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Shadow Blade
Boots of Travel
Aghanim's Scepter
Assault Cuirass
Manta Style
Abyssal Blade
Scythe of Vyse
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WARNING: NO BLINK WILL BE INCLUDED IN THIS GUIDE; DO NOT ATTEMPT IN ORGANIZED, VERY HIGH LEVEL GAMES UNLESS YOU HAVE A 6TH SENSE FOR SENTRIES/DUST/GEM AND YOU JUKE LIKE A GOD. I WONT MIND MUCH GRAMMAR AND KEEP MOST OF IT CAPS LOCKED FOR EASE OF TYPING.
Also, apologies for the wall of text as I do not have images or photos readily available for this guide, so I do encourage skimming. I may attempt to re-organize the information better in the future.
First guide, please set no expectations as I created this solely for personal enjoyment.
Tiny is an extremely strong carry with excellent gank potential that only increases in potential as the game progresses. What you want is to achieve your late game as quick as possible while shutting down the enemy carry with your strong early and mid game abilities; then carrying the late game with extremely fast push capabilities, massive cleave and high auto attack dmg.
For build 3 (sidelane) it is entirely possible to dominate as a carry by going standard sb build. However, it is really reliant on who is in your lane; for the sake of this guide I simply assumed you called mid and were pushed to a sidelane for one reason or another.
In the sideline it is worth buying a soul ring and brown boots before SB.
(I've been able to carry myself many times up to 4200 ranked solo MMR with a ~70% winrate on Tiny; not too much to be proud of but it does mean this build is capable of dominating at high level pub play and isn't limited to low level pub stomps.)
Now, some counters and quick tips before the bulk of this guide:
WHILE WINNING MID LANE DEPENDS HIGHLY ON NOT FACING OD (**** OD) ALMOST ALL LANES CAN BE WON (NOT PUCK **** PUCK ) WITH SHEER SKILL BECAUSE WITH A WELL TIMED AVALANCHE, YOU CAN OFTEN WALK UP AND TOSS THEM QUICKLY TO LAND YOURSELF A KILL (UNLESS ITS A TA ******** IS TA ONE OF THE GAYESTGMIOZSOEIRNMOGNOSZEO YOU HAVE TO THROW THAT ***** INTO TOWER OR **** HER RUNES)
VIPER CAN BE JUST AS BAD, EXCEPT HE CAN HARD COUNTER YOU WITH ULTI LATE GAME AS THIS BUILD IS QUITE RELIANT ON SPEED AND YOU GOTTA GOING FAST. VIPER MEANS YOURE TOO SLOW. YOU GOTTA KEEP UP.
NECROLYTE WILL JUST PRESS R. AND HES TANKY. AND HE HAS A HEAL+MEK. AND HE WILL STOP YOU FROM BUYBACK->TPING INTO A FIGHT. Really just be careful of his ult. Though I wouldn't say necro makes Tiny straight lose games, a good player will save his ult only for you and abuse his wither to get your high hp pool down. I find necro much easier if you play a safer pick off style while staying topped off on health. split push when possible and try not to directly push against his aura unless you can take down towers fast (i.e. agh). Just spam a ranged toss onto your own creeps to slowly bring towers down if you really must use siege style.
Invoker is a lot easier to defeat than one may think. Once his cold snap is baited he really can't stop you from walking in to combo his face. Dont get cocky though, and watch out if he gets a quick boots/phase as you'll need to avalanche first before you can toss him (rather than full combo).
You can win against these hero's as I have definitely defeated them in a mid lane versus a competent player, but your limitations can be easily exploited by a good player/superior hero until you aren't in a position to snowball anywhere but back to your fountain. In this situation, you're best bet is to try and make something happen in the side lanes or call quick missing's and farm up an SB while the opponent ganks.
THAT REMINDS ME, THIS BUILD IS ALL ABOUT SNOWBALLING. IF YOU CANNOT GET SOME EARLY GAME FARM TO BUILD UP YOUR CORE QUICKLY, YOUR MID GAME PRESENCE WILL BE DRASTICALLY REDUCED AND YOU MIGHT AS WELL GET A ***** *** BLINK (more info later)
THE IDEA IS TO GET YOUR SHADOW BLADE AND **** THEM UP AS MUCH AS POSSIBLE UNTIL YOU PICK UP A TREE. THEN YOU **** UP E.V.E.R.Y.T.H.I.N.G.
BEFORE YOU EVEN CLICK PLAY,
-AVALANCHE WILL DEAL DOUBLE DAMAGE IF A UNIT IS CURRENTLY BEING TOSSED.
-IF YOU DECIDE TO GET AVALANCHE LEVELS EARLIER THAN TOSS, NEVER GET LVL 4 AVALANCHE BEFORE LVL 4 TOSS. AVALANCHE ONLY INCREASES ITS DMG BY 40 FROM LVL 3-4 COMPARED TO 80 FROM LVLS 1-3
-USE TOSS TO LAND TOWER KILLS. BONUS POINTS FOR TOSSING AN ALLY TO PREVENT THEM FROM LAST HITTING TOWER.
