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[BergeLSU]

Well, that's part of the problem with DotA (not that it's worse than any other MOBA in this regard): there's a lot of heroes with grossly inconsistent viability in pub vs pro, and I feel like things have been getting worse in that regard. Careful play can shut down Slark, but really a sentry ward only locks down an area. This is why dust is so often preferred for everyone else. A Bounty Hunter can realize there's a ward in an area and book it before he's completely iced (remember, so many invis abilities have a speed buff component), even more-so in a pub when not all 5 heroes have stuns. Again, I agree Slark is terrible because his end game carry viability is pretty much non-existent, but the rate at which there is an early game runaway Slark effect in pubs by players of average competence is ridiculous because he's so easy to play. Phantom Lancer is another one of those heroes that has always annoyed me by how strong he is in pubs. I just think the heroes need to be designed a little more mindfully so we don't have all these OP pub, shitty pro heroes.

And yes, Shadow Demon is AMAZING. With amp damage you can lane with almost anyone and get kills.

The game is design with the mindset of "if you don't want this hero to get out of control, counter-pick him."

I play -AR. My last game we randomed 5 hard carries. 4 of us repicked and got no improvement. Our final lineup was Void, Sniper, AM, Pudge, and Riki. We lost to a PL. That is a risk you take playing AR. It's a risk you take playing in 95% of pubs.

I really don't get your complaint. Slark actually isn't an easy hero to play well. He's laughably bad before level 6, and most pubs miss his leap. Yes, he gets a free Heart when he is out of sight, but that doesn't make him OP.

 

[Zeze]

Well, that's part of the problem with DotA (not that it's worse than any other MOBA in this regard): there's a lot of heroes with grossly inconsistent viability in pub vs pro, and I feel like things have been getting worse in that regard. Careful play can shut down Slark, but really a sentry ward only locks down an area. This is why dust is so often preferred for everyone else. A Bounty Hunter can realize there's a ward in an area and book it before he's completely iced (remember, so many invis abilities have a speed buff component), even more-so in a pub when not all 5 heroes have stuns. Again, I agree Slark is terrible because his end game carry viability is pretty much non-existent, but the rate at which there is an early game runaway Slark effect in pubs by players of average competence is ridiculous because he's so easy to play. Phantom Lancer is another one of those heroes that has always annoyed me by how strong he is in pubs. I just think the heroes need to be designed a little more mindfully so we don't have all these OP pub, shitty pro heroes.

And yes, Shadow Demon is AMAZING. With amp damage you can lane with almost anyone and get kills.

Well you gotta step back and look at the whole genre & whole gaming industry.

1. Dota 2 is touted to have the best balance and most viability compared to other MOBAs (namely LoL). Dota 2 has about 50+ heroes that are picked competitively 70-80 can be played out of 100~. That's VERY good That doesn't mean suddenly bottom heroes are trash and unplayable. It's a team game and you can incorporate any pocket picks that end up having surprisingly good result and even be devastating (like Dendi's Pudge). I hear LoL has far less polish and top picks are the same 20-40 heroes. Same goes for HoN.

2. Pro scene vs casuals isn't limited to MOBA. Look at competitive fighting games like Street Fighter 4 or Marvel vs Capcoms. Top tier picks are hardly 30%~ of the roster. All that being considered, Dota 2 is doing a pretty amazing job.

It isn't because developers are bad. It's impossible to create a perfect game because of 8478374384 combinations and different factors. Heroes also have an intricate hard-counter and soft-counter aspects. Overall it really doesn't get better than Icefrog's Dota. It's only better when the same polish is met by Valve's meticulous approach.

 

[GoodRevrnd]

I agree on that about DotA. The reason I'm concerned is because the disparity I brought up has been more common in new heroes/redesigns. I realize this is normal while they figure out what works and what doesn't (and why Valve removes certain heroes from captain's mode), I just have a bit of :hmm: skepticism going on because I don't see the post-introduction/redesign refinements like I used to. That said, this last massive tweak patch was pretty awesome.

 

[Olikan]

I agree on that about DotA. The reason I'm concerned is because the disparity I brought up has been more common in new heroes/redesigns. I realize this is normal while they figure out what works and what doesn't (and why Valve removes certain heroes from captain's mode), I just have a bit of :hmm: skepticism going on because I don't see the post-introduction/redesign refinements like I used to. That said, this last massive tweak patch was pretty awesome.

perfect imbalance it's odd, it's weird and very counter intuitive

btw... it's Icefrog the developer of dota, not valve

 

[Zeze]

perfect imbalance it's odd, it's weird and very counter intuitive

btw... it's Icefrog the developer of dota, not valve

That was a very enjoyable video. Thanks for sharing.

