TRANSLATION:
How to Anti-Mage: A brief yet triumphant caps lock guide.
When not to pick Anti-Mage:
Step 1: last hit on your lane. If your lane partners screw up the creep equilibrium: tough luck buddy. If they don't and actually zone the enemy and pull/stack if necessary, commend them. You'll remember this game with tears of joy in your eyes.
** Step 2:** flowchart time do i have qb+stout (or pms)? No -> get them you stupid fuck yes -> farm the lane until the lanes start breaking up
Step 3.1: if you get unwanted attention on your lane (shitheads with silence or ranged harassment come and say hi): go somewhere else (small and medium camps are farmable with a ring of health and stout shield at this point) or request a gank. There is no point in risking your life
Step 3.2: if you have the time of your goddamn puny life: farm the shit out of the lane. Tell your teammates to raise hell somewhere else; start pushing immediately once this happens. Anti-Mage is a fucking rat and doesn't often join fights unless he can mop up some kills or is six slotted. Your teammates need to play accordingly to maximise the amount of salt in the opponent team. They should be constantly on the move and trying to fuck shit up.
Once you own pms/stout and a ring of health (yes you are going battle fury you fuck) creep skipping behind the tower is entirely possible. Never ever skip the power treads (and for the love of god switch to intelligence whenever you are about to use a spell). Blinking out of dangerous situations is mandatory. Watch out for silence or instant disabling heroes; those assholes stink big time, you need to be able to smell them.
Step 4: i own a big shiny axe that lets me cleave stuff. How do i antimage now? You step up the farm game bitch. Farming patterns are a matter of practice. Don't waste time. If the enemy tower isn't pushed yet, tell your team to raise hell somewhere. You need little time to get rid of it. Once that happened: keep blinking back and forth between two lanes, preferably with a jungle between them. Keep an eye out for lanes that are building up momentum. If you farm top, have an eye on mid and bot lanes. Whenever the enemy wave has a surplus of hp, the lane will push in your direction. You want to be there as soon as the creeps are as close to the tower as you are to pussy: so close, yet forever out of reach. Farm those bad boys, repeat until you are filthy rich. Watch out for ganks.
Step 5: fuck yes manta style! The fun officially ends here. You are able of solo killing everything that has a fairly big mana pool, mediocre or low armor and no good "hard" disable (stun, hex). However this should not be your priority. You are a rat, keep on pushing yourself on the enemy while your team keeps slapping them somewhere else. Dont go anywhere close to the front line if you have no clue where the enemy team is. Listen for calls; if applying pressure is necessary, use your manta illusions instead of going for it yourself. They might be lurking in the shadows and lubing up a big dildo with your name written on it. You are a rat, not a faggot. Dodge that shit whenever possible. You have blink and can dispel all silences with manta style, for fucks sake.
Step 6: holy shit, the game's still on. Shut up and listen motherfucker. After getting manta and battlefury you should join your team more frequently when they are trying to reenact the battle of minas tirith. However you don't need to if you can breach the gates on your own. Get it? You are still a rat, you dense motherfucker. If your team is too weak or stupid to take on the enemy on its own you may need to join the fights earlier. You can blink, so go shred supporters first. After that sunder the goddamn cabal
Item build:
Starting items are composed of the following: stout shield, quelling blade, tango, healing salve
I hate creeps tier: power treads, battle fury, stout shield/pms (yes it's that important)
I really hate creeps tier: manta style, vladmir's offering (debatable, yet worth a notion), skull basher
Endgame tier: abyssal blade, butterfly, heart of tarrasque, mkb (against evasive dicks)
Baller tier: blink dagger, euls scepter, dagon
Only if i can get 6 of them: diffusal blade