Anubis - MegaDeath

Hi all, I'll show here my build for Anubis in mid lane. Very effective if you know your god, and you know the match-ups.
I'll try to detail here the main aspects of Anubis as I play him, you can judge and comment but keep in mind that I'm not trying to be pro or pretending that this is absolutely right. It's just my way to destruction.

PROS :

Extremely powerful, one-shot ult combo
Good minion farming
Terrifying 1v1
Even with a bad start, can catch up quite easily
I mean, Anubis, right ? Do I need to continue ?

Squishy as hell (get it ?)
No escape (you won't need it)
2/4 abilities paralyze him
Initiation may be tricky

This section will try to help you to understand which item to pick, depending on the Mid lane match-up.

Against Anubis :

Everything will depend on his build. If you feel good with it, you can start with the Doom Orb and play very safely for about the 10 first minutes of the game.
I suggest you to pick the Book of Toth, the Rod of Tahuti and the Bancroft's Talon.
Build magical protection (with the Void Stone for example) isn't a good idea because of Anubis' passive. The enemy god will steal your Magical Protection with his abilities, that's why you have to be quite passive in the beginning but aggressive as soon as your Magical Power gets significantly higher than your opponent's

Against He Bo :

Picking the Doom Orb isn't a bad idea, but risky because He Bo is very mobile with his River and his ult, and he's able to control your movement with his geyser.
I suggest you Boots of Magi in first item, and then the Void Stone, which will prevent taking too much damage from harassment.

Against Agni :

Not much to fear here, Agni is really squishy too. I suggest you Doom Orb -> Boots of the Magi -> Void Stone -> Book of Toth

Against Ao Kuang :

You may want to pick Bancroft's talon to have some Magical Lifesteal, cause Ao's tornadoes are a real plague.

Against Anhur :

Standard build, there's no point in build Physical Defense cause Anhur will build Executioner

Against Hel :

You're pretty free to do what you want here, Hel became less hyperactive since the last patch

Against Ra :

Be careful with the Doom Orb here if you pick it, cause Ra kills the minions waves more quickly than you do and you can't really engage him if you're not sure to one-shot him. A Ra building tanky is a real plague, you can start with Spear of the Magus to prevent this build. After the boots, pick Void Stone and then Obsidian Shard if you need it.

Against Zeus :

You're pretty safe against Zeus until he starts to up his 1 ability, which will add more "bounces" to his Lightning Chain. So build MOAR DAMAGE ! Doom Orb -> Boots of the Magi -> Book of Toth

Against Kali :

RUN ! Kali is the worst enemy you can get in middle lane. Switch with someone if you can. If you can't, remember not to expand because Kali can trigger her ult, and you can't stun her during the 5 most painful seconds of your life.

Against Artemis :

I've rarely met Artemis in middle lane in the past few weeks, just remember to pick Purification Beads to escape his Boar + Trap combo.

Let's analyze the skills.

- 1 : Plague of Locusts
Very powerful spell if you manage to cast it for its whole length. At level 1, you can kill a whole minion wave with this one spell. But you'll have to put yourself in a dangerous, exposed position, and you don't want to pick this one first.
MAX THIS SKILL IN A SECOND TIME

- 2 : Mummify
A snare in a straight line. Be careful ! It's not instant so you'll have to anticipate your opponent's direction. That's why I want you to be very aware of his pattern of movement as soon as the game begins. You'll have to consider the dashes / jumps / speed buffs so that you won't be surprised. It can be helpful to run away, and a trick that I like is to run backwards and fire the bandage when your opponent is out of range but runs right into it.
Focus increases this ability's duration from 1.5s to 2.5s
MAX THIS SKILL LAST

- 3 : Grasping hands
The most powerful spell. Deals a huge amount of damage and slows the enemies. You can use it to slow your enemies to run away, you can use it to catch up a fleeing enemy, and its AoE will help you in many other ways.
For example,when mid laning with Anubis, you may want to kill minions with Grasping hands, landing it just before the first melee minion walks through it. I always try to put Grasping hands down not exactly in the middle of the lane, but close to a wall where the enemy god is, so that he'll have either to take the damage + be slowed if he wants to attack me, or to get around the minions and the spot of the hands, which gives you at least 1 precious second.
MAX THIS SKILL FIRST

- 4 : Death Gaze
So powerful ultimate, but it a double-edged sword. It deals a huge amount of damage every 0.3 second for 3 seconds, but it's also hard to make profit of it. If your opponent is not stunned or uses Purification Beads, I suggest you to interrupt the ult by right-clicking and run away if he's too aggressive.
Death Gaze can be a good way to finish a fleeing enemy because it has the longest range of Anubis' toolbox
MAX THIS ULT AS SOON AS YOU CAN

First ability to pick : Grasping Hands

In the first mid laning phase, you may want to kill minions with Grasping hands, landing it just before the first melee minion walks through it. Then, auto attack the first and second minion wave. I always try to put Grasping hands down not exactly in the middle of the lane, but close to a wall where the enemy god is, so that he'll have either to take the damage + be slowed if he wants to attack me, or to get around the minions and the spot of the hands, which gives you at least 1 precious second.

