I'm in love with Varian in 2.4.3 and here's why: Each one of his builds are viable right now. When you see a Varian most people assume it's going to be tank, especially if it's picked earlier in the draft prior to any tanks being picked.



I've been having a lot of success with Varian's melee damage builds and have developed my own scenarios primarily for Twin Blades and Collossus Smash to be used legitimately. Level 10 Talent Builds & Scenarios Collossus Smash:

If you are against a tracer or don't have vulnerability on your team and want to be able to nuke some people then go ahead and go with this build. Get Lion's Maw, Warbringer, and Victory Rush. Warbringer is actually good now, a 4 second charge with a 75% slow for 1 second doesn't let people get away. You're not just getting burst damage and vulnerability, you're getting good CC for your team with these talents as well. The talents after 10 are up to you. At 16 I usually get armor banner for each build. Collossus Smash is great for dealing a LOT of damage to single targets, and also helps nuke big-health NPC's (bosses, immortals, punishers) because of the 3 second 25% vulnerability it gives. Nobody fairs well while taking 25% additional damage.



Twin Blades:

Doesn't have the most opportunity to play, but when the time is right, it works wonders. Essentially, if the enemy team seems to be vulnerable to high-sustain, or you see potential that their team is sustain-based (not burst) and high sustain would out-do them, and your team needs a melee damage character, then this can work. For this build you can go with High King's Quest, Shield Wall, and Second Wind. Twin Blades already give you movement speed, so you don't need Wabringer. You do need to use your parries to block all damage at prime moments to help you keep yourself up. This build as Varian makes him very strong, I like to think of this along the bruiser lines of Sonya and Artanis alternatives, or even good versus those heroes.



Taunt:

Not too much to say here. This has been the most common build for him thus far (outside of quick match/unranked). 1-7 talents you can do either what I said in Collossus Smash or Twin Blades. If you want to do more CC for your team, do what I said in Collossus Smash. If you want to be full tank, do what I said in Twin Blades Tips: - Most of the time your team will be losing until level 10, because your role is relatively weak until then. You and your team should roll with the punches until level 10 comes around, if you're losing. Focus on mitigating losses.



- If they have a combination of 2+ shielding heroes (Lucio + Zarya, Lucio + Artanis, Artanis + Zarya for example) pick Varian for Shattering Throw. Picking Varian just for Shattering Throw is more important against Tassadar and, potentially, Lucio players + 1 other shielding hero. Against Tassadar you can probably get Shattering Throw regardless.



- If they have a Tracer, go Collossus Smash build above. I hate losing to Tracers.



- Be aware of the talent picks of other heroes for when level 10 starts happening. The enemy team, if they get level 10 before you, might pick ultimates that they believe counter the build they think you're going. Lots of people assume that if you're Varian and you have an ETC, you're a double tank comp probably. A Kharazim might go Seven Sides Strikes. This means Collossus Smash just got a whole lot better.



- As I suggested earlier, if you draft Varian early-mid draft then it can influence the way the enemy team picks their heroes. This will work to your advantage if you are filling up a melee damage role instead of the tank role.