Dota 2 Hero Lore - Rubick & Aghanim
“I am Rubick, the Grand Magus.”
I remember back when i first started playing
dota 2, the guy who taught me the basics of
how to play, also gave me tid bits of lore.
He told me how lina and cm were sisters, viper
used to be pugnas pet, how the spirits were
brothers, AND that aghanim, the guy from aghanims
scepter, was rubicks dad. While i didnt really
get interested in the lore as a whole until
later discovering siractionslacks’ loregasm,
the wonder about aghanim is something ive
always found interesting. Who’s aghanim?
Is he really rubick’s dad? Everyone hoped
we would get these answers with rubicks arcana,
but to everyones dissapointment, his arcana
added ABSOLUTELY NOTHING to the lore. But
now with the new game mode, aghanims labyrinth,
as well as new info from new heroes, artifact
and underlords, we actually have a picture
of who he is. But before we talk about him,
lets first talk about who might be his child,
the grand magus rubick.
From rubicks lore bio, we learn that a mage
can learn one or two spells, and if they study
hard enough they can become wizards. From
invokers lore we learn a wizard can learn
3, or even 4 spells. Magic is all about memory,
and some mages who dont have the intellect
to recall them properly, have to use grimoires
to help them out. Invoker himself learned
ten spells as a youth and could invoke them
instantly, making him one of the greatest
magicians ever. Rubick refers to invoker as
the arsenal magus. Among sorcerers, you see,
the highest most prestigeous title you can
get, is that of a magus. Rubick was famous
for his talents in magic, and was constantly
targeted by other mages trying to assassinate
him. While early on it brung him excitement,
he had grown weary of how predictable the
attempts had become. And that was when he
started to think about the possability of
him ascending to the title of magus. And to
do so, he announced he was going to kill one.
As word spread, rubick learned that threatening
one magus meant threatening all of them. They
all tried to kill him all at once, but they
soon discovered that their mastered spells
of deadly magic, seemed to reflect back on
them. Where invoker might have ten spells
at his disposal, rubick had a different kind
of terrifying talent. As each magus targeted
him, he observed and instantly threw the spell
back at another. And soon, this caused the
maguses to suspect eachother of betrayal,
and turned against one another. Many were
dead, more were gravely injured, but rubick
was but a bit sore. Sore, but happy and satisfied.
And then when he applied for the magus position
to the Hidden Council and the Insubstantial
Eleven, no one could argue with him, and granted
him the title of grand magus.
As siractionslacks pointed out in his rubick
video, it seems like where invoker has a great
memory and therefore gets to store the very
best spells to invoke at any time, rubick
is much more spontaneous. He is very good
at copying incredible spells in the moment,
but soon forgets them. When his spells expire,
he has voicelines about this. “Mmm how did
that go again?” “I-I've forgotten something!”
“The memory lasts only so long.” They
are both super strong maguses, but in each
their end of the spectrum of memory. You could
argue that where invoker knows 10 spells at
once for any occation, which is insane, rubick
knows an infinite amount of spells for every
occation. One is wise, where the other is
cunning.
Other than his base lore bio, His relationships
tell us more of his story. Most heroes meeting
rubick are very friendly, which i find a bit
strange. From his bio, he is clearly a sociopath,
and doesnt really come off as a good guy.
“Ah, Rubick, always a pleasure.” Rubick
may have been suposed to test invoker when
he was a child, meaning rubick must be incredibly
old. Invoker used a longevity spell ages ago,
which means he must also have been a child
a very, very long time ago. Does that mean
rubick is just as ancient? “I was told you
were the one to test me. Hmph. I'm through
with tests.” Dark willow is very mean to
rubick, saying this. “How's living in your father's
shadow treating you?” by father she means
aghanim. “Rubick, you're no enigma. You're
a sad little boy looking for approval.”
i assume here too, shes talking about his
fathers approval. Pangolier too talks about
him being in his fathers shadwo. “Step out
of your father's shadow, Rubick. The world
awaits.” Void spirit is too a believer in
rubick being aghanims son. “A great lineage
comes to a nullifying end.” And wei, antimages
disciple, too. “Now to find your father's
staff.” “You got some serious daddy issues,
Rubick.” Snapfire makes a good point when
meeting rubick. “Why can't you copy your
friend's spells, Rubick? Seems like that'd
be even easier.” So why can he only copy
enemy spells? Is it because he has to use
his opponents magic against themselves? He
cant steal from someone who is working alongside
him? i dont know, the boring answer is probably
because its more balanced that way in game.
