Magina,The Anti-Mage



As the last guide to Magina is very old,and I saw lot of people in pubs use my favorite hero Magina in a very bad way,finishing with poor scores i decided to write this guide.This is my first guide,I hope you find it useful

Hero Story:

Twin sons to the great Prophet, Terrorblade and Magina were blessed with divine powers: Terrorblade granted with an unnatural affinity with life forces; Magina gifted with energy manipulation. Magina's eventual overexposure to the magics gradually augmented his elemental resistances and bestowed him the unique ability to move faster than light itself. Now, broken by Terrorblade's fall to the dark side, Magina answers the Sentinel's call in a desperate bid to redeem his brother. Every bitter strike turns the Scourge's evil essences upon themselves, culminating in a finale that forces his enemy to awaken to the void within and spontaneously implode.

Pros and cons:
Pros:
+Best attack animation in the game
+Second highest movement speed in the game-320(Nessaj-325)
+Best escape mechanism in the game(Blink)
+Good starting damage,even better with Mana Break
+Counters most INT heroes
+Can eat whole shit of nukes thanks to Spell Shield
+Ulti is AOE,you can get very easy double or even triple kills
+Serves as a hard counter to Medusa,best tank-carry of the game

Cons:
-Melee
-Very fragile,in fact,3 secs disable is more than enough to finish you off
-Easily outcarried by other hard carries,AKA: Mortred, Void, Troll, Spectre ETC.
-Very item dependent,not so much like his brother TerrorBlade but still..
-Hard to play effectively
-Hard countered by Naga Siren

Hero Stats:

20 + 1.2

22 + 2.8 (Primary Attribute)

15 + 1.8

His stats and stats gain arent good for a hard-carry.He has pathetic starting STR and STR gain,and an average INT and INT gain.His AGI and AGI gain are average for an Agility based hero.

Affiliation: Sentinel
Attack Animation: 0.3 / 0.6
Damage: 49 - 53
Casting Animation: 0.3 / 0.47
Armor: 3.1
Base Attack Time: 1.45
Movespeed: 320
Missile Speed: Instant
Attack Range: 100 (melee)
Sight Range: 1800 / 800



Hero Skills


Mana Burn
Each attack burns mana based on skill level.

Uses:
-One of The best orbs in the game
-Magina's 'bread and butter skill
-This skill is what makes you one of the best annoyers in the game along with the blink
-Deals 60% of the mana burnt as damage
-ORB EFFECT,AVOID GETTING OTHER ORBS AT ALL COSTS !!!


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

Uses:
-As it is said above,best escape mechanism in DotA
-Can be used to evade tower attacks,but more important,stuns
-Used to chase and when chased
-Needs some practicing,if you blink over the max range,you will blink to 4/5 of max range instead
-Huge cooldown initially,use it wisely
-One can use blink to initiate a team battle,but this isn't reccomended unless you have some survivability


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

Uses:
-This skill is what makes Magina Anti-mage
-50% Magic resistance is no joke
-Stacks with resistance Items
-Nukers are piece of shit now


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.

Uses:
-Your ultimate,at level 3 very powerful skill,especially if you have items like Manta or Butterfly
-Procs a mini stun,good for stopping channeling spells or TPs,tough it isnt reccomended
-75 cooldown on all levels,meaning you can use it whenever you want,unlike some Ultimates which have 3 mins cooldown
-The most unterestimated part of this skill,it's an AOE,meaning you can easily kill 2-3 heroes at once,not only KS your teammates by killing 1 hero

Skill Build

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

Blink is taken at level 1,as it is good escape tool or first blood tool,Mana Break is maxed first as it is your killing and harrassing tool,people like Tiny,Crixalis or Earthshaker will hate you early game.At level 4 you can chose to get Blink or Spell shield,now,it depends on your lane opponents,if they are nukers,don't hesitate in taking one level of Spell Shield as 26% of nuke's damage is reduced.Mana void is taken whenever possible,levels 6,11,16.After Mana Break I would always max Blink,but if there are more nukers in their team,get Spell Shield to level 4 ASAP.Stats are taken at level 15 and 17-25 because your skills are just too good to exchange them for stats.Now,you can choose if to max Spell shield to level 7,if there are 2 or more nukers and spammers in your lane,thanks to ~bLade for bringing that up.

