4 Mistakes you might be making on Alexstraza (with build guide)

[@arturicmelloroch]

You may have lost one tip bro, when Alex goes into Dragon Form, there is like a "time lapse" when Alex dissapears from the game, something like a Tracers E that can avoid habilities like Pyrobombs or Last Rites :D She's incredible

[@GisorsTheRet]

its called ""

[@Triumph633]

you can also dodge pyroblasts and such by casting cleansing flame, i dodged a lot of X-strikes with the ult :)

[@arturicmelloroch]

@Bradley Deandre thats a weird comment for mine, but its kinda toxic :s

[@LaurenWu]

Phew! I'm an Alexstrasza main, and for the first time ever, I'm not making the mistakes in your video! I usually go Q build. I tried W build but it took too long. I'm going to revisit and try W at 1 and Q at 7 based on your recommendation depending on team comp and map as you suggested. Thanks!

[@NotParadox]

I saw your twitter, you have more alex games than I do! Q build is definitely solid, I just find If you can finish the w quest at one it is very powerful. 25 globes on some maps is easier, so it depends. I go full q build sometimes.

[@johnnyray9107]

What maps is Alex effective on? Which maps should I not pick her?

[@orochifire]

>not E build

[@LaurenWu]

Off the top of my head i don't think there are necessarily any bad maps for Alexstrasza. As NotParadox said in his video, the best maps are those for which there are 5v5 team fights, so she's especially good on Infernal Shrines, Volskaya Industries, and Cursed Hollow. She can still do well on maps like Braxis, but as NotParadox mentioned in another video, another healer like Stukhov would be even better. Maybe Blackheart Bay would not be a great map for Alexstrascza since there are usually skirmishes vs huge team fights, but that map is so problematic in many other ways and unlikely to be in a ranked rotation soon.

[@omarcortez4587]

My eng it's not good but i have one tip :v when alex Is in dragon form and then use ur w u dont have Time to do another w cause the dragon form i too fast, so if u use ur w and then ur ult, when it finished, u can have again ur W to cast. I think this combo Is good because the double W in dragon form + the ultimate gives a Lot of healing in a team fight :)

[@HarshaKaujalgi]

This is so true, I really wish more people knew it. The extended dragonqueen time also allows you to use 2 Ws without ulting (at lvl 16)

[@filipsemancak2705]

It sounds good. I will try it.

[@nuggitz4011]

Good stuff Paradox! I don't play much Alex, only level 5, but may have to break her out with these tips and see how it goes. Keep up the great work.

[@hederas_]

Amazing job man! On my wait of maining support role i bought Alex a few hours ago and, like some sort of destiny, your video appeared in my propositions and helped me have a better few of how she should be playing (since she's not that popular in pro games). Thank you a lot and keep going! That's the kind of videos we want to be better and make this game better

[@jesusrubiomaldonado27]

A little tip: Ancient flame (lvl20) works incredible with flame buffet build. You apply debuff to enemy heroes and if they stick together, from 2nd attack and beyond u can deal great AoE and heal yourself a lot of hp. Also you can reduce a lot the CD of Dragonqueen. Try it :P

[@m00n1777]

Do a Carrying to Masters video on Alexstaza plz!

[@TyrannisUmbra]

It's worth noting, for the E build, at Lv20 you want the dragon attacks to apply flame buffet, because it easily applies it to most of, if not the entire enemy team and done correctly post-20 you can dragonform and when you come out of it you've already taken off 33-66% of the cooldown because the Lv1 talent pick works even while in dragonform. It makes her an absolute monster after that point. I've always stood by the fact that it's the most difficult build to correctly play, though. W is by far the safest and simplest. To be fair though, her base kit is strong enough that you can basically pick whatever you want and still be effective in most situations. I just do not like the lifeblossom because it's so easy for the enemy team to incidentally bring you down below 75%, especially if you're scrambling to pick up the flowers. (You mentioned that E build makes you too predictable? Lifeblossom does too!) And at that point the talent is a dead pick. I didn't know about the ult thing though, so that's very useful.

