2012-07-13, 22:24:12
A Goblin does not sologank, unless one is well ahead. It is the best 2v1 tank in the (mid)game. You wait for a bad movement of someone, port and kill him 2v1. Or you wait for a teamfight in mid, port into it and turn it into a easily won 4v3. Heavy cannot compete due to its low speed and being not even close to the Goblin's burst damage.
Goblin is also a tank most suited for side lanes. The kit is just not as good for mid because it lacks safe initiaton. Also ganks from mid are easier with air tanks. Well coordinated Gobo/Air tank teams can 2v1 opponents even at their side lane cp easily. Breaker are really not that big of a deal. They cost a lot and if your team plays well you should rarely miss them placing the breaker, so you rarely port into one. (in pubs that is a bit worse, because players dont notice breakers or dont write anything about them being placed)
After a couple of successful ganks you get farmed enough to 1v1 anyone and the game is most likely won (perfect scenario). You have the optimal items already to switch into Sky-Fort as well.
Because of the specific way the Goblin has to be played (or at least I think it should be played), Thunder is no counter at all. You might be fine 1v1 at first, but you cannot get those easy kills all around the map and will fall behind as soon as your teammates make mistakes (and they always do). Thunder has also absolutely no way to be aggressive against the Goblin. A counter is not something which just stays alive itself in 1v1, but something which actually beats the Goblin. Thunder does not beat the Goblin in anything, except that it is cheaper and has some room when the opponent still has a starting tank. After that Goblin and Thunder creep similarly. Goblin has better ganks, better tower attacks (those little goblins are safe towerkillers), better mobility, better burst damage. Sooner or later the Goblin will always be ahead.*
That is all easily said though. Goblin is a very borderline tank. It needs the gold from ganks to get ahead. In a 1v1 farmfestival a Goblin has no advantage over a Thunder. If one tries to gank and fails, the tank falls behind quickly, because the damage output has to stay high enough to burst opponents. This is why a badly played Goblin is very useless and a well played Goblin is most often fed and snowballs. More so than the general "good player can do well with everything" this is a tank which only good players can do well with. Anyone can farm defensivly with a heavy tank, click the occasional stun for a kill and do ok, but to do ok with a Goblin you have to do more than just that. You need to exploit the opponents mistakes. But that is no balance problem, rather a result of the Goblin's design. Any change to make it somewhat easier to play will make it either overpowered, or be a complete redesign of the tank. (invis would be more on the overpowered side btw. There would be absolutely no way to react to someone ganking who you cannot see and he would be more or less immune to counterganks).
*Just to complete the picture: Earth on the other hand is not so item dependent and can pressure the goblin a lot with his built in escape and tankyness, denying the chance to roam around frequently. Earth also does better at team/cp fights. That is a real counter in my opinion.
Goblin is also a tank most suited for side lanes. The kit is just not as good for mid because it lacks safe initiaton. Also ganks from mid are easier with air tanks. Well coordinated Gobo/Air tank teams can 2v1 opponents even at their side lane cp easily. Breaker are really not that big of a deal. They cost a lot and if your team plays well you should rarely miss them placing the breaker, so you rarely port into one. (in pubs that is a bit worse, because players dont notice breakers or dont write anything about them being placed)
After a couple of successful ganks you get farmed enough to 1v1 anyone and the game is most likely won (perfect scenario). You have the optimal items already to switch into Sky-Fort as well.
Because of the specific way the Goblin has to be played (or at least I think it should be played), Thunder is no counter at all. You might be fine 1v1 at first, but you cannot get those easy kills all around the map and will fall behind as soon as your teammates make mistakes (and they always do). Thunder has also absolutely no way to be aggressive against the Goblin. A counter is not something which just stays alive itself in 1v1, but something which actually beats the Goblin. Thunder does not beat the Goblin in anything, except that it is cheaper and has some room when the opponent still has a starting tank. After that Goblin and Thunder creep similarly. Goblin has better ganks, better tower attacks (those little goblins are safe towerkillers), better mobility, better burst damage. Sooner or later the Goblin will always be ahead.*
That is all easily said though. Goblin is a very borderline tank. It needs the gold from ganks to get ahead. In a 1v1 farmfestival a Goblin has no advantage over a Thunder. If one tries to gank and fails, the tank falls behind quickly, because the damage output has to stay high enough to burst opponents. This is why a badly played Goblin is very useless and a well played Goblin is most often fed and snowballs. More so than the general "good player can do well with everything" this is a tank which only good players can do well with. Anyone can farm defensivly with a heavy tank, click the occasional stun for a kill and do ok, but to do ok with a Goblin you have to do more than just that. You need to exploit the opponents mistakes. But that is no balance problem, rather a result of the Goblin's design. Any change to make it somewhat easier to play will make it either overpowered, or be a complete redesign of the tank. (invis would be more on the overpowered side btw. There would be absolutely no way to react to someone ganking who you cannot see and he would be more or less immune to counterganks).
*Just to complete the picture: Earth on the other hand is not so item dependent and can pressure the goblin a lot with his built in escape and tankyness, denying the chance to roam around frequently. Earth also does better at team/cp fights. That is a real counter in my opinion.