Sheriff, 'Faceless Void', the left guy, has his lore and all of his abilities based around manipulation of time. Following the joke he would dream of a variety of sheep that is like him. As such the text really stands as its own joke and isn't very dependant on the comic.

Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?

I get the joke, I get the Electric Sheep reference, but what I don't get is the "Time Sheep"? What does time have to do with him having a nightmare of being a cross-dressing Support?

Is that a Philip K. Dick joke i see? Nice.

@Explanations Received: Golden rule of comedy: NEVER EXPLAIN THE JOKE.

CM is one of the easiest lane supports imo.

turns out all that was just a nightmare being induced by the game's resident bogeyman "Bane" (not the one from batman)...

the purple circle thingy on the head is the ingame effect for when Bane puts someone in a nightmare (dealing damage over time and ofc, rendering them helpless)

1st purple guy is "Void".. one of the best carries (rich douches) in the game..
Suddenly, his uberweapon "Mjolnir" turns into the cheap disposable support item "Observer Ward" and he's wearing clothes eerily reminscent of "Crystal Maiden", arguably the game's hardest support hero (gullible beggars)

Okay, guys, seriously: what are you expecting when you read this comic? It's a comic about games with a bit of fanservice thrown in. What is so surprising about finding jokes about games.

Calm yo tits down. Sometimes, you won't get the joke. That's okay. Nobody will think less of you.

This. This made me laugh.

First time I see a -valid- complaint about all this, without it being a troll or an insult, and I have to agree.
I don't -rage- over the DOTA2 jokes. But i have to say, is not the same having to search to understand. They really lack the surprise since a lot of us have to find out by comments here.

[url=#user_comment_226599]@Mord[/url]: OR, you can stop being a fucktard, and ASK. Like I did, and the comic was explained by very nice people. Many thanks to them, I will ask for explanations again!

A textbook example of a strip with an inside joke absolutely nobody will get unless you play the game regularly.

Haha, he's turning into Crystal Maiden!!

@Explanations Received: That's Crystal Maiden, who is basically the poster-girl of supports.

[url=#user_comment_226555]@NONE[/url]: THANK YOU. SO FUCKING VERY MUCH. Now I understand. Who is the hero he is turning into?

It just shows how Dota 2 can keep Jo entertained. You should too, it's a really good game.

Who are the the guys and why is this funny?

[url=#user_comment_226554]@NONE[/url]: and use their skills to helf carry heroes and others win combat. This is caused by the other guys ability to disable enemies for a short time putting them into nightmare. The horse guy is bane elemental - fear,nightmares that stuff. The first one is faceless void btw.

@Explanations Wanted: Here ya go: the first purple guy is the carry hero that means he gets extremly powerful with good items(like the hammer hes holding(mjolnir)) then suddenly he gets the outfit (and wards) of a support hero which generally dont do dmg but spend their cash on utility items

[url=#user_comment_226541]@dealwithit[/url]: the ability to stun enemies is a reason a game sucks?

this is the reason why dota 2 sucks

[url=#user_comment_226523]@kdebones[/url]: I'm afraid I'm also in the same boat, pal. I do really enjoy most of Jo's comics, but sometimes they just leave me hanging. With any luck, let's hope we can have some nice Emgie-tan fanservice in tonite's strip.

The first guy is, in short, a giant douchebag. He's 100% used to having literally everything given to him, such as the ultra strong weapon he's holding.

He then turns into a useless Hero.

The bottom panel shows the guy on the right, a Nightmare elemental.

It's sad, for the first time ever I don't understand what is going on in this comic other then the Left Purple guys is having a nightmare caused by Right Purple guy

[url=#user_comment_226502]@Taco[/url]: eejup STill waiting for hat-wearing ponies discussing politics. Jo said he'd do it one day...

In the land of time the no-eyed man is king!
How can I see nightmares without eyes anyway, stupid bane and his stupid 1vs1 spells...

Someone explain. Who is purple guy? Who is dark purple horse guy? What is purple guy carrying originally, what does it transform into and why? What is that purple bubble over his head?

Thank you very much.

i DONT KNOW WHATS GOING ON.

This isnt starcraft, this isnt something i know, screw lol and dota :'(

So... anybody else just eating popcorn while reading the comments?
Sometimes these are funnier than the comic itself

[url=#user_comment_226475]@SorataYuy[/url] I don't consider them unneeded, but just pointing out what I observe. I like playing support on occasion, but the general is, Top gets blamed, support is never thanked and jungle flip flops between those two problems.

