How to play Axe in Dota 2 patch 7.33e

Axe has been for many years a key hero in Dota 2 and his viability is well-known. Some of the most important games in the history of The International featured him, and his role was crucial in determining the winner.

Even today, in casual pub games, we can see that Axe tends to have a big impact on his team’s performance. This offlaner tends to be easy to play and can develop very quickly into one of the most powerful gankers available.

All he needs is a Blink Dagger and a Blade Mail. Equipped with these items and perhaps a Black King Bar, he can jump into any situation and draw a lot of attention to himself. For several seconds, enemy heroes trapped by him are forced to attack him.

Those that deal a lot of physical damage, such as Phantom Assassin or Templar Assassin, risk losing half of their HP or more just through their own attacks.

The strengths of Axe in Dota 2 patch 7.33e

Axe is very powerful because he can easily farm any kind of neutral camp using his Counter Helix. The procedure is simple. Use Berserker’s Call to gain +25 armor for 1.8s – 3s and you just get the job done thanks to the AoE damage dealt by Counter Helix. This damage, by the way, is pure. So you will deal 170 pure damage 20% of the time.

This means that when you’re surrounded by neutral creeps, it’s very easy to kill all of them in a matter of seconds. Thanks to this advantage, as well as the powerful item builds that are available for this hero at the moment, it’s very hard to fail with Axe. A decent laning phase sets you up for a great mid game.

During team fights, the secret is to blink in when nobody expects it, use your Call, and then your team should do the rest. Axe is not only a great initiator but also a perfect counter-initiator. If the enemy heroes are close to your teammates, they will get destroyed during the 3 seconds while they’re immobilized.

Battle Hunger can also be useful, especially if you want to dive a target under its own tower. After level 6, Axe can use Culling Blade, which gives exceptional bonuses to the entire team if they’re around you for 6 seconds. This includes movements peed (30%) and attack speed (40).

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