What players buy
The items bought most in each of Valve’s four game stages
Public matches · each item’s own count
1stMost bought
76 buys
2ndSecond most
70 buys
3rdThird most
66 buys
4thFourth most
54 buys
5thFifth most
49 buysBy GamGem ResearchLast updated 22 Sept 2026
Nyx Assassin
Melee · Universal
- Win rate
- 52.2%
- Pick share
- 0.6%
- Matches
- 260,483
- Patch
- 7.41f
Draft coverage
BringsDisablerNukerInitiatorEscape
NeedsCarrySupportFrontlineTower damage
Recommendation
Pick
- The game is heading for 40–50 min — that is where this hero measures best, at 53.6% over 2,435 matches.
- You are playing around Divine — its strongest medal, 52.8% over 29,155 picks.
Avoid
- Venomancer is on their side — this hero wins 35.1% of 37 matches against it.
- Terrorblade is on their side — this hero wins 38.8% of 49 matches against it.
- Largo is on their side — this hero wins 41.2% of 51 matches against it.
76 buys70 buys66 buys54 buys49 buys
Skill Order
Which ability to max first, and where each point goes — what most league players on Nyx Assassin took at each level.
QImpale
Rock spikes burst from the earth along a straight path.
Point Target · Magical damage
WMind Flare
Deals damage equal to a percentage of the target's Max Mana and burns part of it away.
Unit Target · AOE · Magical damage
ESpiked Carapace
When activated while above ground, Spiked Carapace reflects and negates damage dealt to Nyx Assassin (max once from each source), as well as stunning the source of the damage.
No Target · Instant Cast
RVendetta
Nyx Assassin becomes invisible and gains a speed bonus.
Instant Cast · No Target · Pure damageMax Order
QEW
Max Q first, then E, then W. Most took R at 6 / 13.
Level-up Order
- QImpale
- WMind Flare
- ESpiked Carapace
- RVendetta
- TTalent
| Ability | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| QImpale | Q | Q | Q | Q | ||||||||||||
| WMind Flare | W | W | W | W | ||||||||||||
| ESpiked Carapace | E | E | E | E | ||||||||||||
| RVendetta | R | R | ||||||||||||||
| TTalent | T | T |
Matchup map
How Nyx Assassin performs against every opponent with 30 or more counted games
80 opponents · public matches40%60%Nyx Assassin'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 “stun”.
- 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 “magical”, “pure”.
- Pressure their mana
Burn it, drain it, or take the spell away entirely. Matched on “mana”.
By medal
- Herald52.7%5,097
- Guardian51.4%18,702
- Crusader52.1%34,893
- Archon52.2%50,839
- Legend52.3%58,210
- Ancient52.5%43,002
- Divine52.8%29,155
One count per medal, not one rate split across them; a medal with no counted matches is left out.
By match length
- 0–20 min51.1%3,785
- 20–30 min53.4%8,869
- 30–40 min52.8%6,033
- 40–50 min53.6%2,435
- 50 min +52.8%1,055
Bands under 120 matches are absent rather than shown small.
Learning Nyx Assassin
Abilities
Impale
Point Target · Magical damageRock spikes burst from the earth along a straight path. Enemy units take damage, then are hurled into the air and stunned.
Mind Flare
Unit Target · AOE · Magical damageDeals damage equal to a percentage of the target's Max Mana and burns part of it away. Deals additional damage equal to a percentage of the damage the target has taken from Nyx Assassin in the last 15s. Resets accumulated damage before applying damage.
Spiked Carapace
No Target · Instant CastWhen activated while above ground, Spiked Carapace reflects and negates damage dealt to Nyx Assassin (max once from each source), as well as stunning the source of the damage. Activating Spiked Carapace will not break Vendetta invisibility. While Burrowed, Spiked Carapace instantly stuns nearby enemies when cast.
Burrow
No Target · HiddenNyx Assassin buries himself beneath the battlefield over a short duration. Once burrowed, Spiked Carapace instantly stuns nearby enemies when cast, the range of Mind Flare and Impale is increased, and Impale's cooldown is decreased. While burrowed, Nyx Assassin is stationary, unable to attack, and invisible. Nyx Assassin gains damage reduction from all damage sources.
Mana Burn
Passive · HiddenNyx Assassin's damage on enemies also burns mana as a percentage of the damage dealt.
Vendetta
Instant Cast · No Target · Pure damageNyx Assassin becomes invisible and gains a speed bonus. If Nyx Assassin attacks to break the invisibility, massive bonus damage is dealt with the attack that applies a break to the target. Nyx Assassin has 75 additional attack range and a 70% faster attack animation for this attack.
Base attributes
- Strength
- 17 +2.7
- Agility
- 18 +2.9
- Intelligence
- 21 +2.6
- Move · range
- 310 · 150
Talents
- 4Mind Flare Radius+80 Agility
- 3Spiked Carapace Stun DurationImpale Damage
- 2Vendetta DamageMind Flare Cooldown
- 1Spiked Carapace Damage ReflectImpale Stun Duration
Aghanim’s Scepter
Changes Burrow
Nyx Assassin buries himself beneath the battlefield over a short duration. Once burrowed, Spiked Carapace instantly stuns nearby enemies when cast, the range of Mind Flare and Impale is increased, and Impale's cooldown is decreased. While burrowed, Nyx Assassin is stationary, unable to attack, and invisible. Nyx Assassin gains damage reduction from all damage sources.
Aghanim’s Shard
Changes Vendetta
Decreases cooldown by 10s. For the first 15s of Vendetta, Nyx is hasted and has unobstructed pathing.
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.