At TI7, Empire infamously threw a game after getting megas with a 24k gold lead (highlights). What should you do to avoid the same fate?

Don’t shove lanes

With megas, lanes push in fast on their own. If you don’t shove lanes, you’ll never be seen.

Lane creeps are worth a lot of gold, so it feels wrong to ignore them. But since you control all the bounties and the entire jungle, that’s gold you don’t need. You still get 1,000+ gold/min over your opponent doing this.

People break this rule all the time. That juicy farm is tempting.

Vision is everything. If the enemy never knows where you are, then every fight is taken on your terms. That alone is an almost decisive advantage.

However, if the enemy simply camps their throne challenging you to break through, then you need a plan to do so.

Take your time

You have plenty of time to prepare. There’s no need to rush.

Megas give almost no experience. The enemy Oracle with a Force Staff isn’t getting any last hits, and the six-slotted cores who can actually kill megas can’t do much with that gold. They’re not getting any stronger.

In most games, simply waiting for the next rosh is enough to secure the win. In some cases, you need to get even stronger.

Get six-slotted on everyone

Ancient Apparition benefits from gold just as well as Anti-Mage. Your team isn’t maxed out if your supports are still walking around with poverty items.

They need to actually buy good items, though. Support players often have no imagination for a fully maxed out build. They’re used to being poor.

Compare these AA builds:

The first build is Miposhka’s final items in a 128 minute game. His most expensive item costs 4.2k, and some of them are as cheap as 2k. The other builds are some I came up with. You be the judge.

Don’t buyback

Buybacks are a precious resource. With megas, you aren’t forced to use them, so don’t.

A hero with no buyback has to play safer. They won’t do as much in fights. If they die, the enemy has an opening to win.

Get their buybacks, then win

When you go to break through, you first go with 6 lives (aegis) against their 10 (buybacks). If you don’t win here, you’ll get some buybacks out of them. Your heroes will respawn in 2 minutes, and then you’re ready to go again.

Next time you go with 5 lives against their ~8. The heroes without buyback must play safer, so they’re weaker. You can focus your initiation on them and turn it into an immediate 4v5. If you don’t win here, it’s the same as before.

It’s been about 6 minutes since the enemy’s first buyback. It’s here where you use your buybacks. If you timed rosh well, you can get another aegis before going all-in. You’ll have 11 lives against maybe 6. If you don’t win here, then you were never going to win anyway.