Rubick

Rubick the Grand Magus is a ranged Intelligence hero best known for his ability to copy the spells of his enemies and use them as his own. Although he is mostly played as a support and is extremely fragile the entire length of the game, he can still prove to be one of the most influential heroes if he utilizes good positioning and well-timed usage of his ultimate, Spell Steal. Spell Steal allows Rubick to cast an enemy hero's most recently used spell, giving him supreme versatility throughout the game. By stealing the right abilities, the Grand Magus can aid himself and allies by casting crippling disables, applying curses, unleashing powerful nukes, disorienting the enemy team, supporting his allies with buffs, escaping from rough situations, or even enhancing his own physical attacks. His other abilities are just as worthy of a Magus: Telekinesis lets Rubick magically lift an enemy into the air, rendering the target helpless and vulnerable, before hurling the lifted enemy to the ground up to a short distance away and stunning nearby foes on impact. Fade Bolt blasts enemies with a stream of arcane energy which bounces to all enemies nearby, dealing damage and reducing their attack damage. Null Field is a passive aura, which grants himself and nearby allied heroes bonus magic resistance to shrug off magical assaults. Rubick's versatile ability-set and his infamous Spell Steal make him a flexible and powerful hero that can work in any lineup although he does suffer from long cool-downs and the surfacing predictability of his ultimate.

Tips

 * Rubick is a very flexible caster who can be played as a support, roamer or core farmer. The role that he is selected for will drastically change his play style and item build.
 * Early on, all of Rubick's spells cost an disproportionate amount of mana for less comparative benefit, so it is often wise to hold back on casting your spells unless you absolutely need to. Once a source of mana regen is secured, they can be used more frequently as needed.
 * Although a great disabler and potential initiator with the right items and stolen spells, Rubick is still very frail. Stay back as much as you can to avoid unnecessary damage, and invest in mobility items such as Blink Dagger as early as possible.
 * During the mid- and late-game, stealing key teamfight spells and keeping yourself alive should be your main goals. Spell Steal only has a 0.1 second cast time and high cast range, so quick fingers and fast reaction time will give your team with a huge advantage.
 * is a short disable, but can be extremely powerful as it can displace the enemy upon landing, putting them in a very disadvantageous position. If playing as a support or roaming Rubick, at least one point should be placed in the ability.
 * Rubick is a very strong supporting disabler when placed in a side lane, since Telekinesis can disable a target for a disproportionate amount of time (lift time, as well as displacement upon landing). This allows him to greatly magnify the effects of chain disables by his team as he can prevent a target from dodging area-of-effect stuns and increase the length of their retreat path.
 * Remember that when choosing a location for, it is possible to place them on a different elevation than their lift point. You can use this to your advantage by placing the target over a cliff, forcing them to take the long way around, which can be useful for extending a fleeing enemy's escape path or preventing a chasing enemy from easily pursuing.
 * can be a powerful harassing tool during laning, as not only does it deal damage but reduces the enemy's attack damage. However, mind its mana cost, and remember that casting it will push your lane both due to the nuke damage on nearby creeps and the reduced damage that the creeps will deal.
 * Due to its nuking and pushing power, Fade Bolt is a useful tool for a mid-lane Rubick, as the damage can harass the enemy mid while reducing their last-hitting power. As well, pushing the creep wave into the enemy tower can keep them occupied when the runes spawn, and force them to last-hit against their tower, possibly reducing the amount of gold they get.
 * generally should not be picked during the laning stage as it does not scale well and reduces the damage of already weak magic nukes by small amounts. However, it should still be maxed out by level 14 as it can greatly improve teammates' survivability against magic nukes.
 * is one of the most powerful spells in the game, as used properly it can turn teamfights around completely. However, its use requires impeccable positioning, timing and judgment to ensure that the right spell is stolen and used at the right time. Keep in mind what abilities your enemies have, and what you plan to steal, so that you can be ready when enemies cast important spells.
 * Virtually all spells stolen by Rubick will retain his 0.1 second cast animation. This means that spells such as 's, 's and 's  will cast almost immediately. Any spell that requires channel time or extended casting animations will still have extended durations.
 * Stolen spells can often fill in any deficiencies that Rubick has, allowing him to diversify greatly. For instance, stealing an area-of-effect magic nuke can allow Rubick to farm more easily as Fade Bolt is an inefficient magic nuke, stealing a stun can allow him to more than double up the disable duration on a lone target while initiating, and so on.
 * Remember that stolen spells have a memory duration based on the level of your ultimate, so you should keep in mind how you can best use that spell before you forget it. If you have stolen a powerful teamfight ultimate it can be wise to try to initiate a teamfight while you still have it. If you have stolen a strong AOE nuke you can use it to farm during downtime or push out lanes. If you have stolen a strong stun should attempt to find a target to gank as you can greatly extend the duration of your disable by combining the stolen disable with Telekinesis.
 * Remember that Aghanim's Scepter not only reduces the spell's cooldown to 2 seconds, it also (in most cases) grants Rubick the upgrade benefits of any spells he has stolen, regardless of whether the original caster has an Aghanim's Scepter or not. Therefore, a stolen will apply Enigma's current level of  to the area, a stolen  will fire up to 4 rockets, and so on.
 * Due to being able to be played as a support, roamer or mid, Rubick can benefit from building numerous other types of items.
 * Played in a mid role, Rubick will benefit greatly from purchasing a fast, and starting with a can aid in his last-hitting as well.
 * Played in a hard support role, be sure to purchase s regularly on top of Observer Wards, as denying the enemy map vision can give you leeway for initiating on them and stealing their spells.
 * can serve as a useful utility and survivability item when playing as a roamer. The extra Strength gives you more HP while the mana regen bonus helps to maintain your mana pool. The item's active adds another damage nuke to the mix, or can be used to heal yourself or teammates after successful ganks.
 * can be a useful upgrade if a Null Talisman was already purchased earlier. It provides all-around stats, additional armor, and the active ability can work alongside Null Field to create a space for magic damage to benefit your team over the enemy. It can also be useful depending on what types of spells can be stolen from the enemy.
 * is a very situational and risky item to purchase, and should depend on if the enemy has a major teamfight ultimate that can benefit from it. However, as with a Refresher Orb purchased on any hero with a major teamfight ultimate, it can mean the difference between victory and defeat in the right situation.

