First, what we believe a problem hero is obviously is going to vary from person to person. One of my good friends believes scout should be an auto ban as he causes huge game imbalances in game. Sand Wraith is considered an auto-ban by many players due to his ultimate and other factors. Others feel problem heroes are just annoying. I agree with both parties. Many people have trouble with many heroes, but the ones I hear the most complaints about being "broken" are as follows:
Soul Stealer
Dr Repulsor
Goblin Bombardier
Pebbles
Wretched Hag
Sand Wraith
There are a few points in the game that you need to deal with these heroes
Picking Phase: Is there some way we can counter this pick or should we ban this hero?
Early Game: Before this hero gets to level 6 or gets an important early game item, is there anytime I can do?
Mid-Game: This hero is now somewhere from 6 to 16 and has its important items. What should I do?
Late Game; After 16, I now have money to potentially deal with the problem, is there a way to counter it?
That said, lets get started!
Soul Stealer -
Picking Phase - Should we ban this hero? This is one of those heroes that can be a huge problem is left unchecked. Please do yourself a favor and ban this guy. If banning him isn't an option, you're going to need to either pick early game gankers and prevent soul stealer from farming or get heroes with stuns in their ultimate so he can't cast his ult while magic immune from BKB.
Early Game - Soul Stealer will most likely be mid. Use Ganks to prevent SS from farming and keep him from obtaining a Portal Key or a Black King Bar.
Mid Game - If Soul Stealer has a Portal Key and a BKB, the best way to deal with this is to get some magic resistance or raw HP so you can survive the onslaught. Otherwise, keep ganking him!
These guys ignore Soul Stealer, don't make this mistake!
Late Game - A barrier idol will help you and your team with the assault of magical damage from soul stealer late game. On a personal level a BKB will also make you immune if you can pop it before he finishes channeling. Pray your carry hero has enough farm to win the day.
Dr Repulsor -
Picking Phase - I wouldn't consider Dr repulsor a mandatory ban, that said if you're dealing with a weak banning draft pool, he should be thought of for one of your bans. When counter picking Dr. Repulsor you should think about getting silences or crowd control (CC) [stuns, etc] that you can chain together to keep him locked down. Vindicator is an excellent pick if he fits your team comp.
Early Game- Dr Repulsor is another hero that will probably end up in the middle lane. Most people will not gank before level 6, however he is a strong ganker starting as early as 4 or 5. Ganking him before 6 is in your best interests, as once he is able to use his ultimate, hes almost impossible to kill without denying their wards.
Mid-Game - If you were unable to gank early, the biggest thing you can do at this point to keep wards up so you're aware of when Dr. Repulsor is ganking. Beyond that, try not to travel alone and gank the Dr. if he tries to farm.
If you don't control Dr Repulsor, he can really mess up your day
Late Game - Urge your support hero (or yourself, if this works for you) to keep wards up, through this phase. If your support hero has sufficient funds or if another int hero can sustain it, build a hellflower. Hellflower shits all over Dr Repulsor's day.
Goblin Bombardier
Picking Phase: Goblin Bombardier is a very strong nuke hero. That said, their are other heroes with equivalent damage. Bombardier has no escape, and his stun isn't very strong. That said, he synergies extremely well with Keeper of the Forest, Chronos, Tempest, Kraken and other strong CC heroes. If you feel as though the pool has too much CC to control, and you're afraid of the damage bombardier can deal, he is a good ban choice. In BP figure out what you need, and make sure that you keep them from picking up both a strong CC team with bombardier.
Early Game - Bombardier can be found in any lane early. Often if he's mid, he will be a strong ganker, but be aware of which side-lanes have suitable CC to take advantage of his presence. He has almost no way to escape ganks, so be sure to take advantage of his vulnerability.
Mid Game- Getting magic resistance is a good idea if bombardier is presenting as a problem. Keep being aware of CC
If you Line up, he doesn't need CC >.>
Late Game- Don't get clustered up or CC'd in a line if you can prevent it. Barrier idol is a great idea if you're afraid of the nasty damage bombardier can do.
Pebbles
Picking Phase: Pebbles is a very strong nuke/Ganking hero. That said, their are other heroes with equivalent damage, though the cooldown on their burst is generally alot higher. Pebbles builds a PK early generally, so if he can get some distance, he can escape. That said, he synergies extremely well with other strong CC heroes or heroes like hellbringer and blacksmith. While I don't see Pebbles as a mandatory ban, if you plan on getting a team with a few more "squishies" then maybe you should consider banning this guy, because he can really mess you up.
Early Game - Pebbles will generally be found mid early. He will be a strong ganker, He's slow, and has almost no way to escape ganks before his PK, so be sure to take advantage of his vulnerability. However, if he has 240 mana he can perform his trade mark "toss combo" and probably kill 1 hero if you aren't careful.
Be Careful... Pebbles can toss combo from 3
Mid Game- Getting magic resistance or raw HP is a good idea if pebbles is presenting as a problem. Keep wards up so you're aware of when he's ganking and try to initiate team fights before he can start them.
Late Game- Don't get clustered up. While pebbles now isn't quite as scary for his blow the hell up factor, be aware that he's still a strong initiate and 1000 raw (post mitigation) damage still hurts.
Wretched Hag
Picking Phase: Wretched Hag is a very strong nuke hero. With a skilled player, she can do more damage than most nuke heroes, while being almost impossible to kill or track due to her built in blink. I personally consider Hag one of my must ban (or pick, muahahaha) heroes, as a skilled player with this can really mess up your day.
Early Game - Wretched Hag can be found in mid early. She will be a strong ganker from as early as 4 or 5 but be aware of which side-lanes have suitable CC to take advantage of her presence. She has a very easy escape mechanic (her built in blink) so make sure you coordinate CC if you're going to gank her.
Mid Game- Getting magic resistance is a good idea if Wretched Hag is presenting as a problem. Being aware of positioning is very important to dealing with hag. If you're clustered up or in a loose line, wretched hag can really take advantage of that and punish your team.
Being grouped up is bad Mk?
Late Game- Don't get clustered up or CC'd in a line if you can prevent it. Barrier idol is a great idea if you're afraid of the nasty damage Wretched Hag can do. BKB is also a strong option, if you're afraid resistance isn't enough.
Sand Wraith
Picking Phase: Sand-wraith is a very strong carry hero due to his illusions hitting everyone. Illusions deal 40% base damage, and take 200% damage. He can be managed, but if you pool does not have other strong carries, or you just don't want to deal with him, ban him. If he is picked, make sure your team has adequate stun to gank him, and a carry capable of dealing with him late game (Chronos is my favorite)
Early Game - Sand-wraith is extremely weak early game, without farm his ultimate doesn't do much, and he is vulnerable to gank if you have any stun on your team. Be sure to gank him frequently.
Mid Game- Sand-wraith is likely going to be farming the woods or lanes when he feels he can without pressure. Be sure to use offensive wards and gank early and often. Without farm, sand-wraith really is worthless.
Late Game- If you let sand-wraith farm you could be in trouble here, as his ultimate can wreck teams. However, even now you have an option. Get a nullstone! Nullstone prevents sand-wraiths illusions from forming. Without his illusions sand-wraith's carry potential is greatly reduced!
Sand Wraith is farmed... I don't believe you!
With these heroes addressed, be aware that this is a pretty cookie cutter way of dealing with the issues, and if soul stealer builds a shroud instead of a bkb, then you're going to have to adapt. That said, I hope this was informative, and feel free to leave a comment if you think I need to address another problem hero.
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