Item Build

Everyone who plays Magina should be aware of his fragility,and he shouldnt be acting like:'im awesum magina,i hav blink,nobody can stop me'.He is fragile,what is worse,he is melee,but for that reason he has Blink,and if he doesn't have correct items,he is the best hero to feed on in the game.

Starting Items:[/COLOR]

3X GG branch
Quelling Blade
Salve
Tangoes

Standard build,plenty of stats,good last hitting,and ofc regen.Personally,my favourite starting items on Magina.

2X Slippers of Agility
2X GG Branches
Salve
Tangoes

A bit risky build,with lot of agility,but a bit short on STR,good heal.Get this build for fast Poor man's shield.


Quelling Blade
Stout Shield
Tangoes

Very common items for magina,but the problem is,it provides no stats,little heal,with these items you shouldn't be aggressive,as you will need to go base very fast,and with it,lose early levels and farm.stay away from harrassers and get as many last hits as u can.

Early game Items:


First recipe to make is Poor man's Shield,it gives a bit of agility,and 100% damage block on heroes.Makes u a bit more tanky.Remember it will not solve all of your survivability problems.


As soon as you finish PMS,you should go for Magic Wand.In my opinion,one of best items in the game.With all 15 charges,it gives you burst 225 HP and 225 Mana!Also a bonus +3 to all stats.


As Magina has no mana problems,he doesn't need Arcane boots,Blink solves his positioning problems that can be got from Phase boots,Boots of Travel are far too expensive to farm,and you need more gold for other items.Power treads are your choice of boots,they give you 25 AS and +8 to stats of your choice,always keep them in STR,as they give you 145 HP and some HP regen which you badly need.


Vanguard is the last item you will need to have good survivability in early-mid game.Gives 275 HP,5HP/sec regeneration,and nice damage block.After this item,you will aim for your DPS items.

Mid-Late game items:

VS
Manta Style VS Sange and Yasha
Nowadays I've seen a lot of Magina players get Sange and Yasha on Magina.In fact,it is very good item on Magina as it is no longer Orb effect,but it just FAILS in comparison with Manta.they both give a lot of survivability, SnY actually gives even more,both of them give bit of MS and AS,Manta gives more agility.Until now,they are pretty much even,but let's see their Special abilities;SnY gives you 15% chance to proc a Greater Maim,slow which isnt very reliable,while on the other side,Manta gives u 2 Images of Magina WHICH BURN MANA!This is why I always go for Manta over SnY,and why anyone should go for it.


Butterfly,the Universal item for all AGI heroes.Gives you 60 Attack Damage,60 Attack Speed 30% evasion and 4.2 Armor.With this,you will become an unstoppable killing machine.But,beware of heroes with MKB,they can get you without problems.


As Magina lacks a disable or slow,Basher is a must in late game.Most people would get this before Manta or Butterfly,but this should be late game item,as you build up more AS,you will have a bigger chance to proc Bash.


I've seen a lot of Magina players get Vlad's as their first item
Seriously,it's a waste of gold in early game,if you get Vlad's before at least one DPS item,you ruined your entire game.What's more,I wouldn't get this item if there is another hero that completely synergizes with Vlad's (Lycan,Ursa,Meepo...)

Situational items:
and

Pure DPS items,you can make good use of them.I would prefer items above them,but it's your choice.

and

These items provide you excellent disables,but i don't love their stats and passive side.But imagine 5 secs Silence on your biggest threat,Destroyer,you would rape him single-handedly

+

Late game replace Vanguard with Heart and buy AC.You will be tank-carry

+

Get these two early if you have decided to farm


Get this if you see that asshole Lucifer coming to 'Doom' you.


