ANTI MAGE (by shapeesh)

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ANTI MAGE (by shapeesh)

Tittle: The creep maker
Author: shapeesh

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Pros

Lowest B.A.T in the game, meaning an excellent last-hitting animation and an excellent innate attackspeed.
Second best MS of the game 320 second only to Chaos Knight's 325.
Huge mobility, and the best escape mechanism of the game: Blink.
Good damage, excellent with Mana break.
Good lane control with Mana Break
Casters are pure food with Mana Break and Mana Void
Principal counter to Medusa, the arguably best tank-carry of the game
Nukes are nothing to magina thanks to Spell Shield

Cons

Third lowest health in the game. Second least strength gain (after slark) in the list of meele heroes
Silence completly screws his mobility and escape tool
Rather weak mid game, where the most important fights occur
Easily outcarried by real carries ala Void, Destroyer, troll and Mortred etc
No farming tool
Situational pick which is countered on armor-based lineups(think of Slardar, Dazzle, Venge, Tide and Lanaya)
He is blind.

Hero Skills

Mana Break

Each attack burns mana based on skill level.

1. Burns 28 mana per hit
2. Burns 40 mana per hit
3. Burns 52 mana per hit
4. Burns 64 mana per hit

Damage type: physical
Deals 0.6 damage per point of mana burnt.
Mana Burn is blocked by magic immunity.
This skill is an Orb Effect.
You can lifeleech the damage dealt by this skill with a Lifesteal aura.

deals 60% of the mana burnt in damage
killer early to mid game, wana get first blood? harras the enemy with a cple of hits, get a disabler ally and finish him off
level 1 break is 28 damage, = plus 16.8 damge for you, USE IT
break has no cool down as some other passives of others heroes, so it is done on every attack, thats y our emphysis is on IAS.
break is an orb, so NEVER take any orb effect with it. the damage done from break
CAN BE LIFELEACHED with a life steal aura, so vlads is a good item on him.

Blink

Short distance teleportation that allows one to move in and out of combat.

1. Mana 60 / Cooldown 12 / 200 - 1000 range teleportation
2. Mana 60 / Cooldown 9 / 200 - 1075 range teleportation
3. Mana 60 / Cooldown 7 / 200 - 1150 range teleportation
4. Mana 60 / Cooldown 5 / 200 - 1150 range teleportation

If you used Blink to teleport to a distance over the maximum range, you'll be teleported 4/5 of the maximum range instead.
You can use Blink to dodge incoming projectiles.
Blink has a 0.4 seconds teleportation delay.

the most desired spell in dota
3G speed
Chase and destroy
has a high cool down initially so use it wisely
need to practice range, cuz if you over do it magina will blink only 4/5th of the distance
learn and explore the map, know locations and obstacle, you can blink over hurdles and obstacles,
you can only blink to a place which has already been explored by you or your allies.
Hero concept is chase and kill , when a hero runs with low HP, blink infront of him in between his path so that he has to move around you, gives you time for 2 or 3 hits, if you blink behind him you would only be able to maybe hit him once or not hit at all
when being chased blink over a hurdle
avoid projectiles, like tower hits, difficult but doable, blink once a projectile hits you and another is sent by the tower, the 2nd misses you, you look PRO

Spell Shield

Magina learns to protect himself with an anti-magic shield. Increases his resistance to magic damage.

1. Reduces magic damage by 26%
2. Reduces magic damage by 34%
3. Reduces magic damage by 42%
4. Reduces magic damage by 50%

Stacks with spell resistance items.

upto 40% spell resistance other than basic resistance
stackable with all spell resistance items,
once the spell shield is leveled up, magical damage is a joke for you

Mana Void

Creates a powerful void in an enemy unit caused by a lack of mana. For each mana point missing, the unit takes damage.

1. Mana 125 / Cooldown 70 / Duration 0.1 seconds / Deals 0.6 damage per mana point missing
2. Mana 200 / Cooldown 70 / Duration 0.2 seconds / Deals 0.85 damage per mana point missing
3. Mana 275 / Cooldown 70 / Duration 0.3 seconds / Deals 1.1 damage per mana point missing

Damage type: magical
Stuns target for a short while.
Damage is calculated based on the primary target's mana, but applied to all enemies within the AoE.
Stun works on magic immune units.

deals damage on a ratio to missing mana in a hero
very difficult to be used to full effect
devastating if use correctly in a team fight on a heavy nuker, can turn around the outcome.
you need to click on an enemy to see the missing mana pool so always have a hot key for your hero, never void blindly as if you cast void on a hero with no mana missing, it would be a real teasing sight
playing anti mage is different than other heroes where you are relying a lot on your ulti, but antis ulti really is his mana break, void comes in as a secondary but devastating spell to assist the damage done by break