WHen rubick himself meets an ally, he is often
appreciative of fringe magic types. “Anti-Mage,
your name aside, you're not half bad.” “Dragonus,
you bring sorcery from the sky? How wonderful.”
“Had you chosen to live, Lich, what a Magus
you could have been.” “Show me this Demon
Witch sorcery of yours, Lion.” and he has
a fondness for puck. “What a wondrous creation
you are, Puck.” When killing an enemy, he
has 3 entire lines for invoker. “Even the
Arsenal Magus falls before my magic.” And
he is opposed to antimage and silencer, somethign
that will be important later when we talk
about rubick vs the tyler estate. “I'll
see your silence… is eternal.” “Whatever
do you have against me?” while he likes
the rare kind of magic lion possesses and
shows respect for it, he doesnt like pugnas
oblivion arts, or CM and Linas elemental magic.
“Sad to see such rare sorcery go to waste.”
“May the arts of oblivion die with you,
Pugna.” “Thaw and shatter.” “Cool,
and smolder.” One relationship thats very
strange, is between rubick and pudge. Pudge’s
arcana voice lines are OBSESSED with rubick.
Heres a few of them. “Time for the main
course!” “Gonna save this for later. It's
worth savorin'.” “Thought you was gonna
steal me hooks, did ya?” “Your old man died
a has-been, Rubick. And you, a never-was.”
“Ha ha. You're alright, Rubick. Even if
you did talk funny.” i dont know exactly
what to make of this. Both the content itself,
and the quantity of it.
Now before we talk about aghanim, rubick has
a few interesting voice lines about him. When
selecting, he says this “Would that I had
father's skill with construction.”. And
when he buys aghanims scepter, he says this:
“Father's masterpiece.” “It's been so
long since I held this.” Which means 3 things.
FIrst of all, he believes himself he is aghanims
son, and second, aghanim constructs a lot,
and third, rubick once owned the scepter.
His father being a constructor comes in handy
to back the theory that rubick himself may
be created. There is a debate about wether
or not aghanim is alive. “Is it true about Aghanim's
demise? I've heard conflicting reports.”
Dark willow wants rubicks staff, and also
while at it, confirms that aghanim is his
father. “Give me that staff, Rubick” “I
want your father's secrets!” But Vanessa
from artifact is not so sure about rubicks
claim. “Rubick claims to be Aghanim's son.
I'm not sure I believe it, but I certainly
wouldn't say that to Rubick's face.”
That brings us to artifact. For details about
the tyler estate check out my antimage video.
Here i will keep it brief. Basically, in the
world of dota 2, the sapphire archons are
the authority when it comes to magic. They
pursue bad magic abusers. But theres one city
where they have their own magic rules and
police, and thats weeping rose. In weeping
rose all sorts of eccentric magic is allowed,
but that doesnt mean ALL kinds. If you break
the magic laws made by the quorum there, you
will be persecuted by the tyler estate. Silencer
is the warden, and antimage hunts down their
targets. The reason why this matters, is because
we can see a story involving rubick unffold
in the cards arcane assault, collateral damage
and arcane censure. It seems like rubick tried
to steal some grimoire, got caught by anti
mage the cop, and then presented to silencer
the warden. I hope we will see the continuation
of this story in artifact 2, where rubick
and antimage are now heroes. But the most
interesting card for this video, is aghanims
sanctum. Vanessa reads as follows. “Aghanim
is the greatest wizard of all time. There
is no question. There is no debate. No one
is his equal. So when he vanished one day,
we never wondered 'how' we wondered 'why.'
Some say he feared for his life and ran into
hiding, but I don't believe that for a second.
You ask me, Aghanim is working on something.
Something important. Something that will change
the world.” That, would probably be the
scepter.
And with that, lets discuss aghanim himself.
(valve video)
So instead of me summarizing what he is all
about, i will just be lazy and let him tell
you himself.
“Ah, you're here! Magnificent. I, uh, suppose
you're wondering why I invited you here by
capturing you.
I am Aghanim. Yes, that Aghanim. Aghanim the
Mighty. The Aghanim who studied dark forbidden
magic and became lost across the astral dimensions
in an effort to create a grand scepter. I'm
sure you heard lies about my works in hero
school.
