[Anti-Mage] The Blinkin Tank!

[feral_nature]

Magina - The Anti-Mage



foreword
I always wondered why people rush pure dps items on Magina and say that he sucks and he is not even near of being an Anti-Mage... I mean yes he has an excellent passive that boost his resist against magic damage but if you are with paper hit points what use of it...(resists go hand to hand with obtaining hp items for achieving maximum effectiveness) So the purpose of this guide is to show how Magina can and should be build as blinking tank fulfilling the role his skill set imply by jumping around in the heat of battles harassing enemy heroes with high mana pools and absorbing all sorts of damage.

Information about this hero skills and stats can be found here.

skill progression

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

notes
One level of Blink is taken only for escape purposes and one level of Mana Break is taken just to show your enemies that you can burn some mana... The Spell Shield is pumped early for survivability and your ultimate you should get any time you can coz even early there is a good possibility to get a kill by using it on low health and mana enemy.Later your priority should be Mana Break for maximizing your dmg and after you get all levels of Blink you should have attained some additional health so you can use it not only for escaping but also for fast engaging/chasing and initiating... it also gives you excellent map mobility due to its low cooldown.

early to mid game items



All the items are picked for giving you some protection and dmg for better farming to ensure that you`ll have a strong mid game which is the purpose of this build... Early stages of the game your aim is to get a good farm not die and help your team when needed but just don`t push yourself in battles.RoB will give you all the mana regen you`ll need to jump around when needed and to use your Mana Void and also some armor and dmg.You should have loads of tangos in your inventory to heal yourself and they will help you to jungle when there isn`t a free line to farm.(but if you see one you should blink to it coz it will be better than jungling and your Blink just makes you very hard to gank) TP Scrolls will help you get immediately to hot spots or free farming line when needed and blinking just won`t be fast enough. Phase Boots are preferred over PT coz you have low BAT(base attack speed - you hit faster than most of the heroes) and you won`t be getting Basher and also the bonus ms you`ll get every six seconds out of twelve will be very useful for chasing after you Blink to someone.

your mid game objective



Just get Hot and you`ll be very hot... and cool... and fat... and... you get my point - it`s just an awesome item combined with your high resists.After obtaining it you will no more have to worry about your regeneration or dying from a few nukes... A rushed mid game HoT will really give you an edge over your opponents by making you almost impossible to kill... so you can Blink anywhere you want and start kicking some insolent spell casters that are trying to nuke your team - they will most probably nuke you(which is cool coz you have high resists compared to your team mates so they waste their spells on you and this way you help your team)and run away... or just run away... and you chase them.It will be cool if they wasted too much of their mana on you so you can use your ultimate and finish them off(and you really like to eat nukes coz you`ll get your retribution by using your ultimate on them) but if that`s not the case and they run too far away you should Blink back and help your mates after disabling an enemy hero.Now I`m not saying that after getting your HoT you should be initiating team fights but you should be second to enter the battle and you should target enemy spell casters and supporters to bring chaos in their ranks... And if you are heavy targeted and lost too much health in most of the cases it will be possible to Blink away and you already did a good job for your team by drawing attention on yourself and giving them time to react and use their skills... and you deflected some nice dmg from them by tanking it.

Now the tank issue...Is Magina a tank after getting his HoT...? Well yes you are... people say that Axe is the only tank in the game coz he can actively force the people to attack him but Magina doesn`t even need a skill to do that - in fact his whole skill set just screams I`m a huge threat for you... so he is doing it passively by just being there... He states loud - you should either ignore me and let me fuck up hard your supporters and nukers or target me - and most of the time they will target you coz you blinked behind their ranks and started killing their precious but fragile spell casters.

late game finishers



Well Armlet it`s just my favorite weapon and Magina is one of my favorite heroes and Vlad is just good for him so... Whoaaa I`m just kidding... Those two items are good in most of the cases coz they give you more tank decent dps boost and the leech aura from the Vlad is the only orb like effect that works with your Mana Break skill...(in fact you`ll leech from the bonus dmg from your orb) So they are just the standard finisher for your build if there aren`t some special circumstances for which you should get one of the items below. I just wish to mention that combination of those two items is so good and fits well your theme as a tank that I replace them with other items late game only if really needed...



Raw dmg item that just boosts your dps sky high... the good is that gives you true strike so if you`re fighting heroes with natural evasion skill or you see that some fat carry goes for butter this is the item of choice for you to counter them hard.



