Mangix the Brewmaster, the hero affectionally known as Panda, has seen his vicissitudes in popularity. Peaking back in the old days of DotA 1's strength mid tempo controller era (alongside Beastmaster and Night Stalker), his unique ultimate allowed him to what the China scene refers to as cutting the back lines and dispersing the formation.
With his three freaking mighty powerful pandas, weak supports who were blink-clapped upon rarely stood a chance. Unlike other backline initiators (e.g. Clockwerk), his ultimate allowed him to survive diving deep behind enemy lines. The tankiness of the Earth aspect usually meant that Brewmaster could not die in his ultimate, resulting in him being unable to be focused upon and even being ignored in fights while the Fire aspect dished out huge DPS with his 200 hero damage. Meanwhile the Storm aspect with 6 second cyclones and an AOE weak dispel controlled utility supports such as Dazzle and Omniknight or totally removed the enemy carry from the fight.
The key part of Panda's ultimate that makes it such an impactful teamfight ability is that it lasts 13-17 seconds. Take for example Tidehunter's Ravage. It has a large AOE and has a stun that lasts 2-3 seconds. Suppose Tide uses it for initiation or counter-initiation. In those 3 seconds the teamfight is under your control but a Sand King might counter initiate with a Blink-Epi. However, in the 13-17 seconds of Panda's ultimate, the enemy will be hesitant to engage or counter-initiate. This makes Panda's team the sole controller of the teamfight. With a Blink-Clap-Split on a weak support or low HP carry with no good escape mechanism (such as Luna and TB), the target can be sniped right at the start of the fight. This also allows Panda to initiate on the enemy teamfight initiators without fear of repercussions, while possibly forcing a bad ultimate from the target.
When Panda was first ported to DotA 2, his arrival was greeted with much anticipation. Many assumed that he would have the same impact as he did in DotA 1 and that he would fill the missing role of the mid strength tempo controller. Alas, this was not the case. After a few high-priority picks/bans, many teams realised that he did not have as high an impact in the current meta of 4-protect-1 or aggressive ganking-into-push [1].
His long ultimate cooldown especially in the early levels (160 or 180 seconds at level 1) meant that structuring teamfights around his ultimate cooldown would result in a slow pushing tempo. His lategame potential was fairly weak, especially in ultra lategame scenarios where his aspects would die in 5 seconds against the enemy 4-5 slotted Anti-Mage. Targetting his Fire aspect and eliminating it early in his ultimate was particularly easy in the late game with its low HP and armor, and doing so severely reduced his DPS. Add this to the fact that one could use Smoke of Deceit (which the aspects would not dispel) as a surefire mechanism for escape for supports made him less picked. Nevertheless, the aspects not being affected by Enigma's Black Hole and the Earth aspect being magic immune and unaffected by Naga's Song of the Siren made him a niche counterpick.
The final result - Panda was picked and banned a total of 33 times in TI2 [2], typically banned by teams focusing their teamfight around mass AOE ults such as Black Hole and Ravage.
This trend was exacerbated leading up to TI3. Despite multiple slight buffs and reworking of his ultimate, the metagame had evolved into dodging fights and split pushing or highly mobile aggression focused around Wisp. In this metagame, it was difficult to force a favourable teamfight with his ultimate and even more difficult to claim objectives using the split. TI3 marked the lowest point of Panda's career - 0 picks or bans in the entire tournament [3], a fate shared by 15 other heroes.
* The Master Arrives
In an unexpected turn of events and within the short span of 4 patches, Panda started his meteoric rise to become TI4's 3rd most banned/picked hero. Even in the early tournaments of the 2014 season, such as MLG Columbus and D2L, Panda was largely ignored. However, with a trio of factors, Panda has once again reclaimed his spotlight as one of DotA's most impactful heroes.
1. The first factor would be the cumulative buffs and reworks Panda has received over the patches. Panda has been almost consistently buffed every patch after TI2. In combination with the post-TI3 patches, the Panda's teamfight presence and timing push became greatly improved.