-WITH A CIRCULET AND 2 BRANCH, LVL2 GIVES YOU JUST ENOUGH MANA FOR A 240 MANA AVA/TOSS
-I SUGGGEST YOU MAINLY AVALANCHE FIRST AND THEN TOSS. I HAVE NOTICED YOU WILL MISS FAR LESS AND THE DMG, THOUGH IT MAY SEEM COUNTER INTUITIVE, WILL PROBABLY BE MORE THAN A TOSS/AVA COMBO, AS AVALANCHE EVEN AT CLOSE RANGE HAS A ~1 SECOND TIME FROM CAST-TO-STUN.
- AT LVL 3 GROW WITH AGH; AN AUTO, FOLLOWED BY TOSS, FOLLOWED BY ONE MORE AUTO WILL CLEAR A FULL CREEP WAVE (when done correctly)
-DO NOT ATTEMPT SOLO ROSH UNTIL AT LEAST FULL CORE+HYPERSTONE
-TRY NOT TO JUNGLE UNLESS YOU'RE GOING BACK TO FOUNTAIN ANYWAY, YOU NEED JUST A LITTLE BIT MORE GOLD FOR A BIG ITEM, THERE IS SERIOUSLY NOTHING TO GANK/FARM, OR YOU HAVE AGH.
(It may seem like tiny can clear jungle creeps quickly with his strong auto, but wasting so much health and mana on jungle creeps is often a waste unless the above applies.
Once you have agh, however, the jungle is amazing for farm and ancients will be a cinch. Stacking ancients is viable for tiny unless you have someone such as luna. Stacking regular camps are just as effective.
Use your toss after baiting a few creeps over to you to break down trees to other camps. Tiny farming jungle with agh is tremendously effective but do keep in mind ganking and creating fear across the map is far more desired)
-READ THE TINY WIKI! IT SHOWS ALL THE CALCULATIONS FOR DAMAGE POTENTIAL SUCH AS TOSS+GROW DMG
http://dota2.gamepedia.com/Tiny
-IN ORDER TO USE YOUR FULL COMBO (+SB) YOU REQUIRE 315 MANA.
WITH SOUL RING YOU ONLY NEED 165 MANA TO USE YOUR FULL COMBO
-IN ORDER TO USE YOUR AVA/TOSS, YOU ONLY REQUIRE 90 MANA TO FULLY COMBO WITH SOUL RING
USE THIS TO YOUR GREAT ADVANTAGE, I CAN'T COUNT HOW MANY TIMES MY OPPONENT WAS CONFIDENT THINKING I WAS OOM AND COULDNT EVEN USE AN AVALANCHE AT 90 MANA, ONLY TO DISCOVER I USED SOUL RING AND WOMBO COMBO'D HIS FACE A SECOND LATER.
IF NO ONE BUYS COURIER, I'M SORRY BUT YOU NEED TO GO BACK AND GET ONE. YOU WILL FIND YOU DO FINE UP UNTIL LVL 2-3, WHEN YOUR OPPONENT GETS HIS BOTTLE. YOU MAY EVEN NET YOURSELF A KILL. BUT YOU WILL LOSE CS AS TIME GOES ON, YOU CANT SUSTAIN YOUSELF TO GANK OFTEN EVEN WITH RUNES AND WILL REQUIRE GOING BACK TO FOUNTAIN.
THOUGH WARDS MAY NOT BE WORTH IT WHEN YOUR TEAM DOESNT BUY THEM, A COURIER IS DEFINITELY WORTH ITS WEIGHT IN GOLD. JUST BUY COURIER AND BOTTLE CROW LIKE A JEW.
ALSO, I KNOW YOUR PRIDE GETS ABSOLUTELY WRECKED AND YOU CANT LOOK AT YOURSELF IN THE MIRROR WHEN YOU DO THIS BUT,
BUY WARDS IF YOUR TEAM REALLY ISNT BUYING ANY EARLY/MIDGAME.
Of course, you can simply ask nicely, but showing that you're a team player and willing to invest in a 1-3 sets of wards is a far more effective tool in winning your teams favor/support and winning the game in general as opposed to mulling in spite how much your team sucks as you stare at your dark mini-map.
Often, a support will be shamed into buying wards because the carry is buying them for him. Sometimes theyre just greedy ******s who should probably just play rikimaru all day while farming jungle with smoke.
EITHER WAY, ITS SCARY OUT THERE. BRING SOME WARDS IF YOU MUST BUT DONT BE A WARD *****. HAVING A WARD WILL ALWAYS BE WORTH MORE THAN A SPITEFUL 150G SITTING IN YOUR BANK AS YOU AND YOUR TEAM GETS PICKED OFF.
Going against the Mid Lane
FACING AGAINST MELEE
IN MID, JUST USE YOUR ABSURD AUTO ATTACK DAMAGE TO DENY EVERYTHING AND EARN ALL THE GOLD. IF THEY ARE A FOOL AND TRY TO CS WHILE IGNORING YOU, SMACK THEIR **** AND THEYLL STOP CSING SO CLOSE TO YOU.
IT'S USALLY WORTH GETTING A COUPLE SMACKS IN WHILE THEY CS AND LOSING A CS YOURSELF, AS TWO HITS DEALS MASSIVE DAMAGE TO MOST MID HEROES AND COULD QUITE POSSIBLY PUT THEM IN RANGE FOR A FUTURE LVL2-3 KILL.
FACING AGAINST PUSSI-I MEAN RANGED
FOCUS ON CS. JUST DENY AND LAST HIT WHENEVER POSSIBLE AND DONT EVEN CONSIDER GETTING AN EARLY POINT OF E FOR ARMOR TO COUNTER THEIR HARRASS.