[@BingBangPoe]

Fifth mistake: not maintaing the 75% health threshold with the Gift of Life builds.

[@VageG0zer]

You use the argument of predictability against E-build, but you don't use it against the Flower talent? It is literally a "Alexstrasza will be here at this exact spot"-marker. Throwing out E's is not as predictable as that. Plus, it has pretty good range (it outranges a fort) so during laning, Alex can easily throw out a few E's while at the same time being safe behind her own warrior, or it can interrupt a channel over a wall. There were multiple games where I finished the quest within the first 5 minutes of the game because the enemy had 2 or 3 melee heroes with decent hitboxes or Samuro. Granted this heavily depends on how good the opponent is. One more tip you didn't mention (and i haven't seen in the comments) is that using Cleansing Flame while in Dragonqueen means that Alex can use W twice while being a dragon without the increased duration talent on lvl16.

[@TADMG]

Something worth pointing our that you didn't say.. When you use W out of Dragon Form, then Pop Dragonform, Followed by another W (Before you get Dragonform duration at 16), if you use Cleansing Flame during your Dragonform, you can actually get an extra W off in your dragon form.. Your cooldowns on Q-W-E all go down while in Cleansing Flame form, and your Dragonform timer, does not. Again, this is only important from level 10-16, because at 16 you get Dragonform duration, which can give you 2 W's during Dragonform anyways. I said Dragonform a lot in this, but I wanted to make sure what I was saying was clear lol.

[@enriquealbertoperezdelgado9580]

Excelent video I hope seeing thrall, brigthwing or Lili next, keep up the good work

[@jirachiultime]

Man, your tips and videos are great! Thanks for all this knowledge

[@slimpwarrior]

With E build Ancient Flame at lvl 20 is also really good since it deals a surprising amount of damage and healing in D form

[@TyrannisUmbra]

The real reason you want Ancient Flame is because it makes your autoattacks lower the cooldown of dragonform even while dragonform is active. Done correctly you can get 33-66% of the cooldown to be done by the time you're out of dragonform.

[@chriskingandroid49]

Excellent tips! I learned a bunch of new stuff.

[@Lovehandels]

I love the Q build! It makes you the fastest healer on top of the big fat heals and just the best when healing ppl up between TFs and laning phases. I will very much try out the W build I always like the ideal of it but I get away with the Q build so much I never felt the need to build W and I would have built it wrong anyway it seems. I can't stand the E build and I can only pray that the Alex player on my team don't fall for it. It's the worst when my own friends build for that mess and it's like "Should I say something to them?" They never ask for help which then I would gladly offer my 2 cents to them but for now I just hold my tongue on the matter and let them do them.

[@jessewildthorn1365]

--> having the need to tell people to heal with your ult rather than damage got me just... "I can't even" xD I'm not here to critisize, but I gotta say this is ridiculous and it amuses me. x) (not you, those players) I tHiNk if people choose less effective way to play Alex or other hero, it's their business, and if they will feel like they want to do more (beause ineffective way is not fun and saitisfying, baby!) they will eventually find a way (a nice and useful youtube video, for example) that will show how to play them like a boss. And good thing you and other youtubers make guides! Something that is obvious for me (ello, fella Alextrasza mains! o/) will not be obvious for others. So yeah, nice vid, goo job. :) Thank you for D+R tip, never tried it n now I will.

[@liquidsilk001]

Another benefit from use cleansing flame while you are in Dragon form is you can use your W twice in Dragon form instead of one.

[@Lucitaur]

Try picking Exuberance at 4 with the E build; a world of difference!

[@michaelman90]

Something worth mentioning about the regen globe in the W build is that it vastly improves Alex's mana efficiency since it essentially refunds part of the mana cost of W.

[@stanmilkowski3550]

This video and all others in the series are extraordinarily helpful to me. I love this style and hope all your videos that cover common mistakes also include your preferred builds and reasons why other builds can or are not as useful. Great work on this series. I am learning a lot from them!