The removal of Blink Dagger's manacost meant that Panda did not need additional mana items (be it from stats or from manaboots) to pull off his Blink-Clap-Ult combo at early levels. At level 6, Panda has 280 mana, which was barely enough for the Clap-Ult combo. Adding the 75 mana from Blink meant that Panda needed at least Int Treads or Bracer+Wand to guarantee having enough mana. Now, Panda can go for brown boots into Blink as a proper build (this buff benefited others like Centaur, who was first pick priority in SL9).
This, alongside the passive gold increase, meant that the Blink timing becomes ridiculously early, especially when the team has early T1 towers from pushing. An early Blink would be around 6 minutes, and typical ones would be around 8 minutes if the laning stage goes well. This coincides with either the 1st or 2nd use of the ultimate, and Blink-Clap-Ult is devastating to supports and carries at this early stage of the game. At TI4, with the metagame being aggressive teamfight into multiple tower push, Panda could control the tempo by either initiating for the teamfight or countering the push.
6.79 - Scepter rework (Earth, Storm and Fire Spirits gain Thunder Clap, Drunken Haze and Drunken Brawler respectively)
The Scepter rework was initially greeted with skepticism. The CD reduction down to a mere 90 seconds was lost, the additional damage for the Fire spirit was lost, and the additional tankiness for the Earth spirit was lost. In return, we get a 300 damage AOE Thunder Clap, a Drunken Haze and a Drunken Brawler which increased the Fire Spirit DPS by 25% (less than the Scepter increase). This required an additional level of micro on two of the aspects and it seemed as though the Thunder Clap would not have as much as an impact when Panda had enough gold for Scepter, especially with the prevalence of Force Staffs on supports and cores in the metagame.
However, with the Blink timing reduced, the Scepter timing followed similarly. Panda could also skip previously necessary mana items and get a Point Booster after the Blink, solving his mana issues. The rework to the amount of EXP necessary to reach Lvl 11 and the teamfight EXP bonus meant that Panda could easily reach Lvl 11 off good teamfights. Early Scepter timings were 16min, and a typical one would be at 20min with a good pushing lineup. At such an early timing, Blink-Clap-Ult-Clap at 600 AOE damage would utterly destroy the same supports and carries. Add that to the Fire aspect's guaranteed 300 damage critical, and if the enemy lacks stuns or silences, Panda can throw in an additional hit for the critical and even Drunken Haze the target before splitting. The Earth aspect could cast Thunder Clap twice at all levels, and it could be used as a followup to Boulder Toss or Cyclone. This increased the DPS output tremendously in the midgame, especially when the carries were still unable to deal with the Fire aspect.
6.80 - Ultimate CD reduced by 40 seconds
180 to 140 seconds at Lvl 1 is over a 20% reduction. Factoring in the ultimate duration, Panda had a downtime of 2 minutes at Lvl 6-11. At lvl 16, 100 second CD on the ultimate meant he would be ready for teamfights well before other huge teamfight ultimates would be up, such as Tide's Ravage or Sand King's epicenter. His ultimate would be available before the other teamfight ultimates, and there was a window of downtime on the other ultimates which Panda could exploit. This made his ability to control the tempo of the game increase, and the tempo itself increased drastically.
6.81 - Drunken Brawler evasion and critical gets 100% chance when it has not triggered in the past 10 seconds
This made him a force to be reckoned with in the laning phase. The value of the value point in Drunken Brawler at Lvl 1 meant he could guarantee last hits and trade hits easily (although we still see players like Air favour Lvl 1 Drunken Haze). This also opened up his potential in the offlane, which we see iceiceice and Funn1k attempt (to varied results). The guaranteed critical allowed Panda to Blink-Clap-Attack-Ult and then critical again with the Fire aspect (with Scepter). After the ultimate, Panda gets another guaranteed critical and the guaranteed miss may sometimes allow him to Blink to safely.