 

[GoodRevrnd]

I really don't buy into the cyclical imbalance theory (I'm not saying they're not actually doing it though). A game like DotA is so vast and complex that I really don't think it's necessary to artificially create it, the meta will progress on it's own for the reasons they already stated in that video.

 

[Chiropteran]

perfect imbalance it's odd, it's weird and very counter intuitive

btw... it's Icefrog the developer of dota, not valve

Interesting video, but I don't completely agree with the premise.

I think a cyclic meta-game can exist perfectly fine even if the game is balanced, I don't think imbalanced elements are absolutely required to make these meta-game cycles occur.

For example, rock, paper, scissors. None of the three choices are imbalanced. Now if you walk into a current meta-game where everyone picks paper, rock might seem under-powered and scissors might seem OP, but as more people start picking scissors the meta-game will adjust and people will start to realize rock isn't totally worthless.

Back to Dota 2 discussion, what *is* the counter for phantom lancer? It seems like he is only countered by a strong team working together, and has no real individual hero counter pick, so if you are playing with a pug group chances of adequately countering a skilled enemy PL is close to zero. Or am I wrong, is there a strong hero choice to counter him?

 

[Exploder87]

Back to Dota 2 discussion, what *is* the counter for phantom lancer? It seems like he is only countered by a strong team working together, and has no real individual hero counter pick, so if you are playing with a pug group chances of adequately countering a skilled enemy PL is close to zero. Or am I wrong, is there a strong hero choice to counter him?

A good counterpick is Earthshaker. His ultimate in 6.78 and onwards, especially if you have the Aghanims upgrade, absolutely shatters his illusions instantly and almost one-hit kills PL. But an Earthshaker still needs support to finish PL off.

I always instantly pick Earthshaker whenever I play against Illusion and Minion-based heroes like Naga, Broodmother, PL and so on. In fact, more illusions equals more damage to the enemy team whenever I blink in with my ultimate. It really turns their advantage into a disadvantage in teamfights.

 

[Destiny]

A good counterpick is Earthshaker. His ultimate in 6.78 and onwards, especially if you have the Aghanims upgrade, absolutely shatters his illusions instantly and almost one-hit kills PL. But an Earthshaker still needs support to finish PL off.

I always instantly pick Earthshaker whenever I play against Illusion and Minion-based heroes like Naga, Broodmother, PL and so on. In fact, more illusions equals more damage to the enemy team whenever I blink in with my ultimate. It really turns their advantage into a disadvantage in teamfights.

Hmmm... that sounds better than my Sven countering illusion heros...:sneaky:

 

[DrunkenSano]

Gyro's flak cannons also hit every single illusion as well and can take them down unless the PL is ridiculously farmed.

 

[Zeze]

Back to Dota 2 discussion, what *is* the counter for phantom lancer? It seems like he is only countered by a strong team working together, and has no real individual hero counter pick, so if you are playing with a pug group chances of adequately countering a skilled enemy PL is close to zero. Or am I wrong, is there a strong hero choice to counter him?

Hm, PL has already seen a very significant decline in pros and pubs even before the latest nerf to him again (Illusions do 20% dmg instead of 25%).

He's only troubling if he's allowed to free farm. Treat him like he's Weaver or AM- deny farm and get dust/sentry early. Grab a partner and gank him. I love playing support against invis heroes because I grab early dust/sentry to utterly shut them down and make sure they never see light of day.

How early? Buy one at level 2-4 and gank. Best 180g you'll ever spend. When mid comes to gank at level 6~, repeat. ALWAYS carry dust/sentries and plant them in key pushes and defenses. This is the best way to shut down PL or any carries- much more than picking counters like ES (who isn't really, until very very late). I say PL's biggest counters are persistent and agile lane harassers: WR, Lion, SD, etc.

My biggest pet peeve in pubs is their inability to deal with Bounty Hunter and Weaver. They are devastating offlaners who will dance circles around you + evade ganks/dusts + no matter how much they're shut down, they'll always make a difference with ridiculous Track gold or pick off supports. This also means me playing BH/Weaver is a super delight as well.

