  Online data provide a way to monitor how users behave in social systems like
social networks and online games, and understand which features turn an
ordinary individual into a successful one. Here, we propose to study individual
performance and success in Multiplayer Online Battle Arena (MOBA) games. Our
purpose is to identify those behaviors and playing styles that are
characteristic of players with high skill level and that distinguish them from
other players. To this aim, we study Defense of the ancient 2 (Dota 2), a
popular MOBA game. Our findings highlight three main aspects to be successful
in the game: (i) players need to have a warm-up period to enhance their
performance in the game; (ii) having a long in-game experience does not
necessarily translate in achieving better skills; but rather, (iii) players
that reach high skill levels differentiate from others because of their
aggressive playing strategy, which implies to kill opponents more often than
cooperating with teammates, and trying to give an early end to the match.
