What players buy
The items bought most in each of Valve’s four game stages
Public matches · each item’s own count
1stMost bought
148 buys
2ndSecond most
101 buys
3rdThird most
96 buys
4thFourth most
76 buys
5thFifth most
62 buysBy GamGem ResearchLast updated 22 Sept 2026
Grimstroke
Ranged · Intelligence
- Win rate
- 51.6%
- Pick share
- 0.6%
- Matches
- 277,714
- Patch
- 7.41f
Draft coverage
BringsSupportNukerDisablerEscape
NeedsCarryInitiatorFrontlineTower damage
Recommendation
Pick
- The game is heading for 50 min + — that is where this hero measures best, at 51.9% over 838 matches.
- You are playing around Ancient — its strongest medal, 52.1% over 47,081 picks.
Avoid
- Windranger is on their side — this hero wins 32.5% of 77 matches against it.
- Lion is on their side — this hero wins 39.8% of 118 matches against it.
- Batrider is on their side — this hero wins 35.3% of 51 matches against it.
148 buys101 buys96 buys76 buys62 buys
Skill Order
Which ability to max first, and where each point goes — what most league players on Grimstroke took at each level.
QStroke of Fate
Grimstroke paints a curved path of ink with his brush, damaging and slowing enemies.
Point Target · Magical damage
WPhantom's Embrace
Summons a phantom that moves quickly towards the target, latching to it when she arrives.
Unit Target · Magical damage
EInk Swell
Grimstroke shrouds an allied unit in ink, increasing its movement speed.
Unit Target · Magical damage
RSoulbind
Binds a targeted enemy hero to its nearest allied hero within the bind radius, preventing both from moving away from each other.
Unit Target · AOEMax Order
WQE
Max W first, then Q, then E. Most took R at 6 / 13.
Level-up Order
- QStroke of Fate
- WPhantom's Embrace
- EInk Swell
- RSoulbind
- TTalent
| Ability | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| QStroke of Fate | Q | Q | Q | Q | ||||||||||
| WPhantom's Embrace | W | W | W | W | ||||||||||
| EInk Swell | E | E | ||||||||||||
| RSoulbind | R | R | ||||||||||||
| TTalent | T | T |
Matchup map
How Grimstroke performs against every opponent with 30 or more counted games
90 opponents · public matches40%60%Grimstroke's win rate
≥ 60%Very favorable
55 – 60%Favorable
50 – 55%Even
45 – 50%Unfavorable
40 – 45%Hard
< 40%Very hard
If this happens, use this
- They are running away
Something that holds them still, or closes the gap yourself. Matched on “slow”, “stun”.
- Kill them in one window
Damage that lands now rather than over a minute. Matched on “magical”.
- Clear or push the wave
Creeps, summons and anything that hits a building. Matched on “summon”.
- Pressure their mana
Burn it, drain it, or take the spell away entirely. Matched on “silence”.
By medal
- Herald51.6%5,162
- Guardian51.1%18,711
- Crusader51.5%35,745
- Archon51.7%56,042
- Legend51.9%64,162
- Ancient52.1%47,081
- Divine51.7%33,541
One count per medal, not one rate split across them; a medal with no counted matches is left out.
By match length
- 0–20 min41.6%4,402
- 20–30 min46.4%10,688
- 30–40 min48.7%6,437
- 40–50 min50.7%2,376
- 50 min +51.9%838
Bands under 120 matches are absent rather than shown small.
Learning Grimstroke
Abilities
Stroke of Fate
Point Target · Magical damageGrimstroke paints a curved path of ink with his brush, damaging and slowing enemies. The damage is increased with each enemy the ink hits. Can be put on alt-cast to have the path be straight.
Phantom's Embrace
Unit Target · Magical damageSummons a phantom that moves quickly towards the target, latching to it when she arrives. Once latched, the phantom damages and silences. If she survives the full latch duration she rends her victim for heavy damage and refreshes Phantom's Embrace's cooldown. Hero attacks against the phantom count as 3 attacks each.
Ink Swell
Unit Target · Magical damageGrimstroke shrouds an allied unit in ink, increasing its movement speed. Enemies in range of the allied unit are damaged with inky tendrils over time. After 3 seconds it applies damage and stun in an area around the unit in proportion to how long ink tendril was near any hero.
Dark Portrait
Unit Target · HiddenSoulbind
Unit Target · AOEBinds a targeted enemy hero to its nearest allied hero within the bind radius, preventing both from moving away from each other. Any unit-targeted ability that either bound hero receives also gets cast on the other hero. If the bind is broken before the duration expires, the initial target will be bound to its nearest allied hero in the radius.
Ink Trail
Passive · HiddenGrimstroke's attacks and spells cause affected enemy heroes to leave a trail of Ink behind them and deal less damage to Grimstroke for 4s.
Base attributes
- Strength
- 21 +2.4
- Agility
- 18 +1.9
- Intelligence
- 25 +3.8
- Move · range
- 290 · 600
Talents
- 4Ink Swell RadiusStroke of Fate Speed and Travel Range
- 3Stroke of Fate DamageHits to Kill Phantom
- 2Soulbind Spell DamageInk Swell Movement Speed
- 1Phantom's Embrace DPSInk Swell Cooldown
Aghanim’s Scepter
Changes Dark Portrait
Creates an ink illusion of a target enemy hero. Illusion is debuff immune, has 95% magic resistance, and has bonus movement speed and attack damage.
Aghanim’s Shard
Changes Ink Swell
Ink Swell dispels the allied unit when cast. Causes Ink Swell to deal 40% more damage and heal the target for 40% of the damage Ink Swell deals. DISPEL TYPE: Basic Dispel
Sources
- Kit, talents and upgrades · mechanicalread 22 Sept 2026
Ability names, icons, behaviour, damage type and text, plus the Aghanim’s Scepter and Shard descriptions — as the game itself ships them. Nothing here was counted over matches.
- Win rate by medal · countedread 15 Sept 2026
The same hero at each of Valve’s eight medals, over 4,610,063 public matches. Each medal carries its own sample, because the eight buckets are nothing like the same size.
- Matchups and match length · counted, on a narrower windowread 16 Sept 2026
Win rate against each opponent and across five match-length bands. This channel reports far fewer games than the medal figures above: the median hero pairing is 51 matches and the largest on the whole roster is 707. Rows under 30 games are absent rather than shown small, and the ones that remain are ORDERED by a figure shrunk toward even by its own sample — the rate you see is the real one, the ranking is the careful one.
- What players build · countedread 15 Sept 2026
The five most common items in each of Valve’s four game stages, with each row’s own pick count.
- Skill order · counted, in league matchesread 3 Oct 2026
Where skill points go, read off every player's own learning order in premium and professional league matches on patches 7.41 and 7.40. Each level shows the ability most players took there and the share that did — a column only a third agree on is printed as a third, not as the rule. Heroes under 30 counted games show no path.
- Situation index · derived, and checkableread 22 Sept 2026
Each situation is a phrase match against Valve’s own ability text, and every row shows the phrases that matched. No win rate is attached, because nobody counts one per situation.
Mechanics are the ones Valve publishes for patch 7.41f. GamGem is not affiliated with or endorsed by Valve Corporation.