Number of dead people is A LOT higher than living. So - death is great. And cos there aren't so much immortals - immortality sucks. Trust me.

@Some people...: That's also probably because of the pre-existing Dota fans and the Valve fans giving it a try. You know a lot of people play CoD right? I guess that makes it a good game.

[url=#user_comment_226469]@Anon8792[/url] the fact that support is considered "unneeded" says a lot about the majority of ungrateful dickheads who play these sorts of games, then.

BLINK DAGGER AAUAAAGAUAGAHUAGHAAA

I'm a lol player and this wasn't hard to understand...

@Wow just wow

The character in the comic is the guy who carries the game, comparable to something like the guy who makes the goals and generally holds the ball in most sports. He's having a nightmare that he's turned into a support, the butt monkey of the team who's generally considered uneeded

I don't really play MOBAs and so I don't get what's going on with this strip. That's fine with me. It wasn't aimed towards me anyways. But the comments, oh man the comments. Ladies and gentlemen, horses don't get any higher than this. Nice job DOTA and MOBA fans.

Jo, we want some variety. DoTA 2 comics is ok. But we want Engie-tan in Firefall dress! FGJ!

@Sighs all around: You aren't supposed to

Just look at the fact that Void was wearing a dress

For retards and LoL players : Faceless Void is a carry. Suddenly,blah blah blah, who is the archetype of support heroes. -Talfos

And if I don't play mobas how the fuck was I supposed to know that again?

Then purple creature is show having a purple orb in his head while another creature smiles near him

It is really THAT dificult to understand?

Also: repeating the same statement with diferent names don't help DOTA whiner

People who don't get this are stupid

Title:Welcome to my nightmare!
Purple creature running around with a hammer
Suddenly he loses the hammer and gains a ward and a dress (both the dress and the ward are explained in diferent comics)

What's wrong with mjolnir on void? He needs a lot of attack speed and damage to crush faces while in the chronosphere. Plus the active ability, it's perfect.

Honestly, I do not understand how people with any knowledge of video game archetypes does not get this.

I personally do not have any experience with Dota or LoL, refuse to touch them due to the community.

My two sense anyways, keep up the good work Jo, See you at the Tops.

At least it isn't ponies. Then I'd have to gauge out my eyes. Or maybe the eyes of some ponies.

I don't greatly prefer TF2 comics either, but they are easier to understand. TF2 has 9 characters, how many does Dota have? Personally I'd like to see neither but something new, which we do get occasionally.

But hey, draw what you like.

Dota is hardly a niche game with some tiny playerbase. Though the game is still in beta and only a handful of beta keys released in China, it is more than thrice over the most played game on Steam in both peak concurrent players and currently playing(more than TF2 had in its peak). Great comic today

Hahaha, this comic Jo. This comic.

Glad to see Bane getting some love here, since Valve is too busy making a seventh set of gear for Dragon Knight. No time for all the other heroes.

Dragon Knight: Pretty Princess Dress Me Up

Don't mind whatever comic you choose to draw, but even if I play LoL, some of the DotA comics are really hard to understand... ending up having to read the comments to get the joke kinda ruins it. Expecially when you have to run through the whole "First!" "Stop doing DotA comics!" "Do more!" thing..

Haha love it! It should be easy to get for anyone if they read the title...

bane is a pony, shut up already

Wow Jo look at all these whiny buttheads in the comments. Great comic today. Don't listen to them! I don't play DotA and I know LoL is just a casual form of DotA but it was easy to figure this comic out just from the title!

Hey, remember when Jo didn't make comics that didn't need in-dept game knowledge in order to make a lick-a-sense, leave alone be funny?

I don't think I play any of the games that Jo makes comics about but I can still get them. But these DOTA comics are pretty much incomprehensible and make me wonder why I come here every day.

Mjollnir on void? wow Jo must be a really shitty player.

Well he is br after all.

He wanna eat this

Didn't get the joke untill I read the comments made by RoderickBR and Talfos.

Comics shouldn't require you to have in depth knowledge to be understood.

I don't care about the subject of the comic as long as the joke is understandable to a broad audience. Jo's tendency to make insider-jokes with exclusive franchises is bugging me quite strong.

