Wolves Need No Micro - Lycan's Dominance in 7.00
When it comes to the current pub environment, one hero stands out across all brackets. Lycan has gained significant momentum coming into the 7.xx era and nothing seems to be able to slow him down.
The hero has been long forgotten by the pub and pro players alike. Despite not receiving any major nerfs, he was still considered a very niche pick. It all changed when 7.00 came—the reworks have made the hero a very scary ganker, split-pusher and carry. And from the looks of it, he is definitely not ready for Captain’s Mode.
Wolves need no micro
The problem with micro-heavy heroes in Dota is that no one really wants to play them. There are countless opportunities for misplays and lost efficiency—realizing that you might not be an exceptionally gifted micro-player is not a very rewarding feeling.
That said, the current meta might be developing towards more player-controlled units. We see frequent 
Helm of the Dominator pick-ups in the pro-scene, and the dominated creeps are often used proactively, rather than for stacking.
Being able to control multiple units might not be a top priority, but the importance of this skill has significantly risen in the current patch.
And then there is Lycan. A hero, who traditionally goes for 
Necronomicon and recently has been incorporating the Helm into his build. Overall, it requires the management of 5+ units in the later stages of the game. Only a couple of them have active abilities, but they still require to be handled with care. Or do they?
In the past month, Lycan has been at his best in the <2k bracket. Very few players in this skill range are capable of adequately controlling their single hero, let alone managing a whole army. Yet, a 54.45% winrate definitely signals that the hero works, regardless of the micro skills of the player.
Moreover, this value does not significantly drop as the MMR rises—in 5k+ games, the hero still holds a respectable 54.40% winrate.
What it means, in theory, is that while the hero does undoubtedly reward ability to efficiently control multiple units, it is not always a necessity. Instead, he offers extra reward for being played correctly, while being effective even in the less-able hands.
His reworked 
Howl is a strong spell that helps the entire team. While it obviously works even better with more units and better micro, it still provides sufficient sustain and power to make it worth its while, even if your wolves are just auto-attacking.
Make up your mind
Looking at the guides page, one thing immediately stands out—the skill and item build for the hero can be very different.
The skill progression can prioritize maxing out either of the three initial skills, with the focus on 
Feral Impulse potentially being the least effective option, since it scales better in the later stages of the game.
Itemization might range from the more conventional Necronomicon and Helm of the Dominator, to a full-on fighting builds with armor, strength and damage items.
Adjusting to a hero who can switch playstyles depending on the game is no easy task and Lycan is truly deserving of the shapeshifter title.
The same can be said about the hero talents as well: there are almost no clear winners at each level, with the respawn time reduction being the only exception. It is worth noting though that, as a strong split-pushing hero, being able to suicide and wither down opponent’s buildings might be an option--as (in-)effective it may or may not be.
Truly six-slotted
One of the major downsides of all melee heroes and some ranged ones, is that it can be hard to stay on target. Force Staffs, mobility abilities and enemy slows and disables can be detrimental to your ability to output damage.
For that reason, some DPS and survivability efficiency is often sacrificed in favor of Blink Daggers and Boots of Travel—they do not increase your carry potential, but they are often a condition on which your ability to do anything at all is hanging.
Lycan does not have this problem because of his innate abilities. Furthermore, the introduction of the backpack allows him to safely teleport to any lane and while the TP is channeling, to switch items in favor of DPS ones. You run at 650 regardless of your items—why not concentrate on dishing out the maximum amount of damage?
This alone immediately puts him ahead of many other cores—he has a very strong scaling abilities in both the Feral Impulse and his ultimate, while potentially having an extra item slot. It doesn’t necessarily come into play until the very late stages of the game, but it provides him with a certain degree of freedom even in the earlier stages. Given how you effectively have an item slot to spare, more than any other hero you can allow yourself to go for cheaper, more cost-efficient items, making tempo plays a possibility.
