How to DAZZOL the enemy.

This was my build for pubstomping, so I'll make a build page for the item and skill progression that I use when playing with my 4.6 friends.

The problem with Shadow Wave is that you're paying a lot of mana to get a very modest heal, and the enemy has to be pretty dumb (or disabled) in order to take any damage from it. You're quickly pushing the lane to their tower, and they can simply lead the creeps past it.

Poison Touch may not have brilliant damage, but it is a strong slow and gained a stun element at higher levels - it's certainly your best bet for getting kills in lane. I find one level in Shadow Wave to still be pretty effective at pushing when needed, and it's a lot cheaper to run. I'd only ever max it first if there was some really serious pushing going on from very early game.

Well, if you aren't pairing Dazzle with a lane mate with high killing potential you shouldn't pick him in the first place; getting Shadow Wave first is actually situational if you really want that Shallow Grave and armor manipulation even if it costs your killing/roaming potential.

And speaking of armor reduction, a Medallion of Courage is a very good alternative to the Urn (as Sando suggested) in my opinion. I prefer the Medallion since it makes Roshan kills so easy and improves your ganking potential even more.

About the build itself, I'd rather drop the Arcane Boots and get either an Urn or a Medallion: he doesn't have so many problems with mana early on, and saving 1000 gold as a support can change the flow of a game. I'd also max out Poison Touch first as I think it makes more flexible, but even the max- Shadow Wave build works in the right circumstances.

Lastly, I wanted to say I love playing mid or even carry (yes, you read it right) Dazzle: getting two early points on Shadow Wave really messes up the other mid, maxing out Poison Touch makes you even a strong ganker. He also has the potential to carry a game by himself, since his damage is pretty high and his movement speed is okay; he just needs enough room to afford utility items ( Medallion of Courage and Force Staff are the best in my opinion) in little time, any other item like the Scythe of Vyse is considered luxury. When I play him in the safe lane in pubs I tend to get Phase, Medallion and a quick BKB. I love it.

the Shadow Wave first build isnt too bad tbh. a 140 Healing Burst every 6 seconds is quite good in the laning stage - even if you dont count the damage aspect. It also is a really good pushing skill.

IMO the Poison Touch first skill build is the situational one. Even at level 7 Poison Touch does only 224 dmg...so unless your lane mate doesnt have good burst damage, like lets say a Gyrocopter or you want to go for an agressive killlane in the first place, i would usually always suggest the Shadow Wave build.

I like the item build (would probably include the Urn of Shadows most games to bulk out a little), but there are a few issues. The biggest one is the skill build - max Shadow Wave doesn't make a lot of sense I'm afraid...yes it can do a lot of damage to dumb melee heroes who stand next to your whole creep wave too often...but it pushes your lane out horribly and does nothing to ranged heroes.

The other issue is Axe - he counters you, not the other way around! Culling Blade goes straight through Shallow Grave. The combo with Huskar is lovely though, and he also works well with Juggernaut, Medusa and Death Prophet thanks to the armour reduction.