Dota 2: Carry Ax sweeps WePlay AniMajor

Every major tournament has a few unexpected names appearing and with Dota 2 AniMajor this time, carry Ax is the name mentioned most. The big tournaments that last nearly two weeks are very interesting thanks to the number of games as well as the number of games. the attraction they bring. But another aspect of long tournaments that is equally fascinating is that they form a meta within the tournament, tactics that do not appear in previous events.

At WePlay AniMajor, although many unexpected picks were present, nothing surpassed Ax position 1, initiated by PSG.LGD. The first time carry Ax appeared in game 2 in the series was against Evil Geniuses and a completely unforeseen North American opponent. With the potential from the new carry Ax, other teams are also gradually catching up with the trend. Ax has been out of the meta for quite some time, but Aghanim’s Shard has brought the hero back to life.

The Shard combines two of the hero’s previous talents, making it a strong Shard. But the buff in update 7.29 is what makes it the strongest Shard of all heroes – increasing Counter Helix jump probability by 10%, from 20% to 30%. After that, Ax’s Shard was nerfed by 5% for 7.29d. However, this item still brings a lot of benefits. Top pro players soon realized its power when paired with Manta Style. Balls from Manta take more damage and deal less hand damage, but they deal the same amount of Counter Helix damage as Ax’s own! Imagine three Axes dealing 180 pure x3 damage every time the Counter Helix jumps. Very, very scary! This build was popular in the regional DPC tournament, but it was mainly used in Ax position 3.

From the regional DPC to the AniMajor, some teams have found it can be more effective if Ax is played in position 1. The way to build items is usually:

Vanguard → Brown Boots → Manta Style → Aghanim’s Shard if it’s 20 minutes, or go to Blink Dagger first if you can farm before 20 minutes.

Then it depends on how the game goes and what kind of damage the opponent has. Ax can continue to BKB or Assault Cuirass, or even green stick, if the team chooses the armor reduction strategy. Ax’s Blue Stick now reduces Berserker’s Call cooldown by 2 seconds, while reducing the armor of enemy heroes hit by Berserker’s Call by 7, then adding Ax 7 to each affected enemy. This build benefits from the recently buffed Manta Style, with the melee hero’s shadow reducing damage taken from 350% to 300%. The ball is used effectively to set lanes as well as to farm jungle camps.

Ben “Noxville” Steenhuisen’s Dota 2 stats show Ax’s strength at the tournament, with four out of 16 Ax plays reaching over 700 GPM at AniMajor.

Of the 16 Axes to ever have 700+ GPM, 4 of them have been at the @WePlay_Esports Animajor – including 2nd highest (Ame) and 3rd highest (Gabbi).

CN and CIS dominating the board! pic.twitter.com/LOoTilTs1V

— Ben Steenhuisen (@Noxville) June 6, 2021

The three teams that picked Ax carry at WePlay AniMajor include PSG.LGD, TNC and Team Liquid. Team Liquid was eliminated, but the remaining two teams continued to advance further. Looking at the ban list, Ax is the first banned hero against these teams. It seems their opponents realize Ax’s potential in position 1. With a day off from the group stage to prepare for the playoffs, this will be a good opportunity for the teams to practice more Ax. Surely there will be people who hate this tactic, like Alliance’s Loda for example.

Really hope they remove this AX manta shard build from the game.

— Jonathan “Loda” Berg (@LodaBerg) June 6, 2021

Let’s wait and see if the teams will apply Ax carry in the playoffs, as well as how they will deal with this hero in case the opponent picks Ax.

According to gosu

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