Dealing with Lina as a carry? Check out the tips in our latest Dota 2 guide!
Dota 2 will always be the most MOBA in the world simply because people can come up with unique ideas and make them work. Even though the current Dota 2 patch has been around for several months, and we thought we’d seen everything, the professional players proved us wrong. If we look at the 2023 DPC, we can see that one hero dominates the current meta, and her name is Lina.
Once popular support, Lina transitioned to the mid-lane several years ago. Although some people continue to use her in the mid-lane for her powerful nukes, the current meta favors a Lina carry. Dota 2 fans who haven’t played for a while may find this strange, but the stats reveal that Lina is the best carry in the current patch. Hence, even the best in the world use her a lot.
There are many reasons why Lina is such a powerful carry right now, and it all comes down to her farming speed. The fact that she can deal insane physical and magical damage makes her exceptionally strong. What’s even more impressive is that she can deal with almost any offlaner and even kill him once she gets to level 6.
After seeing the best Dota 2 players in action, even the popular PUB superstars also use the hero in the carry position. Although some of them have found a way to deal with this monster, others have yet to learn. That’s why it is time to take a look at some of the things you can do to deal with this hero.
The laning stage
For better or worse, countering a position 1 Lina in the laning stage is easier said than done. There are a couple of heroes that might be able to lane against her, but she is really strong in 1vs X format and can always farm. In other words, it will be almost impossible to prevent her from farming.
With that said, there are a few heroes that can do pretty well, assuming they play the cards right. Axe is probably the first name that comes to mind because of his ability to push the lane. Although it will be hard for him to kill Lina, he can push the creep wave and kill it fast, which means Lina will have to farm under the tower. This may not be enough to kill, but Lina is squishy, so she will have to use a lot of regen and mana to sustain herself and secure last hits.
Aside from Axe, Riki is also a famous hero that can work really well against Lina, especially when combined with something else. He might be squishy, but he has Silence and Slow, which might be enough to kill Lina. However, this can only happen if the enemy team has some kind of stun.
The best heroes against Lina after the laning stage
Once the first couple of minutes of the game are over, there are a couple of possible scenarios. If Lina had a perfect game, she would be ahead of everyone else in terms of levels and farm, which is not a good sign. Due to the hero’s firepower, you will have to be incredibly careful how you approach every team fight because many things can go wrong.
Assuming she wasn’t free farming, there are several good heroes you can get against her. Generally speaking, Lina is really squishy and has problems playing against heroes that do tons of physical damage. Consequently, heroes like Phantom Assassin, Sven, and CK can be good options as long as they can keep up with her farming speed.
Another hero that is really good against Lina is Ursa. The latter is one of the strongest 1v1 heroes in the game and one of the most common picks right now. No wonder some of the best Dota 2 teams in the world pick her in almost every match.
Of course, we also have to include Anti-Mage, a hero not popular in the current meta. As long as AM dodges Lina’s stun, he can annihilate her in a couple of seconds. The bad news is that AM requires a lot of time to get the items he needs, which means he often fails.
Which items to go for when you want to counter Lina in Dota 2?
There are many items you can go for when you decide to counter Lina in Dota 2. As mentioned, she is vulnerable to physical damage. Consequently, carry and mid heroes can get things like Desolator, Monkey King Bar, Daedalus, and more.
However, not all heroes in Dota 2 can afford to get these items, which is why there are a couple of other things that can work. Staring with Pipe of Insight, this item can help a lot against Lina because it can increase the magic resistance. Furthermore, it can absorb at least one of her abilities, which will reduce her burst damage.
Speaking of reducing her damage, some people forget that there are items, such as Wraith Pact. The latter is not the go-to option in the current meta, but when used, it reduces the damage output of all enemies by 30% and also deals 30 DPS. The damage output could be more impressive, but the reduction can make Lina feel less dangerous.
Aside from the carry and offlaner items, the general defensive tools used by supports can also work against Lina. For example, Force Staff is always good because it can mess up her stun combo. Things like Glimmer Cape are also worth it because they make you invisible and reduce the magical damage you take.
Lina is one of the strongest heroes in the current Dota 2 patch and has a main rule in Tour 1 of the 2023 DPC in all regions. However, we expect Valve to nerf her in the upcoming update, which should also introduce Muerta, the new hero. Until then, feel free to test some of the things mentioned here if you want to stand a chance against Lina. Even though it may not work in every situation, you can definitely increase your win rate.
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