Closing thoughts
There is a reason Lycan is currently banned from Captain’s Mode—the hero is exceptionally strong. From 400 HP full team “heals” during nighttime, to massive structure damage and high carry potential, Lycan is definitely deserving of attention.
Simply due to his “micro-heavy” perception, he remains a very unpopular pick in pubs and it is something that will probably change. While your pubs are still not ready for this hero, it is possible to abuse him. And it can also serve as a great start towards improving your micro skills as well.
im not fucking 1st
well i'm fucking 2nd... so where do i claim my prize??
necronomicons + wolves = WP
4 th
yawn. still to short?
6th life complete
7th heaven
Report peru plis
Lapantek
He doesn't have low pick rate because he requires micro, he's friggen boring to play.
Lycan is boring? With decent skills 30 kills in any game is fixed for lycan. You need to know how to play
I can't decide between fighter or pusher build.
@True Samurai Warrior, it really depends on the line up that you come up against. If you come up against a Pudge, Silencer or say a Juggernaut, I'd heavily suggest picking a pushing build. This is because the build can actually split push and take objectives whilst if say, Silencer uses his ultimate or his skill last word on you in particular you are simply out of the fight (depending on what time of the game it is). Lycan is reliant on the fact that he can freely move across the map to gank / push. Another factor is that if you're going up against the Pudge, a hook into a dismember simple obliterates Lycan, if the hook is not blocked by one of the wolves of-course.
The fighter build is generally useful when coming up against heros such as Timbersaw, Enigma, Bristleback or Phoenix as he has a large outburst of damage and can't really be taken out unless outplayed. Example of timbersaw's lack of high mobility and damage can lead Lycan shredding through him.
@true Samurai Warrior u can kill with pusher build, so i always pick pusher build.. many units + bkb + basher = ez kills
Know who else doesn't need micro? Beastmaster. Rush HotD then go into options and click 'auto select summon units'. And then just steam roll the enemy base for free wins.
post a slark meta plsssss :)
I play a lot of Lycan and do get Boots of Travel early when I'm doing a 1v9 push build. BOTs + BKB + Necronomicon + your level 20 CDR is REALLY difficult for most teams to deal with since you can get megas so effortlessly if they commit to any push themselves.
Get helm
Dominate the Alpha Wolf 🐺
Wait for mating season
Grow your wolf pack
Repeat
GG WP
@Fight Machine: Wait, what if Lycan's wolves are also male?
lycan trash. pick balanar
ESHO SLAAAM!
lycan op vs drow XD (PS: lycan has vision so necronomicon is recommended)
Lycan's howl is like Chen's ult on steriods.
22ne ;D
25th u what mate?
26th what the fuckin comment here
"the broken lycan" xd The only thing that Lycan has a little bit broken is the howl i think it shouldn't be 2x on night time it should be like 1.5x but really broken? do you know a fucking item called ghost scepter? i hope this post is some kind of joke, you say pick rate is low bec of non skilled pub players? how many pro players are picking lycan? oh my gawd
Btw there is a really really big difference between a lycan player and a tard playing lycan, in the micro, in the howls and even in the item/skill progression please learn how to play damned lycan before talking shit like this, most of the heroes look like broken in low mmr bec they are so fucking stupid, last game i played lycan while i was making necronomicon the enemy silencer builds a shadow blade and then he complains about lycan being broken
Ебоно ворот тука пидда окуел стали ааа???ипаль в лот утилку тукаааа
Did they fix the HotD interaction with Tusk snowball yet? Tried it with a friend in a pub, but if you get all the dominated creeps into your snowball, Lycan can get a new dominated creeps. Resulting in an army. An unstoppable army. Low priority was worth it afterwards. :D
@Blue Forever And Lycan can easily dominate a Satyr Banisher which has an inbuilt purge thus rendering the ghost scepter useless. So what's your point again?
so all we have 2 do is freakin give wolvies bash back again! probs who ever remember this :)
last
please..
nope
F*** this "healer".
Please remove his "healing" ability from dotabuff at least.