2. The second factor would be the metagame which allowed these buffs to flourish.
The China metagame leading into TI4 was very formational teamfight based, with NewBee and iG leading the way with their strong 3 midgame core lineups with early Meka. Panda does extremely well in this type of games, being a strong initiator and counter-initiator.
Panda's strength lies in his initiation over his counter-initiation, catching enemies offguard and sniping them right at the start of the teamfight, or controlling the enemy cores with cyclone. His ultimate is preferably used while pushing, which allows the team to claim towers. This is opposed to defending towers - while he may excel in such defenses, it puts his ultimate on cooldown which at early levels has a long downtime, reducing momentum.
The pushing and early aggression metagame which VG and NewBee used to dominate the TI4 group stages made Panda a high priority pick or ban on both the pushers and the defenders. In these formational pushes/defenses, Panda's ability to break into the back lines and disperse the formation was key in winning the game.
3. The third factor would be the pioneer of Post-TI3 Panda
After the 6.81 patch, DreamTime started picking Panda for Air's solo mid. Air's Panda led DreamTime to surprise victories over the dominating favourites of iG and NewBee. DT used the combo of Panda and a strong pushing lineup, with Furion, Enigma and/or Chen used to push towers and Panda ultimate used to zone out the entire enemy team for 20 seconds. This was especially strong in high ground sieges, where the aspects could gain control of the high ground while the other 4 heroes attacked the T3 tower.
"He's like 1v5ing them" - Merlini
Air's success on Panda in the TI4 China Qualifiers paved the way for other teams to start using Panda. We see C9 picking it up for SingSing in the SL9, BurNing running a carry Panda in the WPC league and even MMY as a support Panda.
Panda was showing how versatile he could be and how much impact his ultimate had in the increasingly teamfight oriented metagame.
This ultimately culminated in TI4, where the perfect storm of these factors returned Panda to prominence.
* For Yoy and Oyo
We end off this article with an analysis of the various playstyles and builds of the Panda players.
Air The pioneer of Panda destroyed both iG and DK with his brilliant Scepter ultimate micro. His Scepter-Refresher build is a force to be reckoned with, with enormous bursts from the Blink - Clap - Refresh - Clap - Ult - Earth aspect Clap combo dealing 900 in Clap damage.
The key to this build is that when the enemy team cannot even engage or handle one Panda ultimate, the second one would be even more devastating. The Refresher timing is important, preferably around 40min or 45min with a BKB, before the enemy cores are strong enough to kill the aspects. Refresher Panda is typically able to 1v5 the enemy team and survive.
SingSing SingSing's Panda is characterised by favouring Midas over Blink when the game is going well. We see this both when he is in the carry and the mid role. A simple argument would be that with a 6-7min Midas, and with the same speed of farm, Panda could possibly get a 10-11min Blink dagger, which is just a few minutes behind.
However, the mere difference of 4-5 minutes can actually hurt Panda's momentum. A earlier Blink Dagger may actually benefit Panda more, with the ability to force 2 more teamfights in the 6-12min window. A snowball push may actually net Panda more gold and catapult him into Lvl 11 faster than a Midas can. Furthermore, 10-11min would be when the opposing core would get their Meka, which hurts Panda's ability in picking off weaker heroes.
C9's coordinated teamfighting is apparent when SingSing uses his ultimate, with PieLieDie or Aui always close behind to stun the focused target or followup a stun on a cycloned target.
SingSing's Panda focuses on the late-midgame to lategame, favouring the more stable BKB or Vlads over the more explosive Scepter. However, it becomes evident as the lategame approaches that Panda's strength tapers off rapidly towards the endgame. The aspects dies to the pure DPS of hard carries and much of the item value on Panda is lost within his ultimate (even though the auras carry over, many benefits such as the AC armour and attack speed are still lost), unless one goes for Scepter and Refresher. Another factor would be that carries which could be shut down by Drunken Haze would have gotten either a BKB or MKB or even both, making Panda's midgame anticarry ability less potent.