Skill Build

Since 6.68's improved spell shield and even before that, i have used this skill build and i assure u IT WORKS, we make anti max his shield and break first after one level of blink. Y max spell shield so early, cuz it is percentage based and keeps you up to level at all stages of the game and makes up for anti's sorry ass hp gain. It is greatly beneficial as todays game is very magic damage centered

Level 1 Blink
Level 2 Mana Break
Level 3 Spell Shield
Level 4 Spell Shield
Level 5 Mana Break
Level 6 Mana Void
Level 7 Spell Shield
Level 8 Mana Break
Level 9 Mana Break
Level 10 Spell Shield
Level 11 Mana Void
Level 12 Blink
Level 13 Blink
Level 14 Blink
Level 15 Stats
Level 16 Mana Void
Level 17 - 25 Stats

Spell buildup can be altered as per the requirement but always have break maxed out first, blink and shiled is where you can put in your preference, but as a rule of thumb have blink at level one or 2 and another level should be taken before level 10.Below mentioned skillset is mostly used against a balanced team with a couple of carries, intellies and a tank

Chase and kill magina build, better build to get more kills.

Level 1 Blink
Level 2 Mana Break
Level 3 Mana Break
Level 4 Blink
Level 5 Mana Break
Level 6 Mana Void
Level 7 Mana Break
Level 8 Blink
Level 9 Spell Shield
Level 10 Spell Shield
Level 11 Mana Void
Level 12 Spell Shield
Level 13 Spell Shield
Level 14 Blink
Level 15 Stats
Level 16 Mana Void
Level 17 - 25 Stats

The ANTI-Mage skill build

People love to take magina when the opponents have a lot of intellies, 3 or even 2. The upper build woud not be that efficient against 2+ spell spammers,

Level 1 Blink
Level 2 Mana Break
Level 3 Mana Break
Level 4 Spell Shield
Level 5 Mana Break
Level 6 Mana Void
Level 7 Mana Break
Level 8 Spell Shield
Level 9 Spell Shield
Level 10 Blink
Level 11 Mana Void
Level 12 Spell Shield
Level 13 Blink
Level 14 Blink
Level 15 Stats
Level 16 Mana Void
Level 17 - 25 Stats

Even in this spell build we donot comprise on leveling the break, as that is your most wanted spell. we gave him more survivability against spell casters, remeber in this build you have a high cool down on your blink, so use it wisely

BLINK OR BREAK at level one

Blink is normally taken at hero level one, I some times take break instead of blink at hero level it gives you imba damage and a kill is possible with a good support, taking break or blink at level one is totally ur choice
+ if you have a disbler or stunner lane partner use your break to the best effect and experiment with break at level one a good spell build up should have 3 levels of break at hero level 5

Blink or spell shield

Depends on your opponents and your team mates.
if you have good support and your job becomes to finish off the fleeing heroes then keep on upgrading your blink to chase
if the other team has a lot of inteli heroes or spell spammers, like zues and leshrac, then take and upgrade your spell shield after taking one level of blink, upgrade blink after break and shield. IF YOU LEAVE BLINK TO BE MAXED LATER THEN YOU WOULD BE GIVING UP YOUR CHASING ABILITY, CHOOSE WISELY. most players keep a level 2 blink and upgrade it after maxing the spell shield. Advanced players max blink before maxing shield

Item Build

Core items: the items which may never be compromised for the anti mage and need to be taken what ever the opponents are and what ever the situation is
Survivability items: the items which make up for anti's fargility make him enough survivability to stay in battle
Situational items: items which are required as per the game and your opponents

Starting items

First recepie to complete is the Poor Man shield and then the Power treads.

Core items

Power treads, gold = 1450

at 450 get belt of giant strength then
add gloves of haste and lastly get the boots, keep your PTs in strength

Yasha first or

Vanguard?? After getting the PT you have 2 choices:

1. go for yasha which is very important for you, gives you armor, MS, IAS and damage.
2. Get vanguard, helps you survive more, jungle to a much better extent, etc. We already have taken the PMS which is more than enough to make up for the early phase and to some extent the mid game as well

I personally dont go for vanguard as it delays your core and your mid game potential is wasted. But a lot of players love to get vanguard on it. I have a few observations below. Decide cleverly what to get, if you have a good tank/ally with you, better get the yasha first as it would insanely increase your mid game potential, which is magi's time. If you are getting harassed a lot and cannot stay in battle because there are a lot of carries in your team or inexperienced allies, go vanguard. BUT IF YOU GO VANGUARD FIRST IT BECOMES YOUR DUTY TO MAKE YASHA IN THE NEXT FIVE MINUTES. JUNGLE AND FARM.

