How to play Batrider in Dota 2 patch 7.32b

Batrider has a terrible win rate in Dota 2 patch 7.32b. Just 45.2%, roughly 10% less than the most successful heroes of this patch. However, that doesn’t mean the hero is dead. He’s simply misunderstood.

Pro players often pick Batriders and win with him. Their secret is simple: understand the hero’s power peaks and take advantage of them. Itemize for the matchup, not based on a template, and always ask yourself how would you feel if you were playing on the enemy team. Which enemy hero would you most hate to be against Batrider?

The next step is to always position yourself in fights so that you can neutralize one enemy hero that is essential for his team’s success. It might be a Dazzle who is waiting to cast Shallow Grave on his cores. Or it might be a Sniper who could kill a few of your teammates in just 5 seconds if left unchallenged.

When you play Batrider, you need to constantly ask yourself two questions: who do I initiate on? Or, if I choose to keep my ultimate until the right moment comes, on who do I counterinitiate? What enemy piece needs to be either removed from the fight or pushed aside while the two teams exchange damage and use their abilities?

Batrider’s strengths

Batrider becomes strong very early on and all he needs is a pair of BoTs. His speed after that purchase, if you also buy a Wind Lace, is 420. While using Firefly, it reaches 470, which is considerably more than what most heroes have at level 8-10.

Just 10 minutes into the game Batrider hits his first power peak and from that point on, your goal should be to disrupt the enemy team’s farm as much as possible. This is not a hero that you want to be passive with. He’s a hero that you want to rush with and put a lot of pressure in the enemy jungle.

To do this effectively you will need to take down at least two tier 1 towers: top and middle. You can ignore the bottom one because it’s far less important. Once these two towers are taken, the enemy cores will find it difficult to farm, especially if you place a lot of wards in their jungle and just hunt them when they go to take neutral camps.

Furthermore, to the degree to which your team understands this strategy and keeps an advanced position on the enemy side of the map, you can just farm both jungles most of the time and win by starving the opponent.

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