What players buy
The items bought most in each of Valve’s four game stages
Public matches · each item’s own count
1stMost bought
248 buys
2ndSecond most
109 buys
3rdThird most
68 buys
4thFourth most
41 buys
5thFifth most
41 buysBy GamGem ResearchLast updated 22 Sept 2026
Lycan
Melee · Strength
- Win rate
- 48.2%
- Pick share
- 0.1%
- Matches
- 59,746
- Patch
- 7.41f
Draft coverage
BringsCarryPusherDurableEscape
NeedsSupportInitiatorDisablerBurst
Recommendation
Pick
- The game is heading for 0–20 min — that is where this hero measures best, at 69.2% over 2,658 matches.
- You are playing around Divine — its strongest medal, 51.8% over 6,657 picks.
Avoid
- Terrorblade is on their side — this hero wins 39.7% of 78 matches against it.
- Leshrac is on their side — this hero wins 33.3% of 30 matches against it.
- Beastmaster is on their side — this hero wins 40.4% of 52 matches against it.
248 buys109 buys68 buys41 buys41 buys
Skill Order
Which ability to max first, and where each point goes — what most league players on Lycan took at each level.
QSummon Wolves
Summons 2 wolves to aid Lycan in battle.
No Target
WHowl
Strikes fear into enemies, reducing armor and attack damage of all enemies within 2000 range of Lycan and his wolves.
No Target
EFeral Impulse
Increases the HP regeneration and damage of Lycan and all units under his control.
Passive
RShapeshift
Lycan assumes his lupine form, granting him critical strikes and added vision at night.
No TargetMax Order
QEW
Max Q first, then E, then W. Most took R at 6 / 13.
Level-up Order
- QSummon Wolves
- WHowl
- EFeral Impulse
- RShapeshift
- TTalent
| Ability | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| QSummon Wolves | Q | Q | Q | Q | ||||||||||||
| WHowl | W | W | W | W | ||||||||||||
| EFeral Impulse | E | E | E | E | ||||||||||||
| RShapeshift | R | R | ||||||||||||||
| TTalent | T | T |
Matchup map
How Lycan performs against every opponent with 30 or more counted games
59 opponents · public matches40%60%Lycan'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”.
- I am being jumped
A way out, a way to shrug the debuff, or something to eat the burst. Matched on “invisib”.
- Kill them in one window
Damage that lands now rather than over a minute. Matched on “critical”.
- Clear or push the wave
Creeps, summons and anything that hits a building. Matched on “creep”, “summon”.
- Stay in lane
Healing, regeneration or lifesteal — not having to walk back. Matched on “healing”, “regenerat”, “lifesteal”.
- See what is coming
Vision, or true sight against something invisible. Matched on “vision”.
By medal
- Herald48.5%1,820
- Guardian45.9%4,874
- Crusader46.3%8,037
- Archon47.5%10,395
- Legend47.6%10,609
- Ancient49.5%7,678
- Divine51.8%6,657
One count per medal, not one rate split across them; a medal with no counted matches is left out.
By match length
- 0–20 min69.2%2,658
- 20–30 min56.3%4,686
- 30–40 min48.1%2,969
- 40–50 min46.1%1,245
- 50 min +47.9%536
Bands under 120 matches are absent rather than shown small.
Learning Lycan
Abilities
Summon Wolves
No TargetSummons 2 wolves to aid Lycan in battle. At level 3, wolves gain Permanent Invisibility, and at level 4 wolves gain Cripple that gives 20% chance to cripple the target, causing 8 damage per second and lose 60 attack speed for 4 seconds.
Howl
No TargetStrikes fear into enemies, reducing armor and attack damage of all enemies within 2000 range of Lycan and his wolves. At night, Howl's armor and attack damage reductions are global.
Feral Impulse
PassiveIncreases the HP regeneration and damage of Lycan and all units under his control.
Wolf Bite
Unit Target · HiddenLycan bites an allied hero or creep-hero, granting them Shapeshift properties. Lycan and the bitten target gain 40% Lifesteal and share the healing effect of Lifesteal with each other as long as they are within 1200 range of each other.
Apex Predator
PassiveLycan and units he controls deal extra damage to neutral creeps.
Shapeshift
No TargetLycan assumes his lupine form, granting him critical strikes and added vision at night. During Shapeshift, Lycan moves at increased speed and cannot be slowed. Movement and critical strike bonuses are also applied to all units under Lycan's control.
Base attributes
- Strength
- 28 +3.4
- Agility
- 18 +1.7
- Intelligence
- 23 +1.7
- Move · range
- 305 · 150
Talents
- 4Summon Wolves BATHowl Reduces Total Attack Damage
- 3Shapeshift DurationFeral Impulse Damage
- 2Summon Wolves HealthShapeshift Cooldown
- 1Howl Armor ReductionWolves Damage
Aghanim’s Scepter
Changes Wolf Bite
Lycan bites an allied hero or creep-hero, granting them Shapeshift properties. Lycan and the bitten target gain 40% Lifesteal and share the healing effect of Lifesteal with each other as long as they are within 1200 range of each other.
Aghanim’s Shard
Changes Summon Wolves
Increases the number of wolves summoned. Grants all summoned wolves the ability Hightail, an active ability that gives them phased movement, evasion, movespeed, and attack speed.
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.