What players buy
The items bought most in each of Valve’s four game stages
Public matches · each item’s own count
1stMost bought
140 buys
2ndSecond most
89 buys
3rdThird most
88 buys
4thFourth most
76 buys
5thFifth most
65 buysBy GamGem ResearchLast updated 22 Sept 2026
Venomancer
Ranged · Universal
- Win rate
- 47.5%
- Pick share
- 0.7%
- Matches
- 324,162
- Patch
- 7.41f
Draft coverage
BringsSupportNukerInitiatorPusherDisabler
NeedsCarryFrontlineEscape
Recommendation
Pick
- The game is heading for 0–20 min — that is where this hero measures best, at 54.5% over 2,347 matches.
- You are playing around Herald — its strongest medal, 48.9% over 9,998 picks.
Avoid
- Ember Spirit is on their side — this hero wins 38.6% of 83 matches against it.
- Legion Commander is on their side — this hero wins 35.7% of 42 matches against it.
- Invoker is on their side — this hero wins 41.4% of 70 matches against it.
140 buys89 buys88 buys76 buys65 buys
Skill Order
Which ability to max first, and where each point goes — what most league players on Venomancer took at each level.
QVenomous Gale
Launches a ball of venom in a line, poisoning enemy units so that they take both initial damage and damage over time, as well as suffering slowed movement.
AOE · Point Target · Magical damage
WSnakebite
Venomancer summons a Spawn of Aktok to sink its fangs into a target, dealing magic damage and applying a toxin that does damage every second.
Unit Target · Magical damage
EPlague Ward
Summons a plague ward to attack enemy units and structures.
Point Target · Physical damage
RNoxious Plague
Infects an enemy with a plague that does damage on application then slows the target and deals damage over time based on their maximum health.
Unit Target · Magical damageMax Order
EQW
Max E first, then Q, then W. Most took R at 6 / 13.
Level-up Order
- QVenomous Gale
- WSnakebite
- EPlague Ward
- RNoxious Plague
- TTalent
| Ability | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| QVenomous Gale | Q | Q | Q | Q | ||||||||||||
| WSnakebite | W | W | W | W | ||||||||||||
| EPlague Ward | E | E | E | E | ||||||||||||
| RNoxious Plague | R | R | ||||||||||||||
| TTalent | T | T |
Matchup map
How Venomancer performs against every opponent with 30 or more counted games
82 opponents · public matches40%60%Venomancer'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”.
- Kill them in one window
Damage that lands now rather than over a minute. Matched on “magical”, “damage over time”.
- Clear or push the wave
Creeps, summons and anything that hits a building. Matched on “summon”.
By medal
- Herald48.9%9,998
- Guardian47.9%32,349
- Crusader47.4%54,347
- Archon47.8%71,374
- Legend47.4%67,974
- Ancient46.6%39,091
- Divine46.1%19,598
One count per medal, not one rate split across them; a medal with no counted matches is left out.
By match length
- 0–20 min54.5%2,347
- 20–30 min51.5%5,171
- 30–40 min51.1%3,533
- 40–50 min48.8%1,467
- 50 min +50.8%703
Bands under 120 matches are absent rather than shown small.
Learning Venomancer
Abilities
Venomous Gale
AOE · Point Target · Magical damageLaunches a ball of venom in a line, poisoning enemy units so that they take both initial damage and damage over time, as well as suffering slowed movement. Venomous Gale deals damage every 3 seconds over its duration.
Snakebite
Unit Target · Magical damageVenomancer summons a Spawn of Aktok to sink its fangs into a target, dealing magic damage and applying a toxin that does damage every second. When the target attacks while infected, they take the initial damage again.
Plague Ward
Point Target · Physical damageSummons a plague ward to attack enemy units and structures. The ward is immune to magic. Wards gain the Poison Sting level from Venomancer, dealing 50% of the full damage.
Poison Sting
Passive · Hidden · Magical damageVenomancer's attacks slow enemies and deal damage over time.
Noxious Plague
Unit Target · Magical damageInfects an enemy with a plague that does damage on application then slows the target and deals damage over time based on their maximum health. When the debuff ends for any reason, all debuffs from Venomancer on the initial target and the plague are spread to nearby targets. Additional spreads beyond the first do not deal impact damage.
Base attributes
- Strength
- 19 +2.1
- Agility
- 25 +2.8
- Intelligence
- 19 +1.8
- Move · range
- 280 · 450
Talents
- 4Snakebite Undispellablex Plague Ward HP/Damage
- 3Snakebite DamagePlague Ward Cooldown
- 2Noxious Plague Spread RadiusPoison Sting Slow
- 1Venomous Gale CDPoison Sting Health Regen Reduction
Aghanim’s Scepter
Changes Noxious Plague
Decreases cooldown by 35 seconds. Infected units have decreased magic resistance. Additional spreads from hero targets deal full impact damage.
Aghanim’s Shard
Changes Venomous Gale
Increases cast range and projectile speed by 25%. When Venomous Gale impacts enemy heroes, 2 Plague Wards are created around them.
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.