ODPixel: “Shadow Fiend is the most broken hero in Dota 2.”

Owen “ODPixel” Davies is a well-known Dota 2 caster and streamer. Over the years, his MMR stayed at around 5000 and he hasn’t managed to improve it very much. But he did not fall below that level either.

More recently, ODPixel declared that he’s found an overpowered Shadow Fiend Strategy that is completely broken. And he proceeded to teach his audience how to play the hero with great success, showing his results over the past 50 matches or so. His win rate for these matches was somewhere between 80% and 90%.

Shadow Fiend’s strengths

Right now, Shadow Fiend is a very strong Mid hero because his damage increases rapidly. But his win rate at the community level is still below 50%. His pick rate, though, is increasing. Right now it’s nearly 14% but may go up in the coming weeks. That’s because the most recent Dota 2 patches buffed him a bit.

There were some nerfs as well, but overall, SF is now a bit stronger than before.

How to play Shadow Fiend mid

According to ODPixel, Shadow Fiend mid should be played without the Razes. In other words, you go for Necromastery and Presence of the Dark Lord until you’ve maximized them and only stop to put a point in Requiem of Souls.

Using this skill build, Shadow Fiend can reach an enormous amount of damage after just several minutes of laning. If nobody ganks him, he will deal so much damage against the enemy mid that he’ll be able to deny most of the creeps and also last hit with ease.

After a few items have been bought, SF can start to jungle. The goal is to move between the lane and the jungle camps in order to maximize your GPM.

The items that you should buy are mobility, survivability, and damage ones. Buy yourself an early Desolator, a Manta Style or a Sange and Yahsa, perhaps a Butterfly or even a Silver Edge.

It all depends on the situation but the goal is to position yourself well enough to be able to attack targets with ease during fights. The less you need to risk in order to hit enemy heroes, the better.

SF is not as weak after getting killed as he used to be, but he’s still slow after a death so you should avoid dying at all costs.

 Header: ODPixel