Kunkka’s rise to the top in Dota 2 patch 7.34d

Admiral Kunkka is one of the most beloved heroes in Dota 2. His pick rate is nearly 13% and his current win rate is 54.5%. These stats clearly indicate that Kunkka is a very successful hero, easily one of the top 10.

At The International 12, Kunkka was picked in 42 games and had a win rate of 47.6%. He also received 80 bans, being one of the most feared heroes in the tournament. But why is he considered such a valuable pick?

Kunkka’s strengths

Kunkka has a strength gain of 3.8 per level, which makes him incredibly tanky at an early level. He also deals lots of AoE damage in a massive range of 1100 units. This means that if you’re sitting behind your own creeps within a blink distance, you’ll get hit by Kunkka and receive 30 – 120 extra damage, in addition to his 150% cleave damage.

At level 2, this ability has a cooldown of just 10 seconds, which means that anyone who’s laning against Kunkka will get hit at least 3 – 4 times per minute even if they are ranged. This easy way to harass opponents makes Kunkka one of the hardest mid heroes to lane against. But it doesn’t stop there.

Kunkka also has a Torrent that can be timed properly around the enemy mid’s need to last-hit creeps. If it hits, it deals 80 – 320 damage and slows movement speed by 40% for 1 – 4s. This means that the target will often take additional hits from Kunkka while it’s trying to escape.

X Marks the Spot gives Kunkka an easy way to go back to base using a TP scroll and return fully healed and with a full Bottle. This can be done every 30 – 12 seconds, which makes Kunkka even stronger in lane and completely independent of the runes that spawn in the river.

Kunkka’s Ghost Ship has the potential to turn a fight by dealing 400 – 600 damage in a huge area and delaying 45% of all damage for 10 seconds. The boat also stuns for 1.2s.

Thanks to his abilities and stats, Kunkka can be played in more than one way and will often be a stable midlaner who can contribute significantly to his team’s success in the first 25-30 minutes. If you build him as a damage-dealer, he often kills heroes with one Tidebringer.

Header: Valve