Tiny - Buried Alive

Intro

Hello, today I'll be teaching you, reader, how to play Tiny, the Stone Giant. I play him as a initiator / carry / pusher / tank / ganker. I don't see why he isn't in every game, he has a great AoE stun, a tool for finishing off foes, a passive that counters melee carries like Ursa and MASSIVE damage output. He is also a great tank with extremely high HP. He is one of the best overall heroes and will often lead your team to victory.

If you are unfamiliar with Tiny, see this hero spotlight by DotaCinema Play Video

Pros and Cons

Pros:

• Very good early game AoE stun
• Good starting damage and health
• Great Ganker
• Scales very well into the late game w/ Grow!
• Huge amount of damage
• Fills a lot of roles
• Can go any lane
• Can save friends with Toss

Cons:

• 0 starting armor
• Is pretty item dependent
• Low attack speed late game (without items)
• Weak against armor reduction
• You might screw someone over with Toss

Items

Start:

Tangoes are a must, just a little basic regen for staying in lane
For those situations when you almost died
Will build into Urn of Shadows
and also gives you a HP and damage boost
A little more Stats

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Early

Build's into Aghanim's Scepter
My boots of choice but really any boots will work depending on the situation
For chasing and initiating (This is a must)
Gives you mana and HP regen and gives you some burst heal

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Core

Gives you a huge tree that gives you a cleave ability and 1.75x damage on buildings. Take down creeps waves in seconds and buildings like a Lycan
My preferred luxury item, gives you 81 attack speed and helps you clear creep waves faster.

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Luxury

Insane amounts of Regen, definitely a priority luxury item
a good items for lots of armor and armor reduction.
Kill a hero in 2 or 3 hits if you get the crits

Skills

Avalanche
Bombards an area with rocks, stunning and damaging enemy land units
Damage type : Magical
Range: 600
Radius: 275
Stun Duration: 1
Damage: 100/180/260/300
Mana Cost : 120
Cooldown: 17

Note: Very good AoE stun, use it to initiate in a team fight or use it to get a kill. Use avalanche and then use Toss to throw an enemy into the Avalanche for a second time.

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Toss
Grabs a random unit in a 275 radius around Tiny, friend or enemy, and launches it at the target unit or rune to deal damage where they land. If tossed unit is an enemy, it will take an extra 20% damage. Toss does more damage as Tiny's size increases
Damage Type: Magical
Toss Duration: 1
Damage Radius: 275
Pickup Radius: 275
Range: 1300
Damage: 75/150/225/300
Mana Cost: 120
Cooldown: 9

Note: Also a good initiating tool, but be careful who you are around when using it, you don't want to throw that squishy support right at an enemy Luna. Use it to kill fleeing enemies as well. Remember that it can only be aimed at a unit or rune.

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Craggy Exterior
Causes damage to bounce back on Tiny's attackers. enemies that attack Tiny from within 300 units have a chance of being stunned
Damage Type: Magical
Stun Duration: 1/1.25/1.5/1.75
Stun Chance: 10/15/20/25%
Bonus Armor:2/3/4/5
Range: 300
Damage: 25/35/45/55

Note: A good counter for melee heroes and helps with your very low armor.

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Grow!
Grow!
Tiny gains craggy mass that increases his power at the cost of his attack speed. Increases tossed unit damage ad improves moment speed. Upgradable by Aghanim's Scepter.
Increased Base Damage: 50/100/150
Attack Speed Loss: 20/35/50
Movement Speed Increase: 20/40/50
Toss Bonus Damage: 35%/50%/65%

Note: A unique ultimate that gives you a giant damage boost. Also it increases your chase ability with the movement speed bonus. So by the end of the game you will be a huge boulder barreling toward your enemies and crushing them with a tree. Pretty badass.

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I will explain why I picked up certain abilities at certain levels. I like to alternate between avalanche and Toss because they have huge utility and are a good amount of damage early game. I pick up Grow later because it really is unnecessary early on, you have enough damage for that point in the game. craggy exterior should be last because even though it gives you armor and such, it too is also unnecessary. Tiny does have a tiny (no pun intended) mana pool early on and your skills should be saved for banks and killing / escaping.

A Short Guide to Ganking

Let's look at the main objective of ganking: Sneaking up on enemies to get kills and help with the lane.

For a successful gank make sure that the heroes in the lane you are gank know you are going to gank in their lane. Have them harass the enemies in that lane so they get to a low hp (half or below). Then when you are there (either by yourself or with a support buddy) stun the enemies you want to kill or Toss a nearby hero at them. Then run in there or blink in with your Blink Dagger and start chasing them and attacking them. They should be sea in no time.
This should be repeated throughout the early and mid game. Make sure that the people that need ganking are at at least 75% health so that it doesn't end up back-firing at you.

Your Purpose in Life

In this section reader, you will be learning when to pick Tiny and how to use him.

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Pick Tiny when your team needs a tank, an initiator, a carry, or a ganker.
don't pick a Tiny if the enemy team has a lot of armor reduction, a tank killer like Huskar, or just anything that can melt your HP really fast. A special mention goes to Razor who can take your damage.

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Ok, so you have a build for Tiny. Now how do you play him?

When you start off, you are going to focus on mostly last hitting and making sure your team is doing O.K. If it seems like another lane is having trouble, gank that lane to help them out and you might even get a kill out of it.

As you start entering the mid game, your main focus will be roaming and ganking, getting kills and getting gold. Getting kills in the mid game is important in order for you to dominate in the late game. Pushing is also very important, because if you drag the game out they will get more items to stop you.

In the late game, you should be working less on hunting people down and working more on pushing and finishing the games. For as much killing power as you have, I would recommend taking a support buddy with a stun or slow like Crystal Maiden. You don't want to get caught in a 1v2-5 situation without someone to help you out. With your Agh's pushing should be no problem you can rip down towers and creeps waves in seconds.

Friends and Foes

Some friends of Tiny include supports with stuns and slows, as well as mana regeneration. This includes but is not limited to:
Crystal Maiden
Keeper of the Light
Vengeful Spirit
Wisp (Io for you new folk)
Centaur Warrunner
Jakiro
Ancient Apparition

Enemies of Tiny include any hero that is a "anti-carry"
Viper
Razor
Huskar
Templar Assassin
Also heroes with Mana Drain or Diffusal Blade carriers are annoying so:
Anti-Mage
Phantom Lancer
Naga Siren

Changelog

Aug. 7, 2014-
Added more friends and foes as well as another build.

Conclusion

Thank you all for reading my guide! I really appreciate it and plan on updating it as I make more progress with Tiny and how to play him better. Please give me helpful criticism so I can make this guide better. Please vote as well!

Sincerely,
Blubbles