Get Dunked: Dota 2
Get Dunked: Dota Tuesdays
The Wolf, the Butterfly and the Bear
This article contains spoilers of the match between No Tidehunter and Fnatic in the group stage of the Dreamhack Invitational.
In light of the
deciding game between No Tidehunter and Fnatic in the Dreamhack Invitational
(link to the game), the first instalment of Dota Tuesdays will look at the
importance of item builds and how crucial they are to success within Dota 2.
When watching Fnatic's victory over No
Tidehunter, the game seemed to hinge around a series of ‘lucky’ bashes and
entangles, resulting in an incredible comeback by Fnatic from almost certain
defeat at the hands of No Tidehunter. The item builds of both Trixi and Era in
particular, however, show that Fnatic's triumph had very little to do with
luck, and more to do with carefully considered purchases that directly
countered both Loda and Admiral Bulldog’s respective item builds.
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Lone Druid (Bear) Items - Hand of Midas, Armlet of Morrdiggian, Skull Basher, Phase Boots, Quelling Blade, Assault Cuirass. |
On paper, Abyssal Blade seems like a no brainer
on an agility carry such as Anti-Mage, with high attack speed meaning a higher
chance to bash and a guaranteed 2 second stun through Bkb, which Era had
purchased. On reflection, however, Abyssal seems to be regarded as the weak
link in Loda's build for two main reasons. The first is that illusions cannot
bash, meaning Abyssal Blade and Manta Style have very little synergy. One of
Anti-Mage's great strengths is that his illusions share mana drain. Purchasing
a Manta Style, as Loda did, leads to more mana drained, resulting in more
damage from his ultimate. A Heart of Tarrasque would have benefited Anti-Mage's
illusions far more than Abyssal Blade, as the health and strength bonus from
Heart would have been shared. The second is that Abyssal Blade is a wasted
purchase within No Tidehunter's line-up. The problem with choosing Abyssal
Blade is that only Era’s Lycan had magic immunity and No Tidehunter already had
2 ways of disabling him, irrespective of the Abyssal Blade, with Nature’s
Prophet’s Sprout and Batrider’s Lasso. An Abyssal Blade on an agility carry
provides a reliable stun, or perma-bash, on a single target. Against a Lycan, wolves, Necronomicon units, a Lone Druid and his bear, however, a single target
disable doesn’t add a great deal to survivability.
The lack of synergy within Loda’s item build is
made more apparent with the almost perfect synergy between Era and Trixi (the
repeated use of synergy is not a pun I swear, that would be terrible, it’s just
the best word for the job). Even ignoring the benefit of Lycan’s howl on the
bear and other units, the choice of Necronomicon was great. The truesight
offered instantly made Admiral Bulldog’s Shadow Blade virtually worthless, and the
mana drain a nice bonus against supports; the cheap, simple purchase of a
Quelling Blade by Trixi removed the disable offered by the Nature’s Profit sprout
while the late pickup of Boots of Travel on Lycan countered the possibility of
split push or back-dooring. Era also showed excellent judgement in purchasing a
desolator on Lycan against an Anti-Mage, maximising Lycan’s physical damage
while bypassing Anti-Mage’s inherent magic resistance due to spell shield.
Then there was the Skull Bashers, the stacking
of attack speed, the Butterfly and the entangles…
A Butterfly on an Anti-Mage is almost never a
bad item choice and in this case it wasn’t a bad choice. Usually Monkey King
Bar (Mkb) is the obvious counter to evasion, but Fnatic didn’t go for an Mkb
because they knew they’d be able to lock Loda down by stacking attack speed and
relying on bashes and entangles from the spirit bear. It wasn’t luck that by
the end of the game Trixi had a Skull Basher, Assault Cuirass and an Armlet of
Mordiggian completed on the bear, and it was these 3 items that guaranteed
Fnatic’s victory more than any other. Armlet on the bear is a popular choice
because the spirit bear doesn’t suffer from the health drain per second when
active, permanently gaining the extra attack speed and damage. The Assault
Cuirass not only gave bonus attack speed and armour to those around him, but
also provided minus armour against all of No Tidehunter and most importantly
Loda’s Anti-Mage. The synergy (sorry) with Lycan having Skull Basher and
Desolator (plus the damage aura from Vlads) mean that when Anti-Mage was either
(inevitably) bashed by Lycan, bashed by the bear, or entangled by the bear (as
Skull Basher stacks with entangle), the lack of armour meant he was going to go
down hard and fast.
Recipe for Success: The Importance of Item Builds
As the game between No Tidehunter and Fnatic
shows the importance of item choices within Dota 2 cannot be understated. If there’s one thing taken from the match it’s that item choices need to
be flexible, rather than rigidly following the default item guides within the
game as they are only that; a guide. If no-one is buying wards, for example,
and even though you’re not ‘meant’ to be getting them, buy them anyway; if you’re
playing against a hero like Zeus or another hero with high magic damage, buy a
hood or pipe. Carefully consider your item build and look at what your
opponents are buying, which heroes they are playing and how they are playing them
and adjust your build accordingly.
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