Radiance has made Anti-Mage an OP hero in Dota 2

Anti-Mage has a win rate of more than 54% at the moment at the community level. And his pick rate is off-the-charts: nearly 18%!

For such a niche hero, it’s ridiculous how many people pick him in their games. But it’s completely understandable. After all, when you can buy yourself a Vanguard and a Radiance just 15-20 minutes into the game and then win with ease in most cases, it’s hard to resist the temptation.

Why Anti-Mage is so strong in this meta

Anti-Mage has always been strong. But there have been patches that made him either obsolete or vulnerable against certain strategies. And that’s why people avoided him, especially in professional tournaments and in high MMR brackets.

But now that he no longer needs a Battle Fury to farm quickly, players are starting to pick him more and more.

This hero has great qualities, including one of the highest number of starting agility points in the game. His movement speed is also great: 310. His attack animation is one of the best. And to top it all off, he can blink every six seconds. In fact, he can do it every five seconds if you use the first level 10 talent.

Think of the normal Blink Dagger, whose cooldown is 15 seconds and Blink Distance is 1200 or 960 if you try to blink too far away. Anti-Mage has a blinking ability that’s three times better and can be made even stronger with the level 20 talent, which increases the cast range to 1450.

In terms of mobility, this hero is absolutely broken. And that’s exactly what makes him fun to play. Players pick AM against line-ups that deal a lot of magical damage. But you can also do it in games where you know for sure that you won’t be pressured to fight in the first 15 minutes.

With enough farm, AM becomes a complete monster that can no longer be killed. And he doesn’t even need that much: Vanguard + Manta + Radiance + Boots. In total, these items can be obtained in 20-25 minutes. This means that if you reach the 25-minute mark and the game is still even, you actually have a big advantage.

Another key strength of Anti-Mage is his mana burn. The hero runs any opponent with a low mana pool in seconds, making him useless if he depends on abilities that cost mana.

Header: Valve Corporation