Hey guys! I’m Snitch, Flex player for Team Dignitas, and this is my guide on Medivh. The build I’m showcasing today is what I would consider to be the general Medivh build. This build helps accentuate the main features of the hero, which include: supporting teammates in aggressive plays, saving teammates when they’re in dangerous situations, providing consistent harassment of the enemy team through his Arcane Rift ability, and using Portals to create chaotic gameplay. First of all we’ll go through the talent build, then after that I’ll go through his Early and Mid to Late game playstyles.

TALENTS

At Level 1, I would always choose Stable Portal. This increases the duration of your Portal to 10 seconds which makes it much more effective. The longer duration gives you and your teammates more time to use the Portal to harass an enemy, poke on the other side, or make plays, while still having the safety of being able to return at any point. Additionally, Stable Portal has incredible synergy with Quickening at Level 13, which allows you to have a portal down permanently due to the duration and cooldown syncing perfectly.

At Level 4, I would always choose Bird’s Eye View. This talent passively increases the vision range your Raven Form provides by 25%, as well as giving you an Active ability, which lets you provide an immense amount of information to your team through a massive vision circle. There are some cases for Dust of Appearance depending on what stealth heroes you are facing, but generally I will always pick Bird's Eye View, as the information it gives you and your team, as well as providing a lot of vision and safety, are generally invaluable.

At Level 7, I believe the only choice is the Master’s Touch. While this quest can be harder to complete for newer Medivh players, I believe it’s so strong that you should take it, as completing it makes you a much larger threat. The lowered cooldown and increased damage of Arcane Rift can allow you to 1v1 many backline heroes which makes you much harder to play around and allows you to outplay the enemy team.

At Level 10, the Heroic I always choose is Ley Line Seal. I believe it’s an invaluable tool for isolating opponents, engaging teamfights, or disengaging from a bad engage or situation. Any situation where Poly Bomb looks good, I generally believe Ley Line is better. It’s a very flexible heroic. Thinking about ways you could use it before the game can be very important, as it lets you be conscious of good situations in teamfights where you can unleash it. You do have to be careful not to mess up your teammates, as some heroes like Tyrael with Sanctification end up wasting their ultimates if used at the same time as your Ley Line.

At Level 13, the choice has to be Quickening. In conjunction with your Level 1 talent, Stable Portal, this allows you to have a portal down permanently, as the duration and the cooldown sync up. This allows you to save teammates more often, as you should have no cooldown on Portal, unless you end up wasting it, and it can also allow you to use portals more aggressively, as you can easily have another one ready for an escape should it time out.

At Level 16, I take Reabsorption. This adds a lot more power to Force of Will and rewards really good usage. Correct timing can provide massive healing to your teammates. Blocking more damage obviously means more healing, so make sure to be aware of who is going to output the most on the enemy team, so you can be sure your timing is correct, as it becomes a lot more important at this point in the game.

At Level 20, I always choose Medivh Cheats! This adds even more usability to Ley Line Seal. People also don’t normally think about it, which can allow you to set up huge wombos or engages with clever bounce usage. Additionally, you can use it to isolate some enemy team members longer than others, as the bounce can end up stopping some enemies 1 or 2 seconds later. This can be team fight winning on its own, as it can allow you to focus important members who are coming out of the stasis while tanks or supports remain locked for a few seconds more.

EARLY GAME

The Early Game playstyle of Medivh changes whether you are in a rotation or if you are playing as a solo laner. In the solo lane, generally stay in Raven form, as you cannot be targeted or ganked, so you can soak freely against any lane opponent. If you feel like you can however poke them for free with Arcane Rift, don’t feel hesitant to as if you get consistent harass, the damage can add up quickly. Try to position the wave between yourself and the enemy so you can not only harass them, but also wave clear and push the wave in your favour.

If you are playing Medivh in the rotation, it’s important to be aware of when you can get the most Force of Will value on a teammate. If your Johanna is approaching to clear the wave, you want to shield her as she is using Condemn, to block any poke the enemy team intends to put on her. Once your team is rotating safely, you can then use Raven Form to scout the position of the enemy team, giving your team valuable information. Once you’re aware that the enemy team could be approaching an ally who is playing aggressively, make sure to position yourself at max portal range in your Raven Form, so you can easily quickly drop a shield and a portal on them to get them to safety if it’s required. You can also safely soak against an enemy rotation, as if you are in Raven Form they obviously cannot target you, allowing you to get experience freely. If there is a situation where there is a fight breaking out, don’t be afraid to use Arcane Rift if you’re sure you aren’t being focused. As long as you don’t have to shield or portal yourself, you should be generally safe to poke the enemy.

Once you hit Level 7 and have skilled into The Master’s Touch, make sure to be even more conscious about using Arcane Rift aggressively. It’s important to fulfill the quest as soon as you can as the damage and cooldown it provides is insane.

MID-LATE GAME

In the Mid to Late Game as Medivh being aware of how you should use Ley Line Seal in fights beforehand can make it a lot easier. You should be asking yourself question like, “Should I be engaging for a wombo combo with Ring of Frost or Apocalypse?”, “Should I be looking to reset a fight by using it on Tyrael’s Sanctification?” or “Should I be looking to isolate a Valla from her supports to allow my team to quickly eliminate her?”. Asking yourself these things will allow you to come to the right decision quicker in the moment, and can make team fights to go a lot more smoothly.

From Level 13 with Quickening, you can be a lot more aggressive with your portal usage as you can place them off cooldown to assist your teammates, or yourself, from getting in and out of the fight. Try to be aware of who is outputting the most damage in teamfights and keep an eye on them so you can be sure to time your Force of Will correctly. A good example of this is against Li-Ming. Keeping an eye out for her using her combo will allow you to shield it instantly and prevent a lot of damage on your front line.

Good scouting usage of Raven Form is even more important in these stages of the game, as knowing the enemy's position can allow your team to make even better decisions, especially if you are ahead. If you have completed the Master’s Touch, be aware of how strong you are in a 1v1 scenario. Combined with Force of Will, you can take almost any ranged carry in the game in a straight up fight as Arcane Rift does an insane amount of damage and has an incredibly low cooldown. Keeping this in mind will allow you to use portals aggressively for yourself to eliminate enemy ranged carries before they can do anything about it.

Thanks for reading my DIG University guide on Medivh! Medivh is one of my favourite heroes and I hope you learned something about playing him. If you really want to check out some fun game play, make to watch our recent IEM Katowice performance where we had a great game on Medivh against Misfits on Battlefield of Eternity.