Please don’t try these at your ranked game, kids.
Chaos Knight, Axe. Crystal Maiden Image via Valve
The past few days in the Dota 2 world have been rfilled with so many serious issues that it made us forget the important things—16 of the world’s best Dota 2 teams are currently in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia to deliver us the highest level of Dota 2 action that we’ve been dying for, and 7.20.
We’ve been stuck in this hell hole called 7.19 for four months now, and I can tell that the pros are oh so done with it too. How? Well, if the current patch is not so stale, I don’t think they will be pulling off these four cheese strategies that only EternaLEnVy would normally do.
TNC Predator’s Kuku with an Offlane Crystal Maiden
The Kuala Lumpur Major was not the first stage where Kuku flaunted his offlane Crystal Maiden. TNC Predator debuted this meta-defining draft at the Asia Pro League, an online Dota 2 tournament that featured the best teams from China and the Philippines, against another all-Filipino Dota 2 team Neon Esports.
It was phenomenal. KuCore, as his fans dubbed him since he was repositioned as TNC Predator’s offlaner after The International 2018 roster shuffle, rediscovered Crystal Maiden’s potential successfully that it stopped me from playing ranked games for a couple of days, fearing the chain of -25 MMR that will be caused by players who would instantly lock in offlane as the hero.
Then Vici Gaming came to wash my fears away. They showed everyone that even though an offlane Crystal Maiden was able to shut down a Terrorblade in the laning phase, it’s not as broken as it seems to be in the hands of TNC Predator. Because at the end of the day, nothing is stronger than a Terrorblade in the late game.
I guess instead of Kuku’s patented offlane Crystal Maiden, I should be fearing Terrorblade pickers in my ranked games instead.
Team Secret’s Puppey with a Support Axe
Puppey may not be the first professional Dota 2 player to pull off a position five Axe (I think EternaLEnVy did it first this patch with coL), but he has the most successful win rate so far into the first Major tournament of the 2018-2019 Dota Pro Circuit—a flawless three out of three games.
The position five support Axe is a product of many things. First is Axe’s viability in the current meta as an offlaner, like how he naturally was, and second, Axe’s viability in the current meta as a position five support. The availability of more suitable offlaners compared to Axe prompted his demotion as an offlaner, fortunately, he’s still better than some position five supports to be ultimately snubbed from the current meta. (Rest in peace, Night Stalker and Puck. You may be gone, but you will never be forgotten).
A position five Axe is treated like any position five supports: secure vision and make sure your cores are enabled. At first, Axe may not seem to be fit for the job since he needs core items to be effective. But if you really think about it, all position five supports also need core items to be effective.
Puppey doesn’t have a definite build for his Axe. Sometimes, if the game is good, he goes for a Blink Dagger for better Berserker Call attempts. However, if zai is there to initiate, a simple Solar Crest and Tranquil Boots is enough for them to secure the game.
PSG.LGD’s Fy with a Support Chaos Knight
Even though PSG.LGD ultimately failed to claim the Aegis of Champions at the eighth iteration of the grandest Dota 2 championship, I don’t think that anyone would dare to argue otherwise if I say that Fy is the MVP of the entire tournament. If the guy did not exhibit such a masterful performance and understanding of his role, I doubt PSG.LGD will reach The International 2018 that far. And just when I thought Fy can’t be possibly greater, he raised the Dota 2 community a position four Chaos Knight, a hero who wouldn’t even pass as a viable carry, at The Kuala Lumpur Major.
It was a disgusting Illusion strategy that featured an Aghanihm’s Scepter-wielding Chaos Knight and Ame’s Terrorblade. Maybe it was their opponent and how they knew that they can execute something that crazy because it’s a best-of-three; they are already one game up, and there’s a room for a little, failed experiment.
But PSG.LGD had balls. They didn’t even ban Earthshaker, a hero notoriously known as a counter against unit-based strategies. Maybe they didn’t even think of needing the third game, because the Casino Knight, as the community would name the hero for being too RNG-centric, is in Fy’s hand.
Earthshaker wasn’t able to do much even with his much-feared Echo Slam. Terrorblade’s Illusions was omnipresent and there was no place in the map for him to set-up an ultimate that could possibly turn the tide of the game. Maybe it was also Boxi’s fault for not rushing an Aghanihm’s Scepter in lieu of a Blink Dagger, but if you were in his shoes, would you think about it?