ACTUALLY JUST NEVER GET EARLY POINTS IN E AT ALL FOR ARMOR EVEN THOUGH YOU START WITH 0 ARMOR. (It may seem logical, as 0 armor really hurts on each auto atk, but giving up the ~80 dmg from each level in ava or toss isnt worth one point of armor. It is extremely rare anyone will proc craggy exterior's stun at low level as well.
YOUR AUTO ATTACK DMG IS ENOUGH TO FRUSTRATE THE OPPOSING PLAYER INTO SWITCHING FROM FARM FOCUS TO HARRASS, AND THATS WHERE THEIR MISTAKES SHINE.
THEY WILL USUALLY STAND DIAGONAL TO CREEPS AND WONT OFTEN HUG CREEP LINES BECAUSE OF YOUR LVL1 COMBO (SEE BELOW). THIS IS GREAT CAUSE A PRO WOULD STAND THE MAX DISTANCE (A STRAIGHT LINE) AWAY FROM YOU, HARRASSING WHEN YOU CS WHEREAS MOST PLAYERS WHO BECOME PLAGUED WITH EMOTION WILL SHOW IT ONCE THEY START TO NOTICE JUST HOW MANY LAST HITS YOURE GETTING IN. THEY WILL TRY TO HARRASS YOU OUT OF LANE SO THEY CAN FARM FREELY, BUT PLAY IT PATIENT AND LET YOUR CREEPS HIT THEM AS THEY HARRASS WHILE TAKING MINIMAL DMG. WHEN THEY COME JUST A LITTLE TOO CLOSE TO HARRASS, GIVE THEM THE D STARTING WITH MOST LIKELY A MID RANGED AVALANCHE, AUTO ATTACK IF YOU HAVE TIME AND THEN TOSS. ANOTHER AUTO SHOULD HAVE COMPLETED A LITTLE AFTER THEY LAND FROM TOSS, SO TRY NOT TO MOVE TOO QUICKLY AFTER A TOSS OR YOU RISK LOSING AN AUTO ATTACK. (this just comes with experience and you will "feel" when you can move without sacrificing an atk) IF YOU CAN GET TWO AUTO ATTACKS IN, YOUVE JUST DEALT AS MUCH DMG AS A LVL 2 TOSS.
OR, STUN THEM WITH AVALANCHE AND TOSS THEM BACK INTO YOUR CREEPS; INTO YOUR TOWER IF THE DISTANCE/CREEPS ALLOW FOR IT OF COURSE. A RANGED MID LANE HERO WILL INSTANTLY RUN LIKE A ***** IF THEY GET TOSSED INTO YOUR CREEP WAVE, WHERE YOU CAN AUTO HIM FOR A FINISH AND CHASE INTO TOWER FOR A 2ND TOSS TO KILL IF REQUIRED (I do not suggest diving into a T1 tower as tiny, many times diving a tower wont score a kill as they will hide into fog. A better strategy is to let them come a bit forward or wait for cooldowns. You can wait for your creeps to arrive and toss one of those instead for a kill rather than risking death in mid lane.
When an opposing mid hero is low, they often try to squeeze out what they can from their lane before returning to base head hung in shame, so relieve them of that walk and try to get a nice kill in as they try to get that last bit of exp from lane. OR, they courier some items over, which often makes them think they can play a bit more risky by getting a few cs. Punish them with toss and an avalanche if theyre a fool.
Rune control in both melee and ranged shouldn't be too difficult so long as they do not have a direct removal or blink spell such as astral imprisonment. The fear of an ava/toss combo should be enough to scare away opposing rune controllers and should it be required an avalanche should secure you the rune. Against someone like a QoP you must simply be at the rune before it spawns.
*TINY MID VS RANGED IS A GAME OF PATIENCE. WHOEVER SLIPS UP FIRST GETS THE KILL, AND BECAUSE YOU DEAL SO MUCH DMG AT ONCE; IF YOU CAN GET A GOOD POSITION, THE KILL SHOULD BE YOURS.
*BE CONSERVATIVE OF MANA! BUT DO NOT SAVE IT! IT IS BETTER TO HAVE 120 MANA WITH THE OPPONENT AT 60% HEALTH THAN TO BE AT 240 MANA AND THE OPPONENT AT 100%. (OF COURSE AN INCOMING GANK WOULD CHANGE THINGS)
*A GOOD LVL 1 COMBO IS TO STUN THEM WITH YOUR CREEPS IN FAVOR, GET A CS WITH THE AOE, SMACK THEM, WALK A LITTLE FORWARD AND SMACK THAT ***** AGAIN.
USUALLY A COMBO AT LVL 2 ISNT WORTH IT UNLESS YOU HAVE AN ALLY OR YOU KNOW A KILL IS POSSIBLE (TOSS THEM TO YOUR TOWER).
TRY TO USE A LVL1 COMBO AROUND 15-30 SECONDS BEFORE A RUNE SPAWNS TO HELP PUSH WAVES. RUNES ARE THE SEXIEST THING A TINY CAN HAVE BESIDES SB.
*IF YOU GET ILLUSION, DONT JUST USE IT AND CS IN LANE UNLESS YOUR GOAL IS TO PUSH FOR NEXT RUNE. USE AN ILLUSION AND SEND IT TO LANE WITH ******ED QUEUE'D COMMANDS SO THE OTHER MIDLANER DOESNT CALL MISSING OR CALLS RE. THEN YOU GANK. I HAVE FOUND AN ILLUSION CAN BE ALMOST AS USEFUL AS AN INVIS RUNE WHEN USED PROPERLY, AND THE ILLUSION ALSO PROVIDES FOR A GOOD SCOUT.
