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Playing Pugna as a Mid-Ganker

Hey y'all!

So Pugna is an extremely unpopular hero and he is also played poorly a lot of the time, and this is a shame. When played properly the little bastard can be a monster.

I think that the problem is that a lot of people play pugna as a support hero in a 4-5 role, in the side lanes. This is ok, but to be honest, it really does not play to his strengths. In my opinion he is most effective as a ganking hero who can be a real menace in team fights if he gets some farm.

The first step in making this happen is running Pugna as a mid. I think he really shines there. Why? Well, he's got good base damage and he's pretty decent at controlling runes - he can push the wave with Nether Blast, and he has high movement speed. By placing Nether Ward on your high ground when the wave is pushed you can really punish midlane nukers like Tinker], [[Zeus and the like.

So that's the playstyle I'm going to advocate here. Good luck!

Skillz

NETHER BLAST

Ah, your bread and butter skill. You're gonna be nether blasting the **** out of stuff on the regular. Does damage in a 400 radius after a very short delay. A maxed blast will almost one-shot a creep wave so it's great for pushing. Just lay a bit of damage on some creeps and clean up, you need the money. Max this ish first.

Keep in mind that this bad boy also does damage to structures.

DECREPIFY

A fantastic skill but it's kind of difficult to use. Applies a 50% slow to the target and Amplifies magic damage by 40% for the duration, but makes it so they cannot be attack or be attacked. When using this one you're going to be using it for two reasons:

OFFENSIVE: So when you are going in for a gank, throw this on an enemy hero and then cast spells on 'em! Is especially useful if one of your other teammates have magical nukes.

DEFENSIVE: If you are fleeing an enemy hero who's coming after you with physical attacks you can use this to slow them and disarm them for a brief spell. You can also cast this on allies if they are getting taken down by physical damage.

MOST IMPORTANTLY DO NOT CAST THIS ON AN ENEMY HERO WHEN HE IS GETTING BEAT DOWN BY YOUR ALLIES PEOPLE WILL HATE YOU

NETHER WARD

A great spell. When you hit E you throw down a ward on your position that activates whenever a spell is cast in a 1600 Dotameter AOE, dealing damage and lessening mana regen to the caster.

Basically you want to drop this somewhere inconspicuous during every single team fight. The AOE is huge and it can seriously **** up enemy casters if they are not paying attention.

DON'T FORGET YOU CAN DECREPIFY AND SAVE A WARD IF THE ENEMIES ARE WHACKING IT

LIFE DRAIN

This is a channeled spell. You drain life, it's great. Unless they can stun you they will have to run away or they will die. The cast range on this ***** is huge and they have to run 1100 dotameters away in order to break the drain, which is crazy.

WITH AGHANIM'S SCEPTER THIS ISH DRAINS 300 MANA A SECOND AND HAS ZERO COOLDOWN THAT'S WHY YOU ARE GETTING A SCEPTER

Itemz

EARLY GAME

If you are going mid this will help you control runes and spam your spells as much as you can.


You want to run fast, and you don't want to run out of mana/hp. The only circumstance where I wouldn't buy a wand is where I was up against Drow Ranger mid or something.

BOOTS

So I like these because they help with your overall survivability; you can switch between int and str treads when you need hp or mana, respectively. Phase Boots are also a good option. I don't tend to buy Arcane Boots because you should be getting mana from your Bottle

CORE ITEMS

I really like this as an early-game pickup because you need something to help with your dire squishiness issues. Also makes you incredibly fast, which is helpful when you are looking to evade a chase.


Yeah, just to reiterate, it ups your Drain Life DPS to 300 and gives you zero cooldown. If not dealt with you will be a ****ing monster in team fights because you can sit at the back of the pack (900 Range!!!) and drain everyone's life. The stats are also very good for you because yeah, you are made out of tissue paper.

core extensions

So if you are playing well and lifedraining every ****er in sight, the other team is going to get pissed off and try to break your channel with spells. This will help you survive life when this happens. Your #1 defensive option.


Good mana regen. Makes you even faster. And you can Life Drain fools while they're getting cycloned. Good ****.


On a serious note, the biggest problem with playing pugna effectively is positioning. I think this is the main reason he is played so poorly; if you are anywhere near the middle of the fight you are going to be in serious trouble. A Force Staff will help a lot to address this issue

Dagon
An unusually good item for you because Decrepify amplifies the damage. Never upgrade it beyond level 2.

LUXURIES

A much-needed defensive pickup, plus a ton of mana regen. Pick up if you are doing well but have a hard time surviving enemy spellcasters.


You know, your standard late-game intelligence item and stuff.


A good defensive item which also helps slow down enemy carries.

Thanks!

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