We take you through the best picks to bring that mid lane Kunkka down in the early game.

The mid lane is one of the most important positions in Dota 2; players usually have to play in a 1v1 scenario. Needless to say, winning this lane can have a massive impact on the game because you can help your teammates. Sometimes, winning the lane is easy, but this is not the case against some heroes. One of which is Kunkka.

The melee STR hero might not look dangerous, but he’s among the best heroes in the mid lane. Regardless of the patch, Kunkka easily does tons of damage and wins against most of the traditional mid laners. 

Of course, every hero in Dota 2 has some counters, and Kunkka is no exception. Some heroes can make his life a living hell, so let’s check out some of the best picks against Kunkaa in the laning stage, and see how to make the most of them.

Death Prophet

Death Prophet is the first and probably the best hero you can get against Kunkka to win the lane. Even though the hero might not seem good on paper, his skill set allows it to dominate in the lane.

Kunkka is one of the heroes that rely on dealing damage and forcing the enemy laner to use a lot of HP regen. DP does not have a reliable healing ability, such as Omniknight. However, Spirit Siphon allows the hero to do damage and heal itself simultaneously. In other words, she can always use this spell on Kunkka and have enough HP to survive in the lane.

Besides Spirit Siphon, Death Prophet also has a nuke that allows her to clear the wave and harass Kunkka. This ability has a low cooldown and doesn’t require a lot of mana, meaning the hero can spam it.

Last but not least, DP has one of the strongest ultimates in the game. If you use it when needed, you can easily kill Kunkka in a matter of seconds.

Batrider

The second hero on the list — who can make every Kunkka rage quit in a matter of minutes — is Batrider. He’s often thought to be the strongest hero in a 1v1 scenario because of his ability; Sticky Napalm. Although the spell is not strong early on, once Batrider stacks it a couple of times, he can easily kite and kill Kunkka. 

Batrider’s physical damage might not be that impressive, but Firefly can be devastating to any target with several stacks of Napalm. Kunkka can try to survive by using “X marks the spot”, but this ability won’t prevent Batrider from diving under his T1 tower.

Once Batrider hits level six, he will be able to kill Kunkka easily, unless the melee mid laner casts his ultimate. The latter will allow him to tank the incoming damage and (potentially) escape.

Ember Spirit

People who play Dota 2 know that Ember Spirit is one of the strongest mid laners in the game. He has his weak spots, but sadly, Kunkka is not one of the heroes who can utilize them. 

As mentioned earlier, the Admiral relies on his physical damage in order to win the laning stage. The same applies to Ember Spirit — but he also deals a lot of magical damage; thanks to Flameguard. Moreover, he can dodge Tidebringer with his Sleight of Fist, which will easily win him the laning stage.

Kunkka’s ability to keep enemy heroes in one place can work well against Ember, but only if the hero fails to use his ultimate or SoF. Needless to say, most of the top-rated Ember Players can easily dodge this ability and even kill Kunkka.

Venomancer

Venomancer is one of the heroes that can make Kunkka’s laning stage difficult and win the lane by harassing him. This hero can do a lot of damage over time, which means Kunkka will need to spend a lot of gold on HP regen. With that being said, if he managed to hit level six before Venomancer, he might be able to kill him if he hands the Torrent and Ship combo.

In order for Veno to kill Kunkka, he needs to use his ultimate, Venomous Gale, and right clicks. This sounds easy, but it isn’t because Kunkka can dodge Gale and ruin Veno’s kill potential.

Leshrac

Kunkka is a hero that can tank a lot of damage because he has around 1000 HP early on. However, there is one hero that is capable of killing him relatively fast, and that’s Leshrac.

Besides his stun, Leshrac can do insane amounts of damage with his other abilities. As long as he has mana (which is possible, thanks to things, such as a Mango), he can keep harassing Kunkka as soon as the hero comes close to attacking the creep.

Although Leshrac deals tons of damage, he does not have a lot of HP, at least early on. In other words, if Kunkka plays smart, he can harras him and even land a kill before reaching level six.

Doom

Doom is not the most common mid laner, especially in the last couple of years. However, his versatility allows him to be a reliable mid laner when needed. Besides the fact that the hero farms pretty fast, he can sustain himself in the lane. This makes Kunkka a lot less effective than usual.

Besides his defensive capabilities, Doom is also capable of killing Kunkka once he hits level six. His ultimate is one of the best in the game, and when he uses his Infernal Blade and Scorched Earth, he can easily annihilate every mid laner in the game, including Kunkka. The only way for the hero to survive is by casting his ultimate prior to getting Doomed. This will prevent him from taking a lot of damage.

Source: https://estnn.com/dota-2-mid-lane-heroes-to-beat-kunkka-laning-stage/