*DO BE CAREFUL WHEN USING ILLUSIONS DURING GANKS, HOWEVER. THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN TOSSING YOUR IMAGE AND TOSSING THE OPPONENT IS AT LEAST 400 MAGIC DAMAGE DEPENDING ON GROW AND AVA/TOSS TIMING. YOUD RATHER LEAVE YOUR ILLUSION AS A WARD IF YOU THINK YOU CANT MICRO THE ILLUSION AWAY DURING BATTLES.
ALTERNATIVELY, YOU CAN SAVE ILLUSION FOR WHEN A LOW HP HERO FLEES, POP ILLUSION AND TOSS AN ILLUSION TO THEM.
*LIKEWISE, TOSSING A CREEP VS TOSSING A HERO CAN MEAN THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN A KILL AND 1/1000 HP, SO TRY NOT TO RELY ON LUCK WHEN USING TOSS.
*OF COURSE, YOU SHOULD BE GETTING THE RUNES AND BUYING A BOTTLE ASAP. BOOTS EARLY IS PREFERENCE; I LIKE RUSHING SB BUT OBVIOUSLY NEVER BEFORE BOTTLE.
LVL3-4 IS WHERE YOU SHOULD GAIN LANE CONTROL. WITH A LVL2 AVALANCHE AND TOSS COMBINED WITH SOME PREVIOUS HARRASS, DAT ***** DED (UNLESS ITS BEASTMASTER BUT DAT NIGGA JUST TANKY HE CANT DO **** AGAINST A GOOD TINY. SOMETIMES YOU DONT EVEN NEED EARLY HARRASS IF ITS SOME FLUFFY WUFFY BUBBA WUBBA LIKE INVOKER AND YOU CAN STRAIGHT COMBO AT USUALLY LVL 4 AND UP FOR A KILL, THOUGH WITH AUTO ATK LVL3 IS POSSIBLE).
OTHERWISE YOU CAN JUST DO THE LVL1 COMBO AT LVL3 TO THE SAME EFFECT. IF YOURE A MAN AMONGST MEN, YOU MAX TOSS FIRST AND TOSS THEM BACK INTO YOUR TOWER AND THEN AVALANCHE THEM.
IF YOU SHOULD SOMEHOW DIE TO THE ENEMY, LOSE A SIGNIFICANT AMOUNT OF RUNE CONTROL OR LANE CONTROL, REALLY THE ONLY THING YOU CAN DO IS PLAY LIKE A LITTLE ***** AND KEEP PULLING CREEPS NEAR YOUR TOWER UNTIL YOU CAN GET ENOUGH CS OR GRAB A GOOD RUNE/KNOW WARDS ARE DOWN. YOU PRIORITIZE CS ALWAYS AND PLAY DEFENSIVELY, WAITING FOR THE OPPONENT TO OUTPLAY THEMSELVES. THE BEST WAY TO COMEBACK IS WHEN YOURE LVL 5-7 AND THEY GET COCKY IN THEIR HARRASS. THEY JUST WONT EXPECT A 650 DMG COMBO AT LVL 5 ALONG WITH AUTO ATTACK DAMAGE WHEN THEYRE IN A LEAD (LEST THEYRE JUST DAMN GOOD) (avalanche lvl3 260x2, toss lvl2 150; realistically you lose about a tick or two of double dmg on avalanche when using your ava/toss.
Where you'll shine - Mid Game
YOU ONLY GET STRONGER FROM HERE UNLESS YOURE TRASH AND **** IT UP (SEE: GUIDE CREATOR)
LVL 5 IS WHEN YOU HAVE THE OPTION TO GO GANKING. POSSIBLE AT LVL 4 BUT YOUR CHANCES ARE BETTER AT 5+ UNLESS YOU SECURE A NICE RUNE
LVL 6 YOU GOT SB? WELL THEN, (i mean... you COULD have.....) STAY AND FARM UNLESS YOU HAVE A NICE GANK RUNE. YOUR AUTO JUST WENT FROM AMAZING TO GODLIKE SO ABUSE IT WHENEVER POSSIBLE BUT DONT TAKE TOO MUCH HARRAS IN EXCHANGE (DONT BE A FOOL)
LVL7-8 IS WHEN YOU REALLY, REALLY NEED YOUR SB. FROM HERE IS WHEN THE GAME IS DECIDED. MOST OF THE TIME SPENT HERE IS FARMING FOR SB. PERHAPS GANKING WITH GOOD RUNES BUT YOU WANT YOUR SB ASAP.
LVL9+ GANK! YOU JUST GOT SB **** EM UP. CARRY TP AND ALWAYS BRING DUST IF THEY HAVE ***** *** INVIS HEROES (LOL SHADOWBLADE) YOUR GOAL HERE IS TO GAIN MAP CONTROL AND FARM FARM FARM UNTIL YOU CAN GET BOOTS OF TRAVEL.
