Theory Exercise 2 : Counter Laning

HI guys its a new week and another Theory Exercise ... YAY haha

ok so ill get straight to the point.

Predict where this draft will lane and build a counter to it. give explanations.

RADIANT

Brewmaster
Wraith King
Weaver
Earthshaker
Skywrath Mage

Safe Lane Weaver
Mid Brewmaster
Wraith King + Earthshaker + Skywrath Mage Aggressive Tri-Lane

Brewmaster will go Mid, since he's the only good Mid Hero (not counting Skywrath or Critshaker), as for countering him? Razor should do nicely.

The Tri-Lane is obvious and since neither Hero is a good Offlaner, it must be an Aggresive Tri-Lane (although Earthshaker's Mana problems and Farm dependancy are going to be exacerbated by the constant fighting and lack of a Pull Camp). As for a Solo Weaver, I'd put Centaur Warrunner against him to Farm a fast Blink Dagger and come online quickly to crush the Tri-Lane.

As for the Tri-Lane, Wraith King and Skywrath are formidable in Tri vs Tri so long as they have Mana, but they're vulnerable to Slows, so a Venomancer might be useful here, add in an Ancient Apparition for Damage and a Sven to Farm and Initiate fights and it's not that hard to fight back.

So long as it's Tri vs Tri, Earthshaker will have trouble farming his Arcane Boots much less Blink Dagger without many Kills, Razor should Harrass Brewmaster out of Lane with Static Link and Centaur will prove much more useful in the Early Game than Weaver who will take a long time to Farm up his 1st Item.

AHHHHHHHHH YESSSSSSSSSS MY FIRST VICTIM MUWAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!!!

Ok now for the real Exercise!!!!

How will you deal with Unpredictable laning?

sometimes when drafting you expect certain laning decisions from the enemy thus you draft towards those lanes, then a simple change in the predicted lane combinations completely throws your draft in disarray.

now you have countered drafted towards what you thought were the lane combinations explain how you would react to the change and what you yourself would change in your lanes if anything!

MID: Skywrath Mage
SOLO SAFE: Brewmaster
TRI-OFFLANE: Weaver Wraith King Earthshaker

This isn't necessarily good laning combos but just roll with it!

Solo: Brewmaster vs Centaur, not too bad, although the Brewmaster will get Farm which annoys me -_-
Mid: Razor vs Skywrath Mage, Skywrath can be a pain, but he'll still get zoned out by Razor. It is annoying that he'll get levels, but that's all he'll get in that Lane
Tri vs Tri.: LAUGHS HARD

Seriously though, without Skywrath Mage, that Tri-Lane is incredibly weak, you've got Shukuchi, Wraithfire Blast and Fissure at lvl1, even combined on one guy, that won't net you a Kill easily, with 2 Melees, you'll likely get zoned out by AA and Veno in no time.

Xyrus's Prediction: ez GG 8{3

hahahahahaha i thought so that tri v tri will be painful for radiant.

but what about mid game?

you will be looking at an early mystic flare and quick blink for Brew...

that mid game will hurt so ******** much.

if i was playing it i would have brew stay till blink then rotate top with sky and force a double to boost the tri to lvl 6.

i would expect razor to be a pain but with 35% magic amp on top of thunder clap he would melt quite quickly and you have 2 stuns to my 3 (4 if es has ult).

i think mid game space created by sky and brew will cause trouble for you.

you would have to REKT FACE on that tri to get a massive level advantage on you supports.


overall i think you would be able to take it out but brew would still cause a lot of trouble.

Well the most obvious part of it seems to be that it'll be a roaming Earthshaker because that's one of the things he does best. And then in my eyes, it would logically be a Skywrath Mage support.

I'd say it'd be then:

Mid Brewmaster
Offlane: Weaver
Safe Lane: Wraith King.

For the counter line-up:
Mid: Outworld Devourer. It seems like a good OD game, given he should crush Brewmaster in lane, and there's 3 Strength Hero's on the other team, and the super squishy Skywrath Mage. Decaying Wraith King's mana pool with Astral Imprisonment and Sanity's Eclipse can also be rather effective.

