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Animal Courier
Observer Ward
Tango
Iron Branch
Smoke of Deceit
Sentry Ward
Urn of Shadows
Tranquil Boots
Buckler
Ring of Basilius
Point Booster
Town Portal Scroll
Orb of Venom
Power Treads
Force Staff
Vladmir's Offering
Blink Dagger
Mekansm
Drum of Endurance
Aghanim's Scepter
Assault Cuirass
Veil of Discord
Scythe of Vyse
Aegis of the Immortal
Pipe of Insight
Orchid Malevolence
Medallion of Courage
Manta Style
Heart of Tarrasque
Eye of Skadi
Boots of Travel
Ethereal Blade
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1 | 6 | 9 | 14 |  |
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2 | 4 | 5 | 8 |  |
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7 | 11 | 12 | 13 |  |
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3 | 10 | 17 |  |
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15 | 16 | 18 |
Thank you for viewing my guide. I have played Meepo more than any hero in a MOBA game and have learnt to play this hero in any role against any counterpicks. In this guide you will learn and understand why Meepo can be played as a very high impact support as seen from 'Notail' One of the best professional Meepo players in the world.
"One of the best ways to get better with a hero is to play it as a support, you are forced to do as much as you can with few items and learn how to contribute and stay alive underfarmed and make the most of just using your abilities"
Firstly do not play Meepo as a support unless you are very confident already with this hero and already a very good Meepo when you play as a carry. This is the most difficult way to play Meepo but it will definitely impress others and you'll be amazed at how effective a support Meepo is.
Warning
I highly recommend practicing this in bot games before you try it in ranked. You will need very precise map awareness, micro and confidence before you use this in ranked games and generally you're team will flame you from the beginning but just ignore their negative input. They should be thankful in the first place that they do have a dedicated support on their team.
Pros
- The enemy team will never expect the Meepo to be Support so they will use classic counter picks which gives your team the opportunity to counterpick more effectively and have stronger lanes
- All of your items will be cheap to build so you won't fall behind
- If your team isn't performing well you can still transition into the carry since you can farm faster then any hero in the game
- Best split pusher in the game if you master using Boots of Travel on Meepo
- From level 3 you can stack camps, guard runes, roam and gank, snipe enemy walking courier between lane all whilst still getting experience in lane
- More global presence than any support in the game,
- Most enemies will not call missing on Meepo if they see at least one
- Permanent AOE ensnare if you time and aim them correctly
- Built in effective burst damage and slow for ganking / counter ganking
- Can leech experience from enemy jungler
- Great starting stats and best base magical resistance
- Ensnare is a great set up for other stuns and skill shot abilities
- Everyone respects a good Meepo player
- Can make great use of the jungle to catch up
- Ensnare is a great counter to blinking abilities
Cons
- Not very effective in a trilane as you do require levels
- You could potentially just be leeching experience from your lanes if you do not execute your ganks well
- You will be focused down very fast once you initiate
- Not the most reliable disable and takes practice to land
- Very difficult micro as you will be squishy buying utility items
- Melee hero with low base damage and poor zoning capabilities
- Cannot deward off cliff wards as you are melee
- Not something you can pull off until you are already a very decent Meepo player
Meepo is a lot more versatile then people think, when I call support Meepo most of my team will flame me saying that's not possible. Honestly these players are just so dense and probably have not even played the hero enough to understand what he's capable of. With all the pros I've listed running him as a support I will now explain when it is a viable option.
If you feel confident enough in your team you can pick Meepo first in Allpick or Captains Mode and have your team prepared to counter a fiveman lineup, you cannot run a split push lineup against a Meepo already because of his global presence so to bait out their enemy CC heroes early you can already strengthen your lanes to have a good start. For example
The common counter picks to Meepo will be heroes such as: Lich, Lion, Lina, Emberspirit, Timbersaw, Earthshaker, Warlock etc.
All of these heroes excluding Timbersaw are very vunerable to early rotations and they will most likely have over extended themselves in lane because they are very aggressive early game. When you gank at level 3 you are winning multiple lanes for your team and since your allies have counter picked you should not be in fear of their mid game CC and burst.
