Bringing Back Support Kunkka - LaNm's Way
Almost every hero seems viable in the current meta. For this year’s International qualifiers, 105 out of 111 heroes were picked, more than ever before. Granted, while these were online qualifiers, with more than 30 different teams across the globe, it is still impressive to have so many heroes picked. Even the Manila Major had 95 heroes picked at its LAN portion of the event, a true testament towards a rather balanced patch and meta.
Dota as a game just allows heroes to excel in multiple roles and functionalities, as item and skill build choices can change the way you perceive and play them.
Kunkka is one of those heroes. Traditionally a core, he has slowly found a foothold as a niche support, as showcased in the past week, and could potentially be an impactful pick going into the main event of TI6.
Why Core Kunkka is not in the meta
Traditionally speaking, Kunkka has been approached as a mid. Tidebringer allows him to harass and last hit, while his other three spells allow him to gank quite effectively. Unfortunately, though, both Torrent and Ghost Ship aren’t the easiest spells to land. Even if you do manage to hit them--and Ghost Ship’s Rum is still effective without hitting the stun/damage--there is still an issue with Kunkka’s inherent lack of mana. With about 360 mana at level 6, extended fights are a nightmare, and a failed boat can force your team to retreat.
Mana is not Kunkka’s biggest issue though. The hero does not have any easy way transitioning into the midgame. His lack of mobility usually forces him into purchasing an item to fill that void, something that still leaves him dry on mana. His damage output outside of his spells is rather low until he picks up items, and even then it is too random. The general build into a Daedalus is great, but still is not reliable damage.
Kunkka can’t usually stand in a teamfight and just hit, because while Tidebringer is down he will always trade unfavorably. And Kunkka wants to hit carries through the Tidebringer cleave, which means targeting other heroes primarily--something that isn’t always possible in a direct fight. To understand Tidebringer and its cleave more, check out our blog on cleave mechanics.
There have been ways to mitigate that issue, as pubstar !Attacker has addressed this by purchasing an 
Armlet of Mordiggian on the hero, which in combination with The Admiral’s Rum effect, makes it difficult to kill him in an engagement. It still doesn’t change the fact though that the hero needs the farm of a carry, without being able to provide the consistent damage output of one.
Enter Support Kunkka
It’s not easy to pinpoint who really first established support Kunkka, but in recent times, it’s Newbee that has brought Kunkka back from the dead. In a meta that prides itself in being so diverse that almost every hero is viable, Kunkka has found his way into the supporting scene.
The introduction of 
Aether Lens allowed Kunkka to solve his mana issues, transitioning naturally from 
Arcane Boots into the next midgame item. The additional range from Aether Lens make Kunkka quite threatening, especially 
X Marks the Spot. Patch 6.86 also introduced a new 
Aghanim's Scepter upgrade to Kunkka, which drags enemies to the crash site. While it sounds gimmicky, it provides a lot of utility, and the stats are certainly something the hero can use.
Unlike a core Kunkka, you can skip one ability entirely, namely Tidebringer, as you don’t need it in most cases. The utility from a long range X-Mark or a high damage Torrent outweighs the farming potential that one or two points in Tidebringer would provide, at least for a supporting Kunkka.
That said, there are cases where the utility from lower levels of X-Mark and Torrent are sufficient, and a few points in Tidebringer would not only add farming, but also damaging potential. The fact that Tidebringer can now be toggled certainly makes it more viable for supports to skill.
Support Kunkka is quite similar to a 
Disruptor, as X-Mark has a lot of resemblance to 
Glimpse. It may be shorter in range, but the duration and flexibility on the “resummon” make it stronger in some cases.
Ghostship is an ability which, the more you think about it, sounds more like a supporting skill. The Admiral’s Rum certainly is an effect that helps the entire team and it’s not necessarily an initiating skill, but rather a follow-up.
All of this sounds nice, but a lot of his issues persist even as a support. In fact, skipping Tidebringer entirely or not maxing it slows down Kunkka’s item progression, which is definitely bad for a support in need of mana and regen. To some degrees, it feels like the hero needs to set up kills in order to progress, similarly to an Earth Spirit.
Hybrid Kunkka - LaNm’s way
20 games, 9 Kunkka picks, 6 wins--EHOME’s LaNm has brought back Kunkka and established it as one of his fiercest weapons, even forcing out first round bans from opponents.
LaNm may in theory play the support role, but his Kunkka play is almost better categorized as a 4th core, maybe even as an offlaner. What EHOME likes doing is sending the actual offlaner, old eleven, into the jungle early to farm up with Iron Talon. LaNm will then soak the experience in the offlane and even farm if the opportunity arises. Alternatively, he’ll roam around the midlane a lot, mostly by assisting his mid in farming the lane by zoning out the opponent.
His 1-4-4 skill build is designed to provide utility in teamfights, but also to deal damage himself, which is also reflected in his item build.
As his first item, he purchases an Armlet of Mordiggian. Similar to the core Kunkka, this makes it really difficult for this 3-4 position Kunkka to be picked off in an engagement. Most of the time, he’ll transition into a mobility item afterwards, which can be either a 
Blink Dagger or a 
Eul's Scepter of Divinity or even both. After that he’ll invest into a 
Crystalys, which he once even upgraded into a 
Bloodthorn.
