ForTheSwarm vs. itachi Preview Part 1

不怕不识货，就怕货比货
Don’t worry if you don’t know the value of something; you will know it by comparison.

First I’d like to take a look at a few different offlaners this season.

ZombiesExpert

The original meaning of “core” was synonymous with carry, and not just any hero with farm priority.

ZombiesExpert is my favorite offlaner in the division. He’s the only one who plays in the classical spirit of the position: Left unchecked, he will become the 3rd carry, and your entire position will be a shambles. If you want to know how to play Spirit Breaker or Beastmaster, you need not look anywhere else. Just watch ZombiesExpert replays.

MGHappyHobo

HappyHobo, by mmr, is the highest offlaner, and he was the most expensive player in the draft. But his offlane can be compared to Toth’s Marci. Yes, it’s real. Yes it’s worth something. But it’s not your one-stop shop.

AR

AR may be playing in the offlane, but he’s playing like a pubstar midlaner. He wants to pressure the opponent, and then snowball the game. He’s not trying to play a utility hero, and he’s not trying to just draw the lane for a team-composition advantage later.

Now, this may just be because of the team dynamics. This might just be what works for them. But this “win lane and semi-carry” context should be kept in mind when analyzing the whole team.

Heroes to watch out for: Razor, Death Prophet, Timbersaw, Visage.

ForTheSwarm

ForTheSwarm is also a “classical” offlaner, but in a very different style. He wants to play for the team, providing post-laning phase push, team fight, initiation, tempo.

Watching ForTheSwarm replays is like reading a manual. You just want to know how a thing works.

Some players save ability points, because they don’t know if they might need to skill a different one in the moment. ForTheSwarm just skills, because he knows he won’t need it. For example, I was watching his Nightstalker, and he just skills the passive, not bothering with the silence early on. And if you reflect on it, this is correct: just eat any opposing abilities. It’s similar to how in some past patches, we didn’t like making bkb in pubs. Just eat the abilities.

And then when Nightstalker hits 6, use your ultimate and points in passive and dive. You won’t feel enlightened, watching ForTheSwarm replays, like you do when you watch ZombiesExpert. But you will feel that it’s very textbook.

Heroes to watch out for: Nightstalker, Dragon Knight.

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Understanding the different offlane styles of these players is the foundation for understanding the strategy of the teams.

It is not that these players do not, or cannot, play other heroes and styles. But for the teams they’re playing with this season, these are the dominant themes I see.