[@panagiotislenis3594]

I tried your way and got mvp in second game playing Alex! Thanks man!

[@rosalindchapman9035]

You can get an extra circle out of alexstraza if you ult in dragonform. Also if you do E build consider Ancient Flame if your team is losing. I have 1v5ed with it defending core, dont take it if your winning though the other two do more than hail marry ability to kill an entire team.

[@Razgriz_3]

I've discovered your channel recently and I'm really appreciating all your tips and guides, I think I'm getting better at the game in various aspects...while a still a noob pretty much. I'd like to tell you 3 things: 1) don't worry about apologizing for 'longer' videos, to me longer videos means more info = better videos! 2) do you plan on doing some general game sense guide? I still feel like I don't know what I should do at each phase of a game, and I suppose that will differ according to the map. I'm just sticking to basic concepts like 'do the boss after a team fight is clearly won', 'do the first seconds of the 5v5 lv1 skirmish then go soak a lane to get ahead on exp' and the like...but I feel I'm lacking a true understanding of how the game should be played 3) Hero guide videos are another very welcome content! Combo/mistakes videos are great because, for example, I had NO idea how greymane should be laning before watching your video or, the Kalethas mistake videos was pure gold! How a hero should be played and which skills are to be spammed or saved for crucial times may seem obvious for most of the players, but I'm a first timer at mobas so even the most obvious tips are important to me. I often find myself wondering if I'm using my hero in the most efficient way so even more 'general' guides would be much appreciated! Thanks for all your work and the info you're sharing!

[@stanmilkowski3550]

Agreed on the length! This was great to hear more insight and the extra time is very much appreciated. A lot of these extra tips, particularly in this episode really help in actually slowing down the game and explaining in DETAIL for step by step lessons in using combos. Your presentation is perfect and is appreciated in that you are not assuming that a viewer would just know what it is you are trying to say. You are teaching some time dependent choreography of using characters skills that a person who is new to moba’s might not learn otherwise for a very long time. You teach it and have found a very effective way of demonstrating techniques that I certainly have seen an improvement in my play as a result of your tips. Even if I am using a different character than the one featured I am thinking about your mistakes to avoid and learning to make more informed decisions in games. More of this style of video would be highly welcomed. Excellent work!

[@Mariahnacarey]

Great video, very informative! Would you ever get Lifebinder over Cleansing Flame for any reason? I usually take Lifebinder instead.

[@specho7]

If you have a Diablo, Stitches, or a Cho, and if the enemy has no hard dive, lifebinder is gold.

[@slimpwarrior]

Never. Never. You give up so much healing, damage and utility it's never worth to lose CFlame. Never get Lifebinder, it's a big noob ult :/

[@benallmon5613]

Cleansing Flame is the better pick 100% of the time. And there is no arguement. The ability makes you invulnerable and you can heal your team and damage enemies in the same blast. And being able to use it as an escape if you get caught is too valuable. An Alex with no ult is better than a dead Alex.

[@bragbarella1123]

thank you for the insight mate

[@eds7228]

I don’t find that e build is a trap build, playing her at about 8k master. However the only maps I would take it on are volskaya and tomb, both of which offer excellent potential for long sustained interactions when your team are always close by to support you if you mess up. The sustained cc of the build allows you to keep their tanks in check (as of course you should always use this on tanks in range) and frequently will force out cooldowns like slide, root which don’t hit you at all. Playing her this way is very much like playing something like lunara; you want to attack as much as possible with a fairly short range and no escape ability. Lunara has the move speed to allow her to do that, Alex has the slow and a lot more self sustain which means if you do get caught, you need to be bursted from full which is unlikely. Apart from that, you can then use dragon queen almost off cooldown, it will always provide value on tomb, as it just gives you insane amounts of waveclear, damage, and free healing for your team, and on volskaya it’s pretty much the same but obviously don’t just use it on an uncontested point.