BurNIng BurNIng brings along his unmatched farming mastery while he plays Panda for DK, over Mushi who does not play micro intensive heroes. DK puts him either on the safe lane, where he brandishes a 6 min Blink, or on mid where he farms just as well. The early Blink is paramount to break apart enemy formations, leading to early towers, dominant map control, uncontested Roshans and eventually T3s and barracks.
Understanding how to use Dispel is key in controlling teamfights with the Storm aspect. One needs to know which spells and effects can be dispelled, and we can see here that although DK won the teamfight, BurNIng missed a key opportunity to dispel Test of Faith on Luna despite ample opportunity to do so. In a comparison video, we see Mu dispelling Sand King's Sandstorm to guarantee a kill.
Ferrari Possibly the best Panda player out there, Ferrari's micro is impeccable, as though each aspect is controlled individually. His well-placed Blink-Claps, instant and simultaneous Boulder Tosses and Cyclones on key targets, Storm aspect Windwalking to scout for fleeing targets all bring the teamfight to the next level.
(Unfortunately I can't find a better clip although I distinctly remember a game where Ferrari dominated the entire early game)
Ferrari's Panda shows how much Panda can bring to the table when microed to perfection. Understanding the duration and cooldown of spells, what can be dispelled, who to focus with Fire spirit, who to Cyclone, can convert an even teamfight into a favourable teamwipe.
Super and Mu's playstyle are similar to Ferrari's, with micro to match too.
* You... Still There?
I hope you have enjoyed a rather messy and winding analysis of Brewmaster. Reviewing personally, I would like to work on my writing style, flow and presentation. I regret not being able to research more deeply into the DotA 1 history or providing definitive stats and matchups, or illustrations and GIFs over VODs.
As a followup, I am planning to write a brief guide on how to use Panda's ultimate effectively, including dispel interactions (taken from the Dota2 wiki's Dispel page),matchups and item builds.
Interesting. Is there any convincing or straight forward argument as to why the current Agha upgrade is better than the old? I personally dislike it (and I'm not used to the additional keys too...).
It is a nice 'review' of panda i especially like that you talked about the hero prior TI2/3. I am still skeptical to agha rush in every pro panda game, it is a good situational item but i am not sure it is better than some other item choices (granted item choices on panda is quite limited lol); i think it is just another all rounded+survibility item that get favoured in competitive games (personal preference related too). I am still a big fan of the dota1 pub DPS panda so it would funny to see that coming back (especially after that latest changes on his crit/dodge).
Entertaining writing like this makes me wanna kick my own lazy ass and sit down to write something. Keep the good work up!!! Would love to see you next 'review' of the hero.
On July 28 2014 00:57 Dubzex wrote: Wow you didn't even use liquidpedia as a reference?
Used mainly Dota2 gamepedia and fuzzy memories. And lots of datdota. Lots.
On July 28 2014 04:09 DucK- wrote: Interesting. Is there any convincing or straight forward argument as to why the current Agha upgrade is better than the old? I personally dislike it (and I'm not used to the additional keys too...).
On July 28 2014 20:23 BurningSera wrote: Nice stuff! love the last references bit haha.
It is a nice 'review' of panda i especially like that you talked about the hero prior TI2/3. I am still skeptical to agha rush in every pro panda game, it is a good situational item but i am not sure it is better than some other item choices (granted item choices on panda is quite limited lol); i think it is just another all rounded+survibility item that get favoured in competitive games (personal preference related too). I am still a big fan of the dota1 pub DPS panda so it would funny to see that coming back (especially after that latest changes on his crit/dodge).
I think Aghs is 100% core on Panda unless there is an instant silence/disable on the enemy team (e.g. Fy's Skywrath or Aui's Rhasta) or maybe a Doom. The amount of burst and utility you gain is unmatched by any other item in the midgame. Getting a 20min Scepter just means you win the next teamfight outright. Blink-Clap-Ult-Earth aspect Clap-Fire aspect critical is 1000 damage burst in 3 seconds which almost can't be countered/stopped by disable. Having Scepter allows Panda to burst down tanky cores and fight through Meka.
