Maybe you’re playing Jakiro Support the wrong way in Dota 2

Recently, we had an article about “supports you may be playing the wrong way” but missed one candidate: Jakiro two-headed dragon. This hero is currently one of the most successful supports at Divine rank and above and is suitable for the slow meta in Dota 2.

Irrelevant NERFs

Jakiro was nerfed in 7.27b, the big hero balancing patch was awaited by fans, but the hero still succeeded in the support group from Divine rank and above. Jakiro is suitable for almost any formation: strong and strong laner, good lane push, has some super strong crowd control and massive damage in teamfight.

The biggest problem lies with Jakiro players, especially when the hero is not farm priority due to playing as support 5. You have to choose the hero’s playstyle depending on certain situations, and that’s what makes Jakiro such a big deal. so it’s very interesting.

STATISTICAL

Dotabuff has a lot of useful features that provide tons of information: the guide and build tabs on the hero page are especially helpful for players new to or just returning to Dota, trying to keep up with the meta.

Jakiro is no exception: while last year maxing Ice Path was a stable way to level up skills in both the pub and pro scene, now most players max out Dual Breath first. The new way is much more successful when playing position 5.

WHY MAX DUAL BREATH?

Last time, the article talked about the difference between Pub vs Pro, this time is probably also a case where the way to play in the professional arena cannot blindly apply in pub. Maxing Ice Path is powerful: it’s one of the best stuns in the game with its stable duration, maximum cast range, good AoE, and fairly low cooldown. Here’s the problem: Pro teams are always well-coordinated to get the most out of Ice Path, which random pub teammates often can’t do.

Another simple and more important reason: Dual Breath is just too cool. With 170 mana, you can deal up to 440 damage and slow your opponent by 40% for 5 seconds. In addition, this skill has a cooldown of 10 seconds, which means it only takes 50% of the time to cool down, and the opponent’s attack and movement speed will be slowed by 5 seconds. It can also be applied to subjects as far away as 1000 units, making Dual Breath extremely safe to use in most situations.

No matter how strong your opponent is, they won’t get to BKB as soon as the pro players. Meta also favors more greedy play, so they can’t focus on magic immunity initially. From there, Jakiro can take advantage to maximize Dual Breath.

Worst case scenario: Dual Breath will force enemies to use BKB early in mid-game teamfight. Best case scenario: the enemy carry melee can be completely slowed for 50% of the time, since most carries will have a hard time dealing damage when slowed by 40% movement speed. Knowing how to play smart and keep your distance, while understanding who you need to prioritize, Jakiro can be the most important piece in the first 20 minutes of the game.

LOOKING RED

Eul’s Scepter is a must-have item for Jakiro when Ice Path has priority. It makes it easy to set up as well as adds potential dispel and prevents Jakiro from getting focus. However, while Eul’s is not a bad idea, Force Staff is probably the better choice in the current patch.

Eul’s cast range is quite limited: 575 is a bit too short for a support to use safely, especially since Jakiro has spells that work at a range of up to 1000 units. It’s better to time your spell properly or use Eul’s later, instead of relying on this ability to catch your opponent (it’s close to 3000 gold). Of course, if the team relies entirely on your stuns, the situation can force Jakiro to go up Eul’s (and Ice Path) whether he likes it or not, but it’s rare for a team to have no stuns other than Ice Path.

Force Staff adds a rescue tool and repositioning, not to mention it can be launched earlier: It’s about 30% cheaper than gold needed. Alternatively, Jakiro can use it to save himself. Force Staff can and should be used as an active tool: it has a cast range of 850 when you use it on an enemy. That is, you can quickly change the position of the opponent so that he is within the range of the Dual Breath + Ice Path combo.

Items like Glimmer cape, Lotus Orb or even Aether Lens are also good for heroes, but the article recommends prioritizing the first two items in most games: dispel and rescue are often better than increasing cast range. Aether Lends can be a must-have item for other supports, heroes who have difficulty casting spells and have to keep their distance. But as for Jakiro with a large default cast range that is not in this group of heroes, it is not necessary to go up.

EPILOGUE

With the new ban-pick system in ranked, choosing reliable, flexible and multi-role supports in the early draft is a must in high rank pub: you can’t just start with Grimstroke or Pudge and expect the team to adapt to the hero. Jakiro is a perfect fit and is probably the most workable support hero right now.

The new draft system may not be ideal, but it is a reality that support gamers must face. Sometimes the core is the first pick, and that’s when the support gets to experiment with different heroes. However, such a situation rarely happens and if you are only interested in winning then Jakiro is very safe.

According to dotabuff

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