Guide To Grand Magus, Rubick

Preface

Hey guys, this is my second guide, and after a very very long gap.. firstly, I'd like to explicitly state that this guide isn't a competitive guide, nor is it like a fixed way to play rubick or something. This guide is targeted at helping people who haven't played rubick, or have trouble playing him for whatever reason. In this guide, i am merely putting into rote, the way i play rubick and how it works for me. I haven't played or observed a clan match involving rubick so far, so i cannot comment on the viability of rubick as a clan pick. In this guide, im gonna show you how to:-

i)Get familiarized with rubick's skillset
ii) after you've done that, to make the maximum use of the enormous potential at your disposal
iii)to have as much fun as you can possibly have playing rubick

Grand Magus

19+1.5

14+1.6

27 + 2.4

Advanced Statistics

Affiliation: Sentinel
Damage: 44 - 54
Armor: 1
Movespeed: 300
Attack Range: 600
Attack Animation: 0.4 / 0.77
Casting Animation: 0.1 / 1.17
Base Attack Time: 1.7
Missile Speed: 1125
Sight Range: 1800 / 800

As you can see, rubick's stat gain is pretty much average, but his skillset more than makes up for it. Here's why.

Skills

Telekinesis(Z)

Rubick uses his telekinetic powers to lift the enemy into the air briefly and then hurls them back at the ground. The unit lands on the ground with such force that it stuns nearby enemies.

This is a very useful and handy skill. Can be used to escape, gank and stall for time. Also a really nice disable with an AOE stun upon landing. Invest at least 2 points in this skill.

Fade Bolt(X)

Rubick creates a powerful stream of arcane energy that travels between enemy units, dealing damage and reducing their attack damage for 10 seconds.

This is your all-purpose, bread and butter skill. It deals a nice amount of damage, bounces and reduces opponent's attack damage. Use it as a nuke, a spam to control the lane, to farm, or as a tool of harassment Max this skill first

Null Field

Rubick's mastery of the arcane protects his allies against weaker magics, granting them magic resistance.

Again a nice skill, but get it after you have Fade bolt maxed and have at least 2 levels of Telekinesis. Works really well with khadagar's pipe. Effective in buffing up yourself as well as your team mates a little bit.

Spell Steal(Q)

Rubick studies the trace magical essence of one enemy hero, learning the secrets of the last spell the hero cast. Rubick can use this spell as his own for several minutes or until he dies.

This is your gamebreaking skill. You get to steal the last spell an enemy hero cast, and with the short cooldown of this spell you could make short work of a teamfight if you are careful and observant enough.For obvious reasons, some spells like elder dragon form, metamorphosis and shapeshift cannot be stolen. There are also some skills that you can steal, but it wouldn't help too much. Shadowraze for example- you only get the raze that nevermore used when u cast spell steal-not all the three. That isn't really that helpful, especially when you have the chance to miss if you aren't careful.Save this skill for the biggies. Especially aoe ultimates like ravage, echo slam and chain frost. But i tend to steal anything i can get, even if its just for kicks like pouncing on slark and watching him scamper

Item Builds

Alright. You've picked/randomed rubick and you're good to go. So what now?

Starting invents:-

1) If you aren't good at last hitting/denying, or have a lane partner who could use the farm more, get this build





2) If you plan to solo, or are fairly good at creeping/denying, get this build:-





3) If you're worried about survivability in your lane or assume that you will be harassed in lane, get this build:-





Core Item build:-

Alright. Lets talk about Rubick's core items. Now rubick being a very versatile hero, there may be many items that you could make on him and which would be great with him too. But these items are somethings that u just gotta get.

Choice of Boots:-

or this

Both of these have their obvious advantages. I have tried both, and have found that in MOST games, Phase is better suited to rubick's role in the game, rather than arcane boots. Sure, arcane boots would be nice for manapool and for the team, but phase gives you MS, a lot more MS than arcane.. this can sometimes be a decisive factor in determining your survival in the event of a teamfight/gank. Rubick isn't the most robust of heroes (a starting armor of 1??). Although if you manage to farm a Dagger or feel that you need the extra mana to spam and control lane/constantly gank, get arcane by all means. Boots of travel is gonna delay your core, and power treads don't really do you much good.

Must Haves:-



The wand is one of my favourite items and i love it on almost any hero. This can be a real life saver and is something you MUST get.A scroll of teleportation is really handy to defend, support, set up gank or counter gank. Make sure u select a safe place to tp. You don't wanna be squished upon arrival. Once you have kelen's dagger, you're good to go. Kelen's dagger is a fantastic item for rubick, especially with stolen spells like echo slam or ravage or blackhole.

Situational extensions:-



Get urn of shadows if you feel you need a little more buffing, or if you're doing fairly well killing heroes. But rather than a damage skill, use this to heal allies and yourself. It really reduces the time between subsequent ganks and the trips to your base. If you or your teammates are having problems surviving certain ultimates like echo slam, requiem of souls or sanity's eclipse etc., get khadagar's pipe. Gives you a little more tankiness. Medallion is a good choice against tanks. But be careful so as to not get caught in a gank when your own armor is low! Euls scepter gives a small MS boost and is pretty handy as a disable/dodge/chase tool. Veil of discord is a little pricey but worth it if someone decided to make pipe on the other team.