This item build allows him to stay in teamfights longer, while providing additional damage through Tidebringer. It’s not a build that one can just copy and apply in pub games though--at least not in solo queues. It’s a build, a playstyle, that requires coordination and communication, as the Kunkka player needs a lot of time and space to farm for himself. It’s a greedy way of playing the hero--one that you can only get away with if your teammates support it.
Kunkka the next Phoenix at Ti6?
Support Kunkka, LaNm’s approach especially, may not be something that will take pubs by storm, or the pro scene for that matter. It is however a new way of approaching the hero, something that the hero needed to be revitalized into the scene again. In a meta that encourages fighting, The Admiral’s Rum is more valuable than ever and can turn around an engagement. Aside from that, his spells provide nothing other heroes couldn’t provide, and while his transition into a damage dealer in the mid to lategame with LaNm’s build is good, it’s also nothing astounding or groundbreaking.
That said it’s a pick that can throw the enemy off guard, something that, unless you’re LaNm, won’t be banned, though it is gaining in popularity. It’s unlikely that Kunkka will be the next Phoenix, but there’s a good chance that unless the meta or the hero drastically changes, we’ll see a few Kunkka appearances at TI6 that aren’t played by LaNm.
Headline Image by kunkka
oh i knew this would happen
second
Instead of contesting Roshan, we contest whom to be the first, but I'm the third
Great, Im only 4th here
5th PogChamp
kunkka. used to love it so much.. and its time to stop posting on the order of postings...
great im 7th
omg this is why core kunkka should go 4-1-4 but that depends on the situation sometimes 3-4-2 is really good
Which heroes werent picked at qualifiers?
^techies, od, pudge, sniper, centaur
Kunkka is a carry. Deal with it.
Oh, I know it's off-topic, bur sir Skim, I personally think the staff should do something about the forum. I'm sure you are aware of its conditions.
"Kunkka is a carry. Deal with it." when you follow the suggested items list.
It's so refreshing to see such a variety of heroes in competitive play. Last year it was never heard of to be picking Kunkka, Riki, OD, Faceless Void and any mid hero who wasn't Storm Spirit or Leshrac.
What I mean is: Kunkka is a character created in order to be a carry (you can see it from the heroipedia). You can of course build him as a support or whatever (everything can work in this videogame) but he will remain a hero suited to cover the carry role. That's what I meant.
Also, a lot of poeple play to win and they don't want to struggle much. So, what they do is picking heroes who win the most in every single game (and / or the so called "overpowered" heroes of the patch). That's why we didn't (and actually, partially, we aren't seeing) see a lot of variety. Because people (most of them) play to win and picking a strong / op hero helps them a lot.
The thing about the heropedia is that these heroes were created long before its existence. A lot of the stuff in the heropedia and suggested items list is incredibly outdated. Valve just doesn't like to educate its players about the current meta. They completely reworked Faceless Void, nerfed mask of madness and still the suggested items on Faceless Void are MoM battlefury and daedalus. It's hard for players to understand the game when you're just getting into it and the game is telling you to buy a battlefury on bounty hunter and then go straight into deso.
I assumed Valve kept the heroipedia informations updated. This changes everything. Very interesting... thank you, sir Chales.
No problem fam. :)
Damn, This is going to get IceFrog's attention.... I was having so much fun.
What is Admiral's Rum anyway?????????????????????????????????????????????????
Its the effect that delays damage for Kunkka and his allies when the ship goes through them.
If you can land his abilities, and last hit in lane, it is very, very easy to play carry Kunkka.
But then again, if you can land his abilities it would be even easier to play support Kunkka :D
Why is it that I pick up a hero in 6k, and 1 week later someone writes about it on Dotabuff. FeelsBadMan
пудж мой любимый герой
пудж мой любимый герой
You come on teamfight, completely misplace ship, torrent AND tidebringer, but people still are scared of you bec of x-mark. everytime
You come on teamfight, completely misplace ship, torrent AND tidebringer, but people still are scared of you bec of x-mark. everytime
Come on just go for W, E, Q, W, W, R, E, E build and you will land all your ships on solo targets.
Support Kunks was semi-popular right after the X change but it faded out. With Lanm finding a laning role for him we will see if it stays popular.
i hope !attacker reads this
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right side
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"It may be shorter in range, but the duration and flexibility on the “resummon” make it stronger in some cases." In which cases or at least against which heroes? :3
Great hero
+1 for the topic. Looking forward to see Kunkka being back at TI6 again <3
Quinkerros, regarding which heroes it's good against: QoP, AM, Void. Puck even. The versatility in it is that you can cast it on people, and then if they don't blink away, you hit them. If they do, you just pull them back. It's basically a no-escape situation unless they can dispel the X (e.g. manta, euls). Plus, it allows you to time your spells with it (and spells of your teammates if necessary), which Glimpse can't provide with as much accuracy. Also, with glimpse, the enemy *can* save their blinks for upon returning, and then blink away - with X, you take none of that :)
I think the first Kunkka supp was Notail back in Team Secret, because it was the earliest i can remember. Thought they picked him in DotaCinema Capitan's Draft, but i think it still counts.
BoT + bottle,ta-da a walking fountain
I cant believe that od is ignored. The hero is still strong especially in late game man oh man he can crush enemies easily
please take a look ate this supposed bug, https://www.reddit.com/r/DotA2/comments/4rsrbb/doubt_kunkka_x_marks_and_rubick_spell_stealagain/