Good dps output and gives you nice tank from evasion - you should get this when fighting against heroes with Bash skill(they cannot get MKB coz the mini stuns are in conflict with their long bashes so they will miss you for sure one third of the time so you`ll be less time stunned and it will take them more time to kill you) or against heroes with high dmg orbs coz Butter will effectively reduce the dmg from their attacks by 30%.

edit



Well I thought about this a lot and now I think that Blade Mail is a must considering how we aim to play Magina. Since we are planing to Blink in the heat of battles and we will be targeted a lot I think that the five seconds of dmg return from the Blade Mail are the best thing to get after HoT... it is true that our hero will have loads of resists but he`ll probably be nuked/hit a lot after he blinks and we obtained a hell of a good amount of hp from HoT so it will be possible and very useful to jump start hitting a target and use your Blade Mail active eat tons of dmg, return it and jump out after that window of five seconds if things get really ugly... I think that Blade Mail is the best item after you get tanked to make the life of your enemies even more miserable - they will have to ignore you if they don`t want to get back everything they hit you with or allow you to free hit someone for five seconds(Phase Boots will help a lot and their active is also for much the same time - 6 seconds...ain`t that cool huh!?) and Blink away unharmed... either way I think it`s a loss/loss scenario for them.In terms of dmg/armor and price the things are much the same as getting Vlads... well yes your team won`t get the auras but I think that the dmg return is the better offer... and of course someone else of your team can just make Vlads.

After Blade Mail you should get Armlet for more tank and some decent dps.

All things written and items listed now I really think that Blade Mail + Armlet best fit your role as harasser and dmg absorber for your team... so they should be your priority late game items and a pure dps item like MKB or Butter you should aim for after them if game still ain`t over...

afterword
Well in the end it tends to be the strangest Anti-Mage build you ever encountered... I know that but I think it fits best your skill set and the play style that it implies - you will really be an Anti-Mage so this should be a situational pick against a heavy nuker team and your powers will really begin to shine from mid game on when you get your HoT. Picking Blade Mail and Armlet next will only add more misery for the opposing team... Straight dps won`t be your primary aim although your low BAT, Mana Break and the nice additional dmg you`ll get from Phase Boots, Armlet and Blade Mail will be good and later if game really drags on you can always finish with Butter or MKB.

The Carry Build

Well most people like to play Magina as a blinking dps-er who turns monster late game... so here I will put such a build but note that not getting HoT mid game gives you quite a different role... clearly you`ll be a high dmg output machine with good tank and a Blink for fast engaging or escaping... it`s not a bad build up but rather a trade off coz you`ll have quite a different play style - it will be much straight forward - you try not to push yourself too much and to find a target to kick hard and that`s it...

early to mid game items



Well it`s not the cheapest core but if you`re planing to carry you should be hard farming at least until you get those items... You should pick Vanguard before boots and if lines are too hard go straight forward to make cash in the forest.After getting your PT you should try to help your team as much as possible however you should not push yourself by trying to be a ganker and you should continue your rice farming on free lines or on neutrals(even ancients won`t be a problem... well maybe you`ll have to eat a tango) Tangos you should have always to just pump your healing when needed and TP scrolls for map mobility until your first towers fall.

mid game items



Well not much to say about those two - tank and dps is all you need... I just want to point that basically before obtaining them you`re low on armor and they will give you a nice boost to it when the effect of the dmg block from Vanguard begins to wear off in mid game. You should be careful how you use your Armlet - no long chasing when is on... you should use it for burst dmg after engaging and when things get hot coz you`re targeted by lots of enemies and your hp drop drastically.Oh and keep tangos - they are still useful...

optional



Well if you`re a Basher fan you can replace Vlads for it but note that heroes with natural evasion skill or obtained Butter will counter you hard and getting MKB late game will be pointless - the mini stuns override the long stun from Basher so you wasted a lot of money...

late game finishers



The best item choice for late game considering the items you got... just more dps and tank to make you a really scary monster...



Replace Butter with this if you`re facing a hard carry with natural evasion or obtained by the same item you were initially aiming for.