Yasha:

blades of alcracity 1000
boots of elven skin 450
Recipe 750

Vanguard:

vitality booster 1100
ring of health 875
stout shield 250

It may be better to get both of these items, but money and timings are the crucial

if you make yasha first then on next 2100 gold you would want to convert it into manta which delays vanguard to late game, and vanguard isnt that effective late game,
if you get vanguard first then you are delaying your core items.
My suggestion is to better get yasha first and then convert it into manta if you have good support from your team mates, otherwise go for vanguard right after PTs and farm ASAP to complete your core,vanguard does make farming easy.
Remember, vanguard is not a core item for anti mage it is only to give him survivabilty during mid game, if you have good allies and tanks, skip it and go manta.

MANTA - IM LOVIN' IT

Yourcore, your heart and sole. They have mana burn, one you have it you have 3 MANA burning predators, IMBA IAS, every hit with them to an enemy = 192 mana gone, 60% of damage from MANA BURN = 115 damage only from MANA burn + your physical damage thats like GOD strength from SVEN with trolls AS. LOL

Situational items

Vladimir offering, once manta is made, anti has an imba IAS, also the damage dealt by mana burn can be life leached, check with your team, if some one else is making vlads, skip it, life leach is very important for the antimage, he has a high AS and thus this becomes a heart for anti. chances are your carries would get life steal for them, better ask them to get vlads if they are meele so that you can save the money, otherwise do get it yourself. Lifestea with your AS gives you insane HP regen

Black King bar

if there are a lot of disables in the enemy team, go BKB, you have very less heath and being disabled is some thing magi cannot afford.
5 second magic immunity (the least time provided by bkb after 5 uses) is all you need. blink in BKB, start hitting a high mana pool enemy, burn mana, once bkb is over, use manta illusions, once enemy mana pool is low, do the void, and kabooom.

PS, if you have manta and there are not a lot of AOE nukers then illusions is all you need rather than BKB, go for basher 1st or Monkey. BKB is not so much for anti as it is for heroes like nevermore.

Cranium basher, magina has no disable, we need to cover those grounds so that we can use our imba AS. basher is a great item for anti, and you need to have it when playing against heroes with bash or heroes with good escape mechanisms, like Akasha and POTM. Basher can be included in magina's core, depends on you and the situation as we can only have 6 items in total

ButterFly, a dream come true for any agi hero, butterfly = imba anti mage

Monkey King bar, this item is required for heroes like, panda, mortred and troll and against items like Talisman of evasion. YOU NEED TO HAVE IT if you want to fight them,

Orchid Melavolich, There are some heroes in dota who have insane damaging spells and you would want to have them silenced, orchid is a great item for people like Obsedian Destroyer etc. 5 seconds of silence, is heaven for anti mage, have it if you donot have a silence skill in your team.

Guinsoo: Another item, this can replace orchid as it has a 3.5 second hex. and you know hex removes magic resistance and armor etc. so this becomes an amazing item, plus it gives you +10 agi and +10 strength, A good substitute for orchid giving hp and agi, but gives less damage and IAS. and rememebr anti could do well with any form of additional strength stats

Dream build for antimage

I tell you if you can get this build in a game, there is no one stoping you, this is my dream build for anti, Imba AS, deception from illusions and evasion, true strike, bash and silence. OOOOOOOOH orgasmic!!!!!

More items worth mentioning

Other items which may be used on magina

or

(though im not a big fan of crystalis on the anti mage, crystalis is more suited to troll), but it works good on magi beecause of his imba BAT,

You can only keep 6 items in your inventory and gold is scarce (once again we have the financial slump ), so chose wisely, never compromise on PTs, manta and stick. Stick is an imba item if you use it efficiently

Rejected items

all items other than yasha from enchanted artifacts, as they are orb effects
blink dagger, refresher orb etc, are not just for anti mage
radiance, high cost and no sychronization with his skills
divine rapier, you have got to be kidding me
force staff etc
Aegis, it is better for any other carry or tank in your team, and that is where it should be.

