Attributes
Combat
Resources
Win Rate by Rank
Bar scale: 40% – 60% win rate range
Herald
0–770
Guardian
770–1540
Crusader
1540–2310
Archon
2310–3080
Legend
3080–3850
Ancient
3850–4620
Divine + Immortal
5000+
This hero is a high-risk, high-reward pick that demands discipline and farm priority. Tidehunter's extremely late-game scaling makes him potent in patient lineups, but he offers limited early impact compared to other initiators, making him vulnerable to aggressive meta play. He works best in games where your team can survive the mid-game lull and scale alongside him into teamfights that matter.
The build path is straightforward: Phase Boots into Blink Dagger as your core initiation tools, followed by Consecrated Wraps for survivability. After securing these fundamentals, Aghanim's Scepter becomes your power spike that dramatically amplifies your ultimate's effectiveness. The win rate jumps significantly once Shivas Guard enters your inventory, marking the point where you become a true teamfight anchor. This means your early farm pace is critical — you need uncontested space to reach these mid-game items before enemy momentum overwhelms your team.
This hero struggles against early aggression and burst-focused lineups that punish his lack of defensive tools before major items come online. If the enemy team wins early teamfights and converts kills into objectives, Tidehunter becomes nearly useless as a support player without farm. Additionally, drafts featuring mobile heroes with high burst damage can kite and eliminate you before Blink or Shivas Guard value kicks in, so you need reliable teammates who can survive and create the farm window you desperately need to scale.
Meta Insight
Meta insight unavailable.
Duration data unavailable.
Based on patch 7.41e data · Last updated: 2026-09-08
The offlaner's job is to survive the enemy's strongest early threats, secure farm and experience in a hostile lane, and scale into a teamfight threat. Tidehunter is a tanky initiator who grows stronger as the game extends. See the Fundamentals page for the full position breakdown.
Full position breakdown → FundamentalsTidehunter struggles in the first 15 minutes, winning only 42% of games in this window. The hero should focus on staying alive against aggressive lanes rather than chasing kills, and prioritize experience and safe farm over risky trades. Avoid fighting without mana for Gush or Anchor Smash, and skip early teamfights unless the numbers are clearly in your favor. Most winning builds skip early item spikes entirely, suggesting the priority is scaling, not early impact.
Tidehunter's first significant item spike lands around 18–21 minutes, when Vladmir's Offering (55.7% win rate) or Blink Dagger (53.5% win rate) come online. Once Blink is complete, winning players tend to initiate fights with Anchor Smash and Gush to lock down high-priority targets, then rotate to create map pressure through smoke ganks or objective control. This is the window where Tidehunter transitions from survival to playmaking; the data shows win rate jumps to 46% by the 20–25 minute mark, indicating the hero's real contribution begins here.
Tidehunter's win condition peaks between 25–35 minutes, hitting 50.3% win rate. The hero's role is frontline initiator: open fights with Blink into Gush or Anchor Smash to disable and soften the enemy core, then absorb damage while allies follow up. Aghanim's Scepter (58.7% win rate at 25 minutes) amplifies this by extending crowd control range and effectiveness. Position aggressively but not recklessly—Tidehunter needs to land ability hits to be valuable, so stand where you can cast, not where you'll be immediately locked down before your spells land.
Based on 505 pro matches — ESL One Birmingham 2026 + PGL Wallachia Season 8 + DreamLeague Season 29 + BLAST Slam VII
View full research → Research page⚠️ Item timing data reflects all pub skill brackets and game modes; professional Tidehunter timings will be substantially faster and item priorities may differ based on coordinated play.