The Manta Build

I just don`t know what to say about getting Manta on Magina... well on theory after Manta is no more an orb effect it should be possible to dish awful amounts of dmg with it and use your ultimate almost immediately after you start hitting with your images coz they will burn the same amount of mana as your Mana Break and the mana of heroes will literally disappear... However I think that the primary drawback about image build is that your early game will really suck and mid game you`ll have manta but images will be fragile... so you`re aiming for a very strong late game sacrificing your early and mid game effectiveness... so this means that if enemy team pushes hard you will probably lose the game coz you`ll be blinking dummy... Still I`m going to write The Manta Build...

early to mid game items



Well what can I say... just farm on a free line or the more weak neutrals.(without Phase Boots even jungling can be painful...) Salves will be picked instead of tangos coz you`re not getting hp regen items soon and you should rely on them even mid game for healing yourself.

mid game objective



Get Ultimae Orb first coz you`re with paper hit points and build your Yasha in your base and upg to Manta when you have the money coz I really don`t think you should sacrifice anything in your inventory just to get the Yasha for some time - the upgrade is just 500 gold... After obtaining Manta you can get some easy kills anytime your ultimate is cooled if you play your cards smart... Still don`t over push yourself and try to farm as much as possible(farming ancients with manta will be easy) when your team doesn`t need you but you should definitely be with them in big battles.

Travels will boost your images speed to the roof top considering you already have the Yasha buff.With them you`ll be more mobile so more farm and better help for your team coz you`ll be able to port on hot spots... and maybe you can get a tower or two - images will really help for that if you port when no one is around.

Salves are still in your inventory for healing...

late game finishers



The problem with your images even that they inherit your Spell Shield skill is that they are fragile... they will do very good dmg so no need to boost them more if they die of two nukes or a cleave hero... HoT is a must if you really wish your images to make presence and inflict dmg by just not dying fast... and finally you`ll get rid of salves...



Game drags on - sure you can get this - it is cool...

Magina Guide
Weaver Guide
Razor Guide
Tinker Guide

[EcceLex]

I think that it is viable, like it is viable to rush heart on viper or razor and such, but since magina can blink, it's better to play him as a quick killer that enter and evade the battle really quickly, and that never engage first in order to avoid disables

I'm in love with heart though so I get it after one core item (butter in most cases...)

[ROSHANPAI]

Listen mate, we all know that mage is fragile early game, as is any carry hero with massive potential.but this doesnt mean u pump him up with str items.Whats the use of having hp when u cant deal damage thats enough to tilt the game in your favor? maybe heart can be accquired late game as last invent, but definitely not prioritised over butterfly.Nowadays, people avoid vanguard too,as that kinda delays your core.And as for ur skill build.
1 question "WHAT IS THE POINT OF TAKING MANA VOID WHEN U DONT BURN ENOUGH MANA?"

[Floodturka]

Hey, this is not a bad idea! Helicopter ejector seats were a bad idea. This is something even worse. What's next, DPS techies? This horrible build won't even last in noob pubs.

[Vindicate]

I think that Vanguard is now core on Magina, given that he got a str nerf. He needs the str boost/regen. I was against vanguard for the longest time, but ice buffed VG (total cost, block %, +HP reg). Magina already has high magic resistance, he needs some physical resistance. We all know heart is nice, but going straight for one is not easy at times.

No talk on basher? basher was a bad item for its cost but now it's not a bad item considering so many boosts within the past 2 patches.

I believe the skill build is wrong, you should max out mana break first.

Here is a high level scrim (.59d unforunately)
Dota Replay Parser

the magina farmed magic stick, treads, vanguard and vlads in 25 minutes. being well babysat with dazzle, and it went monstrous with those 3 items.

1 question "WHAT IS THE POINT OF TAKING MANA VOID WHEN U DONT BURN ENOUGH MANA?"

I second this.

[SinEater]

Your carry build is the best build, without the AoM ofcourse. PT + VG + Vlads....that is good enough, as mentioned and proved by Vindicate.

Your skill build is scary at the moment. You say to boost HP for spell shield to be useful, and you your self take spell shield when he has paper HP. You can take 1 level of shiled early game, though very debateable, the rest can come around 11, when the strong ulties of casters are the most potential damage dealers.

If you don't take mana break, do not take mana void.

[KLieN]

I'm my opinion, u should max out blink and mana break first, just so u can escape and harrass early game

[Bay.Gull]

IMO Hot is just a bad idea as the main core item. He can live forever but cant dish out damage. I feel, as do most posters above me do, vanguard can fulfill this role well enough.