The best way to be convinced is to just watch a replay/GIF/vid of Panda Aghs just crushing enemies. Unfortunately I lost all my replays but here's one from Ferrari.
Ferrari gets a 20min Scepter, initiates with a Blink-Clap on AA who is out of position. Critical + Ult + another Clap + Fire aspect critical on AA brings him down to 1/4 hp. Cyclones Void who doesn't want to waste Chrono on just the Panda ult. AA doesn't want to waste ult either. A Meka can't save AA as he gets critical-ed for 230 damage again. Fissure doesn't stop the Earth aspect and the Fire aspect chases with 522 ms. Cyclone on Void ends but he gets Orchid-ed before he can ult. Razor wastes his ult which get tanked by treants + Panda ult. Void dies in the BKB with more Criticals and one more Clap.
As for DPS Panda, he definitely lacks the DPS of the current hyper-carries. His critical is only a 25% DPS increase, compared to others like PA's critical and Sven's God Strength. I personally haven't tried it though, Aghs is too fun.
On July 28 2014 15:45 opterown wrote: wow, nice article
On July 28 2014 20:23 BurningSera wrote: Entertaining writing like this makes me wanna kick my own lazy ass and sit down to write something. Keep the good work up!!! Would love to see you next 'review' of the hero.
Tyvm!!!
Probably won't be doing another hero. I only play Panda :D Next article planned is on the TI4 finals drafting.
So the strength of Agha is how high your burst combo is on squishy heroes, especially if you get it early? In that case is there any merit in getting a late Agha due to circumstances?
One really interesting thing about Panda is his early ability to grab ganks in terrible situations. Unlike almost any other hero an early Brewmaster can take his level 6 Ult and turn that into a gank even if it's 1v2 or 1v3 simply because he can enage (crit hit and/or clap), split, gank, then disengage with the magic immune earth spirit while finishing with storm and fire (or finish then disengage with all 3). It's also usually pointless for teams to TP to a split panda so it often strands the target without any TP support from allies. Other big teamfight ults, like Ravage or Exorcism can't really pull off the same in as wide variety of situations. Later on Split is often too valuable for solo ganks, but the fact that the first 1 or 2 splits can be pretty reliably turned into some kills seems to really help.
On July 29 2014 02:11 Kupon3ss wrote: Brewmaster has been a staple and a top pick in the Chinese Meta for about 4 years now
During TI1 it was permabanned in the Chinese scene and one of the 8 heroes that were top 10 pick/bans in China that were not in Dota2 at the time.
During TI2 it appeared in about 15 game during the playoff stages, which is very high for a hero that no western team played at all.
I remember (albeit fuzzily) Panda was first ban material in the days of DotA 1 when China still had not fully moved to Dota2, alongside with Lycan and AA. Can't remember the rest. Maybe Tauren Chieftain (who had the same fate of having no popularity after being ported until people discovered his Aura over Stomp build).
I wouldn't say he has been a top pick for 4 years. His popularity was waning since TI2. No picks at all during TI3 is testament to that. He was nevertheless stable pick in the mid as a tempo controller before his buffs.
On July 29 2014 02:02 DucK- wrote: So the strength of Agha is how high your burst combo is on squishy heroes, especially if you get it early? In that case is there any merit in getting a late Agha due to circumstances?