If your hero pool can benefit from locking down a target with ensnare just that could be enough to have an easy kill, heroes such as Pudge, Invoker, Mirana and Kunkka can easily land their abilities if you ensnare a target.
If your carry is capable of holding his own in lane. Heroes such as Terrorblade, Antimage, Spectre, Medusa and PA need to be run in a trilane or at least with a babysitter such as Skywraith, Dazzle or Omniknight that can assure they will stay alive and can have farm. If your carry can hold his own such as Lifestealer, Lone Druid, Bristleback, Doom, Slark etc then you are able to run a support Meepo. Basically you will just be leeching experience in the safelane, pulling creeps to jungle and ready to countergank with ensnare just as if you are playing an Earthshaker. So if you're running a very hard carry support Meepo isn't viable.
If your enemy mid is playing a tanky hero then support Meepo is not viable. Generally very tanky mid heroes such as Pudge, Legion Commander, Tusk, Magnus, Tiny and Dragonknight won't be bursted down fast enough with two ensnares and your mids help so your mid ganks will fail. However other common mids such as Emberspirit, Stormspirit, Queen of Pain, Shadowfiend, Invoker, Silencer and Sniper are all very vunerable to early ganks. So what I'm saying is that you need to be able to gank mid as you are getting most of your farm from kills.
By the time you've gotten comfortable with Meepo you most likely already have your hot keys set up to your liking, I have spoken to a few very good Meepo players and they often have their own way.. Some may have even 9 Different control groups but I will just explain my setup.
1 - Primary Meepo
2 - Other Meepo's
3 - All Meepos
4 - Courier
Quickcast enabled. - This is personal preference and the only hero I use quick cast on, most people don't use it but I find it very helpful with using my abilities fast and blink poof comboing. You just need to be careful poofing through the minimap with quickcast on.
My control group setup is very simple but It's how i use Chen and Visage aswell, I constantly use the tab key to select individual Meepo's when I chose to spread out and micro during a teamfight, I would imagine mastering 9 control groups would be effective but for me I haven't had any issues using tabs very fast.
Running a support Meepo landing your ensnare will be key to executing your early ganks so therefore at least two levels into this ability early on is crucial
You do not need to put too many points into geostrike early as an Orb of Venom is very cheap and stacks with geostrike, this allows you to save your ability points into poof or ensnare instead
Poof is always your main source of damage and should always be maxed first. Meepo has one of the highest burst damage in the game which is why you have huge kill potential with very items, once you reach level 10 and have three Meepo's you can burst damage enemy supports instantly and that's also when the enemy carry will be very scared to farm as he knows you are waiting.
Divided we stand is obviously taken whenever possible
Any support hero needs to understand what the team needs. Being able to adapt into different situations is crucial for higher level play which is why I have listed a large list of situational items. I will keep this color coordinated to emphasize what are usually the better item pickups
Wards & Courier - Every team needs two supports, you are one of them but you will need tranquil boots as fast as possible so try to be playing as a position 4 rather than 5
Smoke - If the enemy can see at least one Meepo during the laning phase the player will most often not call missing, ganking with your main meepo with smoke is the best way to by pass wards and take runes
Tranquil Boots - This will help you stay very active throughout the map, your enemies will begin to feel terrified of you from the start so try to not spend time going back to base for healing, the hp regen works on all your Meepo's which is why this should be core
Mekanism - A great AOE heal and sustain for your allies, definetly core if noone else is getting this on your team
Force Staff - If your team can benefit well from the positioning then pick this up, keeping your cores alive matter
Drums of Endurance - A great aoe buff for your team that's easy to build
Vladimirs Offering Great armor and damage boost for your team and pushing, helps early roshan aswell
Blink Dagger - Used for initiating and blink poof combo, It's not as core on a support Meepo because you don't have all the stat items to tank all the damage once you initiate but if you already very ahead it's great to get
Urn - A decent item to make all your meepo's harder to kill, also a free salve from all the kills you are getting
Agh Scepter - Meepo benefits from Scepter more than any hero in the game, you need this so you're not illusions but proper clones, without this item you're too squishy
Orb of Venom - Very cheap and stacks with geostrike, getting this item saves 3 of your stat points into something else
