Jingjun “Sneyking” Wu has already even and truly proven he’s a pioneer when it comes to Dota 2 decisions and strategies after captaining Tundra Esports to their emphatic win at The International 11, but that didn’t stop him from doing it again by buying a Heart of Tarrasque on Rubick in a professional match today.
Sneyking did it in the final match of the series against Into The Breach in the DPC Winter Tour, helping his team secure the win to put them in second place under Liquid.
As South African statsman Ben “Noxville” Steenhuisen pointed out, it was the first time someone has done it in a little under ten years, and only the second time in pro Dota 2 history. The last player who did it was a South-East Asian player who went by the names of ‘nza’ and ‘bleak.’ He did it in a qualification match, and like Sneyking, won.
Heart of Tarrasque isn’t a common item on Rubick because it’s quite expensive (5,000 gold) and adds 45 strength, 250 health, and 1.6 percent max health regeneration. In theory, it’s a far better pick for tanks.
But as most seasoned Dota 2 players have learned by now, there is a time and place for just about every hero and item combination, even the most bizarre ones, and pros like Sneyking are better than anyone at figuring out when to do it, and why.
He bought it right at the end of the game with only two minutes left, and since it was a long game in which everyone was beefy, it gave him the extra survivability he needed to do everything he needed to do in the last fight, which ended up being a clean team wipe with no casualties. The buy, as wild as it was, actually pushed them to a win.
Another ten years may pass before we see a pro do it again, but there’s a good chance we’ll see average players pick it up in pubs for no reason other than to mimic him.
