1st Hero & Naga Archer/Dott Push

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A strong timing push to hopefully end the game close to the 8 – 9 minute mark. The idea is to have a
decent amount of archers with 2 Druids of the Talon in the back casting Faerie Fire on the
enemy units to reduce their armor and provide vision. Your second hero will be the Naga for
good damage output, slow with Frost Arrow, and (if she reaches level 2) Chain Lightning for a
finisher. It’s important to buy Heal Scrolls and Protection Scrolls. Common first hero choices are Priestess of the Moon or Keeper of the Grove
depending on the match up.

Difficulty of Build: Easy (it requires you to know how to Ancient of War creep though).

Pros:

  • Provides decent map control in the early and early/mid game.
  • Pretty fast and strong timing that can catch opponent off guard.
  • Druids of the Talon’s faerie fire provides vision and armor reduction.

Cons:

  • This unit composition isn’t great for breaking heavily fortified bases. If your opponent towers their base early your push will have a harder time.
  • If it goes to late game Archers/DotTs are pretty squishy, and can suffer heavily from AOE damage

Race Match Ups:

  • vs. UD: Not used
  • vs. HU: Not used
  • vs. NE: Good strategy. This is the match up where this build is seen the most. Generally, the Priestess of the Moon is chosen as the 1st Hero because of her True Shot Aura, which gives Archers a damage boost. It’s important to get the PotM to level 3 so that you have level 2 True Shot by the time you push.
  • vs. ORC: Ok strategy. If you choose to do this against Orc, it is best to choose Keeper of the Grove as the 1st hero. The Keeper’s Entangle ability can get you early grunt kills, and Force of Nature adds a few summons into your army for your push. Focus on hitting your Tier 2 timing and getting Naga. Remember that Druids of the Talon can cast faerie fire on the Blademaster, which will provide vision even if the Blademaster uses Windwalk.

Mid to Late Game Transitions:

Hopefully your push will end the game, but if it doesn’t you can pull back and go Tier 3 while continuing
to add Archers, and DotTs, when needed. Once Tier 3 is reached, research Marksmanship and get an Orb
of Venom, and, if time and resources allow, research the Adept and Master Talon upgrades. Expand as
necessary.

Here is a video of Carsonnn on his show theorycraft breaking down a game in which this strategy is played.