LVL~10-16 DEPENDING ON WHAT BUILD/HOW WELL YOURE DOING, YOU SHOULD HAVE BOOTS OF TRAVEL. NOW IS WHEN YOU STRIKE FEAR INTO THEIR HEARTS. SEE SOMEONE FARMING AN OPEN LANE THAT ISNT SOME BEEFY *** USELESS HEDGEHOG? (BRISTLE******) TP TO YOUR INCOMING CREEPS, SOUL RING/SB AND COMBO THAT **** WITH HIS FAKE SENSE OF SECURITY. THEN FARM THE LANE YOU CLEARLY DESERVE WHILE HE WATCHES IN SPITE AS HIS DEATH TIMER TICKS DOWN. TAKE HIS TOWER FOR ADDITIONAL **** YOU.
LVL~11-18 SOMEWHERE AROUND THESE LEVELS YOU WILL GET YOU AGHS. IN GENERAL GETTING YOUR AGH+CORE BEFORE THE 30 MINUTE MARK IS A DECENT PACE, BUT I ALWAYS GO FOR SUB-20 (YES, IT IS DEFINITELY POSSIBLE)
After Agh
After you get your agh, you become an excellent tower pusher where you were just decent before. Mainly you'd want to shut down their carry again if they happened to find some gold and levels around the map. You can start pushing now, but I find losing a battle here to be too costly so i usually gank a little more with my agh and take a few outer towers to buy hyperstone before I transition into a team push. Solo push is fine so long as your map sense is good since you have BoTs and SB.
QUICK BREAKDOWN OF HOW TO WIN GAMES
FARM FARM MURDER FARM MURDER FARM FARM GANK FARM GANK GANK FARM GANK PUSH FARM GANK PUSH PUSH GANK FARM GANK PUSH GANK PUSH FARM PUSH PUSH GANK ROSH PUSH FOUNTAIN CAMP FARM FARM FARM FARM FARM FARM GANK FARM FOUNTAIN CAMP TEAMKILL TOSS WIN
Essentially, you gank as much as possible while farming lanes during your downtime/jungle if nothing is really available. You really need to cut the map in half with your map control and truly make them afraid to farm an open lane. If they begin to 5 man dota, you are doing your job and you should split push until they threaten tier 2's, which usually by the time they fall you've gotten an aghs to carry your team back to victory
SHOULD YOU MANAGE TO USE YOUR SB EFFECTIVELY TO SHUT DOWN THEIR TEAM, THE VICTORY IS YOURS.
HOW? USE SOUL RING, USE SB, GET INTO A NICE POSITION (THIS COMES WITH EXPERIENCE, IT IS HARD TO POINT IT OUT), SMACK THEM, AVALANCHE/TOSS (I FIND AVALANCHE FIRST MORE EFFECTIVE WITH MORE DAMAGE OUTPUT, THOUGH TOSS FIRST GIVES A BIT LONGER STUN DURATION)
AND MAKE SURE YOU SMACK THEM ONCE MORE AS THEY LAND ON TOSS FOR GOOD MEASURE TWO AUTO ATTACKS DURING YOUR COMBO IS NOT UNCOMMON (INCLUDING SB).
ONE TRICK TO NOTE LATEGAME IS THAT IF YOU THINK THEY HAVE STRONG MAGIC RESISTANCE OR ARE JUST TOO TANKY TO STRAIGHT COMBO KILL, OPEN WITH AN AUTO ATTACK OR TWO UNTIL THEY REALIZE THEYRE ****ED. THEN AVALANCHE AND GET ANOTHER TWO AUTO ATTACKS IN. POSITION YOURSELF FOR A WELL PLACED TOSS AND YOU CAN GET ANOTHER TWO AUTO ATTACKS IN. (YOULL USUALLY ONLY GET ONE AUTO EACH TIME IF YOU DONT HAVE A HYPERSTONE)
COMMON MISTAKES:
-****TING ON A COUPLE HEROES CAUSE LOL Y NOT (WORSE IF THEY ARE ****TY SUPPORTS LIKE CM)
-LETTING THE CARRY ELUDE ME AND ENDING UP FARMING A STORM IN THE JUNGLE
-SNOWBALLING LIKE A KING THEN GOING INTO TUNNEL VISION GANK MODE, FAILING A FEW TIMES AND ENDING UP LOSING THE LEAD BY ROAMING USELESSLY WITHOUT FARMING
-GIVING THE 1300 BOUNTY FROM BEYOND GODLIKE STREAK TO THEIR CARRY
-DYING SOLO TO THEIR CARRY AND HYPER-LEVELING THEM
-PLAYING SOLO MID-LATE GAME BECAUSE IT WORKED SO WELL EARLY-MID, THEN FEEDING BY UNDERESTIMATING ENEMY NUMBERS AND REACTION TPS
-GANKING, THEN DYING WHEN CLOSE TO YOUR NEXT BIG ITEM (ESPECIALLY SB OR AGH)
-FEEDING RAPIER LOL
BUYING THE WRONG ITEM! (happens more often than you think on late game tiny)
Items
Basically when choosing items, just try to have things that synergize with your other items and counter the opponent without sacrificing too much auto dmg.
-not deso, as it doesnt work with cleave.
-not bfury, the cleave is much smaller compared to your agh cleave though it does stack.
-not eth blade, you need to auto attack after your combo as even with a large str pool and a full eth blade ava/toss wombo combo, it is doubtful they will die in the late game because you just cant get your massive auto attack dmg in.
-not shiva, as an ac is superior in dealing aoe dmg even with the shiva active and the AS aura isnt too important, as craggy exterior will protect you quite well against most auto attack dmg.
