Crash Landing: The Feature Propelling Tiny to the Top of the Current Dota 2 Meta

Among the various features introduced in Dota 2 patch 7.36, Tiny’s Crash Landing stands out as one of the most powerful, elevating him to a formidable mid-hero.

Features were introduced in Dota 2 patch 7.36 alongside innate abilities. Some are impressive, while others are overlooked due to needing significant buffs. However, a few features make certain heroes feel overpowered, and Tiny’s Crash Landing is one such feature. This has made him a dominant force in the mid-lane since the release of patch 7.36.

Crash Landing

So what exactly does Crash Landing do? It boosts Toss damage, with the increased scaling with Toss levels! Essentially, the landing damage of Toss increases by 25%/30%/35%/40% as the skill level of Toss rises. This means every enemy unit at the landing location is hit with this bonus damage. Additionally, it reduces the movement and attack speed of all affected enemies, adding an extra layer of disruption to his heavy damage.

Toss alone deals 320 damage at level 4. Moreover, each level of Grow enhances Toss damage by 100/250/400. The damage boost from Crash Landing applies only to the base Toss damage, not the additional damage provided by Grow.

Toss Damage

Heroes have an innate base magic resistance of 25%, which increases by 1% for every 10 bits of intelligence. Here’s a look at the Toss damage numbers with and without Crash Landing.

The significant increase in Toss damage at level 4 with maxed-out Grow initially draws attention. This is a notable 17.8% damage boost, translating to an increase from 540 to 636 after the 25% reduction. However, this is not the only factor that makes the Stone Giant a mid-lane terror.

When playing mid-lane with Crash Landing, the optimal skill build is 1-4-1-1 at level 7, maxing out Toss and having one level in the other three skills. At level 7, with Crash Landing, Toss deals 411 damage, which is substantial that early in the game! This amounts to a 30.5% damage increase due to the feature.

As long as Tiny has a decent laning phase and rotates to the side lanes at level 7, he can deal significant damage with Toss. Toss alone deals 411 damage, Avalanche and Toss together deal 471 damage, and if Tiny lands the Ava-Toss combo on a hero, which deals 100% more Avalanche damage, the total damage jumps to 531. Level 7 for a mid-laner usually occurs around the 8-10 minute mark, when side laners are level 4 or 5. Most heroes at that level can't withstand such high damage, which can be further amplified with Tree Throw. This damage output is not only excellent for ganking but also for farming. Farming stacks (excluding ancients) becomes incredibly easy and efficient with the Ava-Toss combo, requiring only a Bottle and Soul Ring for mana.

At level 18, this combo damage rises to 1191, which might not be exceptionally high in the mid-game, especially with teams itemizing against magic damage. However, by then, Tiny can transition to a hybrid damage build, combining the Ava-Toss combo’s magic damage with powerful right clicks using a tree trunk. Tiny’s versatility allows various item builds as the game progresses. He can shift to a right-click role, obtain an Aghanim’s Scepter for burst damage with Tree Volley, or move to a position 3 role, initiating fights by Tossing an enemy hero out of position.

The success of mid-Tiny with the Crash Landing feature relies on effective early-game rotations. According to Dotabuff, Tiny is currently the second most popular hero in pubs (with Pudge always in first) and has a win rate of 51.92%. In Divine and Immortal brackets, his mid-lane win rate rises to 54.54%! This feature is likely to be nerfed in the next patch, whether it’s a balance patch or Dota 2 patch 7.37. But until then, mid-Tiny is an excellent way to rack up wins. Even after the expected nerf, as long as the concept remains unchanged, this will continue to be Tiny’s most popular feature due to its potential for a strong early game and snowballing effect.