Otherwise it seems like a Line-Up with both good early - mid game team fight from the Primal Split, with a decent enough transition towards the mid-late game with the Weaver. Thus early game team-fight and push is probably my approach to dealing with it.

Support pairing: Rubik and Leshrac - There's a lot of good spells for a Rubik to steal: Primal Split, Shukuchi, Fissure, anything from Skywrath Mage, Wraithfire Blast, and it is potentially a very powerful roaming duo. In addition they have good pushing power thanks to Diabolic Edict, and the twin nukes of Lightning Storm and Fade Bolt for wave clearance.

Offlane: Centaur Warrunner - Stampede acts as a counter to Primal Split in a fashion because you just run away. Hoof Stomp lets him re-initiate once the Primal Split wears off, or reiniate in general. He's also unlikely to be phased out by the Skywrath Mage if you give him like 7 tango's - He will have more hitpoints than Skywrath Mage has mana to harass him out. So he should still get levels if not some CS.

Finally as a safe-lane Carry... I'll say Luna. The extra damage from Lunar Blessing seems extremely good with the two supports and there stun combo. She's a great pusher once she has farm (Which the line-up needs), and her ultimate gives some good early - mid game Teamfight.

I think im going Lina mid because it could kill Skywrath Mage easy with nukes. This is like a clash of knights actually both of them can kill each other easy. And with the attack range I think Lina has easier time avoiding harass than Skywrath Mage would because Dragon Slave range is really long.

I'm going to go Lifestealer, Lion, and Jakiro dual lane bottom. Feast tears through the tankiness and Ice Path and Dual Breath is pretty strong itelf. Earth Spike should not be forgotten as well. Probably max Liquid Fire first for the quick tower.

Slark solo safelane. Slark is always a decent pick against teams with stuns and Pounce can easily pass Fissure. And at level 6, with sentries around, Slark can easily kill Weaver or Earthshaker caught offguard. This will be safe with Shadow Dance. If ES resist Dark Pact can get him out off the stun quickly.



Those teams are pretty squishy, and Lina can one-shot some easily. Lion's job is to Mana Drain brew or wk (both of them have low mana). Lion should take early levels at Mana Drain so anytime a teamfight happens it would be fine. Lion can one-shot easy too.
# Finger of Death

[Skull Basher slark to prevent that pesky Weaver. Also Dust of Appearance. Lifestealer should easily kill Brewmaster and Wraith King. Monkey King Bar is a must. Jakiro adds extra disable and teamfighting power, while also pushing powers.

EXTRA NOTES
Lion skill: 2-1-2-1 by level 6
Jakiro skill: 2-1-3-0 by level 6
Slark skill: 2-2-1-1 by level 6
Lifestealer skill: 1-2-2-1 by level 6
Lina skill: 3-2-0-1 by level 6

So what do you think?

So I'm Radiant?

Pretty much, with Mystic Flare you can probably Burst down 1 of my Heroes, but once Poison Nova comes into play, it's going to get scary for your side. Skywrath Mage can easily control any one Hero, but then with Silence and Ult on Cooldown, as well as a large portion of his Mana gone, he's not going to be able to put out that much more Damage.

As for Brewmaster, he can be a pain in the arse when he Ults (I probably should have drafted something to deal with this, but...oh well), but it won't be enough to 1 vs 5 me. 8{3

yea :(


and no im radiant ... solo safe brew remmmmmeeemmmbbbeeeerrrrr

I'm going to guess

Brew mid

Weaver offlane

Wraith + Earthshaker safe

Roaming Sky.

I would put Silencer safe, to counter-initiate the brew, I would put KOTL to baby-sit him.

I would put Razor mid, because he will easily out-harass Brew and give him a hard time.

I would Puck offlane, he can avoid both Wraith King and Earthshaker stun, and can get quick levels and blink for initiation.

Finally I would get a roaming Shadow Shaman for the disable.

I'm not good at drafting, so any constructive criticism is welcome.