What players buy
The items bought most in each of Valve’s four game stages
Public matches · each item’s own count
1stMost bought
194 buys
2ndSecond most
81 buys
3rdThird most
67 buys
4thFourth most
35 buys
5thFifth most
33 buysBy GamGem ResearchLast updated 22 Sept 2026
Magnus
Melee · Universal
- Win rate
- 49.1%
- Pick share
- 1.1%
- Matches
- 490,409
- Patch
- 7.41f
Draft coverage
BringsInitiatorDisablerNukerEscape
NeedsCarrySupportFrontlineTower damage
Recommendation
Pick
- The game is heading for 30–40 min — that is where this hero measures best, at 50.7% over 5,492 matches.
- You are playing around Divine — its strongest medal, 49.8% over 59,465 picks.
Avoid
- Juggernaut is on their side — this hero wins 27.1% of 48 matches against it.
- Rubick is on their side — this hero wins 40.0% of 125 matches against it.
- Keeper of the Light is on their side — this hero wins 26.7% of 30 matches against it.
194 buys81 buys67 buys35 buys33 buys
Skill Order
Which ability to max first, and where each point goes — what most league players on Magnus took at each level.
QShockwave
Magnus sends out a wave of force, damaging enemy units in a line, pulling them towards him, and slowing them for a brief period.
Unit Target · Point Target · Magical damage
WEmpower
When cast on an ally, grants them bonus damage and cleave on attack.
Unit Target
ESkewer
Magnus rushes forward, goring enemy units on his massive tusk.
Point Target · Magical damage
RReverse Polarity
No Target · Magical damage
Max Order
QEW
Max Q first, then E, then W. Most took R at 6 / 13.
Level-up Order
- QShockwave
- WEmpower
- ESkewer
- RReverse Polarity
- TTalent
| Ability | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| QShockwave | Q | Q | Q | Q | Q | |||||||||||
| WEmpower | W | W | W | |||||||||||||
| ESkewer | E | E | E | E | ||||||||||||
| RReverse Polarity | R | R | ||||||||||||||
| TTalent | T | T |
Matchup map
How Magnus performs against every opponent with 30 or more counted games
74 opponents · public matches40%60%Magnus'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”, “knockback”.
- Kill them in one window
Damage that lands now rather than over a minute. Matched on “magical”.
By medal
- Herald46.2%5,701
- Guardian47.7%24,783
- Crusader47.7%56,396
- Archon49.1%98,410
- Legend49.4%124,545
- Ancient49.7%93,222
- Divine49.8%59,465
One count per medal, not one rate split across them; a medal with no counted matches is left out.
By match length
- 0–20 min48.8%3,732
- 20–30 min50.6%9,487
- 30–40 min50.7%5,492
- 40–50 min48.1%2,065
- 50 min +48.6%813
Bands under 120 matches are absent rather than shown small.
Learning Magnus
Abilities
Shockwave
Unit Target · Point Target · Magical damageMagnus sends out a wave of force, damaging enemy units in a line, pulling them towards him, and slowing them for a brief period.
Empower
Unit TargetWhen cast on an ally, grants them bonus damage and cleave on attack. Empower is always on Magnus with 30% larger bonus.
Skewer
Point Target · Magical damageMagnus rushes forward, goring enemy units on his massive tusk. Heroes hit on the way will be dragged to the destination, then damaged and affected by slowed movement speed. The damage is increased based on distance traveled.
Horn Toss
No Target · Hidden · Magical damageMagnus tosses any enemies in front of him, launching them to his rear. Enemies take damage, spend 0.6 seconds in the air, and are stunned while in the air and an additional amount of time after landing.
Solid Core
Passive · HiddenMagnus has increased slow resistance and suffers less knockback from enemy's abilities and items.
Reverse Polarity
No Target · Magical damage
Base attributes
- Strength
- 23 +3.1
- Agility
- 14 +2.0
- Intelligence
- 20 +2.1
- Move · range
- 305 · 200
Talents
- 4Shockwave Returns to MagnusReverse Polarity Stun Duration
- 3Shockwave DamageSkewer Damage Per Distance Travelled
- 2All Attributes per hero hit with Reverse PolaritySkewer Cooldown
- 1+1.5 Mana RegenSkewer Slow Duration
Aghanim’s Scepter
Changes Horn Toss
Magnus tosses any enemies in front of him, launching them to his rear. Enemies take damage, spend 0.6 seconds in the air, and are stunned while in the air and an additional amount of time after landing.
Aghanim’s Shard
Changes Skewer
Increases range and deals additional damage when skewering enemies into trees or cliffs.
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.