Dota 2 patch 7.29c: Why is the Manta Style game-breaking on Axe

Axe is a melee-strength hero in Dota 2 infamous for creating chaos in battle and thriving off of it. Axe is commonly played as an initiator, as his highly-reliable, spell-immunity piercing disable can disrupt the enemy's formation and give his team a tiny window to completely turn the tide in teamfights.

Many fans will surely recall OG's Ceb completely turning the entire momentum of Game 5 against PSG.LGD in Grand Finals of TI8 with a single Beserker's Call.

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How Axe usually works

Axe's fighting style demands that he get up close and in the enemy's face, as he can taunt enemies into attacking him with Berserker's Call, dealing huge damage with his Counter Helix, and finish off with his ultimate, Culling Blade, which is the only instant death dealing spell in Dota 2. It is also the only ability in the entire game that counters Dazzle's Shallow Grave, one of the best saves in Dota 2.

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How is Niklas "Wagamama" Högström's Axe build so broken in Dota 2

The old Axe build

The classic Axe build (Image via GOSU.AI)

The classic Axe build involves Blade Mail to return damage dealt to Axe under the effect of Berserker's Call, which taunts enemies near Axe, forcing them to attack him while he gains bonus armor for the duration.

A Blink Dagger is needed to jump the enemy and take them by surprise, and an early Vanguard and Phase boots for the extra armor and survivability.

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The Wagamama Axe build

The Wagamama Axe build (Image via Valve - Dota 2)

This build skips Blade Mail and goes for Aghanim's Shard instead. Aghanim's Shard causes Axe's right-click attacks to proc Counter Helix.

Attack procs ignore Counter Helix cooldown, increase attack speed by 35 and proc chance by 10%. This build is optimized by increasing Attack Speed. Manta Style helps, as after the call, Manta Style is activated to bring forth 2 illusions which also have the effect of Aghanim's Shard, resulting in more Counter Helix procs.

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This new Axe build was first shown on stream, and on YouTube by Niklas "Wagamama" Högström. The old Axe build remained unchanged for almost a decade, and the reputation of Axe as an off-laner in the higher brackets of Dota 2 was slowly fading.

This new build introduced by Wagamama brought in new flavors to the hero, and has been implemented a lot in Professional as well as higher bracket Dota 2 games.

Rasmus "MISERY" Filipsen and Ludwig "zai" Wåhlberg were famously seen playing in pub and pro matches using this build.