Eye of Skadi - If transcending to carry this item gives you the best stats, even stacking Skadi's is viable
Etheral Blade - Get this if you need to kite a physical damage carry such as Ursa, Pa, Tiny. The disable cripples them and lets your team burst them down
Scythe of Vyse - Great stats and a solid disable. almost always a good option on any hero, lets you kill heroes you shouldn't be able to kill
Boots of Travel - Meepo can destroy buildings surprisingly fast, getting good with using this item brings a whole new way of playing this hero. Will discuss further
Pipe of Insight - Situational if enemy has a lot of casters
Assault Cuirass - Buy this for your team if they need the armor
Veil of Discord - Not a bad item, allows your poof damage to scale well late game and good for your team if they're heavy casters
Manta Style - If you need to transition into the carry Manta is good if the enemy is heavy on single target damage, they will always focus the Meepo with the least damage during a teamfight and obviously the illusion will die the fastest
Heart - If you really need the tankability then it's fine, but the hp regen is not shared
So after you buy your starting items head off with your carry and be prepared to stop any ganks with ensnare, A 2 second aoe disable is usually enough to stop ganks if used correctly. You really don't need much cs at all to be effective but pulling the easy camp when your lane pushes past the side shop helps you get your early tranquil boots. Make sure you're sitting the runes every two minutes if it is safe to do. There's not much you can do until you hit level 3 but keep your lane alive and get a few cs from pulling waves.
Once you hit level 3 go gank with your main Meepo with a smoke. If the enemy is pushing into your offlane tower they will most likely be diving your offlane hero so just sit in the trees prepared to ensnare. With the tower damage, your creep wave and you and your ally hurting them it should be enough to help your offlane win their lane. Make sure you are grabbing bounty runes between ganks if possible and gank their mid if they are ever past the river.
Upgrade the courier for your team but suggest the other support to buy sentries since you cannot deward cliffs as a melee hero. Also keep teleport scrolls at all times as you want to try and be everywhere at once.
Start purchasing your cheap items but don't spend too much time in lane if you're not there for a kill otherwise you are just leeching experience which could be a bad thing. If there is a lane available because your ally has headed to the jungle or back to base take advantage of that but keep one Meepo roaming still
Once you hit lvl 10 you have massive kill potential with lvl 4 poofs. You should either be jungling with 2 Meepo's so you can buy your mek and roaming with the other, or still roaming between lanes.
At this point you can be at 3 lanes at once so you are capable of punishing any aggression or potential dives from the enemy teams. It is good to be stacking aswell with atleast one Meepo for your team to get more gold, you can stack with more than 1 Meepo at a time but you will need to be practice Control Shift commands to time it well.
Depending on the scenario if your team can benefit from a force staff and need help positioning go for that, but if your team needs a follow up initation from heroes like "Enigma" that can set up a team fight than get a blink dagger. More often blink is a much better item but harder to purchase.
Once you have your mek be sure to be pushing with your team and looks for teamfights, you are at your strongest when the enemy supports are still levels behind you and don't have their mid game core items. You won't be snowballing hard with levels playing a support Meepo but once midgame is over you will definetly start having a significant level advantage
You are a walking aura for your team at this point. Whatever your team needs you should have it. Drums, Mek, Vlads, Scythe etc you will also need to have some sustain for yourself so make sure you are farming in three different spots while you wait for teamfights to happen, you can easily transition into a carry at this point aswell because you can catch up very fast with Meepo.
Farm at different places but hide in the trees when the enemy are on your side of the map. Blink poof comboing with 4 or 5 Meepo's can almost instant kill any agility or int hero late game, one of the great things about this hero is he respawns very fast so if you die but your enemy team hasn't pushed past river your team should be fine to defend uphill.
If it's going to be a split pushing game pick up Boots of Travel for your team. If you teamwipe the enemy and a lane is pushed to their T3 you can often win the game if you have this item.
Friends
Meepo has a lot of friends some good allies are heroes that can counter CC, can make use of your early kill potential, can hold their own in lane, can provide sustain for team fights.