[@sardonyx9540]

There's an error in your second tip. You said at the beginning the mistake with the ult is healing > damage. But at the end you show and conclude that healing is better than damage.

[@robpi2563]

Please do Kel'Thuzad when you have time!

[@derizek9677]

the e build is very good for the melee scenarios, independient if u are predictable its easy to land skillshots to tanks.

[@xavierucanan9444]

thank you for your advices it helped me really much :)

[@Tasfarel]

Cleansing flame is highly valuable in Teamfights. Mostly the healing you can do with it on several targets, while damaging the enemy team did the job for me. The enemy team moves in for some easy kills and then you ulti in giving them hell

[@alejandrodiazmera2650]

Very good video I only wanted to remark that blessing of the red is worse when the enemy team have heroes who attacks basing on percentage health like Lunara or Malthael

[@ranyl7744]

Nr1 Problem Noobs have: They use the Dragon on cd without having the lv 1 E-talent. N2 problem is that they use the E in dragonform wrong-->usually they dont save someone who gets jumped by a gm,kerri,varian,etc. Nr3 Problem they use the w wrong-->should be placed where the target is going to be and not at some random place u have to run to without getting any value. basically most players do everything wrong.It hurts to watch.

[@malenezimmermann3835]

I wonder if you play quick cast oder quick cast on Release. Which one do you prefer?

[@SkarmoryThePG]

Why no looking at Ancient Flame? It does wonders in a E build.

[@pyromania5307]

Alexstrasza, not Alexstraza. Otherwise a good informational video

[@diegosaur]

I'm having a super déjà vu! omg I knew all of your tips, this is so confusing.

[@MrxTTk]

LOVE IT! currently 3W 0L after watching this video haha ... would you mind making a video on genji? because after the cain patch we will have a little bit less mobility and as a genji main i'm really curious of what you might think of the changes! keep it up!

[@Korica]

I noticed you weren't using quickcasting. Any particular reason? I really prefer it on things like Alex's E, because it has a short cooldown for spamming and a simple trajectory. Saves time not having to make that extra click repeatedly in battle.

[@NotParadox]

I use on release which is still considered quick casting. But I use a mechanical keyboard so it sounds like I click when I cast spells.

[@NintendoNewsCentral]

Could you do Auriel next? I see almost so coverage of her despite her effectiveness

[@adamchibe6890]

Question: does blessing of the red get buffed by varian's taunt's passive health increase? I don't know if you'd want to put blessing of the red on tank at level 20 rather than a squishy backline anyways, but just curious. figure 1000 extra health could be useful though on a frontline.

[@NotParadox]

I mean you can eventually put it on everyone on your team. So you would want to. As to your question, I don't know. That is something I may need to test.

[@chtimpeng]

She is not my favorite support, but after this video, I might try more.

[@amuren3563]

pretty sure blessing of the red is not very good. ancient flame and on ruby wings are much better.

[@RAYRAYAK]

Butcher please! No real good content on him out there...

[@nicholasgreen4571]

Cho gall next, and a tracer blink management video would be cool too !

[@samara2016]

like for the tracer suggestion

[@XeroQT]

During lane phase when your tower is close by, I almost always use my blinks to outplay the person Im laning against; blinking skill shots and getting in damage whenever they get too close - just be mindful of heroes who might rotate up to you. On objectives, make every blink count - you never know when you need to quickly dive the backline for a fast kill so only blink if it will a) help secure a kill, or b) keep you alive. You should NEVER exhaust your blinks trying to get a kill unless you KNOW that you can recall safely, i.e. it's off cooldown and the enemy team have exhausted any stuns/polys/etc. otherwise you'll probably die. Remember, when you're RETREATING, recall will almost never save you (as it throws you back into the enemy), so if you're getting really ballsy on a push, save yourself 2 blinks. You'll usually need 1 blink at least to either land your melee or disengage after it, just good to know. But honestly, all of the above comes from muscle memory, tracer is a dancer, gotta learn her movements by practicing them - sincerely, a lvl 150 tracer.