Level 2, I suggest to pick Plague of Locusts.
If you feel comfortable in your match-up (i.e not aggressive opponent, short / mid-ranged god), you can kill a whole minion wave with it, but this implies taking the risk of standing just new to the wall, which is something you don't really want against Anhur for example. In the same time, be sure you don't aggro the minions by hitting the enemy god.

Level 3, pick your Mummify. This is the first window where you may take the first risk : try to engage your opponent OUT OF HIS TOWER'S RANGE ofc. You have to Mummify him and instantly put your Grasping Hands down, and your Plague of Locusts. Try to kill as many minions as possible with this combo, because you'll be naked during the cooldowns. The best option is to wait for your opponent to trigger one of his damaging abilities to start your combo, so you can run without taking too much damage and eventually have your minions to finish him if he counters.
Don't hesitate to drink 1 health potion before initiating if you're not full HP and you want to kill him.

/!\ This attack is not meant to kill the enemy, but to scare him /!\

When your ultimate is ready, go in for the kill ! Best combo (after a failed initiation from the opponent or after he uses a damaging ability to kill minions) is Mummify + instant Grasping Hands (it's perfect if you land it down with your opponent on the border of the circle so that he'll take more damage when he'll get out of the stun) and Death Gaze. Try to keep your enemy in the gaze until the last drop if you don't fear a counter attack

If you killed the enemy god, finish the minion wave, and [VCB] Return to base ! to finish your Doom Orb (+ eventually start your Boots of the Magi)
If you didn't and you both are alive, the health + mana potions will help you to stay in the lane, and you want to stay longer than your opponent.
If you're dead, don't dramatize it, don't lose confidence.Just analyze where the engagement turn into his favor and not yours : too much enemy minions ? Too close to them ? Enemy god with all abilities ready ?

Then, farm minions and try to "harass" your opponent with Grasping Hands put down on the side of the lane. Keep in mind that you have now to one-shot your opponent, and you'll have to have 20-25 stacks at least to drop your ultimate combo.

But be careful ! With the focus system, your opponent in only stunned for 1.5s, and you'll have to deal all the damage in 2 seconds (stun + time where the enemy god panics)

I know that that mid game can be very inconstant. But I'll try to explain here the different states of mind to be in.

This is generally the time where you have to pick the Purification Beads and Aegis Amulet to survive against combos or ganks.

- If you died more than 2 times, be very passive and stay under the tower to farm minions. Be careful about enemy harassment, and go pick the neutral Furies on your side to gain stacks.

- If you're fed by your oppponent, go gank the side lanes ! The timing that I love is to engage the enemy just after a stun from my team's Ymir for example. You can stay hidden in the jungle, attempt to appear from behind them (be careful about minion aggro though) or just run into them if the 2 laners follow. If your Mummify lands on the enemy, 3vs1 and it's done.
Then, make sure you warn your teammates [VSTB] I'm returning Middle Lane ! and go either straight to mid, or go back to base and shop before it.

- If neither you or your opponent takes an advantage, continue to farm minions, raise your stack number higher and higher and be careful about ganks, because dying makes you lose all your work on the Doom Orb.

Go for the Red Buff as soon as you can, you can also bait your opponent : go hide in the Red Buff's ring with your stun ready and make Death rain ![/list]

In late game, you'll want to build Magical Penetration against Heavy Anti-Magical Tanks.
The best Magical Penetration item in late game is the Obsidian Shard of course.

With your huge amount of mana from the Book of Toth + Lifesteal from Bancroft's Talon, you can push for a really long time, but when most towers are down, don't go alone.

Never go too forth in the lanes, even if you can easily replace your Doom Orb's stacks, you'll wait a long time before each respawn because of your high level.

You can sell your Doom Orb in order to get the Gem of Isolation for example, or even Hide of the Leviathan if you like to get less CC

Keep in mind that if the enemy team has a permanent jungler, you'll be exposed to frequent ganks.
Things you SHOULD NOT do in mid lane with an enemy in the jungle :

- overextend
- tower dive an enemy
-

- put at least one ward on each way into the jungle on the center of middle lane (next to the red buff)
- pay attention to your game sound : you can hear the jungler hitting the red buff even if you're in the lane
- always make sure that you have a safe way to retreat after engaging a god : you'll be damaged and you don't want to be caught
- don't engage when you see Arachne hiding in the jungle near you. Arachne can make the battle go her way with her Drain Life and her Poison Claws

Anubis and Ymir really mess up against the enemy. 2 stuns, 3 slows and Ymir's wall => the enemy goes to the grave by himself.

With Ares, a good grab can get you a penta kill : don't hesitate to stay back and land your Grapsing Hands down and your ult as soon as the enemies are pulled under Ares.

With Arachne : same as Ares, but you can only drop your Grasping Hands + Plague of Locusts because Arachne will manage the opponent in melee range

With Odin : be careful, I don't think that your ult goes through the Ring of Spears, but you can land your Grasping Hands without any problem

In conclusion, you control here one of the most powerful gods in 1vs1, but be more clever than your opponent and engage in the best conditions for you. Fight near your teammates, don't hang out alone in the jungle for too long, and make sure you won't be caught by the whole enemy team in late game.

Anubis is not meant to kill Towers or Phoenixes, leave this to carry ADs. He's meant to destroy and control the way the team fight goes.

I hope you enjoyed this guide, please uprate me and let me know if you found any mistakes. I apologize for my English, I know it's not perfect but I'm working on it !