Jo is doing this just to piss off all the whiners, and to show that he can do it. I like that attitude. He was waaaay too meek and sheepish back in the days when TF2 was the only thing to write about and everything else was scoffed at, given it wasn't about those GOLDEN OLDIES MARIO ZOMG.

The comedy is actually in reading the comments here, rather than the comic itself. Keep 'em coming~

I enjoy the Dota 2 comics more than the TF2 comics and I played both games.

Also <3 Bane. =)

OH no .... Not the carry!

@HEAVY IS PRETTY PRINCESS: STOP RUINING MY FUCKING DOTA 2 MATCHES YOU SUBHUMAN SCUM.
IF I SEE YOUR FUCKING MOONRUNES AGAIN ON ONE SINGLE NON-RUSSIAN SERVERS I'M GOING TO FIND YOU.
AND SHANK THE SHIT OUTA OF YOU, GET IT FUCKING FAT-ASS RUSSIAN SCUM?

BAD COMICS ARE BAD, WORSE HUMOR THAN THE ONE BACK AT MOTHER'S RUSSIA.

YOU, YES, YOU! STOOPID COMIC MAKER, WE MADE YOU AND TOOK YOU WERE YOU ARE NOW. YOU MIGHT HAVE FORGET, BUT WE DO NOT, LITTLE BABY.

I like how the comment section says : "Troll NOW!!"

Because cum on, these Dota 2 comics are awesome! Keep on going.

@Dota Fortress 2: GUYS.
I HAVE LIKE AN IDEA.
OK?
TF TEAM 4 DOTA PONY FORTRESS.
IT'S.
A.
GOOD.
IDEA.

Despite me being a hardcore dota fan and how good today's comic is, I have to admit that you're doing quite a streak of dota comics Jo. You might want to alternate a bit to stop non-dotaers from crying.

Love the allusion in the caption :3

[url=#user_comment_226276]@Nerfnow[/url]: Really, all these people saying only dota comics are hard to understand are bullshit, I didn't understand almost any of your ME comics. They want more TF2 because they understand TF2, since everyone played it already, however the real money steam market seems like a good choice for a comic

More TF, less Dota? More "Other", less TF? More Dota, less "Other"?


I know what you REALLY want. Jo, it's Pony Time!

It took me a minute or two before I realised what Faceless Void was wearing, but I had a good chuckle once I did.

Awesome and creatic comic. Unexpected, too, unlike the last few dota comics.

I never really played TF2, but comics were really easy to understand. DOTA2 comics feel like private jokes betweens 2 friends.
I really don't care about what game is the comics, but make it enjoyable to people who don't play it

My problem is not so much that there are a lot of DOTA 2 comics, so much as a lot of them are just impenetrable to somebody like me. There have been plenty that I can laugh at by using the context within the comic to figure out what's going on, but then you've got this, which I just can't get.

[url=#user_comment_226289]@Me[/url]: "TF2 is old and stale" Kill yourself.

To all the whiners: don't read the comics if you hate DOTA 2. of course Jo makes comics about it, ebcause it's one of the most played games right now. TF2 is old and stale, betas are still too new to make jokes about that people will understand and other games are just boring.

[url=#user_comment_226276]@Nerfnow[/url]: Dark Soul is amazing

More Dota 2? Come on Jo.... I don't play Moba games, I get it you love Dota 2 and usually I read it and may not get it sometimes, lets see some other games here. Planetside 2, hawken open beta, he'll I don't mind more jokes on mmos, hell I will settle for TF 2 comics.
Just ease off dota for now

[url=#user_comment_226259]@bodmans[/url]: Prob. Dark Souls and maybe Darksiders II if I got it cheap.

Let's try it without being a stupid jerk: The guy turns into a "support unit", and the last panel shows he's just dreaming of that because of a "nightmare" spell cast by the other dude.

[url=#user_comment_226266]@Talfos[/url]: Unnecessary insult there, so someone who play neither moba and doesn't get it is a retard?

For retards and LoL players : Faceless Void is a carry. Suddenly, he sees his Mjollnir (a powerful weapon) turns into a ward, a support item. Then, he's wearing Crystal Maiden outfit, who is the archetype of support heroes.

You realize then it's because Bane casted a spell name Nightmare on Void.

