Theory Exercise 1 : build around a core.

Hi Guys Smuggles here.

I thought i would start a Series like people seem to be doing but more along the lines of Theory Crafting. so that is Drafting/Scenarios/itemisation/builds.

Exercise One: Build around a core.

So in drafting you usually have either a tri-core or a dual core.

What is a core?

A core is a hero that is given priority in farm over other heroes on the team. That is why we have positions i.e 1,2,3,4 and 5.

Positions?

A position 1 hero is usually your farming carry. This hero is given as much c/s as possible and is highest on the priority list. he/she is considered a "Core" hero to your overall draft strategy.

now that this is made clear here comes the exercise.

Build a Draft around a hero who you should consider CORE and explain what overall Strategy you will go for. The hero for this Exercise is:

Mirana

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Enemy line up.

MID:

Death Prophet

OFFLANE:

Slark

SAFELANE:

Jakiro Faceless Void

ROAMING:

Earthshaker

Is this a Position 1 Mirana, or is it open?

Mirana #1
Shadow Fiend #2
Batrider #3
Bane #4
Skywrath Mage #5

Mirana + Bane safelane

SF mid

Bat solo off

Roaming Skywrath.

Basically... Mirana and Bane can probably win their lane... considering the lockdown that they have.
Bat gets solo XP to get quick access to Flaming Lasso.
Skywrath can help SF with his lane or roam around.

Nightmare + Sacred Arrow + Mystic Flare/ Shadowraze's = Kill

Moonlight Shadow + Requiem of Souls = Lots of kills

What Strategy are you building? do you have a tri-core or a dual core?

its open so long as she is a Core and that being a core you have to build your strategy to her.

pros
- high damage output
- good pick off ability
- good single target disables
- Super high kill secure on single target. (nightmare into arrow into mystic flare...too OP pls nerf)
cons
- no AoE lock down
- No pushing power
- Vulnerable to a strong aggro tri
- vulnerable to a specialised draft (death ball, split push, 4protect1)

you are surprisingly short on lock down in fact.

what would you ban to offset the negatives in your draft?

Mira, bane/SD, AA agressive trilane, batrider solo safe, the mid is hard without knowing the enemy lineup, i could say standard puck or invoker but im going to be funky and say windrunner.

ill edit the question to reflect a enemy draft for you all.

Here's my take on it.

First off a few things. First I decided to NOT take the "help me im new player I can't land Sacred Arrow" kind of picks like Bane or Shadow Demon, it's a bit boring and overdone honestly. And no position 1 Mirana for me, no matter how many competitive teams may run a #1 ricing Mirana I stand my ground that she's primarily a level dependent ganker/initiator and she's a horrible safelane carry.

So instead I wanted to do something a bit fun with an aggressive early game and an initiation combo for pickoffs and teamfights.

- Gyrocopter carry (#1)
- Shadow Fiend mid (#2/#3)
- Mirana solo safelane (#2/#3)
- Disruptor support (#4)
- Naga Siren support (#5)

Gyro/disruptor/Naga aggressive trilane. SF mid and Mirana solo safelane.

The distinction between #2 and #3 roles doesn't make much sense here.

The point is not to roam with Sacred Arrow but instead to play Mirana as an initiator.

Teamfight initiation is to Moonlight Shadow into Song of the Siren, which may sound overkill but honestly a good song is pretty hard to land (yes blink Naga is a thing). And then unleash hell :)
A key part is the Static Storm, because of the AOE silence that prevents counter-initiation. That's why I'm playing Disruptor as a rich support so he can have access to a fast Aghanim's Scepter. Idea is to isolate any enemy hero who might counter-initiate (e.g Void and Earthshaker in your lineup, even DP) and lock them down into the storm with Ensnare for example, preventing them from using BKB because of the aghs.

Of course Shadow Fiend has a free Requiem of Souls every teamfight with either Mirana ult or song, and Gyrocopter has good initiation also which the hero usually lacks, also Call Down inside Static Storm for the slow sounds pretty good.

Song of the Siren into Sacred Arrow is a very important part for teamfights, the point is to land a reliable 5-second stun on the enemy (counter)initiator.

For ganks, Glimpse into Sacred Arrow sounds really fun, if you can land this one you can punish split push pretty well - otherwise the pickoff potentiall of Naga/Gyro/Mirana is not the worst either.

For bans...I'd ban :

- Chen, because I want that early game advantage with the aggro trilane.
- Silencer (no wombo combo hero)
- Templar Assassin, Razor or any other mid that can beat SF 1 vs 1 and snowball from there (SF can't have much help from my supports here)

The point of the aggro trilane is to essentially have a trilane vs trilane fight, which is probably winnable and prevents roaming on SF mid.

Right so... Something like:

Mirana as a support, probably 4 position instead of 5 position. She'll roam about, and has the possibility to transition into a carry if things go amazingly well early game.
Bane as the second support, he and Mirana making a great rotating pair. Not to mention, he's a decent enough way to keep Faceless Void under wraps at some points in the game.

Sven in a offlane position, because Warcry works wonders against Exorcism, and can help make it an all but non existant factor in teamfights.

Invoker as the mid. Going Exort allows for massive burst and killing potential in combination with Nightmare into Sacred Arrow into Sun Strike.

Morphling as the 1 position due to again pick off potential in lane giving him the chance to snowball quickly (Especially with Waveform to be a long range nuke and get kills that would otherwise be missed).

Biggest thing I worry about - Not having Cores with long enough range due to Chronosphere. But the line-up has massive pick off potential, and thus can probably kill Slark Multiple times in lane, as well as rotate to win other lanes hard.

you need Mirana as a core. running her as support is not core.