Wraiths, your king is here!
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A total of 40 action-packed games were played by 18 of the world’s best Dota 2 teams earlier today at the opening of The International 2018 group stages and one unlikely hero has already been dictating how this year’s grand Dota 2 championships’ metagame would turn out by being present in 31 of those drafts.
Wraith King, a hero who barely had competitive gaming appearances for significantly long years, has finally been given an opportunity to shine and currently become as the most picked hero of The International 2018. But unlike how a pub player would instantly pick him as a carry to climb from Guardian to Archon, contenders of the grandest Dota 2 tournament found the worth of King Ostarion’s tanky incarnate as an offlaner.
The transition of the laning phase from the aggressive tri-lane to 2-1-2 can easily be one of the reasons for the hero’s increasing pick rate as an offlaner. Despite his natural tankiness and ability to withstand the aggression of a tri-lane setup, Wraith King can never really be a viable offlaner because of his lack of flash farming capabilities. His only single-target skill is too costly to be used as a tool for harassment making him inferior to the like of natural offlane heroes like Underlord, Beastmaster, and even Pangolier.
In a dual lane setup, however, trading blows against enemy carries for creep bounties are a lot easier and endurable. Not to mention the new mechanic of Mortal Strike which summons an uncontrollable skeleton army that helps in pushing or defending against a push.
The core item for a Wraith King offlane is undeniably similar to the core item of most offlaners—Blink Dagger. Wraith King’s single-target stun and high-damage output put him in a role as a tanky initiator in team fights. His passive in Vampiric Aura also provides a significant amount of lifesteal that makes him a good pair with melee right-click carries.
Despite a low 35% win rate, the presence of Wraith King in The International 2018 doesn’t look to deteriorate, especially after PSG.LGD extended Wraith King’s flexibility as a four position support. They horribly lost that game and fy ended up dying 11 times, but it was, at least, a decent try.
The second day of The International 2018 group stage resumes at 00:00 SGT with TNC Pro Team facing up against the lone South American representatives in paiN Gaming.
