Drafting Practice: Day Eight

Draft #1I'm the Dire player.I think Radiant is going to have a really bad day.Razor and Puck are tied middle, maybe with a slight advantage for Puck because of his mobility and evasion.Spectre is going to flat-out lose his lane.  Veno is food - his low range, low speed and squishiness will spell his doom vs an aggro tri.  Even Disruptor alone would be able to zone out both Veno and Spectre.  Enchantress will come online with a few levels and be able to help out, but by that time, the tri-lane would be lost (if she's not simply ganked...

Read More

Spotlight on Bane: The Tough Support

Intro to BaneBane has higher starting damage and EHP than any other ranged support.  He (it?) can also make enemy’s life in lane into a living hell with Enfeeble and Brain Sap.  He is one of the most aggressive laning supports in the game as of 6.82b, on par with Skywrath Mage and Lion.  He can also one of the support heroes that can be played as a mid semi-carry, and scales well until lategame, but still has Fiend's Grip, and thus will stay relevant even after BKBs become prevalent.Needs mana to sustain casting-harass (clarities...

Read More

More Drafting Analysis

Draft #1:Me as RadiantI think Dire has the advantage here in the lanes.  Although Venge could roam from bottom to middle given the lane setup, Beastmaster doesn't really need it - he can still farm and gain levels safely with Wild Axes and Bottle crowing.  Silencer would probably be best joining Nyx top lane, to both harass Luna and contest pulls by Shadow Shaman.It's almost impossible to zone out Clockwerk from a lane, given Flare to farm and Cogs to use defensively, although Curse spam from Silencer might force Clock to operate with...

Read More

Day Six, Part Two: Opponent Joins in - atypical drafts!

Okay, so I went a bit YOLO with some of these drafts (Spiritbreaker, anyone?), but I didn't think it was all that bad.  My opponent (same one) joined in with some more-atypical hero choices sometimes, but largely stuck to the "strong in the 6.81 meta" heroes.  I think I still got the better of him in some drafts, however.Draft #1 :  Me as RadiantIf it's not obvious, I'm going for the armor-reduction strategy on this draft. While I didn't get hard-countered by any hero picks, my lanes are weak.   Shadowfiend can do okay...

Read More

Supports that Work Mid

I've experimented with a few of the greedier supports, and if you can put them mid, they scale extremely well.  They aren't the usual mids, or even really known as semi-carries but they can work.Here's the list of supports I've tried that should go mid when possible, and why:WarlockNeeds levels (extremely good teamfight skills)Scales well with farm due to Ultimate and Agh's LeshracHighly dependent on multiple items to reach full potential (Bloodstone, BKB)Needs levels badly, especially before BKBs come outSpammable nuke (Lightning) against...

Read More

List of Heroes with More Than One Disable

List of heroes with two or more hard disables, and some team ideas around this.Heroes with Two Disables, NOT including Ultimate:Earthshaker (Fissure, Aftershock - also Echo Slam) Lion (Earth Spike + Hex)Shadow Shaman (Hex + Shackle)Tiny (Avalanche + Toss)Heroes with Two Disables Including Ultimate:Bane (Nightmare and Fiend's Grip)Brewmaster (ultimate form has Tornado and Boulder)Centaur Warrunner (Stomp and Stampede)Clockwerk (Cogs and Hook)Invoker (multiple)Kunkka (Torrent & Ghost Ship - and X for chasing)Naga (Ensnare & Song)Ogre (Agh's...

Read More

List of Damage Amplifiers

Heroes that have damage-amplifying abilities (not including armor reduction):Ancient Apparition (Ice Vortex)-15/ -20 / -25 / -30 Magic Resistance to targets in 275 areaBloodseeker (Blood Rage - self or target) +25 / +30 / +35 / +40 Damage Increase (Dealt and Taken)Chen (Penitence)+14 / +18 +22 +26 Damage AmplificationElder Titan (Natural Order - aura 275 range)Base Resist Reduction: 12% / 19% / 26% / 33% Medusa (Stone Gaze)Physical Damage taken = +50%Magical Damage taken = -100% Pugna (Decrepify) - Ethereal effectMagic Resist Reduction = 50%...

Read More

Team Ideas: All healers & lifestealers

This is a "theme" team, but might work really well in low-level pubs where players have a hard time coordinating their nukes.Candidates:  See List of Healers, Lifestealers and Self-HealersTeam ideas:  Dual Lanes#1:Omni MidNecrophos + TreantAbaddon + Dazzle#2:Huskar MidDoom + BaneChen + Undying Team Ideas:  Tri-lane#1:Necrophos Mid Alchemist + DazzleLC JungleUndying Offlane solo#2:Mid: HuskarSafe: Wyvern, Legion Commander, PugnaOfflane: PhoenixTeam Ideas:  Dual Mid#1:Mid:  LC + IoSafe:  Wraith King, WyvernOfflane: ...

Read More

Similar Heroes for When you Get Banned

The following list gives ideas of what hero to pick when your preferred pick suddenly gets banned, or when you love one hero but want to play a similar-but-different one.Tidehunter = Timbersaw.  Both tough, melee initiator-types with lots of nuke.Lion = Lina = Ogre Magi.  All are big nukers with big single-target ultimates.Abaddon = Legion Commander.  Both can be played as support/healer/semi-carries, with slightly different functions, but very similar ability to buff and heal allies.Wraith King = Sven = Dragon Knight = Alchemist. ...

Read More

Spotlight on Legion Commander

Legion Commander is a very versatile hero, who can be played in many roles.  Despite not having a teamfight-oriented Ultimate, she could probably be played as a support similar to Abaddon or Ogre Magi, due to her ability to buff/heal teammates and nuke.Laning LC (farmer) Starting:  Courier, Tango, Clarity, Healing Potion, 3 BranchesEarly:  Boots, StickCore:  Power Treads, Armlet, Blink DaggerCore Ext:  Basher, BKBLategame: Abyssal, AC, Boots of Travel (BoT), HeartJungler LC Legion Commander is often jungled even from level...

Read More