Newbie

League of Legends is the easiest game to start out with in terms of mechanics and not having access too all the heroes at the beginning ( there is a free rotation of 10 heroes every week ), So as you accumulate in game points you can buy new heroes, I think this system, while commonly a point for circle jerk and criticism works in leagues favor for new players reducing the burden of knowing the full roster.

However Dota 2 now sports a fairly lengthy and indepth tutorial, and a limited hero pool ( 20 heroes ) mode. All heroes are free in dota from the get go, only cosmetics ( Different looking armor, announcers, HUD's etc ) and tournament tickets are purchased with money. Personally I prefer this method as I cannot stand playing the same hero over and over again, but then again I am bias towards Dota 2 as its my main game. I find the hero design to be much more interesting and synergies can give rise to more interesting and emergent gameplay. Dota is more complicated in terms of mechanics, with some being quite convoluted, but I find it more rewarding and fun to play with friends.

Overall I would consider these points;

• If you plan on playing solo, i.e if you don't normally, or enjoy playing online games with friends ( or with people on skype ) I would recommend league, solo in dota is a nightmare ( I know LoL can also be a nightmare, but I find dota more so ) because it requires much more team participation early on. ( In general, perhaps not at low skill though, its hard to tell, but certainly towards the middle skill levels )
• If you plan on playing with friends or actively look for communities to play with when playing online games I would recommend Dota
• These games take time, I did not full understand the game until I had played at least 100 games, and that's just to get to a point of being Low skill. Both games are very in depth and I am still learning things even now after over 2000 hours. Which ever game you chose, if you don't like it after 5 hours, that's fine, stop playing, but remember you do not get the full experience of MOBA's until you full understand whats going on, this high barrier of entry and depth is both the biggest strength and weakness of MOBA's
• Which ever game you start out with you will probably stick with, props if you try both and stick with the second one you try

So there are my bias recommendations take em or leave em ! :pac:

Oh and an honorable mention to Smite, its a third person Moba, interesting gameplay but I could never really get into it !