Instructions to play Slark patch 7.27 SumaiL style

Today we will learn one of the new ways to build Slark in patch 7.27, coming from SumaiL ‘SumaiL’ Syed Hassan.

The new patch 7.27 didn’t change any heroes, but it basically rocked the zoo meta, tweaking the Necronomicon and Helm of Dominator. A series of map and item changes bring outstanding changes to today’s heroes, as well as new builds we’ve never seen before.

Slark and beneficial changes

This Item change in patch 7.27 has brought Slark to a new perfect position. While Slark was fine in patch 7.26c, the change in Silver Edge and the arrival of the new item Blitz Knuckles have pushed the hero to the next level. Blitz Knuckles costs 1000 gold, +35 attack speed and can be used to build Shadow Blade or Monkey King Bar. Taking advantage of the attack speed boost from this new item, SumaiL is able to stack Essence Shift at lightning speed, and ‘dodge’ in teamfights with ease by reverting to stealthy Slark gameplay. Echo Saber is now a recipe item when going to Silver Edge which is considered a huge plus, because in the past Echo Saber often took up an item slot for the later stages of the game.

New laning and turret phase

SumaiL didn’t change much in the early game, prioritizing trade hits to stack Essence Shift when possible, while focusing on eating range creeps with teammates in lane. His goal is to complete a Wraith Band and Magic Wand for early game control, while building Power Treads. Slark has a big advantage over offlane heroes: SumaiL often wins 3-4 Essence stacks during trade hits and forces opponents to withdraw. Doing this continuously during the laning phase will make most heroes unable to trade hits in their favor, and be forced to leave Slark or bring in more support to support them. That helps the rest of the cores on Team Slark to be more relaxed for the rest of the map.

Another important change in 7.27’s laning phase is the reduced turret damage and increased turret attack speed. This change was unexpected, as the damage and attack speed of Tier 1 towers have remained unchanged since Dota 2 launched. Range creeps now need to be shot 3 times before last hitting, instead of 2 as before. Melee Creep needs 6 hits before being last hit. These changes have resulted in increased win rates for Centaur, Ax, and Timbersaw. These heroes benefit more from faster turrets under certain circumstances.

Between game

Having an Echo Saber will greatly increase Slark’s power, making it easier to kill supports, but SumaiL’s focus is still on farming the next items to get stronger later. New item Blitz Knuckles looks like it was made for Slark’s use. After acquiring Sange and Yasha, SumaiL began to increase their participation in battle. The slow effect from Echo Saber and the movement speed of Sange and Yasha allow SumaiL to chase opponents, easily powering up with quick hand attacks.

Before starting the 5-player team, SumaiL completed Silver Edge with gold breaking outer turrets and ganking a few solo heroes. This allows him to switch to the more solo Slark playstyle, which is common when the hero rushes Shadow Blade. Opponent supports will have a hard time with this build of Slark. The mobility and ability to escape makes it very difficult for supports to choose a safe position in the teamfight. During the mid-game, SumaiL utilizes his passive to find wards, and keeps a Sentry on him at all times so he doesn’t need to rely on team support.

Late game

After completing the mid-game items and starting to go into full combat with the team, SumaiL continued to control the match. He plays actively with the team in the enemy jungle, and watches for prey that are ‘big enough’ to deward. Besides, he also systematically farmed the opponent’s map before eating Roshan with the team and taking all the outer towers with the first Aegis. If the situation goes well, SumaiL doesn’t mind ending the game at this point, but in more intense games, he often waits until the second Aegis before breaking the enemy high ground.

With an abundance of gold obtained after completing core items in the middle of the game, SumaiL has many options to complete the build. Usually, he will separate Sange and Yasha to go to Heaven’s Halberd, used to prevent enemy carry from trading hits. Other good options include Skadi to stack slows on opponents, Abyssal Blade locking down mobility cores or Money King Bar to deal with dodging. Whatever the item build, SumaiL makes sure to prioritize jumping on the most mobile and slimmest opponents on the opposing team, bursting them first and then chasing after other retreating enemies.

SumaiL has been spamming Slark continuously since 7.27 launched, and it would be nice to see Slark return to the pro scene more often.

According to joindota

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