I tried going against DotA a couple years ago. I attempted to make my own DotA at the time with some friends, it was called DotA Magma. Sadly, Allstars came along and shot it out of the sky so after that I just gave up reviving it. On a lighter note, even if a map isn't designed like DotA, it can still compete with it. Not to sound like I'm bragging but I'll use my footmen war as an example, both maps have about the same amount of heros, are around the same size and are highly addictive once you get into playing. The major difference is, I don't have a whole site, cash prize tournaments, cup holders, soda cans, taco shell wrappers, trading cards, t-shirts, underwear and stickers for my map. (Yea I know that was overkill but atleast its kinda funny). So my point is, its possible to compete with DotA even if your not trying along the lines of an AoS setup.