But here's something your stupid teachers
didn't tell you. I didn't spend half an eternity
wandering multiple dimensions feeling sorry
for myself. No, instead I summoned the deadliest
creatures from the darkest dimensions, hoping
to one day bring them here, to test the mettle
of the mightiest heroes of the realm. That
day is today! Let's begin.
You've come! Excellent! I uh, must apologize
for smashing all of your scepters to bits,
I found my self most envigorating upon my
return, and I let that vigor... get the best
of me.
I've been lost beyond the astral plane moving
hither and yawn between dimensions for countless
lifetimes. My mind is as warped as my sense
of time.
But for now I'm among friends. And friends,
I'd love to share with you some of the wonders
to be found across dimensions. Beasts, to
expire fear, wonder, nausiea and death. Just
heh, just great stuff, however, you are all
mighty warriors in your own way! I doubt you
will die over and over and over again, so
hurry forth!
And you maybe wondering why Aghanim was traveling
across dimensions to begin with. The story,
not unlike some of you, was... short an embarassing.
On your path to grand mages you are taught
many things none of which is as important
as this: Never, under any circumstances, transpose
thyself across dimensions!
But how does one craft a scepter of infinite
power? By transposing thyself across dimensions!
I was lost among the mists of creation until
I've heard a tiny voice reciting my words
across the dim of time.
It was you, and you and youu and you, calling
me back, creating your quaint little versions
of Aghanim's Scepter. So, thank you friends.
Without your little incantations, I'dstill
be twisting through time and space.”
Valve dropped aghanims labyrinth for this
years summer event, and it might be the best
thing since siltbreaker. While not many questions
have been really plainly answered, its nice
to put a face to the legend. One thing a lot
of poeple find strange, though, is that aghanim
doesnt look like any other kind, except maybe
natures prophet. But natures prophet is one
of a kind, sprung from the last seed of the
goddess verodicia. And whats especially strange,
is that rubick, aghanims supposed son, doesnt
look ANYTHING like him. So.. what? Well, the
most common theory is that rubick was not
born from aghanim, but rather created, like
his scepter. or… i dont know, rubick is
what happens when octopus man does hanky panky
with a hecking rock? If you think legion commander
breeding with a goat is weird, aghanim and
the labyrinth boss storegga fricked. yeah.
“Let me tell you a short story of Aghanim
the Amorous. I've taken many partners in eons
of travel, but none was as potent and generous
as Storegga. There she was, grinding her granite
toes at the shore of the lava flow. Our eyes
met, she hoisted me in the air and... well
you can surmise the rest.” Aghanims labyrinth
also answers a good question about how theoreticaly,
10 heroes can buy aghs at once in a game.
How is that possible if theres only one scepter?
Well, there is only one ORIGINAL scepter,
that aghanim carries around. The ones you
can buy in the shop are knock-offs.
So thats all for rubick and aghanim. By the
way, before you assume i endorse rubick players,
let me quickly make it clear that while i
think his lore is dope, i absolutely HATE
this hero. or well, i love having him on the
enemy team because its a free game, but i
swear every single game hes been on my own
team has been an awful experience. Rubick
players are usually support, right. So theyre
expected to pick first. And they do, they
pick first, without even first seeing if the
enemy has good spells to steal. And then when
you flame them for it they say “HEHE theres
always a good spell to steal dw!” so i think
okay fine, i will give you a chance, and oh
god he is dead already. By the time the game
has hit the 10 minute mark he has fed at least
5 times, and while he has 2 kills thats not
good, thats because rubicks ALWAYS without
fail, kill “secure” as they would call
it, with fadebolt before they give you a colon
:P and tell you to relax. They always get
a killing spree and then feed a shit ton of
gold and think they did a good job. They also
always have a vomit inducing amount of cosmetic
items, probably to make up for going 0-20
every game, and you can bet they are passive
aggressive and swedish. They always fade bolt
the creep wave later on when you as the carry
is right in fricking front of it, and their
mere prescence is a tumour in your eye as
they follow you around to either leech exp
or feed while claiming they saved you when
you would be perfectly fine on your own. And
all of this was worth it, because they stole
1 ravage. Or 1 black hole. or as is more usual,
steal one chrono and mess up the whole fight
so you lose the game. Rubicks lore is cool,
sure, but do not for even a SECOND think i
approve of people who play this hero. NOTHING
makes me lose faith more than when my team
picks him, and then also wants to come safelane
with me with him. his mere presence is enough
to tilt me. Sorry for the venting, you may
leave now, PEACE
