Magic is an Abomination

Introduction

Hey guys it's me, Whosnuker, back with another guide. This one is on the infamous Anti-Mage. This is my sixth overall and my first on Anti-Mage. Please give me feedback and give this a try. Thanks and I hope you enjoy the guide :D.

Introduction to Anti-Mage

Anti-Mage's skills are Mana Break, Blink(Note: Anti-Mage has a shorter blink range than Queen of Pain but I don't know how to have it show as his own so...), Spell Shield, and Mana Void. Of course these skills work really well together especially against magic users. Anti-Mage is a full on late-game hard carry. The only bad apart about Anti-Mage is my saying "No Farm = No Chance." Anti-Mage is so farm dependent it is unbelievable. He is probably one of the most farm dependent cores in the game. He has a really ****py early game and is so fragile that full on supports can kill him at the beginning of the game. Now the reason I have my saying is because as a core, your team is relying on you to be able to carry late game. If you don't have enough farm by the time your middle game carry is losing, you will lose the game. Sorry if this is a bit wordy :D.

Skills

Mana Break- This does what the name implies. It breaks/burns the mana of the enemy being attacked. Works really well with Magina's ultimate Mana Void. Another good thing about Mana Break is that it does 60% of the mana burned to the enemy. What this means is, you do more damage if you are burning mana rather than someone who is already depleted of mana. Finally, this is one of, if not, the most consistent way to burn mana in the game.

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Blink- This also does what the name implies. You are able to blink into or out of a fight using this skill. Blink range increases as you level it up, making you more mobile the higher the level.

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Spell Shield- ... And another self explanatory skill. It's a shield against spells... shocking. Basically, it decreases all magic damage you receive. I mean you are in opposition against mages so you do need something to protect you from them right?

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Mana Void- Finally we get to something that isn't really that self explanatory. What this skill does is it does magical damage to the primary target and everything else in an A.O.E. This works really well considering you have a built in mana burn and when you go against spell casters, they burn through their mana really quickly. What I wanna point out is the A.O.E. part. This does equal damage to everyone in the area, not just a percentage. The proper way to use this is when the enemy is bunched up, use it on the enemy with the lowest mana percentage rather than the lowest HP. Notice I used the word percentage. I used percentage because if you have say a Pugna with 201/202 mana and an Invoker with 205/500 mana, you would think, hey Pugna has less mana. Let's Mana Void him. WRONG!! Mana Void does damage for each point of mana missing, meaning you would do like .6 magical damage if you void Pugna but about 177 damage if you void Invoker.

Talents

For this section, I will be talking about the talents and different situations in which you may choose another talent. I will be making each talent into spoilers to compress this guide a little bit. Please keep in mind that the Cons part of this section isn't why the talent is bad overall but why the other talent is better. Also note that the pros of one talent will usually be the cons of the other talent and vice versa. This is just due to my need for equilibrium so sorry about that. You can just read one part of it and it'll tell you both parts. :)

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Level 10 Talents

Level 15 Talents

Level 20 Talents

Level 25 Talents

So this is the end of the talent section. Again, the spoiler is just for the sake of compression.

Item Build

Ok, so the more tedious part of the guide to write and read is finally here.

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Stout Shield- Gives you more survivability that Anti-Mage needs
Tango- Keep yourself healthy
Quelling Blade- Increase creep damage and to be made into Battle Fury
Enchanted Mango- A slight HP regen and can be used if you need burst mana for Blink or Mana Void

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Power Treads- Basic item that gives survivability and stats. Useful if you know how to Tread Toggle
Ring of Aquila- Good agility and armor item. Also provides good mana regen and can be used to push
Battle Fury- Increase farming speed and damage

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Manta Style- Increase mana burn and dispel
Abyssal Blade- Provides stun, survivability, and reliable disable. Useful for pick offs and lock down
Aghanim's Scepter- This just provides good stats and gives you survivability. If the enemy has heroes like Spirit Breaker that can put you in a bad position, opt for a Linken's Sphere instead.
Butterfly- Good stats and Evasion

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Heart of Tarrasque- Makes you so much more tanky and allows you to retreat to heal and jump back in. ALso gives your illusions a huge buff, similar to Phantom Lancer
Moon Shard- Increase night vision and attack speed
Boots of Travel 2- Increases mobility

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Daedalus- Good crit damage but not needed due to Mana Break
Black King Bar- Reasoning Discussed Here.
Divine Rapier- Good damage item but risky
Diffusal Blade- If you need a slow
Eye of Skadi- Good slow and stats
Monkey King Bar- Good against evasion
Nullifier- With illusions and a fast BAT, this helps keep your opponent close and prevents Black King Bar

Situational Items Explained

This will just be a short section to explain the reason I put each of the situational items in the situational section.

