The maniacs of the Chinese region have pulled yet another trick from the bag – Undying in the offlane for Faith_Bian.
At this point, it's hard not to be a fan of PSG.LGD. On top of being a world class team that have routinely dominated their opponents, they've done it with style. Whether it's pioneering a new strategy, or causing absolute mayhem for opponents - they are a treat to watch. In their ESL One Fall 2021 Group Stage match against Alliance today, the maniacs have unveiled yet another invention - Core Undying.
Just like many of their other notable new strategies, Core Undying isn't exactly an LGD invention. We've even seen the hero solo Roshan with his Agh's Shard. However, making it work in a professional game and winning? That's a whole other level.
Your Strength Is Mine - How Core Undying Works
So how does Core Undying work? The secret is all in the Scepter. Undying's Aghanim's Scepter upgrade increases the Strength stolen from Decay from 4 to 10. While this sounds like a pretty insignificant number, 10 Strength is the equivalent of 200HP. When you consider that Decay is on a 4 second cooldown, and can hit multiple targets, it gets pretty bonkers. Spamming the skill on your opponents not only makes them weaker and deals damage, but makes you even tankier as well.
Of course, Undying has barely seen play as a core, due to his lack of any real way to farm. That is, until the recent Patch 7.30.
While the changes don't look all that impressive - the key to PSG.LGD making it work is the talent change. With the additional 50 Decay Damage, Decay could now reliable clear creep waves. Now that the scene is set, let's get into juicy details.
Faith_bian Gigachad in Game 2 vs Alliance
After strong-arming the side of Alliance on the back of Wang "Ame" Chunyu's unstoppable Clinkz in Game 1, PSG.LGD decided to try something spicy for Game 2.
They opened up the draft with a 2nd pick Undying, in response to Alliance's Omni-Sven opener. This didn't seem like anything out of the ordinary, since Undying is frequently seen as an answer to Strength heroes in lane. As the draft went on, Alliance would pick two more Strength heroes in Axe and Phoenix. Those paying attention to the player cams would see PSG.LGD sharing a chuckle, and even the casters quickly pointed out that if there was to be a Core Undying game, this would be perfect.
Lo and behold, it would be Zhang "Faith_bian" Ruida, the offlaner for PSG.LGD who would lock in the Dirge for himself. From there, it was pure chaos. Backed up by Zhao "XinQ" Zhixing's Snapfire, the duo would run amok on the safe lane of Alliance.
Despite rolling over Alliance early on, just like Undying himself, LGD would fall off severely in the mid game. With PSG.LGD's core trio of Clinkz Ursa and Undying still not online, the Swedes would force the issue. With Alliance knocking on their high ground, things were looking dire for LGD. Then everything changed when Faith_bian got his Aghanim's Scepter.
Alliance would not be beaten so easily though, and continued to butt heads into LGD. Following a crucial pick-off on Ame and Faith_bian, Nikolay "Nikobaby" Nikolov's Sven would lead the final charge for the LGD throne. What looked like the end of a failed experiment turned into the exact opposite. The remaining members of LGD would buy just enough time for their Undying to rise from his grave and put Alliance in theirs.
With Alliance crushed, PSG.LGD would turn the game around, utilizing Undying's Reincarnation Talent to push the issue and eventually end the game. Faith_Bian has become not only the first Undying to buy Overwhelming Blink (yup), but also has broken the record for the most last hits on the hero, at 268 last hits.
How to play Core Undying like Faith_bian?
While PSG.LGD have proven their experiment to be a success, there's no doubt that this was a perfect Undying game. On top of that, they are one of the best teams in the world. Is that going to stop people from trying it in their pubs though? Probably not. So here's a quick rundown of how Faith_bian plays it so you can run it down too.
Start off with two Gauntlets of Strength, two Ironwood Branches, a set of Tangoes and a Quelling Blade.
This eventually builds into a Soul Ring, Orb of Venom and Phase Boots to help you chase down your opponents.
Your goal is to farm up the Aghanim's Scepter as soon as possible, but Faith_bian opted for a Hood of Defiance to tank up which can be a good choice as well.
As for the late game (if you get there), you can build whatever your team might need, but Faith_bian chose Blink and Aeon Disk.
In terms of skill build, Faith_bian maxes his Decay first, followed by Tombstone. He leaves Soul Rip for last. As for Talents, Level 10 should see you pick up the Decay Damage, followed by Tombstone Zombie Damage at 15. The Decay Cooldown at Level 20 is a no brainer, and the Reincarnation at Level 25 is just a cherry on top.
The key thing to note is that this is a more selfish style of Undying compared to the usual support that you're used to seeing. Your goal is to build up those Decay stacks and get DUMMY THICC. Don't mistake this for charging headfirst into battle though. Play the long game and be patient, spamming Decay from the side. Flesh Golem also applies a nifty Damage Amp on whoever it hits, so be sure to tag key targets!
Whatever happens, we're sure that you'll make either your allies or your opponents hate life. As for which one, that's up for you to decide.
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Stats courtesy of benjidota.