Wtzky's beginners guide to Shadow Era heroes
Now that the pure of heart Human Hunters have been analysed, let’s take some time too look at the evil Shadow Hunters… Banebow is a hero that was initially overlooked when 1.5 first came out. Until Sisyphos jumped to the top of the quick match leader board exclusively using Banebow. He is now recognised as a strong hero, and one that can certainly dish it out with the best.
Banebow
Faction: Shadow
Class: Hunter
Tier: 1.5
Utilisation: Despite how strong a good Banebow can be, he is still not seen as often as you would expect in tournaments and at the higher levels of quick match. This underutilisation is possibly related to the fact that Banebow is not an easy hero to play effectively.
Pros and Cons (explanations after table):
Pros: Spammable ability 1 Great against weenie rush decks as is consistently good going first or second1 Versatile – can play rush or control style quite well2 Has spare Shadow Energy to use for other things 3 Cons: Feeble card draw engine (but slightly better at it than other Hunters) 4 Struggles against certain ally combinations5
1 Banebow got a nice buff to his ability. His damage is now no longer reducible by other ally abilities and he now has an ability that is very spammable and exerts very nice control over the board. He has a very strong early board presence, thanks in part to this ability, and is often seen heading into the mid game with the board nicely controlled. Going first OR second he can use weenies or ability cards in conjunction with his ability to consolidate his board until he can place his all important beefier allies down. Turns 3 or 4 are what make or break a good Banebow – it will either set your mid game up for a win, or give you a real struggle. All in all there are many ways to approach the early game with Banebow, but whichever way you build your deck, Banebow should be able to consistently compete for the all important early board.
2 Banebow has some nice versatility here. He actually can make for a very scary weenie rush deck as he has access to a lot of useful damage booster cards such as hellsteed and bloodlust, as well as having access to the better weenies and his ability which is activated very early on. Banebow is not limited to one style however, and can just as easily be played as a control/build up style using his ability and ability cards for early board control while he sets up his late game fatties. I’ve even experimented with an almost ally-less Banebow which used cards such as his traps, Evil Ascendent and his bows to set the early/mid game up for a late game push. Again, almost all variants should have Banebow focus on some way to get control of the early board, as he is not one of those heroes that can easily wrestle back a flooded board (no mass wipe effects or easy ally removal effects). He is probably best suited as an early-mid game hero, but the door is open for creativity here!
3 With an ability that is so cheap, Banebow can afford to use some shadow energy for cards such as Gravedigger’s Cloak, if he so wishes.
4 As with the other Hunter’s, Banebow also suffers from card draw issues. Unlike the other Hunter’s, Banebow is less likely to have his deck filled with items (such as multiple bows like a Gwen, or a lot of traps/arrows like a Victor), and has better early board control, meaning that he loses less tempo by playing Wrath of the Forest and can utilise it a bit better than the others.
6 Banebow struggles against Elementalis buffed allies (especially ones that are resistant to his arrows such as Gargoyle) and can also struggle against any allies buffed by Life Infusion or Earthern Protector. The combination of Aeon and Earthern Protector or double Aeon can be particularly nasty to Banebow, and if Banebow doesn’t have the board before the late game hits, these combinations in particular are what seal the game against him.
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