[@Triumph633]

i killed so many genjis who jumped away with 10% hp with cleansing flame. I agree that you should mostly use it for healing, but killing a low life genji who thinks he escaped to safety? Dont underestimate the value in simple pleasures :) And the biggest problem that Alex has is teammates. The best healing combo is ofc dragonform and then cleansing flame, but so many times i had to emergency dragon form because some ally was in trouble and i was out of healing, so I had to dragon to save them... so the combo no longer was available. Dragonform E is rly powerful too btw, it even interrupts mosh pit. You could argue that saving the combo is more value then saving a single player, but if u let them die in that situation they will just tilt and abandon the game... And ofc there are always a lot of players who think alex is a good diver healer........ So yeah teammates ruin a lot of alex potential...

[@touchao]

How do you think Lifebinder can be buffed?

[@alexanderripa6069]

Great and very helpfull video!

[@colevoyek9799]

You spelled Alexstrasza wrong

[@gewreid5946]

Im so glad you recommend lifebloom. I absolutely love that talent and gameplay but only saw complete w build before. Getting w talent at one with exuberance and lifebloom is definitely a compromise im happy with.

[@TheDovahkinia]

I feel like Alex is very underappreciated. She is incredibly strong and has so many lifesaving tools, yet I rarely see her in games :(

[@MrCurtmax]

Very cool tips and usefull info.

[@LaurenWu]

Forgot to add -- thank you for including your favorite build and explaining why you picked the talents you did!

[@maxl.2691]

Your really doing a great Job explaining Buddy. Thanks for the tips. :)

[@SangHendrix]

Curious what most people do wrong with Abathur.

[@lvl3-wizard81]

I usually try to use cleansing flame to assist a diving character I usually can't otherwise because I often can hit my ally and the enemy they dove to help them win that trade or at least escape

[@badmann7783]

When you did the first three mistakes, I was worried you wouldn't mention the last one. I had that last mistake in my mind the entire video.

[@apocalypse_march1499]

Thanks, just bought her, I saw this video long ago but forgot the tips xD

[@dynamikfalco607]

Another tip: Alex transforms in to a dragon not a tank.

[@Ziegrif]

Don't forget to use Cleansing flame to finish off low health heroes that escape an ending team fight. But only do this if your won't die due to it.

[@paulgabriel703]

Hanzo W build tutorial pleasee

[@kanaqq9813]

Can u do Valeera next I have many tips for her if you want . I know she is not meta hero but that doesn’t mean it’s not a fun to disable heroes and kill them before they can do anything

[@zakunick1]

Tips for those hips.

[@teamleanandclean]

I know kungfo now

[@MrDoomBom]

Does "on ruby wings" prolong her current dragon form if cast from the dragon form?

[@bigedds11]

love your videos. alex is one of my faves on large objective maps

[@HimariHimatsu]

wouldn't you want to end dragon queen asap to get your cooldowns back?

[@jordanrodgers2049]

yes you would, you get 1 w during dragonqueen and 2 if you use cleansing flame to hold the duration of dragonqueen. if you go for dragonqueen duration you get 2x w and still only get 2 if you use clensing flame to hold dragonqueen, meaning if you use your clensing flame during dragon queen (like you should) you are wasting time in dragonqueen getting no extra cooldowns instead of canceling it and getting your human (or whatever) form w cooldown during the fight... overprotective is far stronger if you are going circle of life at 1 (this is why draconic disopline had its duration nurfed shortly after her release so you could not get 3x the w then have it end and get another instantly)

[@cascon2427]

No one asked for a wall of text J Rod

[@benallmon5613]

@@cascon2427 He is right tho.

[@meganb.2249]

14:32 Except Tracers don't ever build the "is that a health pack" talent. -,-

[@JaySee5]

Genius!

[@startswithx]

Super useful videos. Keep em coming!!

[@deathboxlove]

Fast becoming my favourite hots you tuber.