 

[Juddog]

Slowly starting to get better; I'm up to level 9 from playing co-op against bot matches, and finally have some rampages under my belt. This is of course against the AI at "unfair" setting, which still isn't nearly as good as a competent player, but the AI does manage to be pretty good at last hits / denies, so it's been training me for the game basics.

Once I get to about level 20 or so I'll start playing matches against other players, since by then I'll have some build orders in mind. I am so glad that they have a decent AI in place to practice against. I wish Valve / Icefrog would put in an even harder level of AI though and allow some variance in the heroes that the AI chooses; almost every game seems to have the Sniper, Chaos Knight, Skeleton King, and Sand King.

 

[Juddog]

A recent (but rather obvious to most of you) thing I learned is that BKB is essential to almost every hero. I tried getting by without it for a while and just ended up being useless in the big team fights. Now pretty much every game I play I start going for BKB as soon as I'm done with the core items.

 

[Zeze]

A recent (but rather obvious to most of you) thing I learned is that BKB is essential to almost every hero. I tried getting by without it for a while and just ended up being useless in the big team fights. Now pretty much every game I play I start going for BKB as soon as I'm done with the core items.

You are really learning well and FAST! (but long way to go because the game is ridiculous).

Perfect realization about BKB. You nailed it. The biggest noobs' mistake is their ignorance of BKB. Noobs often get 1 big damage item and get another damage item thinking that's good. Then they find themselves failing / stun & disable locked in every fight and blame others.

BKB is CORE on most gankers and carries. It allows them to bully and kill. You can have 5 Rapiers but still won't be killed by a low level Lion who can stun/hex you for an eternal 6 seconds.

Most seasoned players get 1 semicarry or holdover item, then get BKB. Or 1 big item, BKB, then luxury damage item.

Here are cookie cutter CORE builds:

-NS: Bottle, Urn, Phase Boots, BKB, then dmg

-Spirit Breaker: Urn, Treads, BKB (rather than MoM first), then MoM or luxury.

-Riki: Diffusal, BKB, luxury

-Clinkz: Orchid, then BKB (or lineup is not stunheavy, then another dmg item)

-Void: Bfury, BKB, luxury

etc etc.

Of course the builds can change dramatically based on enemy line-up. But BKB is king.

[edit]
By the way, your 'levels' in-game has nothing to do with actual skill. It just goes up linearly whether you win or not, based on the match's duration. At every level-up you can 1 cosmetic item. That's it. It's just an item meter. Valve should really clear that up.

Your true MMR (matchmaking rating or ELO) is hidden. No one knows it. Valve hid it for a reason because making that public creates a very hostile environment as seen in HoN & LoL- "Oh I'm 20 pts higher than you, go support you trash." etc etc.

 

[Juddog]

You are really learning well and FAST! (but long way to go because the game is ridiculous).

Perfect realization about BKB. You nailed it. The biggest noobs' mistake is their ignorance of BKB. Noobs often get 1 big damage item and get another damage item thinking that's good. Then they find themselves failing / stun & disable locked in every fight and blame others.

BKB is CORE on most gankers and carries. It allows them to bully and kill. You can have 5 Rapiers but still won't be killed by a low level Lion who can stun/hex you for an eternal 6 seconds.

Most seasoned players get 1 semicarry or holdover item, then get BKB. Or 1 big item, BKB, then luxury damage item.

Here are cookie cutter CORE builds:

-NS: Bottle, Urn, Phase Boots, BKB, then dmg

-Spirit Breaker: Urn, Treads, BKB (rather than MoM first), then MoM or luxury.

-Riki: Diffusal, BKB, luxury

-Clinkz: Orchid, then BKB (or lineup is not stunheavy, then another dmg item)

-Void: Bfury, BKB, luxury

etc etc.

Of course the builds can change dramatically based on enemy line-up. But BKB is king.

[edit]
By the way, your 'levels' in-game has nothing to do with actual skill. It just goes up linearly whether you win or not, based on the match's duration. At every level-up you can 1 cosmetic item. That's it. It's just an item meter. Valve should really clear that up.

Your true MMR (matchmaking rating or ELO) is hidden. No one knows it. Valve hid it for a reason because making that public creates a very hostile environment as seen in HoN & LoL- "Oh I'm 20 pts higher than you, go support you trash." etc etc.