Omniknight
Earthshaker
Beastmaster
Naga Siren
Puck
Axe
Tide Hunter
Undying
Magnus
Pudge
Enigma
Special Mentions:
Tusk: If he snowballs multiple Meepo's the snowball is ridiculously fast. Tusk already has a very high burst damage so combined with poofs you can easily kill anyone very quickly
Ancient Apparitionn: Chilling touch is like a free double damage for all your Meepo's during the first 15 minutes of the game
Foes
Heroes that can break free from ensnare, have stronger spells depending on units in area, have massive single target damage, Better team fight heroes
Omniknight
Puck
Emberspirit
Timbersaw
Earthshaker
Lina
Lion
Gyrocopter
Medusa
Axe
Invoker
Warlock
Lich
Storm Spirit
Magnus
Necrolyte
Special Mentions
Huskar - You will basically do no poof damage against him because of his magical resistance, his burning spears hurts a lot and with bkb you literally can't do anything to him
Brew master - This hero is all about CC, drunken haze will make most of your Meepos useless right clickers and since you're building utility you don't have much sustain for his very painful Claps.
Meepo is a very strong disabler and with practice you can kite enemy carry heroes with ease, single target right click heroes such as Antimage, Phantom Assassin, Wraithking etc are very vunerable to being kited and even if they manage to get a BKB your geostrike slow goes through this which can make it very difficult for them to move around teamfights.
A good Meepo player with 4 times against a 6 slotted PA or Antimage should still be able to overcome the target in a teamfight. Most players don't realise this and I've often had teammates say things like "What are you doing Meepo you can't beat a PA late game" but they don't know what they are talking about, the mechanics of Meepo and his huge amount of armor of agility means you will have roughly around 25+ armor late game and 2.5K + HP
Also heroes that can be burst down quickly are also food for Meepo, you want to control the map as much as possible and punish supports that dare to go out alone to ward, if you have a good start you should be able to hold your own in a 1v3 situation.
Natures Prophet is one of my favorite heroes to play against with Meepo, whenever he tries to rat you just blink poof him and he will get so frustrated and scared to push any lane
People will counterpick Meepo more than any other hero in the game from what I've experienced. You just need to be optimistic about this which is why I've been able to play this way, As i mentioned the heroes that counterpicks are mostly very vunerable during the laning phase which is why this guide works against your counters. I will explain how to deal with some difficult counterpicks because it's something many Meepo players need to understand
Special Note:
Meepo has the highest magical resistance in the game so be optimistic when people pick burst damage heroes, If you get a pipe of insight aswell then most counters are not a real threat. You also have very high armor because of your agility gain so only get cuirass if your team really needs it
The most difficult counters
Timbersaw - He can break free from ensnare, get a huge amount of hp regen and armor from your right clicks and can burst you down very easily. Honestly you will just need to avoid going near this hero unless your team are ahead and have hexs to lock him down. You will be food for Timbersaw if you are careless
Emberspirit - It's very easy for Emberspirit to kite you because he can revenant away from your ensnare, burst you down with sleight of fist and flame guard hurts a lot. If this hero just has drums, battlefury and phase boots it's enough to easily melt you. What you'll need to do is gank him atleast twice before he reaches level 6 and burst him down first in a teamfight with your allies, he has a low hp pool.
Earthshaker - The most common counterpick you are guarenteed to see mostly. Honestly at this point I am not phased by this hero at all though, if he blink echos 5 meepos + few creeps that will add to round 1200 damage, even if you're playing a support Meepo he will most likely still prioritise you because all Earthshaker seem to have some complete hatred for you even if you're not the carry. Just remember you have 4 team mates still and just kite around the Earthshaker seperating your Meepos during teamfights. He will be looking for his opening for too long and end up blinking in out of pressure when it's too late, also getting items like drums and a value bracer or treads can help you sustain his burst even if you re caught in it. You can also just split push if you're too afraid of Earthshaker.