[@spyromalin6618]

well, if you took other ult its 20 talent is good

[@chrisberg2]

I prefer to go with the W build

[@thelinuxlich]

I don't understand how can you say the E build is dangerous because is predictable and then you advocate in favor of the Q build, which is worse in this aspect because you have to catch the flower for free healings almost always in a dangerous position.

[@NotParadox]

You don't need to be near enemies to get value with the flower. You do need to be near enemies to get value from the e build. I don't throw flowers in areas that will be risky, I use the flowers mostly on ranged dps. Or outside of fights.

[@thelinuxlich]

many times during team fight you don't have the choice to spare the Q on a melee ally

[@NotParadox]

My goal in most team fights is to blow what I need to. Alex has pretty bad team fights without ult or dragon but ult or dragon causes you to win the fights. So I don't usually have a problem being picky with q. W tends to heal melee in fights fine, q heals range fine and if I need more I pop dragon or ult. My build honestly isn't that foreign, it's pretty much the pro build I just explain the variations.

[@jimmypihlblad2705]

nice video

[@faisallk247]

ok the first mistake is AlexstraSza

[@enokkarpati251]

Can you make a video about Hanzo?

[@chartabona]

For the life of me I can't figure out how to play him.

[@johnnyray9107]

I know how he's played, I just don't execute it well

[@enokkarpati251]

I can play him i just want a few tips

[@cabavyras]

Thank you.

[@JIerark]

Can you do alarak next

[@mehdinuruzade1743]

Unfortunately i am in lower rank and i think you are overestimate there if you pick alex and little player skills on 3 build type you cant lose actually i win a game with alex 4v5 with ai i try to learn and repair my playstyle

[@grimmbleaper9981]

good video

[@sebastiancasarrubiassantia136]

Do a video of Ana mistakes and tips please

[@liambrown48]

Sebastian Casarrubias Santiago first mistake most anas make is picking the hero in the draft

[@jordanrodgers2049]

please rethink your level 4 and level 7 talents, i can't prove mathematically that surge of vitality is better, i can make a pretty convincing case for fire within being better than lifeblossem at level 4 why remove the cost of your q, a 3.75s cooldown (at best a 15% self heal when casting) when fire within has half the cooldown, heals for almost as much and gives you a way of getting back above 75% if you fall under it in a fight, while being AoE and having being a very easy skillshot to land that will not mess up your positioning because of its very large range

[@truemorpheus]

What's the problem with Ancient Flame?

[@MiakiFaith]

Personally, I don't think there's anything wrong with it. Maybe I'd even say it's underrated in this video as it's very powerful talent especially with E build. Ancient Flame basically ends up a team fight with a victory and often guarantees at least couple of kills, because enemy can't get away anymore as they are slowed and taking lots of damage. Basically, enemy scatters as soon as you are a dragon past 20. However, it's indeed not as good if there's more ranged heroes or heroes that can easily get out of range to kite you. In that case it doesn't really matter anyway, as you won't want the E build at all. So, while the other picks are very powerful as well, I'd say AF is at least reasonably competitive.

[@TyrannisUmbra]

Not only that, but it makes your autoattacks lower dragonform cooldown even while it's active. And because your autoattacks have a HUGE AoE you get a LOT of mileage out of the cooldown reduction.

[@grimmbleaper9981]

change the layout of your youtube page

[@imbaZarkout]

Dis da shit 👇👇🍑💯🍑💯🔥🔥🍆👌

[@yilinjiang4270]

For the quick games, there is no one cares about healing team, so use ult for damage. When it's in a ranked game, people are so busy soaking, self healing, and staying alive...so use ult for damage. LOL

[@shiningadomia]

So I'm correct. Good.

[@suckstone8600]

Enjoyed the video! I have a strange question, however. Alex seems so easy to counter, so how do you draft her? Do you give up on her in HL if you're an early pick? Or draft around her? Or do you assume the enemy team will certainly counter her, and simply play mechanically/tactically to compensate? Thanks!