I only mentioned the level thing as a sign of progress of how much I played and a sign of my noob-ness; I've played other MOBA's to 2000+ games (e.g. Star Battle, a Starcraft2 mod, I was in the mid-1900's ELO).

In regards to core builds, I see a lot of the pre-defined builds out there have "Magic Wand" as part of their build, and lately I've been rushing it on almost every character I play that has to cast a lot. The other thing I've been having fun with is the bottle-on-courier trick when playing mid; it's really great for spamming high-mana cost spells.

I have a huge way to go though, like you said - heck I'm still playing against bots. Until I've played each hero at least twice, and tried different builds with the more popular heroes, I'll continue to do so.

The other thing with items is that I am still getting the hang of hitting the right button combination to use several items in a row; for example BKB, then Orchid on an opposing team member, then dagon, etc.. Because of this, I've been popping BKB right before the battle / gank starts, so it ends up running out slightly early.

Other than that, keeping in mind that I'm still in the ultra-low skill bracket, I have a lot of trouble playing support. It seems that teamwork is so scattered in the lower skill bracket that playing support is close to useless.

 

[Mr. Pedantic]

Hm, PL has already seen a very significant decline in pros and pubs even before the latest nerf to him again (Illusions do 20% dmg instead of 25%).

He's only troubling if he's allowed to free farm. Treat him like he's Weaver or AM- deny farm and get dust/sentry early. Grab a partner and gank him. I love playing support against invis heroes because I grab early dust/sentry to utterly shut them down and make sure they never see light of day.

How early? Buy one at level 2-4 and gank. Best 180g you'll ever spend. When mid comes to gank at level 6~, repeat. ALWAYS carry dust/sentries and plant them in key pushes and defenses. This is the best way to shut down PL or any carries- much more than picking counters like ES (who isn't really, until very very late). I say PL's biggest counters are persistent and agile lane harassers: WR, Lion, SD, etc.

My biggest pet peeve in pubs is their inability to deal with Bounty Hunter and Weaver. They are devastating offlaners who will dance circles around you + evade ganks/dusts + no matter how much they're shut down, they'll always make a difference with ridiculous Track gold or pick off supports. This also means me playing BH/Weaver is a super delight as well.

It's amazing how people constantly try to gank or deny you farm if you're Antimage, but if you're Medusa they just leave you alone. It's like they think Medusa sucks in the late game. She doesn't. She's nearly impossible to kill with the right items and team, she deals out 4 times normal damage with split shot, and her ultimate is amazing in teamfights.

In one game I ended up being able to dive 1v5 simply because I was so tanky - they didn't even have enough chain disable to lock me down enough to burst me.

 

[Peter Nixeus]

I only mentioned the level thing as a sign of progress of how much I played and a sign of my noob-ness; I've played other MOBA's to 2000+ games (e.g. Star Battle, a Starcraft2 mod, I was in the mid-1900's ELO).

In regards to core builds, I see a lot of the pre-defined builds out there have "Magic Wand" as part of their build, and lately I've been rushing it on almost every character I play that has to cast a lot. The other thing I've been having fun with is the bottle-on-courier trick when playing mid; it's really great for spamming high-mana cost spells.

I have a huge way to go though, like you said - heck I'm still playing against bots. Until I've played each hero at least twice, and tried different builds with the more popular heroes, I'll continue to do so.

The other thing with items is that I am still getting the hang of hitting the right button combination to use several items in a row; for example BKB, then Orchid on an opposing team member, then dagon, etc.. Because of this, I've been popping BKB right before the battle / gank starts, so it ends up running out slightly early.

Other than that, keeping in mind that I'm still in the ultra-low skill bracket, I have a lot of trouble playing support. It seems that teamwork is so scattered in the lower skill bracket that playing support is close to useless.

BKB is essential if the other team have one or more stun or disable heros, I usually try to get it as fast as I can after getting boots and bracers...

If you are pretty good in StarCraft, I suggest for you to learn Meepo, Engima or Phantom Lancer = heroes that require good microing skills to be effective.

I suck at microing, max I'll do is Warlock and just micro his golems...

 

[Mr. Pedantic]

I only mentioned the level thing as a sign of progress of how much I played and a sign of my noob-ness; I've played other MOBA's to 2000+ games (e.g. Star Battle, a Starcraft2 mod, I was in the mid-1900's ELO).

