close to their tower as possible. The safety of the tower works as a fall-back plan in kill lanes, and the regeneration from the tower's aura helps sustain lanes.

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How to pull waves?

To pull waves, you need access to the small neutral camps behind your safe lane towers. These are called the 'pull camps' because of their proximity to the creepwave's natural path. Creeps in Dota 2 attack anything that attacks nearby heroes. The act of pulling is simply abusing this behavior to redirect the creepwaves. To pull, you need to wait near the pull camp till approximately the 16th or 44th second of the current in-game minute. At this point, hitting the camp once and walking towards the approaching allied creepwave will redirect creep aggro, and the pull will connect.