Playing from behind, BKB is usually a necessity. Since the ultimate really tapers off towards 40min, I'm not really sure if a late Scepter is worth it. Shiva's might have a better impact and the Earth aspect inherits the aura. There are some pros who just skip Scepter outright (SingSing comes to mind) and those who always get it. Will be interesting to hear their opinions
Great article. The CD reduction on his ult together with the drunken brawler are what made him a first pick/ban probably.Especially the CD reduction is sick. Kinda feels like chinese are going back to their dota 1 style slowly with all the brewmaster and rhasta picks
On July 29 2014 02:11 Kupon3ss wrote: Brewmaster has been a staple and a top pick in the Chinese Meta for about 4 years now
During TI1 it was permabanned in the Chinese scene and one of the 8 heroes that were top 10 pick/bans in China that were not in Dota2 at the time.
During TI2 it appeared in about 15 game during the playoff stages, which is very high for a hero that no western team played at all.
I remember (albeit fuzzily) Panda was first ban material in the days of DotA 1 when China still had not fully moved to Dota2, alongside with Lycan and AA. Can't remember the rest. Maybe Tauren Chieftain (who had the same fate of having no popularity after being ported until people discovered his Aura over Stomp build).
Tauren Chieftain not popular? C'mon.
Chinese teams had already played the hero in his traditional offlane role right after his release in few games even before the whole ET mid fad took over in the west. TC was already serviceable in Dota even when his spirit wasn't freely controllable and had to mirror the movement of the actual hero. It was only a matter of time before ET would come to the forefront, and ET required a damage and vision nerf in Dota2 to counteract the much better control of the Spirit.
On July 29 2014 02:11 Kupon3ss wrote: Brewmaster has been a staple and a top pick in the Chinese Meta for about 4 years now
During TI1 it was permabanned in the Chinese scene and one of the 8 heroes that were top 10 pick/bans in China that were not in Dota2 at the time.
During TI2 it appeared in about 15 game during the playoff stages, which is very high for a hero that no western team played at all.
I remember (albeit fuzzily) Panda was first ban material in the days of DotA 1 when China still had not fully moved to Dota2, alongside with Lycan and AA. Can't remember the rest. Maybe Tauren Chieftain (who had the same fate of having no popularity after being ported until people discovered his Aura over Stomp build).
Tauren Chieftain not popular? C'mon.
Chinese teams had already played the hero in his traditional offlane role right after his release in few games even before the whole ET mid fad took over in the west. TC was already serviceable in Dota even when his spirit wasn't freely controllable and had to mirror the movement of the actual hero. It was only a matter of time before ET would come to the forefront, and ET required a damage and vision nerf in Dota2 to counteract the much better control of the Spirit.
The damage nerf has a lot more to do with the bugged aura interaction in Dota2 that applies the aura before dealing spirit damage.
Chinese teams had already played the hero in his traditional offlane role right after his release in few games even before the whole ET mid fad took over in the west. TC was already serviceable in Dota even when his spirit wasn't freely controllable and had to mirror the movement of the actual hero. It was only a matter of time before ET would come to the forefront, and ET required a damage and vision nerf in Dota2 to counteract the much better control of the Spirit.
He was definitely Tier 1 in DotA 1 but the metagame had already shifted in Dota2 where he couldn't perform well in the mid role. He was indeed played in the offlane but people will still going the traditional Spirit + Stomp build. It was only when the Western teams paved the path of the Aura build did he rise in popularity as an offlaner able to handle trilanes (especially in the Radiant offlane). Not entirely sure who, but might have been Korok or Brax who played mid ET with Aura over Stomp.
iG vs LGD.int in Sep 2013
YYF gets Stomp over Aura
Some stats from reddit user u/renfree: docs.google.com September - ET at Tier 3 with 87 pick/bans in 543 games ~16% docs.google.com November - ET at Tier 1 with 425 picks/bans ~86%
It's possible that maybe teams haven't practiced with ET as he had just been added to CM but I would say he only burst into the scene when people realised how broken Aura was.
On July 29 2014 11:36 Bam Lee wrote: Great article. The CD reduction on his ult together with the drunken brawler are what made him a first pick/ban probably.Especially the CD reduction is sick. Kinda feels like chinese are going back to their dota 1 style slowly with all the brewmaster and rhasta picks
Rhasta got overbuffed. Lets hope Icefrog is more lenient with the nerfs next patch (see CM T.T).
