Moskov

Introduction

Moskov is a very trending hero in the current meta, he is best marksman so far. You can always find Moskov in almost every single game in enemy team and your own team. Moskov could be a very extremely powerful carry, turning the losing tides to an clean ace. Positioning and farming is very crucial to Moskov and today, I will be explaining how to play Moskov and carry games.

Lore

Most people doesn't really read lores but hey, let's read it together right here. To be honest, the lores are pretty interesting if you sit down, relax and read.

Moskov, shooting to fame during the Dhamu Tournament, was already a battle master at his youth. He inherited the family's occult spear fighting skills, and as the next leader of the clan Wildsand, he was loved and respected by many. Watching Wildsand clan growing stronger day by day, the khan Thornwolf which is the hegemony on Hietala Grassland couldn't sit back any longer. One day when the youngsters of Wildsand went out hunting, he slaughtered and the entire clan with his own people. The whole land was scorched by blazing flames of war. Blood flowed like stream, yet a slight warmth still remained on the bodies of died families and friends. Faced with this cruel vision, Moskov could not persuade himself to accept it. But even worse, khan dispatched a formidable cavalty trying to hunt down the Moskov's hunting party which was the only survivors and some wanted to surrender, and Moskov, for the very time, lifted his spear andaimed at his own buddies. Suffering from this painful experience, Moskov became ruthless with a thought of revenge haunting him constantly. However, the khan was too strong to defeat. In order to obtain more power, Moskov Chose to fall into the Abyss of Shadow and serve the Queen of Doom, becoming notorious as 'the Spear of Quiescence' ever since.

Even tho, it's quite long but hey, now we know how Moskov got his 'the Spear of Quiescence' title.

Abilities

Spear of Quiescence (Passive): Moskov's basic attack can penetrate the targets and deal damage to enemies behind them. If the basic attack hits enemies successfully, the cooldown of Abyss Walker and Spear of Death will reduce by 0.7s.

-This passive skill is what made Moskov so overpowered. When positioned properly, your basic attacks can be very deadly, piercing through their frontlines and do massive damage to their backlines.

-It makes you clears your lane extremely quickly so you can farm the jungle, so make advantage of that.

Abyss Walker: Moskov uses the power of shadow to teleport to the specified position, enhancing attack's penetration ability and increasing 30% of attack speed, lasting 3s.

-The mana cost was recently nerfed, costing 75 mana each cast now so you have to be very careful when using this skill. Blue buff in early game would help a lot.

-Because of Spear of Quiescence, this skill has extremely short cooldown.

-This is your only utility skill, do not use this to get yourself caught in between teamfight! Always stay behind.

-MAX THIS SKILL FIRST!

Spear of Death: Moskov strikes at an enemy hero with full strength, dealing physical damage and knocking back the target. If the airborne target collides with another enemy hero, then both of them will receive physical damage and be stunned for 1s. If knocking into obstacles, the target will be stunned for 2s. The enemy that's hit by the skill cannot go in stealth for a short while.

-Sometimes, this skill could help the enemy escape if not used properly. Takes some time to get used to it. Do not use this skill immediately in teamfight unless you know you can collide two enemy heroes.

-This skill is not for damage but for kiting and crowd control.

Spear of Destruction: Moskov throws out the Spear of Destruction after powering up shortly, dealing physical damage to enemies along  a straight line. Every enemy it hits increases 10 pts of physical attack to Moskov, stacking up to 5 times, lasting 5s.

-ALWAYS use this ability first during teamfight. It can boost your physical attack for up to 50pts.

-It's an global ability, ALWAYS look in the map and try to help your team/pick up last hits enemy heroes with it.

Items

There is TWO item build here that I recommended, as you can see in the screenshot above. (Ignore the ??????.) Both is very good, depending on your playstyle, I will explain more below.

Moskov Build 1

In this build, your very first item would be Fallen Sword. It's farming speed is not as fast as Thor's Sting but your 1v1 dueling is definitely stronger. Lifesteal in the early game would help a lot to sustain your health pool in lane.

