With Counterspell maxed out, Magina has 61% magic resistance at level 14.
Along with disables, you definitely need either physical damage or some form of break to bring him down.
Ember Spirit has rewinded the tapes a bit to bring back the Flame Guard max out build.
A few years ago, that was the norm.
But for the past few years, Sleight of Fist was the skill maxed out at level 7.
Now, it seems like the early Flame Guard build is making a comeback.
According toDotabuff, the most popular build for Ember Spirit in pubs is 1-1-4-1 at level 7.
Why has this old build all of a sudden made a comeback?
(taken fromDotabuff)
The answer might lie in the latest buffs to Mage Slayer.
The item was buffed in patch 7.35, and then again in balance patch 7.35b.
(taken fromDota 2 Wiki)
Mage Slayer provides 25% magic resistance.
At level 7 with a Mage Slayer, Ember Spirit has 47% magic resistance.
That reduces the enemy magic damage output by 40%.
Like with any major patch, it takes time for certain strategies to be discovered.
And once they are, the good ones float to the top.
That is exactly what has happened with this new Ember Spirit build as well!
Ember Spirits win rate and pick rate in pubs have started trending upwards.
For a long time, the hero was languishing below 50% win rate.
But now, it seems like he is thriving.
The big difference between Ember Spirit and Anti-Mage is that AM does not make moves in the early game.
With just a Mage Slayer, he can play aggressively.
The 2023-2024 Dota 2 season is slowly beginning to gain momentum.
BetBoom Dacha will be the first premier tournament of the year.
The qualifiers for the tournament are already in motion.