Chinese teams had already played the hero in his traditional offlane role right after his release in few games even before the whole ET mid fad took over in the west. TC was already serviceable in Dota even when his spirit wasn't freely controllable and had to mirror the movement of the actual hero. It was only a matter of time before ET would come to the forefront, and ET required a damage and vision nerf in Dota2 to counteract the much better control of the Spirit.
He was definitely Tier 1 in DotA 1 but the metagame had already shifted in Dota2 where he couldn't perform well in the mid role. He was indeed played in the offlane but people will still going the traditional Spirit + Stomp build. It was only when the Western teams paved the path of the Aura build did he rise in popularity as an offlaner able to handle trilanes (especially in the Radiant offlane). Not entirely sure who, but might have been Korok or Brax who played mid ET with Aura over Stomp.
Some stats from reddit user u/renfree: docs.google.com September - ET at Tier 3 with 87 pick/bans in 543 games ~16% docs.google.com November - ET at Tier 1 with 425 picks/bans ~86%
It's possible that maybe teams haven't practiced with ET as he had just been added to CM but I would say he only burst into the scene when people realised how broken Aura was.
What the hell is this crap!?
Tauren Chieftain was already FIRST BAN or FIRST PICK material in China mid-2012.
Then in the first month of play in WPC, Chinese teams banned/picked it nearly every single game. B/P rate had to be at least 90% in those games.
Chinese teams had already played the hero in his traditional offlane role right after his release in few games even before the whole ET mid fad took over in the west. TC was already serviceable in Dota even when his spirit wasn't freely controllable and had to mirror the movement of the actual hero. It was only a matter of time before ET would come to the forefront, and ET required a damage and vision nerf in Dota2 to counteract the much better control of the Spirit.
He was definitely Tier 1 in DotA 1 but the metagame had already shifted in Dota2 where he couldn't perform well in the mid role. He was indeed played in the offlane but people will still going the traditional Spirit + Stomp build. It was only when the Western teams paved the path of the Aura build did he rise in popularity as an offlaner able to handle trilanes (especially in the Radiant offlane). Not entirely sure who, but might have been Korok or Brax who played mid ET with Aura over Stomp.
Some stats from reddit user u/renfree: docs.google.com September - ET at Tier 3 with 87 pick/bans in 543 games ~16% docs.google.com November - ET at Tier 1 with 425 picks/bans ~86%
It's possible that maybe teams haven't practiced with ET as he had just been added to CM but I would say he only burst into the scene when people realised how broken Aura was.
What the hell is this crap!?
Tauren Chieftain was already FIRST BAN or FIRST PICK material in China mid-2012.
Then in the first month of play in WPC, Chinese teams banned/picked it nearly every single game. B/P rate had to be at least 90% in those games.
The confusion might be because he was released in Dota 2 long before he was enabled in CM. But yeah, hard to remember a time in the past when he wasn't a top pick in the Chinese scene.
On July 30 2014 10:48 TanGeng wrote: What the hell is this crap!?
Tauren Chieftain was already FIRST BAN or FIRST PICK material in China mid-2012.
Then in the first month of play in WPC, Chinese teams banned/picked it nearly every single game. B/P rate had to be at least 90% in those games.
I went to check some datdota games post-TI3 and it does look like I'm wrong. Not having proper stats tracking for earlier tournaments and relying on memory doesn't help much.
Liked the article. This hero is easily one of the most fun to play, and it's even relatively stress free if you are comfortable with micro since it's unlikely that your spirits will die most of the time. If you are facing an uncoordinated team (>90% of pub games) you also possess unreal counter-initiating abilities.
I really look forward to your Panda ultimate guide, since I rarely ever have the presence of mind to take note of what can and cannot be dispelled on the battlefield.
EPT![[image loading]](http://i.imgur.com/0vh96xk.png)
but here's one from Ferrari.
