How to play Earthshaker in Dota 2 patch 7.33c

Earthshaker is a hero that was made famous by many great players, from Saahil “Universe” Arora to Sebastien “Ceb” Debs. What makes ES such a great hero is his potential to turn around any team fight using his ultimate. A simple blink-ultimate combo can be absolutely devastating.

People can still remember, even after eight years, the Earthshaker plus Ancient Apparition combo in the Roshan pit that helped Evil Geniuses win The International 2015. Such moments don’t happen every day, but they certainly can happen and that’s one of the many reasons why the Dota 2 community loves Earthshaker.

Earthshaker’s strengths

This hero is picked in more than 10% of all Dota 2 pub matches and his win rate is slightly above 50%. In other words, when you play ES in this meta, you’re not doing it at a disadvantage.

The hero is perfectly fine and can compete well against other heroes, as well as you know how to play him and don’t pick him into bad counters like Templar Assassin or Viper. You can, if you want to, but their natural abilities will give them an edge against yours.

Templar, for instance, has Refraction charges that usually absorb most of your ultimate. Viper has a lot of magic resistance and will hit you with spells that ruin your mobility and attack speed.

Earthshaker is perfect for those scenarios in which you can blink in, chain-stun the opponent, and kill him before he gets the chance to react.

This hero is often picked against illusion-based heroes, and those heroes are frequently played these days. Because of that, Earthshaker’s pick rate is relatively high right now. People pick Earthshaker against Chen, Visage, Phantom Lancer, Terroblade, and Meepo. But he can also be strong against Naga Siren, Slark, and many other heroes.

When playing Earthshaker, you usually try to maximize your Q first. After your Fissure is maximized, you can start to upgrade your Enchant Totem and Aftershock. Some players, who really know what they’re doing, like to maximize their Enchant Totem first because it’s perfect for the laning phase. The 400% damage every 5s is a huge buff.

In terms of itemization, Shaker players tend to buy Blink Dagger, Aghanim’s Scepter, Aghanim’s Shard, Force Staff, and various damage items if the situation permits it. You’re not expected to deal right-click damage with this hero, but it never hurts if you can do it.

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