[url=#user_comment_226232]@Nerfnow[/url]: also Jo, winter sales coming up. any games youre looking forward to? and i suggest you check out planetside 2 also have you got inspiration for my commision?

[url=#user_comment_226229]@Crank[/url]: just let them live in their dreamy happy world where everything is TF2. to be honest i dont get this one either, but i dont complain. alright i get it, but not the characters and items involved

@Some Dude: A long time real friend of mine say he never gets the TF2 comics so I guess it depends of the person. He get all strips about old games thou.

[url=#user_comment_226152]@x[/url]: I just try to get them with my (very limited) knowledge, look at the comments... and if it's not explained there I come tomorrow and hope it'll be better.

[url=#user_comment_226225]@Tiri[/url] Glad to see some people understand

Can't help but laugh at how people are just demanding TF2 content while Jo can and should just make comics about what he feels like.

At least we still get a daily portion of well illustrated silliness.

I love all these people saying Dota 2 is a small niche or not many people play, when the truth is that Dota 2 has been surpassing TF2 concurrent player just about everyday. And can you guys stop complaining, Jo makes comics based on what hes playing or opinions. Not really your choices.

I don't play DotA, but I still really like all the comics that have been coming in lately. I think they're really entertaining, and it's a lot easier for an artist to make comics about what they are currently invested in. This is one of only two I had to look at the comments to get. Keep 'em coming.

Hahah love it. No matter what hero I pick, I always seem to end up buying the wards. Serves him right! Loving these Dota 2 comics.

Yea, dota2, again, yaaay.........

Even if I don't play the games Jo makes comics about, usually the comics themselves work in their own context. But whenever he does a Dota2 comic, I usually have to read the description or comments to actually get the joke. I'm pretty sure Dota2 comics would be more liked if they could stand alone.

I don't get it. I only figured out it has something to do with DotA becuase of the comments. I don't play DotA or LoL because the communities suck.

Could we get more comics about Firefall? I mean, like you said, they've already done half your work for you with the suit designs :p

@Some people...: Do we care? It's one thing to do a couple DOTA comics here or there, but this is getting obnoxious. This is as bad as doing an arc.

For those that don't get it; Faceless void (a carry) is running around with an amazing item, suddenly it's replaced by wards (support item) and he's in a dress, he's having a nightmare invoked by the other hero.

No clue WTF is going on in this comic, nor do I care enough to investigate. Not rageworthy, just... meh.

This is the first DotA comic I couldn't understand solely from my grasp of basic joke structure and from having played LoL and RTS games in general.

guys, stop complaining about the dota 2 comics. They're pretty good too.

We're still devoted...

[url=#user_comment_226189]@anon[/url]: You do know that Dota 2 peak concurrent players is more than 3 times the peak of TF2?

God, Banes Grin so Evil! :D Love the comics

Sorry Jo, you're losing another long-time follower. Dota 2 isn't even remotely entertaining for those of us not in that tiny little niche.

Moar dota2 comics...yay
/disapoint

Guess we're gonna be stuck with DotA for awhile. Let me know when the comic switches to something that doesn't involve elitist shitfests.

uguuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuu

@rice rice rice: Hopefully not, I don't want to see any fucking terrible -tan renditions of any of the characters.

[url=#user_comment_226169]@Talcon[/url]: Variety is the spice of life, blah blah, etc, ur a faget.

btw, will there be a dota 2 story?

as long as there's funny comics.

[url=#user_comment_226166]@Anon[/url][url=#user_comment_226160] @Troll[/url] Fuck off I love Dota 2 comics

Truly a horrible horrible fate

I wish you did LoL comics too. Then I would get more of the obscure MOBA jokes.

I love playing support, warding, and setting up ganks.

I think I'm a masochist.

[url=#user_comment_226160]@Troll[/url]: Fuck off, plenty of people enjoy the Dota comics

Jo, me and many others like Dota 2, but you have been doing too many comics about it lately.

Dota2? Really, oi. We come here for TF2 and comics of other cool games. What's with all this Dota2 stuff.

Not as many people play Dota2 as you may be thinking.

this is the reason why dota 2 sucks

a carry's worst nightmare... TO BUY WARDS

I never understand any of these DotA comics...

I have to google the champions, learn the skills and then come back and go "Oh... yeah I get it"

He definitely DOES.

So many Dota 2 comics. More Dota 2 or I'll never read again!!!1!1!

ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh

First.