How Good Is Double Fake Nova?

You don't see much of Nova in competitive heroes, but when you do (and see them winning) it's usually at the hands of Puszek Team. They first caught my attention when they managed to defeat Team Liquid in the first round of Enter the Stop Cup #2. I was expecting the Crippling Shot (like most Nova's I see on my rank 1 HL games and the rare times NA teams pick her) but was surprised when I saw a Double Fake taken at 16 and Rewind taken at 20. I always knew this build to be the fun, less competitive version of playing Nova, but after seeing Puszek win more tournament matches choosing Nova and this same build, it made me re-think things.

Now I use the build (when the team composition calls for it) and I can't recommend it enough. Crippling shot is still a good talent (especially if your team is lacking on damage and don't already have some added vulnerability activator), but all around the Double Fake build seems much more consistent and safer. Here are some of the quick benefits I've noticed:

• A defensive power spike at level 16. You can show your face more during team fights because of the 3rd decoy.
• More safe poke damage.
• x2 the in the ability to slow down the enemy team with annoying decoy dismounts
• Increased team fight presence with Rewind for 4 decoys each doing 25% damage.
• Less reliant on hitting the sometimes unsafe Pinning Shot for damage.
• Carefully revealing your self at the same time as the decoys leaves you extremely safe.

The downsides are what you would expect. You don't have Bolt of the Storm so you need to stay with your team at all times. Also, before rewind you have less of an ability to assassinate an enemy hero 100-0, but at the 3100+ MMR rating in Rank 1 HL, I find this to be less of an issue. Strong players don't make them selves available for easy late game ganks, and Double Fake allows you to safely poke for your team without the fear of being immediately killed.

Both builds are viable, but I now go Double Fake the majority of my games, and my win percentage has risen because of it. 

Source: GosuGamers

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