Lich - Personally I dont think this is a massive counterpick, if he does get Mek however then he can be harder to burst damage first in teamfights. It's just the same case as Earthshaker really
Lina - You will need drums and a value bracer if you get focused down, try burst her down very fast because she is squishy and a glass cannon, also gank her in laning phase as Lina needs levels to be an actual threat.
Mass Dagons - In some games you will see the enemy team go mass dagons to counter you, if it's gotten to this point then that means you've done a good job. That's a lot of gold invested from your enemy team for an item that doesn't offer much besides focusing down a single target, you have high magic resistance and dagons are not a real threat once you have some stats. It's a common misconception that dagon is good against Meepo.
As you should already know runes only work on your main Meepo but if you have multiple Meepos around a double damage rune they'll all share that benefit. If your team only has one bottle then definetly consider picking it up, you can easily keep it filled up if you keep poofing back to base and tagging your Meepos
Invisibility - Pick this up and go gank, players already don't call missing on Meepo and this will catch them offguard
Haste - Smoke and haste and go help, this rune + geostrike means they're not getting away
Illusion - The hardest rune in the game to make the most of, you can poof to clones and also illusions, you could use this in so many different ways
Regeneration - Pick up if needed
Bounty Rune - Try to get these as much as they can.
One of the more difficult things to do as a Meepo player is tag teaming during teamfights and pushing. What i mean by this is having one of your Meepo's in the base and constantly switch in and out your low hp ones so you don't have to walk back to base, this is also very useful in taking Roshan.
Once you have 5 Meepo's you can solo Roshan easily even without vlads if you are tag teaming your damaged clones in and out, during team fights the pressure on your micro is more intense which takes a lot of practice to get the hang of. Please view this game of Alliance vs Fnatic with Xcalbiur standin on Meepo, his tag teaming of his clones during the last five minutes of the game won Fnatic the match. This player still impresses me and it is truly a demonstration of a superb Meepo player
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v_mvtAlh-wg
This item brings a whole new depth to playing Meepo, It's like having another skill for all your clones and it's worth trying to make the most of this item. You can literally be just about everywhere at once and effectively split push better then any hero in the game, if the enemy is trying to go uphill to your T3's you can easily rat down their towers and they will panic and force themself back to defend, once this happens you can poof back to base and engage in a 5v4 or 5v3 fight which will turn the game around. After this you can just boots of travel back to continue pushing.
If you really need the global map control this is definitely a great pickup, Wait till you have atleast 3 Meepos to get this item though because you want to be abusing these boots as much as possible. In certain scenarios such as against a Tinker, Lycan or Natures Prophet I will get BoT's straight after brown boots and around the 15 minute mark.
Support is the hardest role to play in DotA, which is why many captains of professional teams play as support. They make the calls, do the drafting, give their team the best possible start and know the most Dota theory on their team. Meepo is the hardest hero in any MOBA game with limitless potential, no matter how good you play this hero you could always play him better which is why I enjoy it so much. So combining the hardest role to play with the hardest hero to play this guide is for the brave willing to take their Meepo skills to a whole new level.
Personally I have been playing supports for the past 8 months and have found it to be the most enjoyable role in Dota 2. You will need to be a good support player to understand how to play Meepo as one, understanding timings of when to rotate, how much damage you can take if you initiate, making the calls for your team and winning map control with wards are all very important aspects.
There are some great Meepo players out there to learn from and eventually you will find your own play style and rhythm of things on how you play this hero, some of the Meepo players I watch replays of and learn are:
Xcalibur
Notail
W33
Singsing
DDZ
Special Shout out to a couple Meepo friends that I've learnt from
TyrantEX
Davr0
Meepo is hard to play but very rewarding when you play him well. Using this guide will bring a whole new depth to playing the hardest hero in Dota 2 and surely surprising your teammates, enemies and yourself with how much impact you will have in your games. For every challenge in a game there are solutions to help you overcome it so don't be to startled by your enemy counterpicks and use it to your advantage.
I hope you have enjoyed viewing my first Dota 2 guide and have taken Support Meepo into consideration into your future games because it truly is a legitimate and effective way to play Meepo as new ideas and playstyles shape the way Dota 2 evolves and is why it is such a superb game.
Good luck out there
- Astora
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