Game Play

Hero Model:

chase and destroy
blink and break
Attack speed
understand the fragility of magina
knowing your enemy

Factors to keep in mind when playing magina

remeber the title of this guide. Quicly Now, what ever you are onto, be quick. you cannot afford to be lazy. killing, ganking or chasing. be on your toes. If you notice hard, magina even runs on his toes
You need to have a good control on mouse and keyboard :P
never underestimate break, its damage early to mid game is exceptional
your main skill is break, break is on every attack so give him IAS.
glass canon, he is very fragile, and some times one stun is all that is needed for the other team to bring you down
play cleverly, early use blink to either last hit an enemy or escape, dnt spam it as it has a high cool down early on
if you are facing spell casters or spammers, having level one blink is enough and max your shield aftr maxing break.
+know your enemies better
if you are double minded to go for attack speed, raw damage or crits, go for attack speed.
save your ultimate never use it at the start of a battle , as it would keep the enemy double minded as they wont want to get rid of their mana on spells and get hit with your void
no matter he has a low HP, magina's presence in a team is threatning because of his abilities related to mana, casters would always be weary of casting spells in your presence.
when you start a game, its pretty common to recieve a certificate of selfishness from team mate, you have no disable no tanking and not stun to help a friend in trouble. A friend in need is a friend indeed. but here you are the friend in need of farming, so the sacrifices made by your commarades should be apreciated :P and return the favour when you farm enough.

Before moving forward you need to keep in mind, that the max potential for the anti mage is early to mid game, very late game his main skill the mana burn has little effect as enemy heroes are made and they have ample items, if you cannot utilize the early to mid game period, anti is no good. he is NOT a carry like mortred or troll. u need to be in the battle zone since early on to make up your items, NEVER EVER EVER waste his early and mid game potential

Early game:

Lane: sentinal bottom/ scourge top. Have a ranged hero with you, a disabler or stunner is your best bet.
have a baby sitter with you, even better a disabler. take mana break at level 1, early on all heroes have sorry ass hp and mana pool. with break taken all you need is a couple of hits to enemy and a stun with damage or a disable with some hits from the anti mage to get a kill. getting kills is pretty easy early on with the help of an ally, use it. get blink at hero level 2. i understand that a lot of people may differ here as they want to take blink at level 1, but try break at hero level one and im sure you will understand how deadly it can be, with heroes like, rhasta, veno, vengi & lion etc yoou can get a kill easy at level 1.
Go for the ranged creep first as it has mana and you can out do him easy, same rlue for jungling, go for creeps with mana. on creeps mana burn damage is 100%. you need life steal/ survivability to jungle . better to get a poor mans shield if you need to jungle, magi is not a good jungler early on, but his IAS can be used to a great effect on enemy creeps, better farm there and jungle once you have any survivabilty item or life steal
Harras the enemy meele heroes with mana break, (melees preferred, ranged sometimes if you have enough regen) a hero with no mana is no threat at all and you can get rid of his mana in a couple of hits, so harras them and dnt let them farm.

Mid game:

by mid game you should have PTs, yasha and some survivability(in form of wraith bands or maybe bracer)
Mid game most heroes have enough survivability but magina is pretty fragile mid game, your mobility makes up for your fragility, you team mates need to understand that you are fragile and in case of any dire situations you would need to blink off. Do not initiate, NEVER INITIATE with anti until you have manta or BKB. they will get you or you would need to blink away with little to no hp. if you have manta, then you can play a good role as initiator by blinking in.
once the battle has been initiated, keep an eye on who is casting most spells and getting short on mana,
better NOT use void early on. FEAR OF THE DARK, if the enemy knows you still have void, they would not like to empty their mana pool, that is a passive advantage of void. keep your blink handy to pursue a fleeing enemy, this depends on your skill build though. if your team is really pushing level up blink faster than shield, if your team is not pushing but being pushed level up your shield before maxing blink.

Late game:

Simple, Blink in, make illusions, focus fire one enemy, he will go all apells so to avoid losing abilities by your imba mana burn, SMILE if there is only one enemy chase him and kill him if they are a couple, USE void.
1v1 you are the predator, mana burn will turn then enemy into a creep, basher will keep him at bay, blink to follow him and may be void to finish him off. i dnt recommend wasting void on one enemy as with your mobility they cannot out run you,.. void is much better in team battles. there are a few heroes who dnt need mana that much and can get you whopped. you will find a hero counter section at the end of this guide.

Tank-carry Magina,

Once magina has manta and some sort of survivability you are one of the best tank carries in the game, have your allies hidden in the terrain blink in the enemy heroes, make illusions. You donot need a heart for that purpose, deceptions by the illusions and the enemy fear of the void is your tanking, you do need life steal to stay in the battle though. Chances are that the enemy team would go all out spells on you, your allies ahould be moving in by now and you can use the void and if your hp goes too low, blink off

Beware Rape Magina Strategy,

Like most feared carries, when you chose magina, the enemy team wont make life easy for you, mostly they would hunt you crazy, so beware of this approach, this is why you have blink. Donot give kills and feed the enemy, because there is a very little line between a mana burning predator and a blinking sac of gold .. Thanks to mrwoodenshoes for bringing that point up

Edited by basicdotaguide.blogspot.com

ANTI MAGE (by shapeesh)

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