When did thief capping home at the start of a match become stupid?

[Shadow.1345]

Pretty much every unranked match I have played since the mini-season started and even before that too, the thief on my team goes to mid at the start. When I ask why the thief always tells me that is stupid and I don't know what I am talking about. Has using their superior mobility to get the home node first and then +1ing a fight or rotating far fallen out of style?

[UNOwen.7132]

Its kinda always been. The problem is that the enemy team might well have one of their players going for your home. Thief cant win 1v1s, so in that case your thief will either have to abandon close and you get 2-capped, or wait for reinforcements in which case youre likely going to be in trouble mid as the one of their team that went far will rotate around.

[NorthernRedStar.3054]

Thief's utility is completely wasted home. Basi venom, stealth, daze, stun; thief has all of these in spades on top of decent start-up burst.

IMO; thief can win 1v1's, but 1) it's not worth the time spent , 2) they can't hold a node while doing so .

[Jugglemonkey.8741]

@UNOwen.7132 said:Its kinda always been. The problem is that the enemy team might well have one of their players going for your home. Thief cant win 1v1s, so in that case your thief will either have to abandon close and you get 2-capped, or wait for reinforcements in which case youre likely going to be in trouble mid as the one of their team that went far will rotate around.

This. If you go straight for a +1 on mid to tip that fight in your team's favour while a bunker that can hold the point goes home, you basically reverse the situation described above. If they sent one to close and one to far, your bunker can hold close meaning your +1 creates a 4v2 in your favour on mid. The opposing player on far then has to choose between leaving the point to help mid, leaving it open for you to decap, or staying put and losing mid. Going mid on thief gives you waaaaay more options than home.

[Yasai.3549]

@NorthernRedStar.3054 said:

IMO; thief can win 1v1's, but 1) it's not worth the time spent , 2) they can't hold a node while doing so .

Yep.Though I do see some Thieves duel on node with Smokescreen, but again, wasted utility which can be used in a mid fight and totally shutdown the enemy who are trying to fight on node.

[Shadow.1345]

@Yasai.3549 said:

@NorthernRedStar.3054 said:

IMO; thief can win 1v1's, but 1)

it's not worth the time spent

, 2)

they can't hold a node while doing so

.

Yep.Though I do see some Thieves duel on node with Smokescreen, but again, wasted utility which can be used in a mid fight and totally shutdown the enemy who are trying to fight on node.

I guess. Thanks for the answers but I'd just rather have that Firebrand or Tempest or even Necromancer or Holosmith in the midfight at start than at home on the chance somebody from the other team goes for our home node at start. Even when I play thief and I have to run to avoid something I can't 1v1 I just go spike down the lowest target at mid to help my team win that fight before going on to far to get that node because it's generally uncontested by that point. Usually then my team just wins the midfight and then goes and reclaims home.

[Sir Vincent III.1286]

It's all about capping mid first because it also protects your home -- if you can keep the fight in mid, you don't have to worry about home since they have to go through mid to get there. Depending on the map, I will try to cap the enemy home to keep/stall them there so that my team can cap home and mid.

[saerni.2584]

To me, usually you are better off having a side noder take home and then either support mid or push far. Thief can start with support for mid or plus 1 home.

Or your team can go five mid, then push far and back cap mid. More likely to overall win the big fight and get multi kills that way.