A vs B

In the third place match of the Vainglory World Invitational I noticed that the best players in the world were careful to select their first ability. At times it almost feels like auto-pilot to select a character’s starting skill. However, with this behavior appearing at the highest level of competitive Vainglory gameplay I decided maybe it was time for all of us to wait and see.

While it’s not always crucial for every hero, some heroes get very distinct advantages depending on the skill they choose to select with their first ability point. When is the right time to put your skill point in? Take a look at this screenshot 29 seconds into the first match of the best-of-three series to decide third place:

At 29 seconds into the match CullTheMeek had yet to put a skill point into an ability. This was not a mistake, but rather a smart play. It does not benefit Glaive to have a skill point used earlier than that. If a fight starts then it’s better for Glaive to have Afterburn for the catch potential on a vulnerable target like Celeste. However, if Glaive is just clearing jungle then Twisted Stroke, his B skill, is much better to have as it enables him to clear the jungle faster.

In the example above you could clearly see that Hunters were close enough to see Gankstars start at the middle of the jungle, and they also notice that CullTheMeek started with B skill. Fast-forward to the second game, Hunters put this knowledge to good use.

Hunters wait for CullTheMeek to step towards the jungle camp and select a skill before they move in. This lets Hunters have Afterburn for the level one engage and Gankstars only have Twisted Stroke which isn’t as impactful for a level one fight. Hunters used the Afterburn to catch IraqiZorro and claim themselves first blood.

IraqiZorro actually didn’t have a point into an ability when this invade started to happen. He attempted to Sonic Zoom away from Godfather as he used Afterburn, to be pushed back towards the safety of his turret, but Glaive canceled the animation of Sonic Zoom, and put it on an 11 second cooldown, leaving IraqiZorro stranded from his team.

In both of these games we got to see some amazing tactics from both teams. It was an extremely intelligent read by Hunters to notice CullTheMeek favored B skill for his jungle clear and to invade as close to 30 seconds as they could. Ultimately, this situation could have played out differently if players had waited to see if a fight was going to happen before choosing an ability. As players, you and I should be waiting to pick a skill until we need it from now on!

Are you curious which ability is better for different heroes? We wrote a quick guide breaking down the strength of each ability at level one! Check it out here! If you missed the action between Gankstars and Hunters you can check out the VOD below!