General DiscussionMidas and AA?

he has no farming/pushing ability so if u want to go aghs is pretty easy to get stuck halfway or something, also uses the exp boost well due to his ulti scaling
also you dont really want him to be physically present in fights sometimes so getting other support items like medal/crest/force/(mek) etc wont be as much benefit
thats the theory behind it i believe..

a) cz u need levels
b) cz u dont die in fights and dont lose midas utility
c) cz aa doesnt need cheap items and is useful w/o them

he sits like in jungle launching ult and midas'ing creeps

In pro games I've seen AA pick midas like 80% of the time, if not more. AA is a pretty item light hero for the early game, he usually does not really participate in fights because he's so far behind (he's too squishy to just walk into fights though with buffed range on his abilities he can still join in somewhat and throw his spells, then go back), midas practically gives him a reliable source of gold and exp and makes him hit that level 16 and aghs without taking much space of his own, and for a hero that's almost completely reduced to his ultimate in many fights (where he ult-assists globally), it's really important most games. He can participate in early skirmishes if he skills up for it, and he's actually kinda strong early game with his first 3 abilities, but you still don't want to get focused and feed, and you're not really likely to get enough levels early to make those abilities really count, most of the time, in the competitive scene. In pubs I've seen AAs go solo offlane and yolo the shit out of it, killing people, but he's generally very underleveled in the pro scene, because he's played as a real position 5.

So basically, he's kind of too squishy to stand in the exp range when the fight occurs, and would prefer not to if he can help it (range on his abilities is huge so it helps him here), he's too gankable to be alone in the lane farming it in the early-mid game when some towers are already down, and generally he's just picked for his ult, so teams do everything they can to buff it as soon as possible, and that's what midas+aghs rush is all for. I can't think of another hero who spends so much time out of the exp range, maybe techies is the only one who can have such a playstyle and that's about it. In pro games you'll often find AAs at level 4 15 minutes in, which is kinda sad.

TL;DR: He spends most of the time out of exp range, does not farm creeps, can't push waves, really really needs levels and aghs to be able to assist globally, in which case he might also happen not to get gold and exp. AA has a sad life. Love your AA, buy him a Midas, watch him happily cherish it for the next 40 minutes.

AA is an old man, Ancient in fact. He can't be mixing it up with these young holligans blinking and juking every which way! His best days are behind him. He is all about going slow and ensuring death. Even when he buffs your attack it slows you down.

AA has very long range skills because he is going to sit way in the back, probably not even on the same screen as the fight, and do some armchair quarterbacking. If you are already standing still, AA can make you freeze it place. If you are already going to die, AA can make sure no one heals you.

The best thing AA does is reach level 16, and have Aghs... then sit in the fountain and cast his ult from the other side of the map so it hits 3 whole screens and no one can dodge it. Then you have 17 seconds to fight them with no heals allowed. Winter is Coming! Meanwhile the Ancient ghost can go back to sleep until he casts his ult again.

AA really is a weak, almost handicapped hero that is worth picking because his ult absolutely destroys a few otherwise impossible to counter heroes. Combine AA, Zues, NP, and an Aghs Gyrocopter and you can teamwipe the enemy from your fountain, while they are in their own fountain.

I see. But if he needs midas so badly, why he's not given farm priority early on to get it faster and be relevant faster?

Sometimes your team can't afford to give AA farm priority.

Because of?

the marginal utility of farm on cores is still higher than on as, i guess

cus pubs will never give farm priority to a support

I think it really depends on MMR. Like, I find it retarded why would you not let AA go dual lane and try to get soem decent midas timing.

Like, 12-15 mins, instead of 28 mins.

Cause AA's ult gets much better later, when people really start depending much on burst heal/lifesteal and sustain in fights through that approach. At the point where people have vlads, satanics, dominators, moms, urns, meks/greaves, high level heal abilities, etc. That's when you want your ult to be strong. Early game it's good for some pickoffs but has pretty marginal utility as lvl 1 and 2 ults are not that great, but lvl 3 ult with aghs is super annoying to the enemy team.

Also, in most low level pubs you'll likely have dual lanes and get enough exp on this hero, so midas rush is not that necessary, also because they won't take you out instantly before a fight, you can afford to get more cocky and close to fights. AA's a pick that's really hard to lane when you require optimal farm on your cores and when there aren't kills left and right (as in pubs), so yeah, in lower level pubs you don't have to play him like pros do, just go dual lane, sap a lot of exp, pull if it's a good idea at a time, farm when the lane's empty, be in a lot of fights and throw your ult when you can and you should get your aghs at some point before like 25 minutes most likely.

From what I've seen, AA in higher MMR pubs (like 5.5-6.5k avg) is played a lot like in competitive.

if u let aa farm, u ramp a weak hero w unreliable spells. aa is never core.

u can get midas also later in the game if ur team is behind and ur scepter is not in sight. it helps catching up a lot. u basically want aa to be lvl 16 and have agha asap w/o stealing farm from others. it wrecks ur opponents late game. if u will fight in "close combat", consider euls first though.

or do dis: http://www.dotabuff.com/matches/1596683064 (i had higher gpm than our mid zeus in 60min game, cuz of midas)

Pick AA, buy Quelling Blade, go to jungle and farm your Midas first item. Easy... (easy way to get 4 reports)

I go midas rush in normal skill pubs with this hero :D

Who cares about farm priority in normal skill, half the time carry teammates cant last hit consistently and feed early anyway.

As long as im taking the key objectives, like warding key spots, pulling, etc. I feel im perfectly justified playing a position 4 (greedy) support rather than 5.

Not to mention in places like normal skill SEA land, douche teammates first pick cores (begging to be fucking raped in the ass by the counterpick rod) and then cry for support so most of the time each team has one or zero support heroes.

Why would i play a 5-position support in such circumstances, especially AA who falls off so quickly without levels / aghs?

His farm gets stuck. I've experienced it several times. You might just get your scepter anyway but with midas you always secure it at around the same time, even if the game is going to shit.