Can be good alternative to linken's if theres a lot of disablers or stunners in enemy team,it gives u all u need,190HP,24 damage and Avatar ability.

Rejected items:

Never get These!



If you ever considered buying this,stop playing DotA

Orb effects:



ESPECIALLY THIS ONE:

As i've said earlier,you have one of best orbs in game.


Remember this one ?


Yes,get their whole team's attention on you,so they can kill you and make you waste your precious 6200 gold.Seriously,dont get this unless you have aegis or good team.


Uhmm,you need to refresh your 75 secs cooldown ulti ?


Magina has no synergy with this item,he isn't tankish like Spectre or Strygwyr,nor can he support to buy so expensive item before manta and butterfly,and radiance isn't that much effective in the late game.

Allies And Enemies:

Allies:

Stunners:



They stun,you Mana Break and kill.Simple.

Disablers:


Pretty much the same like those above.They disable,you kill.

Roamers:



These leave the lane very early,letting you to get farm and levels.If they come to your lane,they kill your lane partners and let you free farm.Venge is the best of these,as she has a stun,and she will most likely give you a free kill,compared to Pudge who will hook hero,and do his combo but all for his good.

Enemies:

Stunners and Disablers:





...
Best friend,worst enemy.

Huskar:

This guy(gay) doesn't need mana early,and what's worse about him,the more you hit him,the stronger he becomes.Stay out of his sight early,you are just his food due to his Burning Spears and Berserker's Blood.Later you won't suffer from his ulti by a lot due to your spell shield,and burning spears become less effective in mid-late game.

Naga Siren:

Perhaps the worst counter to you.She is likely to buy Feedback orb to suck away her opponents mana,her ensnare is single target spell,unlike Meepo's,meaning you can't blink out of it.While you are ensnared,she will destroy your mana and make you unable to blink.If you decide to fight,she will make 3 illusions and you have to guess which one is real.Just Repick Magina if you see Naga on the other team.

Obsidian Destroyer:

One of few INT heroes that are at their best at the late game,if not the only one.He is mostly picked counter to Magina,tough i think that Naga is far more dangerous for Magina.His Orb shredds your illusions in 1 hit,his ultimate will fuck you up due to your low INT even tough you have spell shield.If you choose BkB,he goes Astral and your magic immunity is wasted.Do not go alone against him unless you have hex,silence,stun or any other kind of disable provided by allies.

Doom Bringer:

There he is,the ultimate counter to every DotA hero,actually his ultimate counters every hero.He is STR based,with very high STR gain,meaning he has a lot of HP,his armor is very low tough.You can make it even lower,by making AC or telling your teammates to make AC,then he will fall down in no-time.If you want to counter his ultimate,BKB isn't the sollution,go for a Linken's,but the problem is that he has 2 single target spells,LVL?Death and Doom,make sure he casts LVL death first on some of your allies,then blink in and kill,if he tries to cast doom,it's blocked,while his LVL?Death is in CD.
Hard Carries:




These Heroes are all hard-carries like you.If you are evenly farmed,these will win 1vs1 with you.Do not try to go 1vs1 against them unless you are significantly stronger.Try to fuck up their early game so they dont get OP later.If they farm enough items,you and your team are history.


Magina VS TerrorBlade

VS

The Twin brothers,after TerrorBlade's remake,are pretty even.No more soul steal for TB,but now in it's place is Reflection,which is painful to Magina because it causes an image that burns mana,and with it,deals 60% of mana burnt in damage + 65% of Magina's total damage.Magina can evade Reflection's image damage by blinking away.They both have Illusions,tough TB would buy manta too so he would have 4,while Magina only 2.When it comes to fight between evenly farmed TB and Magina,i think in most cases Magina would win,especially if he has basher,tough it mostly depends on micro and luck finding which one is real

I dearly hope that my guide will help you playing my favorite hero,GL & HF