Luxury Items:-

As i have mentioned before, rubick is very versatile, and there are n number of items that he could use to his advantage. Guinsoo's scythe is probably the best luxury item you could get in any game, but not every game. Here are some good situational items for him.



Im not saying these are the only things you should make with rubick but situations are different every game,and thus has different requirements. So use your discretion to select a suitable item.


Skill build

1.Telekinesis
2.Fade Bolt
3.Fade Bolt
4.Telekinesis
5.Fade Bolt
6.Spell Steal
7.Fade Bolt
8.Telekinesis
9.Telekinesis
10.Null Field
11.Spell Steal
12.Null Field
13.Null Field
14.Null Field
15.Stats
16.Spell Steal
17-25. Stats

Justification:- For obvious reasons, fade bolt is maxed out first, and telekinesis is taken over null field, with spell steal being taken upon availability.Null field will be the last skill to be maxed, prior to attribute bonuses.

Gameplay

Early Game

If you are soloing mid:- If you intend to solo the middle lane, then you should preferably make starting item build 2 or 3. Access to a courier can help you finish your magic wand and help with consumables. The middle lane, usually has heroes like Shadow fiend, Tinker, Zeus and Priestess of The Moon, who benefit from quick levels and farm. A magic stick should help you hold out against spam, but don't become complacent and get killed trying. After you have 2 levels of fade bolt, you can begin to spam it in lane. Now, the method of spamming fade bolt is inverse to that of mystic snake. Target it on heroes, as the bolt loses damage per bounce. Spamming fade bolt will also make it harder for the opponent to creep/deny, as they suffer a reduction in attack damage. Try to get as much farm as possible when at mid, and try to keep a level advantage over your opponent by denying, killing or spamming spells. If you are being chased, rather than simply running, use telekinesis on the chaser and then run. This makes your escape safer and easier. When you reach level 6, immediately absorb a good spell from any opponent hero. Remember that spell steal has a pretty short cooldown , so feel free to keep changing spells. Start ganking at level 6 or 7. You will have all the necessary skills to do so, along with a little unintended help from your opponents

If you are laning:- If you are laning with rubick, then be as aggressive in lane as is possible, without being careless. If you have a stunner/disabler as a lane partner, you could easily get first blood quickly. If you have taken starting inventory 1 or 2 while coming to lane, get yourself a magic stick and boots from the goblin shop as soon as your consumables run out. Again, while laning, it is better to stay in lane at least till level 6, when you should set out to gank. Do make sure though that you have a boot and a wand/stick with you before you do. Take runes unless your ally is controlling them. Haste, regen and invisibility work really well for rubick. Leave the illusions and the double damage for the carries.

Mid Game

By now you should have your phase boots/arcane boots, your magic wand and be on your way to a Dagger. Mid game is when you really start shining. Steal spells, but don't be in a hurry to do so. The key to playing rubick is waiting and watching. Wait for an enemy to cast a spell that would serve you and your team an advantage, rather than each and every spell you can get. Keep your eyes peeled for the big ones like echo slam, chain frost, ravage, mass serpent ward,Finger of death,guardian angel etc. Once again, the cooldown of spell steal is pretty short, so keep changing spells. But make sensible choices. Assuming that you are able to play rubick close to what im trying to illustrate, you should be doing pretty well so far.

Late Game

By late game, you should have all your core items and one/two luxury items. It really helps if u have guinsoo's scythe at this point of time. The strategy late game is again wait and watch, but this time with quicker execution. Like, if your team is planning a gank on a carry hero, say morphling, and has a couple of disables, incuding your own, then initiate by blinking in and using telekinesis. Time it well though, you do not want to turn urself over to morphling for a free kill. Time it in such a way that the whole gank is smoothly and successfully done. Do not chase a fleeing enemy with rubick unless you are absolutely sure he's alone, and he's really low on health. Rubick is pretty squishy, even with items, and you're going to have to be careful about walking into ganks. Late game requires a higher level of alertness and caution on your part. Get that right and you should be just fine. If the opponent is pushing, rubick is a great anti pusher with fade bolt, but don't get killed trying. If you play your cards right, the game should wrap up in a bit.

Suitable Allies

Like I've said before, Rubick is a very versatile hero, and would fit in to any scenario well. So its kind of hard to say which heroes are the best allies for rubick. But he works great with disablers and other casters, so here are a few examples.

Counters

Although rubick can use almost every hero's skillset to his advantage, there are some that you cannot steal much from, nor would it do you any good. Its the point and click heroes that im talking about here. Its the normal physical dps guys that can squish rubick the best. Sure, a ghost sceptre or any other disable would help, but eventually you'd be overpowered anyhow. This fact, sadly is also the reason why in certain games, where the carry/carries farm well despite good ganking, rubick loses effectiveness in the later part of the game. This isnt a regular thing, but it aint too uncommon either. Here are some heroes who fall into this category

Best Spells to Steal

This again is very relative and situational. But here are a few spells that will most certainly go a long way.



I could fill up a page listing all the spells that would be always useful, but im gonna stop here. These are just a few. There are many more as well. And it is upto you to analyse the moment, make a decision and pick a spell to steal good luck with that.