Mars vs Riki

How this matchup plays

Arena of Blood often feels completely useless against a Riki. He can either Blink Strike to a target outside the walls or use Tricks of the Trade to become untargetable inside, turning Mars's signature lockdown into a liability. This dynamic extends beyond the ultimate. Mars wants to stand his ground and absorb punishment from the front with Bulwark, but Riki’s entire kit is designed around getting behind his opponents. This means Mars's passive survivability is mostly ignored, and he takes full damage from Riki's attacks far more often than he'd like.

Across a game, this leaves Mars without a reliable way to initiate on or control his primary target. He tries to trap the enemy team, but Riki is always free to ignore the attempt and hunt vulnerable supports in the back. This forces the Mars player to depend entirely on his teammates for stuns and detection, as his own abilities are so easily dodged or negated. Riki, meanwhile, doesn't need to change his game plan at all. He can treat Mars as a distraction and focus on assassinating the heroes who are now trapped with a tank who can't peel for them.