-not linkens, the stat increase and regen is negligible and a BKB offers far more for tiny for less cost than a linkens.
Note - Though I did add daedalus, abyssal, bfly and satanic to the build, it is many times not worth getting unless for a certain purpose (i.e. abyssal to stop enemy blink)
Especially with dadalus, be careful when you buy this item. Though you will crit like a god and many times even out-crit a PA, with such a slow attack speed a daedalus does not inrease your DMG as much as you may think. I hardly ever get daedalus as it just doesn't cover Tiny's weak points and buffs him up the same way a super saiyan would buff himself with ascended form - that is they gain so much strength but lack the speed to really dish out the damage they need to. Fatigue isn't a factor here, but DMG potential certainly is, and daedalus usually isn't your best bet unless its your 5th/6th item.
If you'd like daedalus, a hyperstone is a must and even then you'd still attack fairly slow for someone with crit chance.
The only time I ever get daedalus is in a situation where I've already won or am winning drastically. (Build 5)
Also the build-up to daedalus is god awful on tiny as is Bfly.
Abyssal and satanic is far more forgiving in its buildup, but once again those strictly increase your DMG and not your AS so get them mainly for its utility.
DONT UNDERESTIMATE YOUR AUTO ATTACK! EACH AUTO ATTACK DEALS ENOUGH DAMAGE TO BE CONSIDERED A SPELL.
DONT EVER UNDERESTIMATE SCYTHE OF VYSE ON TINY. HEX REMOVES EVASION AND REMOVES THEIR TRUE SIGHT FROM GEM, SO HEX THEIR GEM CARRIER THEN SB AWAY. DO NOT GET HEX BEFORE AT LEAST A HYPERSTONE HOWEVER. YOU ARENT SOME ***** *** SUPPORT AND YOUR AUTO ATTACKS WILL BE ATROCIOUS WITH AN EARLY SCYTHE.
Dont get something like a scythe, halberd, satanic, manta, and bfly and then complain the build is garbage because all those items were in the suggested items. Getting those items would give you quite some utility, but you would deal an embarrassing amount of damage and if their carry is even somewhat skilled and equal in farm he will destroy you if you get something like that. Every item after bots, SB, and aghs is reactionary and should be based on mainly the enemy and your team composition/item choices with AS and STR in mind.
Do note that Tiny is a special case in that he really does benefit quite well from nearly all end game items (yes, even a refresher has its merit on tiny) and all of them can viably be argued for, but some are just clearly superior.
Get halberd if they have void, mkb if they have PA, sheep if they have AM, etc.
PLEASE NOTE - FOR EVERY BUILD YOU MAY SWITCH OUT THE CIRCULET FOR 2 BRANCHES AS THIS IS MORE ECONOMICAL. HOWEVER, I FOUND THAT I WOULD RID MYSELF OF A BRANCH QUITE QUICKLY FOR INVENTORY SPACE. MAIN REASON I GET CIRCULET HOWEVER IS IN CASE MY TEAM IS DUMB AS **** AND DOESNT HAVE A DRUMS. I NEVER GET WAND ON TINY AS I FIND IT A WASTE OF SPACE(yes I love wand and it provides amazing juke opportunies for its cost but between having to carry a soul ring, bottle, tp scroll and sometimes a dust inventory space becomes extremely valuable. A defensive wand may save your life, but a well played offensive soul ring can quickly turn the tides in your favor for a kill.)
AC - Though i did not list as a core, it is almost always the best bet after agh as Tiny lacks a severe amount of armor even with craggy exterior, sitting at a measely 0 armor at LVL 1. The next thing Tiny lacks in severity is AS, which AC helps alleviate mostly. Get the plate first if you find their carry is able to destroy you through your craggy exterior. Usually a hyperstone will be a better choice as offense is the best defense. (yes, I use that phrase improperly as an excuse to buy fun items, but in truth having a hyperstone to cleave away at their team is usually better than soaking a bit more physical DMG for your team as a Tiny)
BKB - I get BKB less often than expected, because between being a massive solo-nuker and having extreme mobility/invis, many times disables are not the bane of your existence. (most threats to you will pierce BKB anyway)
The times I get BKB are when they simply have massive chain stuns. High dmg nukes can be a problem but are usually not worth getting a bkb over as you dont 5v5 fight until mid/lategame.
Best BKB timing is when you are about to transition into group fights, where you wont be solo-killing and ganking so much around the map but rather pushing towers and defending when appropriate with your BoTs.
Try not to get BKB before a hyperstone, but the situation may arise.
Dota is a game of reactions, so react accordingly when you play.
Dota is also a game of minimal surface area. Take that as a metaphor; everytime you build your hero you want your hero to be a circle. This is impossible though, since our end points for our shape will consist of 4 things: DMG, AS, Armor/magic res, and Health.
So be a square.
Because armor/res and health are a bit more difficult to calculate, a good rule to follow is:
1000 HP for 10 armor
(PLEASE CORRECT MY NUMBERS IF WRONG, THIS NUMBER IS FROM MY MEMORY BACK IN THE DOTA 1 DAYS)
With DMG and AS it can be a bit tricky but the numbers are straight forward.