Daedalus- You really don't need more damage than the Mana Break. If you find that you lack damage, which you really shouldn't, you can consider picking up this just to have the chance to deal that extra amount of damage,
Black King Bar- "Wow what a noob. Who doesn't build a Black King Bar. God this guide is useless since he doesn't include this item." I can hear all the hate for this already. The reason I put the Black King Bar in the situational item is because first off, you already have your Spell Shield to reduce so much of the damage. Along with that, your Aghanim's Scepter will reflect single target spells back and keep you unscathed, which could come in handy *COUGH* Rupture*COUGH* Reaper's Scythe*COUGH*. Pick this up if you really really need it, even with your Aghanim's Scepter and Spell Shield.
Divine Rapier- This is always a situational item for Anti Mage. If you are so far ahead and the chance of you dying is so slim to none, you can consider getting this. It increases your damage output drastically but dying can prove fatal for your team.
Diffusal Blade and Diffusal Blade 2- You should really never be getting this. You already have a built in mana burn and having this is quite pointless. The only thing I can think of is if you're having a hard time burning all of Medusa's mana pool. The slow can come in handy but you have Blink.
Eye of Skadi- Nice slow for you to be able to consistently hit your enemy and gives you nice stats. However, your Blink should be enough for you to get to your target but if you're having trouble, an Eye of Skadi may just come in handy.
Heart of Tarrasque- The health and health regen from this is really nice. However, you really don't need this as I have said before. In a fight, you either decisively win or lose. Not much time to run off and regenerate that hp. You can get this if you are able to consistently get away from major fights and want to rejoin without running back to the fountain.
Monkey King Bar- Get this if you're facing heroes like Phantom Assassin. I.M.O., you should leave this item to your other carry as you don't really have anything to get rid of.

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Battle Fury
v
Abyssal Blade
v
Aghanim's Scepter
v
Boots of Travel and Boots of Travel 2
v
Manta Style
v
Butterfly

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First off, by the time you are getting all these items, you have enough farm and you can farm fine without your Battle Fury. Next, you don't really need the bash or survivability from Abyssal Blade anymore. You have survivability with [{Manta Style]] and Butterfly. The stun is just a luxury and not really necessary. Aghanim's Scepter is next on our list because it isn't as useful against A.O.E. spells. Boots of Travel and Boots of Travel 2 come next since your mobility can come from your Butterfly. Manta Style comes after since you really want it for the mana burn, dispel, and disjoint. Butterfly comes last as it gives so much good stats. You should really never get to the point where you sell anything past your Abyssal Blade, however.

Skill Build

For the skill build, I usually max my Blink before my Mana Break and Spell Shield. The reasoning behind this is I believe that Anti Mage is a late game hero and with this increased Blink range and decreased cooldown, it drastically increases farming potential. I then proceed to max my Mana Break to also increase farming potential and the occasional fights. I usually never skill Spell Shield until Blink and Mana Break are maxed but if you are being heavily harassed in lane by magic, feel free to put a point or two in it over your Mana Break. Get your Mana Void whenever you can as it will enable you to jump into a small fight, take a kill, receive the gold and experience, than go right back into farming. As for talents, skill them when you can.Talents are explained here.

Runes

I always like to include a section in my guides dedicated to runes. It helps understand which ones you should use and which ones you shouldn't. (Note: If you decide not to take a rune based on my opinion and you have no allies nearby, you can either take it just for the sake of the enemies not having it or you can deny it with the same logic in mind, prevent the enemy from having it.)

Bounty Rune- Grab these. They increase your farm and experience by a little bit, which could make a difference.
Rune of Haste- You really don't need this. Your Blink is enough mobility as is.
Rune of Illusion- Grab this. You can fool so many enemies with this. As Anti Mage is hard to kill, if the enemy sees one, they will most likely dump everything on that and it will be an illusion, in which you can than take a team fight as all their spells are down.
Rune of Double Damage- Grab this if you are going into a fight. If you are farming, you really don't need it.
Rune of Invisibility- If you are decently farmed, you can grab it and try to scout out a squishy for an easy kill.
Arcane Rune- Once again, grab it if you are going into a fight. The decrease in mana and cooldown of Mana Void, should you choose to use it, is really nice.
Rune of Regeneration- Grab this if you really really need it.

Allies and Enemies

Unlike all my other guides, I will not be using specific heroes in this guide. There are just general things that help Anti Mage excel and this would be a really long and boring wall of text to read as it will be repetitive.

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Stunners- Any hero with a reliable stun will allow

Anti Mage to burn their mana and kill them with Mana Void or just simple right clicking.
Savers- Any hero that can save Anti Mage whether it's through healing or death prevention.
Supports in General- Yes, I know that supports are allies to every carry. What I mean by this is supports that fully understand their role. This includes buying wards, stacking, and mainly sacrificing themselves for the greater good. In this case, saving Anti Mage from death.

Stunners- Being permastunned by the enemy will pretty much spell death for an

Anti-Mage.
Blade Mail + Taunt Skills- Forcing Anti Mage to hit a Blade Mail will do too much damage for him to sustain.
Physical Nukers- Any hero who can instantly nuke an Anti Mage to death with physical damage before he can react will lose you the game if you aren't prepared.

Conclusion

Hey guys. I hope you guys enjoyed and found this guide to be helpful. If you have any suggestions, comments, or questions, feel free to leave them in the comment section and I'll try to attempt to reply to you as soon as I can. Once again I'm WhosNuker and I hope you had fun reading. Ciao!