Axe is an incredible initiator and disruptor who can be an absolute monster in the early game and slowly falls back to a more tanky role in the late game. When played correctly, Axe can guarentee victories by outleveling his opponents and giving his teammates big openings for safe farm and pushing. Axe is my favourite hero in all of Dota 2 and this is my build for The Bez Axe!

Starting with Axe's best skill, Counter Helix. Counter Helix is a passive that allows Axe to have a chance to do an awesome spin attack everytime he is being attacked. Counter Helix deals insane amounts of damage early on in the game and is always the first skill to max out first. Axe's whole playstyle revolves around Helix, and his kit helps supplement that by having direct synergies with Helix.

Axe's first activatable skill is Berzerker's Call. This ability allows Axe to taunt enemies, forcing them to attack him while Axe gains bonus armor for the duration of the Call. This synergizes extremely well with Counter Helix and Blademail as enemies just can't do anything to stop procing Helix and Blademail. Axe loves taking damage as much as he loves dishing them back... he's kinda a masochist, come to think of it. Max this skill second.

Axe's second skill is Battle Hunger. Battle Hunger applies a negative effect on a target opponent, dealing damage over time and slowing the opponent until the effect ends, the poor sod dies or the bastard successfully kills any unit. While this skill is good for finishing retreating opponents, it is easy for opponents to cancel out of. Have it ready as a 1st level spell, since Battle Hunger is a pretty good harassing spell during the laning phase. Always use the spell when you just KNOW that your target can't kill something easily, because if the bastard kills something, well you just wasted a spell. Also don't be afraid to spam the spell, it's got a low mana cost and it'll apply a lot of pressure to your laning opponents.

Axe's MANLY ultimate is Culling Blade. To put it simply: Axe jumps up, Axe targets opponent, if target opponent is below certain health threshold, Axe kills them immediately. Doesn't matter if opponent is magic immune or whatever. Below certain health threshold equals instant death. Throw in a badass one liner, "I SAID GOOD DAY SIR!!!", and that's the whole Culling Blade package! Culling Blade is absolutely amazing. If Axe successfully kills an opposing Hero with this ability, not only will Axe and his allies be smattered by the blood of their enemies, but allies near the Culled Hero's death gain a movement speed boost AND the cooldown F*CKING REFRESHES!!! That means Axe can go on Culling fools left and right as long as they are all under the health threshold and Axe doesn't f*ck up the Cull. It is pure and simple... the epitone of an ultimate ability in Dota... well, unless you count all the other awesome ultimates in the game, BUT THE POINT IS, Culling Blade is beautiful, Axe is beautiful, and anybody who disagrees with either me or my boi Axe gets F*CKING CULLED!!! Good day sir, indeed.

Starting Items: Always start off with a stout shield and rush Tranq Boots. Axe is gonna be in a lot of fights and he needs good, constant health regen, and Tranq Boots can do just that plus give Axe a good smattering amount of movement speed.

Next, rush Blink Dagger. If that wasn't clear to you, let me rephrase... ahem... RUSH. F*CKING. BLINK!!! Blink Dagger is essential on Axe as it allows him to quickly jump on his opponents, insult their mothers, and Helix/Cull them. It almost acts as Axe's hidden skill. Axe is just simply naked without Dagger, and it should be ANYBODY'S priority to get it as soon as possible. Only give up and move on to your other items on the list if your enemies are somehow fed early on in the game, but if you're doing this, then that means you've been doing something wrong and you should be ashamed of yourself.

After Blink, get Vanguard and Blademail in any order. Vanguard first if you're confident enough with Helix's damage and need extra protection, or Blademail first if your opponents have high damage and you want to make them pay for having high damage! Ignore getting Vanguard if your enemy team is running mostly Magic Damage, so at this point get Hood of Defiance instead. Basically, get Vanguard for Physical Damage and Hood for Magic Damage. Doesn't really matter, really, because in an ideal game, you're going to need both of them in the late game, as Vanguard can be built into Crimson Guard, which grants allies near you Physical Damage Resistance, and Hood can be built into Pipe of Insight, which grants your allies near you Magical Damage Resistance.

Late Game: Get Heart of Tarrasque and whatever the f*ck you want. You should be winning by now, so go nuts. Of course, if you're losing, get Black King Bar for that Spell Immunity. It helps you a lot against enemy spells, but you're also telling your opponents that you're a wuss. MAN UP!!!

So how to play Axe: Well, basically you want to farm hard until you reach around level 4 to 5. Start roaming and ganking by then to help your teammates with their lanes. GET KILLS AND WRECK FOOLS!!! Continue roaming and farming, preferably in the jungle. JOIN FIGHTS, GET KILLS AND WRECK FOOLS!!! Build into your items, disrupt enemy formations. BLINK IN, JOIN FIGHTS, GET KILLS AND WRECK FOOLS!!! Be a total badass and yes, GET KILLS AND WRECK FOOLS!!! Always try to get as many kills as you can in the early game as not only will you be fed, but the enemies will surely be behind in levels and items with your constant early game disruptions. During the mid to late game, you transition into a tank, and it's your job to keep yourself and your allies alive as you continue to GET KILLS AND WRECK FOOLS!!!

Finally, I wish you the best of luck in your games as Axe. Go get kills and wreck fools, and have a good day sir...

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If you are still reading this, well... I SAID GOOD DAY SIR!!!