In regards to core builds, I see a lot of the pre-defined builds out there have "Magic Wand" as part of their build, and lately I've been rushing it on almost every character I play that has to cast a lot. The other thing I've been having fun with is the bottle-on-courier trick when playing mid; it's really great for spamming high-mana cost spells.

I have a huge way to go though, like you said - heck I'm still playing against bots. Until I've played each hero at least twice, and tried different builds with the more popular heroes, I'll continue to do so.

The other thing with items is that I am still getting the hang of hitting the right button combination to use several items in a row; for example BKB, then Orchid on an opposing team member, then dagon, etc.. Because of this, I've been popping BKB right before the battle / gank starts, so it ends up running out slightly early.

Other than that, keeping in mind that I'm still in the ultra-low skill bracket, I have a lot of trouble playing support. It seems that teamwork is so scattered in the lower skill bracket that playing support is close to useless.

Magic wand is a good build against heroes that spam a lot of spells, such as Zeus, because it means you get a lot put of the item. If you're lining against a Sven or an Earthshaker, who can only cast 2 or 3 spells before being out of mana, it's not as good and you'd probably be better off spending it on salves, tangoes or potions if you think you'll need the extra regen.

 

[Juddog]

Magic wand is a good build against heroes that spam a lot of spells, such as Zeus, because it means you get a lot put of the item. If you're lining against a Sven or an Earthshaker, who can only cast 2 or 3 spells before being out of mana, it's not as good and you'd probably be better off spending it on salves, tangoes or potions if you think you'll need the extra regen.

Good point; I've been buying the Magic wand before heading out (usually have some extra gold from picking random), but now that you mention this, I'm starting to rethink that strategy.

 

[Zeze]

Good point; I've been buying the Magic wand before heading out (usually have some extra gold from picking random), but now that you mention this, I'm starting to rethink that strategy.

Check this.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o9vnZxXMV_k

IIRC, Wand came in #2 or #1. One of the best items- I get it on everyone.

- It's a MUST on Huskar to surprise-heal and extend that low hp berserk mode.

- Must on all 100+ heroes for that surprise heal / nuke which turns the game around. Even 1 or 2 charge changes the outcome.

- It's still good in any team fights even if your specific lane enemies don't have spam skills.

- The mere fact that it combines 3 branches into 1 slot alone is amazing. As you know branch has the most cost efficient stat per gold (19g per stat vs Ultimate Orb is 70g per stat).

- The instant mini +225 hp & 225 mana heal is utterly insane. In late game when I have to sell cheaper items, I still sell more expensive items over it (like Poor Man's Shield.)

 

[Hmongkeysauce]

Check this.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o9vnZxXMV_k

IIRC, Wand came in #2 or #1. One of the best items- I get it on everyone.

- It's a MUST on Huskar to surprise-heal and extend that low hp berserk mode.

- Must on all 100+ heroes for that surprise heal / nuke which turns the game around. Even 1 or 2 charge changes the outcome.

- It's still good in any team fights even if your specific lane enemies don't have spam skills.

- The mere fact that it combines 3 branches into 1 slot alone is amazing. As you know branch has the most cost efficient stat per gold (19g per stat vs Ultimate Orb is 70g per stat).

- The instant mini +225 hp & 225 mana heal is utterly insane. In late game when I have to sell cheaper items, I still sell more expensive items over it (like Poor Man's Shield.)

Speaking of Huskar, the new version is a ridiculous pub stomper.

 

[GoodRevrnd]

- It's still good in any team fights even if your specific lane enemies don't have spam skills.

Ding ding ding. This x100. Your lane pairing really only determines how quickly you should complete it, not if you should get one. I think the only time you should maybe skip it is if you're farm is going so well you can crank out another item that will have a strong impact on the game that much faster, and that's still debatable.

 

[GoodRevrnd]

Yesterday night I wanted to tryout the new Huskar for mindless fun.

Of course I'm matched against Sneyking of Dignitas. FFS, I should just create a smurf account.. :\

That's TWO games of pros when I pick Huskar in last 2 days. wtf.

[edit]
Okay I played a proper Huskar now and carried. I'm not really impressed- actually prefer the older Huskar.

-The no-damage nerf is quite bad for his killing power. The increased attack speed doesn't do much because he has plenty of it and suffers from diminishing return.

-The 98%~ magic immunity is really a gimmick since enemies will still stun/disable/autoattack you to death. He really needs that damage.