[BigTechno]

Really? Hard to read without grammar. Items aren't the best (Armlet is straight up terrible, why do you need +25 str when you can blink? Get a basher or curiass)

[dathenchew]

i rather up max mana break cause it can reduce opponent mana in no time and reduce the possiblity being nuke by spell

[d3_j0n6]

why u need phase boot while u can blink?? and the skill build i think it depends on the enemy, if the enemy u face is the nuker, i rather have blink full and speel shield 1 or 2, and mana break...actually it depends on the enemy, btw this guide give me idea how 2 use magina another ways...thx

[feral_nature]

Originally Posted by d3_j0n6

why u need phase boot while u can blink?? and the skill build i think it depends on the enemy, if the enemy u face is the nuker, i rather have blink full and speel shield 1 or 2, and mana break...actually it depends on the enemy, btw this guide give me idea how 2 use magina another ways...thx

phase are for better chasing after engaging with blink - you`ll have +10% ms for six seconds and after that you`ll blink again with no ms bonus but the next blink your active will be cooled so phase boots give you just better chasing... also nice armor and dmg for last hitting... considering your aim is tanking with HoT and high maneuverability phase are just superior to PT - no one will take the fight with you after you get your blade mail so you`ll be chasing and blinking a lot and attack speed is not needed.(and magina already has a low BAT so...) In general you`ll blink to a hero with high mana pool use your all actives(phase last ofc) hit him as much as you can and if enemies concentrate hard on you just blink back put armlet off and wait a bit your items to be cooled and blink and repeat the same... else if possible chase and kill... with this item build you`ll be very effective every 5-6 seconds out of 15 and blink allows you just to blink away if hard pressed and wait for another cycle of your gear.

about the skill build - it is very passive just for better surviving in early stages of the game when magina is weak so you don`t lose gold from dying - one level of blink is enough for escaping if you decide to not play aggressive in the beginning... and the thing is even if your line lacks nukers when enemies come to gank you or you`re just taking part in a skirmish you`ll be hit with spells.if you like to be more aggressive from early game its your choice but i prefer the possibility to not die than the possibility to get gold from a kill.

[Treant]

AM's a physical damage dealer, so he benefits more of Power Treads. Phase boots for chasing? What the hell's Blink for? RoB's wasted. The only skill he'll spam is Blink and you'll only spam it if your chasing down wounded foes. Heart is a luxury item, not a core. You should be aiming for Butterfly (or Battlefury if you need DPS item ASAP) after you get his *core* items (Treads, Wraiths x3, Vanguard). Together with any DPS items (MKB, Buriza) and BKB against disablers.

[kawumm]

well HOT rush can work.. its pretty hard to do against a decent lane tho. i prefer maxing blink and break and goin vanguard to this, tbh. surprised linkens wasnt mentioned at all. pretty good item on magina imo, specially against many single target disables that cant be blink-dodged (rhasta for example). phase are stupid imo, its a waste on blinkers... and the fact that AM has a low BAT makes it even more worthwhile to get more IAS. just get a yasha if u want ms. vlads is ok, but i am not a fan of bashers... u cant even permabash anymore :<

[crXss]

yeah a AM with tons of hp, great, just blink in the battle and recieve and spells..-_-"

[panda_warrior]

ummm...i know that i'm probably wasting my time..but still..have you guys seen his weaver guide? well its almost the same as this one..so i'm not sure if this is a joke build or what. maybe the author is just messing with us...or not. but what the hell..just wanted to relate that so no noob will go and flame the author

[feral_nature]

Originally Posted by panda_warrior

ummm...i know that i'm probably wasting my time..but still..have you guys seen his weaver guide? well its almost the same as this one..so i'm not sure if this is a joke build or what. maybe the author is just messing with us...or not. but what the hell..just wanted to relate that so no noob will go and flame the author

I`m not messing with anyone... Do you think that I `m not able to write a get your vanguard three wraiths and PT(str) and after that work for Butterfly build...? Blink and right click and if appropriate use your ult...

Yeah with the HoT build you`ll get +3 more active abilities so I guess this will be a hard play style to master for the average player...

[TL-Flames]

Having such a high-level of spell shield so early is a waste IMO. I would much, much rather max out mana-break followed by blink. If you're playing with competent teammates then they'll stuns and snares to provide you with opportunities for kills. Theres no need to build AM as a tank. He is a very precise character and requires a lot of timing. You enter team-battles AFTER the spells have been thrown and proceed to wipe out everything. Address his survivability sure but going for a Heart as first item is overkill. Phase is unncessary, you can get much more use out of power treads.

[hajasmarci]

Delay Spell Shield, and get HoD->Pipe ^^
Vs casters it's like invulnerablity...

[feral_nature]

Originally Posted by hajasmarci

Delay Spell Shield, and get HoD->Pipe ^^
Vs casters it's like invulnerablity...

Yup HoD is probably the worst item you can get for Magina considering magic resist stacks with diminishing returns and that you already have a passive that boosts it - for a 2k worth of gold you`ll get around +10% magic resist and 8 hp/sec regeneration...