Dota 2: How to play Tusk effectively in pub 7.20

Tusk is one of the most popular heroes in the professional arena. This article shows you how to effectively apply Tusk in pub.

Tusk is one of the most popular heroes in the professional arena. Tusk’s versatility and stability make him the preferred pick in the current meta. Although Tusk is successful and popular in the top arena, the presence of this hero in pubs is not much. This article will discuss what makes Tusk strong in the competition and how pub players can leverage those lessons in their own matches.

MAXIMUM EARLY GAME POSSIBILITIES

Nearly all of Tusk’s moves are well supported and have many different methods of application. Ice Shards can block the opponent’s escape route or block the opponent to help his teammates escape. Snowball is an attack on the opponent, both as a tool for escape and rescue. Both of these skills bring a lot of benefits even if they only raise one point.

That means maximizing Tag Team becomes a priority goal. This is the hero’s only skill that has a single purpose, but it is extremely effective and can be used later in the game.

Both professional players and high ranked pub players prioritize this move. Cooldown, low manacost, and lots of damage plus slows make Tag Team overwhelming in the laning and mid-game ganks.

However, to be effective, your ability to use Ice Shards and Snowball needs to be near-perfect. You need one point per skill to exploit this combo. Usually Tusk will raise 1-1-1 when reaching level 3 or 1-1-2 when reaching level 4, with the second point raised to Tag Team at level 3.

It sounds unreasonable, but how to raise skill points at level 3 is an extremely important decision. As a support, leveling up quickly can be difficult and raising two points for a Tag Team at level 3 is generally considered better – only if the Tag Team can help kill without the Ice Shards support.

Stalling at level 3 without being able to use one of Tusk’s moves for a minute or two could destroy Tusk’s early game dominance. This hero needs a good start to benefit the team, when compared to other position 4 supports and initiators.

CONCENTRATION ON UP

Usually, Tusk will control the lane for his carry or offlaner. With Snowball and Tag Team, this hero and his teammates can attack either enemy in the same lane and deal massive damage. Once Tusk’s teammates in the lane feel confident, this is when Tusk leaves the lane and uses his skill set throughout the map – this is also where the 3rd skill becomes very important. Ganking with Ice Shards and Snowball just got easier than just Snowball.

Tusk needs his items and needs them very soon. Being the focus of teamfight requires the hero to have extra armor and HP. Also, getting to Blink Dagger early is also worth considering, but the vast majority of advanced players choose Vladmir’s Offering or Urn of Shadows – then upgrade to Spirit Vessel.

The presence of either item above will help Tusk better support the team, and increase his survivability. Surviving is an extremely important factor for support 4 if you want to build your own items and give a lot of support to the team.

To get to these items, rotating constantly at the beginning of the game is a must. Usually you can stay in lane and continue to pressure an enemy, but sooner or later, this will become less effective. Killing or cornering a level 3 opponent continuously really doesn’t have as much impact as killing mid opponent.

AFTER MIDDLE GAME PAGE

Tusk’s potential after mid-game is not clear when compared to heroes like Magnus, Earth Spirit, Tiny or other popular position 4 heroes. Tusk no longer has a solo kill or an easy way to initiate combat. Tusk also does not contribute much damage in teamfight, mainly focusing on a single target.

Thus, the vast majority of the success we see from Tusk in the later stages of the game is when the hero saves his teammates with Snowball. Snowball entices the enemy to launch a few moves, leaving them open if trying to damage the original target – while also allowing Tusk to Snowball on multiple targets.

Tusk’s mission is very similar to Clockwerk’s – isolating the battle to give your teammates an advantage on one side of the line, while you won’t die so quickly on the other. Against a multi-core lineup, ideally split the cores, and Tusk will try to keep the second core as long as possible.

EPILOGUE

Tusk’s popularity at the Chongqing Major is definitely not as high as the Bucharest Minor, but Tusk is still in the top 5 most competitive heroes in the game. Tusk’s versatility and influence throughout all stages of the game make him a great first pick for both the pub and the pro scene.

Let’s keep an eye on how the Major meta will turn out and find out which other heroes are worth your daily practice in pub.

According to Dotabuff