100 DMG for 80 AS (ONCE AGAIN PLEASE CORRECT MY FIGURES IF WRONG; I REMEMBER THIS FROM DOTA 1)
The tricky part is taking into account on hit effects and other abilities which increase your damage or AS such as tiny's cleave. Tiny clearly benefits more by getting AS items as he already has an abysmal AS and extraordinary DMG, as well the fact that cleaving twice is infinitely worth more than dealing a bit more dmg with just one cleave (unless its a crit, which is why it can get tricky).
Try not to bother calculating IAS, and just think of IAS as being more effective when you have lower AS. Getting IAS (AGI items) is not too effective on Tiny so we get AS. Bfly can work lategame, but I have found it to be lacking its weight in gold compared to other items and usually only for hero's that have forgone MKB already or bought a big item recently. Many times a halberd will function just as well if not better than a Bfly at nearly half its cost (Halberd 3850 Bfly 6k)
If you have a certain number of units to make the shape with the largest surface area, it will form a square (100 DMG 80 AS) and not a rectangle (200 DMG 40 AS. The same will apply to DMG potential in dota.
8x2 = 16
5x5 = 25
Extras
DO remember to **** on all hero's equally, however. A single carry left alone can have the potential to do unto you what you planned unto them; **** on your team whilst you try to solo kill and taking your towers.
Don't underestimate 5 man dota. As much as some people despise this tactic and find it a newbie deathball, the push power 5 heroes gives along with a bit of team organization is not something to be trifled with. If you have a good lead and they threaten your T2, make the decision to split push or defend. Many times a well timed split push can net you a tower faster than 5 opposing heros can destroy one (so long as you have some sort of formidable defense)
Forcing a tp back is ideal, as each tp you force is 135g. But you have BoTs, don't you? So TP's are free! Go demolish those fools for trying to defend and tp into your defending lane, effective making it a 4v5 situation in your favor due to the forced tp (unless you lost a few teammates during a fight). Many times the opponent is in no situation to fight as the tides quickly turn into a 3v5 after a proper wombo combo from a SB Tiny.
Y DIS BUILD GUD? PROS GET BLINK!!@!@!~1`1
WELL FORGIVE ME IF IM RUDE SINCE THIS IS MY 700TH TIME EXPLAINING IT NOW BUT WITH SB ACTIVATED, BOTS, LVL 3 ULT YOU HAVE ~10 MS WASTED IN INVIS FORM, MEANING ~530 MS WHICH OF COURSE CAPS AT 522. EVEN WITHOUT LVL3 GROW YOU MOVE EXTREMELY FAST, MOST OF THE TIME ABLE TO STRAIGHT OUT RUN AWAY FROM ENEMIES WITH MINIMAL JUKING EFFORT. EVEN WHEN THEY USE DUST ITS DIFFICULT TO CATCH SUCH A TANKY HERO MOVING AT MAX MOVESPEED WHO HAS AN AOE 2 SECOND STUN AND TOSS AND STUNS 25% OF THE TIME TO CLOSE RANGED AUTO.
YOU ARE SLOW AS **** WITH ARCANE/BLINK AND ARE REALLY RELIANT ON ONE COMBO, AFTER WHICH YOU WAIT YOUR COOLDOWNS OUT AS YOUR AUTO ATK IS GOOD, BUT NOT SUPERB.
I DESPISE BLINK ON TINY BECAUSE TINY IS ALREADY DESPERATELY MANA HUNGRY, AND HOLDING A BLINK BRINGS ON THE URGE TO HASTEN YOUR TRAVEL WITH IT. YES, THE MANA COST IS THE SAME AS SB AND A SOUL RING/ARCANCE WOULD FIX YOUR MANA PROBLEMS, BUT:
Blink doesn't give stats. Many times a Tiny in a high level of play with an organized team will not be in the main carry role and instead BE put into a semi-carry gank role. Though you do not farm the safe lane you do still become the main carry as often times heroes like AM can be dealt with EVEN when equally farmed due to craggy exterior (1% buff OP) His illusions melt to ava/toss combo and your cleave is an effective anti push. Catching AM can be tricky but even if you dont kill with ava/toss there are times when your movespeed alone is enough to catch an AM with LVL 4 blink. The most important thing to check is his magic resistance. Knowing how many points he has into spellshield can help you determine whether he can blink away quickly or tank a bit of dmg.
I love the positioning and the mobility, but the most frustrating thing with Tiny is unleashing your combo only to realize your target isn't dead (next to accidentally canceling an auto attack that would get you a kill). Wasting mana on a strength based mana dependent hero like tiny is a critical mistake, which is obviously why many players buy arcane. But since the scope of the guide is in pub games, the potential that shadow blade brings to the table is far greater than blink because of the disorganization of enemy invis detection and chain disables as well as the lack of a direct Tiny support (wisp).
Blink gives the split second edge to get the jump on heros and demolish them, and in a professional match this will matter. But in pub games, you simply wont have something like a wisp or kotl to keep your mana topped off for ganks and the blink become less valuable as solo kills happen far more often.
A blink is a more team oriented item on tiny.
Shadowblade gives attack damage and most importantly, 30 AS. Just that it gives stats makes it better than blink, but it does cost 850 more so I wont stop here.
Shadow blade simply gives you the extra oomph you need to finish off a semi-tanky carry or an evasive one. A solo blink combo onto an AM simply wont kill at level 8 unless hes one greedy **********er and didnt get spellshield.
A solo SB combo will kill so long as you properly toss AM and not a creep, and killing an AM just once can mean the difference between a 14 minute battlefury and an 18 minute one.
