What players buy
The items bought most in each of Valve’s four game stages
Public matches · each item’s own count
1stMost bought
190 buys
2ndSecond most
148 buys
3rdThird most
92 buys
4thFourth most
76 buys
5thFifth most
63 buysBy GamGem ResearchLast updated 22 Sept 2026
Viper
Ranged · Agility
- Win rate
- 48.5%
- Pick share
- 0.8%
- Matches
- 371,496
- Patch
- 7.41f
Draft coverage
BringsCarryDurableInitiatorDisabler
NeedsSupportBurstTower damageEscape
Recommendation
Pick
- The game is heading for 0–20 min — that is where this hero measures best, at 52.9% over 3,239 matches.
- You are playing around Divine — its strongest medal, 48.9% over 21,231 picks.
Avoid
- Windranger is on their side — this hero wins 42.4% of 203 matches against it.
- Slardar is on their side — this hero wins 41.1% of 112 matches against it.
- Venomancer is on their side — this hero wins 35.6% of 45 matches against it.
190 buys148 buys92 buys76 buys63 buys
Skill Order
Which ability to max first, and where each point goes — what most league players on Viper took at each level.
QPoison Attack
Intensifies Viper's venom, adding an effect to his normal attack that applies a stacking movement speed slow and magic resistance deduction while dealing damage over time.
Unit Target · Autocast · Attack Modifier · Magical damage
WNethertoxin
Viper releases a Nethertoxin at the targeted area.
Point Target · AOE · Magical damage
ECorrosive Skin
Viper exudes an infectious toxin that damages and slows the attack speed of any enemy that damages it in a 1200 radius.
Passive · Magical damage
RViper Strike
Viper slows the targeted enemy unit's movement and attack speed while also disabling their passives and dealing poison damage over time.
Unit Target · Magical damageMax Order
EQW
Max E first, then Q, then W. Most took R at 6 / 13.
Level-up Order
- QPoison Attack
- WNethertoxin
- ECorrosive Skin
- RViper Strike
- TTalent
| Ability | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| QPoison Attack | Q | Q | Q | Q | ||||||||||
| WNethertoxin | W | W | W | |||||||||||
| ECorrosive Skin | E | E | E | E | ||||||||||
| RViper Strike | R | R | ||||||||||||
| TTalent | T |
Matchup map
How Viper performs against every opponent with 30 or more counted games
104 opponents · public matches40%60%Viper'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”.
By medal
- Herald48.0%17,546
- Guardian47.6%45,445
- Crusader48.1%62,391
- Archon48.4%71,905
- Legend48.5%64,293
- Ancient48.4%36,729
- Divine48.9%21,231
One count per medal, not one rate split across them; a medal with no counted matches is left out.
By match length
- 0–20 min52.9%3,239
- 20–30 min50.4%6,422
- 30–40 min47.2%4,732
- 40–50 min46.5%2,117
- 50 min +45.9%974
Bands under 120 matches are absent rather than shown small.
Learning Viper
Abilities
Poison Attack
Unit Target · Autocast · Attack Modifier · Magical damageIntensifies Viper's venom, adding an effect to his normal attack that applies a stacking movement speed slow and magic resistance deduction while dealing damage over time. Stacks up to 6 times.
Nethertoxin
Point Target · AOE · Magical damageViper releases a Nethertoxin at the targeted area. Units in that area take an increasing damage over time based on how long they remain in it. Units in it have their attack speed slowed.
Corrosive Skin
Passive · Magical damageViper exudes an infectious toxin that damages and slows the attack speed of any enemy that damages it in a 1200 radius. The acid exudate also increases Viper's resistance to magic.
Nosedive
Point Target · AOE · Magical damageViper slams into the ground, releasing a Nethertoxin and splattering each enemy in a 500 AoE for 4 seconds with the effect of Corrosive Skin.
Predator
Passive · Physical damageViper Strike
Unit Target · Magical damageViper slows the targeted enemy unit's movement and attack speed while also disabling their passives and dealing poison damage over time. The slowing effect reduces over the duration of the poison.
Base attributes
- Strength
- 21 +2.4
- Agility
- 21 +2.9
- Intelligence
- 17 +2.0
- Move · range
- 275 · 575
Talents
- 4Nethertoxin Radius increases by everyViper Strike Mana Cost / Cooldown
- 3Viper Strike DPSPredator Damage Per Missing Health
- 2Nethertoxin Min/Max DamagePoison Attack Slow / Damage
- 1Viper Strike DurationCorrosive Skin Damage Per Second
Aghanim’s Scepter
Changes Nosedive
Viper slams into the ground, releasing a Nethertoxin and splattering each enemy in a 500 AoE for 4 seconds with the effect of Corrosive Skin.
Aghanim’s Shard
Changes Poison Attack
Increases max stacks, and causes Poison Attack to lower armor per stack and to affect buildings for reduced damage.
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.