-The buffed Flaming Spear is great early/mid indeed & dishes out insane damage. But this makes his late game with lifesteal awkward. With lifesteal, he can't DPS with no damage. His late game is quite bad.

He's still squishy as hell. A very subpar hero.

I agree. Huskar is another pubby hero that pisses me off with his runaway effect, and these changes to him that in reality made him worse, made him stronger against uncoordinated pubs. His carry potential is so much worse than before with the damage nerf, but that full MR makes him so much more difficult for pubbies to handle.

My last game against him I was Lina and we had a very stun-heavy magic team with very poor physical damage output. That said, he would jump on me first almost every time, and I would see the leap initiate before he ever touched me so all I had to do was stun my feet and I could get away while the rest of my team locked him down. He died a lot but was still very tanky with minimal items until our Tide and one other semi-physical hero I can't remember got more items.

These are the types of changes I'm referring to where they go the wrong direction with heroes and their balance.

 

[Mr. Pedantic]

Check this.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o9vnZxXMV_k

IIRC, Wand came in #2 or #1. One of the best items- I get it on everyone.

- It's a MUST on Huskar to surprise-heal and extend that low hp berserk mode.

- Must on all 100+ heroes for that surprise heal / nuke which turns the game around. Even 1 or 2 charge changes the outcome.

- It's still good in any team fights even if your specific lane enemies don't have spam skills.

- The mere fact that it combines 3 branches into 1 slot alone is amazing. As you know branch has the most cost efficient stat per gold (19g per stat vs Ultimate Orb is 70g per stat).

- The instant mini +225 hp & 225 mana heal is utterly insane. In late game when I have to sell cheaper items, I still sell more expensive items over it (like Poor Man's Shield.)

Well, first of all: the stats. 18g per stat is amazing, but when combined into a magic wand, going for the stats alone suddenly makes it 57g per stat, which makes it worse than pretty much every other basic stats item less than 1000 gold.

With the heal, I stand by what I said. 15 spells is a lot, especially against heroes that have spells they only cast once or twice during a teamfight - Earthshaker, Tidehunter, Sniper, Drow, Lone Druid, etc. True, 15hp can be a life or death thing, and you may find awesome use out of being able to leave a fight or kill an enemy just barely alive, but I have trouble using the items I already normally buy anyway and the majority of times I blow a magic wand (no pun intended) I either would have died or not needed it anyway.

Altogether, I still think it's a good item that depends largely on you or someone around you being able to cast more spells than average.

And for people who can't/don't want to watch the video:

1. Magic Wand
2. Force Staff
3. Armlet of Mordiggian
4. Mekansm
5. Drum of Endurance
Honourable Mentions: Vladimir's Offering, Urn of Shadows

To be honest, I'm surprised a bottle or some kind of boots didn't get on there. Same with TP, courier, dust or wards. They're basic, and they don't give any bonuses to your hero, but few would consider going a game without any of them (except maybe dust or bottle).

Those seem like good videos.

 

[Juddog]

Well, first of all: the stats. 18g per stat is amazing, but when combined into a magic wand, going for the stats alone suddenly makes it 57g per stat, which makes it worse than pretty much every other basic stats item less than 1000 gold.

With the heal, I stand by what I said. 15 spells is a lot, especially against heroes that have spells they only cast once or twice during a teamfight - Earthshaker, Tidehunter, Sniper, Drow, Lone Druid, etc. True, 15hp can be a life or death thing, and you may find awesome use out of being able to leave a fight or kill an enemy just barely alive, but I have trouble using the items I already normally buy anyway and the majority of times I blow a magic wand (no pun intended) I either would have died or not needed it anyway.

Altogether, I still think it's a good item that depends largely on you or someone around you being able to cast more spells than average.

And for people who can't/don't want to watch the video:

1. Magic Wand
2. Force Staff
3. Armlet of Mordiggian
4. Mekansm
5. Drum of Endurance
Honourable Mentions: Vladimir's Offering, Urn of Shadows

To be honest, I'm surprised a bottle or some kind of boots didn't get on there. Same with TP, courier, dust or wards. They're basic, and they don't give any bonuses to your hero, but few would consider going a game without any of them (except maybe dust or bottle).

Those seem like good videos.

I was kind of surprised from the breakdown of Mekansm; I didn't realize it out performed a vanguard in terms of bang for your buck.