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DotA In-House League

What is DIHL

ENT's DotA In-House League (DIHL) is a vouch-based DotA league for skilled players who want to play competitive games with a fair set of rules.

Joining the League

To maintain a competitive, friendly gaming environment, DIHL requires that all players be vouched in order to participate in the league. This means that the league recognizes you (namely, your account) as a skilled, mannered player who deserves to play in the league. To get vouched, please use the following format and post on the forums here. Seasoned players will respond to your post with whether or not they think you should be vouched. Players with at least 10 DIHL games will be allowed to support your vouch request. Players with at least 100 games (considered ‘DIHL Veterans’) can support your vouch request with more weight (see below).

A new league player, on top of providing the required information on the forum, should hold up to these requirements in order to be officially vouched:

  • If you have 1200+ ELO and positive KDR in the public ENT11/ENT38 DotA bots, then you will need support by 1 DIHL Veteran or support from 3 DIHL Players.
  • Otherwise, must be supported by at-least 2 DIHL Veterans, or by 5 DIHL Players.
  • Must have a Discord Account and willing to actively use it for potential DIHL games.
Note: The vouch may be done informally first in order to allow a new player to participate right away, but must be formally documented in the forums.

If you do not meet the above requirements to be officially vouched, then you will be eligible for a trial period if you meet the following requirements:

  • If you have 1200+ ELO and positive KDR in the public ENT11/ENT38 DotA bots, then no support is required, we will automatically approve your request for trial.
  • Otherwise, your trial must be supported by at least 1 DIHL player.


  • For those on a trial, the trial period will be for 5 games. Any time during this period, 5 DIHL vouched players can come to an agreement to kick the trial player from games and he or she must await one month to retry for the league. The reason for denying the vouch should be posted in the forums. After your trial-period, then the normal vouching requirements will apply.
  • Players are recommended to use Discord as a method of team communication. Ask the other players or a mod for help with using Discord. You can access the ENT Discord here.
  • The ENT Discord channels dedicated to DIHL are #dihl-news, #dihl-games and #dihl-chat. For more information, feel free to send questions to DIHL Staff on ENT's Discord.
  • Players are also recommended to install GProxy to help prevent disconnecting from the game. It is simple to install and can be obtained here.
  • The game name will be posted in Discord (channel #dihl-games). Feel free to join the game at any time. If you are not a vouched player, feel free to come and ask questions or even observe the game. Games are usually hosted around 7 PM eastern time, and throughout the night.
  • DIHL currently uses the following version of DotA: DotA 6.83d-fixed.w3x.


There are a handful of seasoned DIHL players that are allowed to start DIHL games (the games are not auto-hosted like the ENT dota apem/arem games). Once some of the DIHL players logon to bnet and it looks like we may have a chance at filling a game, someone will host a game and then wait for it to fill (feel free to ask other DIHL players if they want to inhouse to get games going if they are not already). The person hosting the game is considered the Game Owner, but please be aware that this person might not be a DIHL Mod. The Game Owner may not kick, ban, or mute a player. If you feel like a Game Owner is abusing his powers, please report that to a DIHL Mod and that particular player may lose rights to host games and could be subject to removal from the league.

Joining the Game

The game name will be posted in Discord (channel #dihl-games). After joining the game, if you do not have auto-spoof (using gproxy), then you will need to type the command “/w ent26 sc” to ensure your account name matches your current displayed name (called a spoof check). You will see a message indicating you have spoof checked. This is required of all players before the game can be started.

If there are more than 10 players wanting to play, then priority for slots is:

  1. players on the winning team
  2. players that are in the queue (more on this later)
  3. players from the losing team

If there are not enough slots for the players in the queue, then slots will be reserved for those earlier in the list (first-in, first-out), and the remaining players will be kept on the queue for the next game. Alternatively, if enough players are on, a second DIHL game may be hosted after the current hosted game starts. Players will be given 5 minutes in order to claim their reserved spot, and otherwise will give up their spot to the next player in line. If there are slots remaining still, then players from the losing team are allowed to play. If there are not enough slots for all players from the losing team to play, then they must use the “!roll” command to see who must sit out (lower rolls sit out).

If you want to be added to the queue for the next game, please message one of the league veterans.

It is highly recommended to check and see how long the current DIHL game has been running to help you decide if you have time to play an apem/arem game or to do something else while you wait. You can review the list on the ENT games site by checking the ‘Include games in progress’ box. If you join a different game or go afk for extended periods of time then you may lose your DIHL queue spot.

Since the game mode is Captain’s Draft (CD), we will ask for two volunteers to be captains. If you do not think someone is capable of being captain, then please voice your concern at this time and we will see if there is an alternative captain available or if we can live with the current choices. Note that the winning captain from the prior game has priority on being captain again (as ‘King of the Hill’), but can elect not to captain if so desired. If no one is willing to captain, the Game Owner or a DIHL Mod (if present) will need to assign captains. If this happens, the choices should be done so as to ensure a fair competitive game.

Player Draft

To make teams fair, DIHL employs a player draft.

  • As captain, you will type “!roll” to see who will get to pick a player first (higher roll picks first).
  • The number of players picked by each captain is in this sequence: 1-2-2-2-1 (winner of roll picks 1 player, then loser of roll picks 2 players, etc.).
  • If you dodge the game (leave the lobby) because you do not agree with the order of player picks, you are subject to a one-day temporary ban.