The movespeed is usually overlooked, but it means invis detection has a "weaker" effect on you. Sentry wards are the best way to counter Tiny, but even with them I have many times run in and combo'd them anyway (with SB auto attack as well) with reactions not nearly being quick enough to thwart a 522 MS hero (even if they have a disable, unless its instant like SS the turn animation usually doesnt allow for them to cast their spells in time, UNLESS they expect you.)
The point is pub players hardly ever buy sentry wards to invis detect while pushing or defending and mainly set them for counter warding. Dust is largely ineffective when you have 522 movespeed and can combo anyone who strays too far from their team (a samurai will run from a opposing group, facing each opponent one by one dealing with the swiftest first and turning tail before the rest can catch up in time)
And of course, smacking them for ~250 damage as your opening blow cuts quite some moral from their resolve, often scaring them and giving you more time to do what you will with their fear-ridden corpses.
If you must buy blink, I have added the build here in case you really wanted a tiny guide that included blink; but unless you're in a professional team, when played correctly SB should outweigh the benefits of a blink dagger.
TL;DR (wait wat just look at the build order dont scroll down)
**** EM UP SO MUCH THEY DONT EVEN WANNA PLAY ANYMORE. DONT BE HASTY AND IMPRUDENT, BUT IF THEY ARE IN LANE FARMING ALONE MIDGAME YOU BETTER MAKE THEM FEEL LIKE YOU'RE THE KING AND THEY HAVENT PAID THEIR RICING TAX. THOSE *****ES.
BE AS RIGID AS STONE. SHOW NO EMOTION. DON'T SHOW YOUR LUST FOR THEIR STILL CORPSE UNTIL YOURE READY TO GO IN. DONT SHOW YOUR FEAR WHEN THE ENEMY KILLS YOU AND YOU RETURN TO LANE.
Emotion is fine so long as your playstyle does not show it. The less information they can gather from you, the more they have to guess and risk mistakes.
You COULD play aggressive and try to outplay them after you've immediately died, but almost always they will play a defensive fluid style that will **** on your rock like lightning through stone.
You WILL miss avalanche if you show that you are nervous and you wont combo properly if you show you aren't confident in your skill. I'm not saying to just "stop being nervous you *****", but rather to never show that you are.
You can be the most fear-riddled little **** feeding 0/5/0 in the game and still give off an air of confidence and mystery in your playstyle, and this is important no matter what hero you play.
You want to do to them what you never want done to you:
NO ONE FARMS OPENLY WITHOUT FEAR. THEY SHOULD JUMP WHEN A CRITTER MOVES ON THEIR SCREEN. THEY SHOULD BE SO ANXIOUS THEY SCREAM WHEN THEIR OWN ALLY APPEARS. THEY SHOULD BE AFRAID OF THE STONE THAT LAY IN THEIR BATHROOM.
AND WHEN THEY THINK THE ONLY SAFE PLACE TO FARM IS THEIR HARD CAMP, DESTROY THEIR HOPES AND DREAMS AND KILL THEM THERE.
AS A THANK YOU FOR READING THROUGH OR SCROLLING DOWN QUICKLY, HERE ARE A FEW LESSER KNOWN TIPS.
Toss can end juggernauts bladefury (spin) early, as it is considered a channeling spell and toss interrupts those pesky channelers.
The same applies to omnislash should you be able to toss the right hero. I have done this before and it is quite difficult.
In fact, toss will interrupt any channeling spell, and *IN THEORY you can throw a
Huskar during Lifebreak (before lifebreak damage hits)
Magnus/Spirit Breaker during Charge,
Timbersaw during Timberchain,
Pheonix during Icarus Dive,
Earth Spirit during Katamari Damacy,
Potm/Slark during Leap,
Ember during Slight of Fist,
Storm Spirit during Ball Lightning,
Rubick's Telekinesis.
*HOWEVER, I can only confirm that you can directly interrupt bladefury/omnislash, lifebreak, timberchain, icarus dive, leap, and telekinesis (ally+enemy)
Magic immune targets can be tossed so long as the target you toss them to isn't magic immune, which is why you can interrupt blade fury.
Craggy exterior works on all auto attacks within 300 range of tiny, even ranged hero's.
If a hero tries to go invis during your toss animation, often times the toss dmg will still hit them. The way toss works is if they blink or go invis, the unit lands where the target unit was last spotted. So often going invis wont save them if you've already gotten most of your combo in save for toss. A well placed cleave onto creeps can also give you the last bit of DMG for the kill if needed.
If you're a complete boss with gold streaming out your crevices, after you toss them knowing they'll die, just walk away.
Badasses don't look at explosions unless you're the biggest badass of them all: Bric-- I mean Django.
(Be careful doing this. It can be effective when fighting in teamfights but I have made the fatal error of not getting the one auto attack I needed to finish off a support during a fight, who procedes to stun me and run)
(Also, DON'T EVER DO THIS TO A VOID UNLESS YOU KNOW YOU ARE RNGESUS. I've lost kills walking away from a combo'd void instead of staying to auto attack because he managed to backtrack toss. He will swiftly void walk his *** out of there and leave you staring at the screen like a fool)
Thank you for the read and please give me any suggestions/corrections you may have OTHER THAN "GET BLINK YOU ****ING NOOB". Well, I'm pretty used to that already.
This guide has been much more fun to create than expected!
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