General Discussion

General DiscussionSo, is Pudge really a shitty hero?

So, is Pudge really a shitty hero? in General Discussion
Aethoeix

    I used to think that Pudge is garbage: an inconsistent, "hit-or-miss" kind of a hero and you are always better off picking #4s like Shaker or Tusk if you need that kind of a hero, since they have more reliable spells. And I thought that pros also prefer them to Pudge for the same reason.

    However, stats show that Pudge is more popular and more successful in any bracket. What shocks me most is the fact that Pudge seemed for me like a skillbased hero: if you're bad, you'll lose hard, if you're good, you'll win a lot like with Earth Spirit. However, according to stats, even mediocre players can climb with him. Lately, I tried to play Pudge myself a bit and it was a sudden success (only lost when had a completely garbage carry player in my team). Even if we do not consider landing every single hook, Pudge simply does too much: he quickly becomes ridiculously fat, he has a slow combined with aoe magic dmg, high magic resist and his presence on the map impacts the way enemies play their heroes, Pudge can always be around and you have to be careful with your positioning.

    A bit about hooks: It turned out that landing a hook is not that difficult and can be big: catch a right hero and you basically win a fight before it started. The range of a hook seems imbalanced for me now, considering its speed. Even with a level 1 hook:
    Safe lane: you can hook enemy off laners under your T1 -> easy kill
    Off lane: you can hook enemies from under their T1s to the jungle -> easy kill
    Mid lane: you just come at first night, hook from your bank of the river -> easy kill and blink heroes are out of fashion rn (puck/qop)

    I thought he is among the weakest laners but now it seems that even a mediocre Pudge player can win lanes hard, which is crucial in this patch.
    What do high mmr players think about Pudge in his current state? Has Ice-Frog gone too far, while trying to make Pudge viable on pro scene or am I just missing something?

    Bosnian Blade

      pudge is not "hit or miss" hero . just like mirana if u wanna utilize the best of them , u need to have proper setup for them .

      aha

        if the pudge player is a god the hero is good

        VISHNU

          If there is already a Brood ban, I always ban Pudge. This hero brings too much variance to the game. One hook can change the whole game. There is no other hero that can have such huge impact with v. little farm.

          eclessia

            pro games =/= pub games

            AnTaiN

              Whenever pudge is in my team , his lane always loses . ALMOST ALWAYS . Enough reason not to pick that shit in 4k mmr .

              TheRRogue

                Win lanes? Not really,he barely had any armor plus he had shitty ms. He had to rely on his lane partner to enable him then again its his partner that winning the lane nots him. A 15> sec skillshot is the only way you can kill the enemy(if he isn't stupid enough and not right clicking your fat ass)

                miiigz

                  I feel like pudge is 4v5 in the laning phase, and can screw up your game based on this.
                  Now I'm always banning pudge so my teammates don't get him.

                  eL Trapo

                    Pudge is a good hero and it can carry games! :)

                    Синячий патруль

                      Slardar and tusk are super squishy and dont have a 3s stun

                      Atha

                        It can be said I have bittersweet history with Pudge, I love him because how unique his gameplay is in the earlier version of dota, especially dota 1. But, now I hate him because when I was still on ancient bracket, people keep using pudge as a "support".
                        Pudge support cant do anything earlier if the enemy is aware of danger being hooked to tower.
                        The worst things I feel about Pudge player are:
                        1. Leeching XP without zoning
                        2. If you try to help him to engage on the lane, he will hold his hook to either get the kill, failing hook, or even hooked you just before u get that last hit kill and he will flame you about being stupid blocking his hook.
                        3. Useless(only applies to archon & legend) before buying daggers. When I was partying on Ancient, sometimes you still have archon & legend teammates, that will only pick pudge as a support.
                        4. This hero shouldnt be played as a support since this hero cant do anything early game but at the same time, this hero also need to played as a support since only support can positioned themselves beyond the trees.

                        ETd

                          I still play Pudge mid, f*** me right?

                          NewPlayer

                            pudge spammers srsly.

                            they put fentanyl in my b...

                              Hit or miss
                              I guess they never miss, huh?
                              You got a boyfriend, I bet he doesn't kiss ya (Mwah!)
                              He gon' find another girl and he won't miss ya
                              He gon' skrrt and hit the dab like Wiz Khalifa

                              cartel

                                fuck you arian
                                also fuck pudge...dumbass hero standing in tree line hooking creeps...