Trivia

 * In both DotA and Dota 2, he is the son of Aghanim. He also possesses an imitation of Aghanim's scepter as one of his cosmetic items.
 * If Rubick acquires Tusk's Walrus Punch ability, he will cast it as a projectile on the target by throwing a spinning, projectile form of himself toward them. When targeted on Tusk himself, the text "Sucker Punch!" will be displayed, in green colors. The caption will be changed to "Stolen Punch!" when hitting creeps and other heroes.
 * If Rubick steals Lycan's Shapeshift, 's Flesh Golem, or  Dragon Knight's Elder Dragon Form, he will transform into the same model the respective abilities use, though slightly smaller in scale compared to the original owner's. Rubick still retains his ranged attack, able to use any of the passive components the ability possesses (like Critical Strike or Corrosive Breath, for instance). Stealing  Alchemist's Chemical Rage does not change Rubick's model (unlike in DotA), but rather just adds a purple hue and effect onto him. He does still gain the ability's passive attributes like the attack speed increase and HP regeneration.
 * Rubick is named after Ernő Rubik, the Hungarian inventor who designed the "Magic Cube" (most commonly called "Rubik's Cube"), a popular combination puzzle. His response, "Now, where's my cube?" is also a reference to Rubik's Cube.
 * In DotA, Rubick couldn't steal several spells due to technical limitations. The complete list can be found here.
 * If Rubick activates a stolen True Form ( Lone Druid's transformation spell) while in the process of stealing another spell, he will permanently remain in True Form mode, earning the additional buffs and melee range, all while keeping his default abilities. He will only revert back to his default self upon deactivating the ability, or dying.