In the following build, your item follow up with Swift Boots . You can go for Warrior Boots for some survivability against Physical Attack heroes but I prefer more attack speed. More attack speed = LESSER COOLDOWN ON YOUR ABILITIES.

Scarlet Phantom next for lots of attack speed and some physical attack. With these Scarlet Phantom, Swift Boots and Fallen Sword + Abyss Walker, your attack speed would be extremely fast by now. So it's time for damage, Blade of Destruction, Wind Chaser and Blade of Despair as your last item.

Feel free to replace Blade of Despair for some survivability items such as Immortality and Magic Blade if you are having trouble surviving through the teamfight, otherwise it's not needed at all.

Moskov Build 2

This is my favorite build, slower but stronger basic attacks. Not as fast as Build 1, but still fast enough to dominate the enemy team. Thor's Sting as your first item and you would clear the lane extremely fast than ever and go either farm the jungle or help your teammates that is in trouble.

In this build, you will lack lifesteal/survivability until you get Tooth of Greed. Follow up with Blade of Destruction, Wind Chaser and Blade of Despair. Feel free to replace Blade of Despair for survivability as well, but so far, I didn't have to buy any defense items. Tooth of Greed grants you AMAZING lifesteals as your penetrations could lifesteal too.

TL;DR: Build 1 if you like to attack fast, Build 2 if you like to hit hard.

Battle Spells

Flicker is my favorite spell so far, it can helps you escape from dangerous positions so quickly with Abyss Walker. You could use it to combo with Spear of Death as well, to collides an enemy hero.

I don't think Purify is needed. Use Purify only if you are against lots of Natalia or maybe even Saber.

DO NOT TAKE RETRIBUTION OR FURY ON MOSKOV. You can clear jungle/lane quickly and you have enough attack speed/physical attack. It's a waste on Moskov.

Emblems

Use whatever emblems you have the highest, as long as it has physical attack and attack speed. I am using my highest level, Lv39 Physical Emblem Set, having no problems at all.

Game Plan / In-Game Tips / Summary

Early Game

Best lane to go is Mid Lane. You can either start with a Dagger or x2 Magic Necklace for mana regen. I personally prefer dagger. Forget about killing, forget about everything else except FARMING. You don't have to duel with the other mid laner in the enemy team , JUST FARM UP! Use Abyss Walker into the minions, clear it. Make sure to stand in a straight line as the minions so you can hit them all with your penetrations just like in the photo below. Remember to look at the map frequently whenever you are Lv 4, you could get some assists or kills with your ultimate, Spear of Destruction which could help your snowballing process. Whenever you are done with the lane minions, go jungle. If there is no jungle, try to help your team if needed, don't get yourself caught tho! You should have highest gold in the game. Whenever your enemy mid laner went missing, either jungling or ganking other lanes, just push the turret! You can push extremely fast with your attack speed from Abyss Walker.

Mid Game

By mid-game, you would have 3-4 items by now. You are fairly strong. Anticipate the teamfights if there is any. Get objectives such as turrets, lords and turtles. You do not have to duel anyone 1v1 unless you know the enemy team isn't nearby for assistance or you can kill them all. Always remember to use your ultimate first when starting a teamfight. You can also try split pushing to get even more turrets, just remember to look at the map every few seconds and run whenever the team is missing/running towards you.

Late Game

Stick with your teammates! Make a fair 5v5 teamfight, if the enemy team doesn’t have a Moskov, your team will always have the advantage! The penetrations from your passive is just way too good.

DO NOT CHASE ANYONE IN TEAMFIGHT unless you are winning. Hit whoever you can in the frontline. Don't forget you have penetrations from your basic attacks! So, stay in a good position where you can hit their frontline, while killing their backlines. Use Abyss Walker to re-position yourself and attack speed bonus! Use Spear of Death to kite off dangerous enemies or collide your enemies.

The most dangerous encounters you would up against in the enemy team is Karina and Natalia. It would be a big problem if they caught you off-guard.

Finally, don't give up and don't stress yourself. Training takes time, one day you will be very handy with Moskov! Just have fun whenever you can, don't blame your teammates, encourage them and make friends! Cheers! I hope you guys enjoyed reading :)