Dota 2: The days of Hand of Midas are over

In the current meta, Hand of Midas doesn’t bring much benefit for the price you pay. Cores can build other better farm items. Support now has XP tome experience buffs, as well as XP and Gold talents, plus a bunch of new and old items to help stabilize early and mid-game. The Hand of Midas is now forgotten and has become one of the least useful items in the game.

Midas was once an item that allowed the team, or a hero, to rely on to survive until the late game. However, its price is quite high: you have to trade with early and mid-game items, but this investment will pay off in the long run.

Hand of Midas was once considered a “long-term investment” item, helping the team take advantage of the early game networth to win late game. And sometimes, it’s a “comeback” item, increasing your ability to catch up with gold and XP. Simply put, you can make Hand of Midas for any of these heroes, under any circumstances.

Supports like Crystal Maiden can be planted on it and can be hidden in the jungle. Ancient Apparitions bought it for quick XP, better Ice Blast, and farm support to Aghanim’s Scepter. And the Lone Droid even bought 2 – why not – even though the cubs didn’t benefit from XP.

Now, this item is useless on most heroes. Why bet in the late game when nowadays, the vast majority of matches depend on early and mid game? When comparing Midas at its peak, today’s game finishes faster. The “turtle” strategy weakens. Killing Roshan is now much more important than before. Teams can’t sacrifice build time by buying 2150 gold, but only benefit as the game drags on.

Core not only needs better gear to fight, these heroes can build other better farm items. 2150 Gold is equal to 40% Radiance, which is half Battlefury, or just enough to Maelstrom. Invoker players are now no longer building this mandatory item and heading straight for Aghanim’s Scepter, which makes spells more powerful.

Support is more useful with Force Staff than Hand of Midas, or Medallion and Urn, or Glimmer Cape. These days, heroes have less space and time to lane and farm to Midas, while the focus on pushing turrets takes precedence.

Midas seems to be a useful item exclusive to Arc Warden – the hero especially can take advantage of this item. Phoenix “could” go to Midas, since it’s more profitable to level up with the hero than buy stuff. And another interesting hero that appeared in the T8 qualifiers was Chaos Knight, played many times by Team Spirit’s Illidan. This hero, like Lifestealer, deals massive damage with Armlet and Treads only. While CK can go to Midas due to poor farming, this hero has the strongest illusions in the game to take advantage of the extra attack speed from Hand of Midas.

Valve’s Update is quick to point out meta trends after major tournaments. Competed and ignored heroes are nerfed and buffed. Some items have also been adjusted. But it seems the Hand of Midas is still forgotten. Can it make a comeback in Dota 2?