Game Format Overview

Game format will always be CD mode unless otherwise agreed upon by all players. In CD mode, each team will have a captain that will pick heroes for the players on their team. As such, if you are not a captain, please inform your captain of which heroes you would like to play (name 3 heroes so your captain has options). Note that the captain has the right to give you the hero of his choosing, but will try to accommodate the player requests when it makes sense to do so. For example, if the other team picks counters to the hero you want, then your captain might elect not to give you your hero choice. This is a part of what makes the games competitive, so please respect your captain and do your best to win the game, even if you do not get the hero you want.

Since these are competitive games, at the start of every game, 1 player will buy a set of wards and 1 player will buy a chicken. The player who buys the chicken must share control of the chicken with all teammates. Failure to comply with these orders can drastically affect your team’s early game potential, so please listen to the captain for these assignments or be subject to at minimum a temporary ban and at maximum removal from the league (for not meeting league standards).


  • As Captain of your team, your responsibility is to ask your team for advice on what heroes should be banned/picked, and what heroes they would like to play. Ultimately though, it is the captain’s decision and all players need to respect the choices made by the captain. Only exception is if the Captain is intentionally ruining the game (picking the worst 5 heroes, picking 5 melee carries, etc.).
  • Arc Warden, Meepo, and Techies are currently auto-banned and do not need to be manually banned during the Hero Pick Phase.
  • The Captain should assign heroes to players, assign 1 player to buy wards, assign 1 player to buy chicken, and give lane assignments. It is the responsibility of the player to listen to these orders or else be subject to a temporary ban.


  • The general EntGaming:Rules apply to the DIHL, unless abrogated by the specific rules below. For the forum, the general EntGaming:ForumRules are to be followed. Violating any rule can result in disciplinary actions including verbal warnings and temporary or permanent bans from DIHL games and/or ENT games.
  • As a league, our standards and expectations are higher than pub games. We expect players to be strong in both gaming and mind. Therefore, all players should respect their mates and the games they share.
  • Note that these rules are subject to at minimum a temporary unvouch and at maximum a permanent unvouch depending on the number and extent of the offense. Note that your record of wrongdoings will be cleared at the beginning of each season, except for permanent unvouch(s).

  1. All players must be able to speak English in order to communicate and coordinate with the team.
  2. You are not allowed to use the !ignore command to someone on your team unless they are excessively breaking these rules. However, you are allowed to !ignore someone on the other team or a player that is observing the game.
  3. Intentional game ruining of any sort is not allowed, including but not limited to:
    1. Wasting time to do something ‘funny’ (such as Pudge hooking a teammate on top of a cliff) is subject to ban if it interferes with the flow of the game.
    2. Giving up before the team has forfeited. If only 3 players have forfeited, but not the required 4, you must continue to play and try to win. Sabotaging your team’s chances of winning in order to more quickly lose the game may warrant punishment per DIHL Mod discretion.
  4. Pooling items is not allowed (such as buying clarity potions en masse and giving it to a teammate for them to sell).
  5. Players are not allowed to leave the game prior to the team forfeiting (!ff), the game drawing (!draw), or the Throne being captured. Any player who leaves before then is considered to have rage quit the game. If it is unclear if the first offense is a rage quit or an accidental disconnect, it will be treated as a disconnect and receive a 1 game ban. Otherwise, the following punishments apply:
    1. First offense - 3 day unvouch
    2. 2nd offense - 1 week unvouch
    3. 3rd offense - permanent unvouch
  6. Players who disconnect early in a game (for example during hero pick phase, when it is clear it is not a rage quit) shall sit out the next game with no ban. The player must also install GProxy to help prevent disconnects in the future. For the remaining players, make sure to !draw the game before leaving.
  7. If a player disconnects before 15 min, the game must be drawn (using !draw). After 15 min, the players are allowed to vote (also using !draw).
  8. All players must listen to captains when orders pertain to the following:
    1. Lane/hero assignments
    2. Purchasing observer wards/courier/smoke at beginning of game
    3. Who will take the Aegis
  9. Players must be on mainaccount. This has to be an account that is vouched, that all players recognize, and is recorded onto the stats database. Any players who wish to make a new account for DIHL must wait for the end of the season, and must use that account for the remainder of a season. You are not allowed to make new accounts mid-season even if we all know who you are.
  10. If someone is breaking a rule that needs to be addressed mid game, you are allowed to pause and ask the seasoned players, the Game Owner, or a DIHL Mod (if present) for a decision on the matter. This is the ONLY reason you should Pause mid-game (after first creeps spawn), except for special circumstances such as a mouse battery died. Note we do Pause sometimes at beginning of game to assign heroes/lanes or if someone is afk during the Hero Pick Phase. If you have an emergency and need to pause then please tell us how long you need the pause, and after returning please make sure the other team is ready to unpause. Then type out a countdown (3, 2, 1) and then unpause.
  11. Game Exploits:
    • Forbidden: Obsidian Destroyer’s essence aura can trigger when transferring items to and from teammates and is an unfair way of replenishing a teammates mana.
    • Allowed:
      • Batrider’s napalm + Urn does an unintended excessive amount of damage but has plenty of counters (heals / magic reduction / magic block).
      • Clockwerk can use Power Cog to immobilize an entire creep wave.


  • DIHL keeps statistics for each season (separate from other ENT DotA games) found here.
  • Winners of each season will be posted in the DIHL forums here.
  • Stats will be reset at the end of each season, typically lasting 6 months.


Feel free to reach out to ENT Staff (list here) with any questions, concerns, or feedback.