I have a rule for Dota 2 updates: official notes first, recap second. That rule only solves half of the problem. Once I do press play, a good video can throw ten new ideas at me in twenty minutes, and without a system they all blur into one big feeling that something changed. I use two columns to keep them apart.
The left column: what I already wrote
I have my own list, written in my own words from the official notes. It is short and it belongs to my heroes, my items and the parts of the map I walk through. While I watch, I do not touch it. It is the baseline against which I measure what the video says.
Dota 2 screenshot — © Valve, official Steam store page.
The right column: what the video adds
Whenever the creator says something that is not in my left column, I write it on the right with a minute mark and nothing else. No opinions, no "interesting," just the claim and where I heard it. Most entries are things I would never have found myself, which is the real value of a recap.
Checking the right column
After the video, each entry on the right must find a home in the official text. If I can point to the line, it moves to the left and becomes part of my list. If I cannot, it stays on the right with an expiry date, usually a week. When the week passes, I cross it out without drama.
What I avoid
I avoid copying the creator's order, because their order reflects their game. I avoid pausing every thirty seconds to test something, because that turns a video into a lab. And I avoid sharing a right-column item with friends as if it were confirmed.
Why the order matters
The idea that reading comes first, and that a recap should be a second opinion rather than a first one, is spelled out in a note about why I read Dota 2 patch notes before watching anyone explain them. The two columns are simply the tool that makes the second step manageable.