Executioner

Introduction

In Marvel Super War Executioner is a fighter hero, and also one of the strongest one vs one champions. In Thor: Ragnarok he initially serves Hela, but switch sides during the final battle.

Let me start off by saying that the Executioner was one of the first Heroes I bought, and I immediately liked him from game one. He is still one of my favorite heroes. So what is so special about him? Well, he is a true bruiser, a tanky character that can also deal significant damage with his bloodthirst/bleed passive. Executioner is great at hunting down bleeding heroes, which makes him quite devastating in the first 10 minutes of the match. He is extremely effective against players that do not know how this characters works and want to fight him head-on in a prolonged melee. That’s something that you should avoid when facing Executioner. The Executioner is very easy to use, with two skills plus Ultimate, and only his S1 has to be aimed.

PROS

• Excellent in one vs one combat, especially in the early game
• Solid Control. Fear from the S2, and slow effect from the enhanced basic attack after the S1
• Good Sustain. Well if he can inflict bleed on the enemy and keep hitting him
• Solid damage output (again mostly due to bleed and increased attack speed from S1)
• Excellent Finisher. His Ultimate deals true damage, and it’s great for finishing off tanks

CONS

• Weak against ranged heroes. Marksmen and energy heroes can kite him
• Vulnerable to control
• No escape option. The Executioner has no defensive mobility skills
• No initiation skill. This hero has to walk toward the enemy and smash it with his axe, in order to order to start the fight.

Marvel Super War Executioner Item Build

Marvel Super War Executioner early game (lvl 8)

In order to fully grasp the Executioner, we must first take a good look at his passive, since it’s such a big part of his gameplay. Executioner will stack bloodthirst marks with his abilities and basic attacks on the enemy hero, which will start bleeding after four such marks have been inflicted. Now, the Executioner starts to truly shine, as he will heal himself while striking the bleeding target. He will also receive a slight damage buff against this opponent. Besides that, he also gains a significant speed boost, which becomes even greater if his prey is low on health (great in combination with the Ulti).

First things first, looking at skill upgrades. In Marvel Super War Executioner should max out S1, followed by S2, and take the Ultimate whenever it’s available.

Now that we got his passive out of the way, let’s take a look at the early game. During the very early game, the Executioner should play aggressively, since he can go toe to toe (one vs one) against almost anyone and win. So, let’s take a look at a very simple combo that can bring you a K.O. or two in the first few minutes of the match. Engage the enemy hero with S1 while moving forward, in his direction. This way you’ll perform some kind of a semi charge because it will take the Executioner ~1.5 seconds to swing his axe, and this skill can (and should) be used while moving. If S1 hits immediately activate the first phase of the Blood Shield (S2) and follow it up with an enhanced basic attack (to slow down). You can continue this combo by adding one or two basic attacks while moving forward and trying to position yourself behind the opponent (if you think that he might try to run away). At this point, activate the second stage of S2, fearing your foe and making him move away from the safety of his tower. Enemies affected by fear can’t attack or use abilities, and will try to move away from the Executioner. Use S1 again when it gets off the CD, followed by a flurry of attacks to finish off the weakened foe. This is a very simple combo and it can be used from the very beginning, right until the end of the match. If you’re facing a high DPS-er or some other dangerous hero, activate the second part of the S2 as soon as you get close to him, and try to quickly finish the fight.

NOTE: When using S1 Executioner will gain a 50% attack speed boost, only if he hits the enemy hero. If you hit a minion or a creep this bonus will not activate.

TIP: The transparent red icon will appear above the bleeding target, and this can help you figure out should you continue fighting or run away. Since Executioner heals with every attack if his target is bleeding. I almost always choose to stay and fight if my hero has at least 20-25% health left. Also, bleeding makes a huge portion of the Executioner’s total damage output.

TIP: The second part of the S2 can be a lifesaver if you’re being chased, since fearing your pursuer will usually give you enough time to escape. I found one very interesting way to use this skill and would like to share it. If you are being chased by Quicksilver, and you hear the clock ticking down (his slow time Ulti is about to activate), you can use the second part of the S2 to force him to move away from you. This will often result in him wasting his Ulti and throwing it in the middle of nowhere.

TIP: Do not use the second part of the S2 if there are no enemies within the basic attack range. You will lose the shield from the S2, and no enemies will be affected by fear since this ability has a very small radius.

With Ravage (Ultimate) the Executioner becomes the true early game menace. The Ravage has a relatively short cooldown, compared to the other Ultimates, and it deals true damage proportional to the targets missing health. Because of that, try to use it on enemies that are at 20-25% or less health. The True damage ignores armor and other types of damage reduction, making it great for finishing off tanks (which have tons of armor) as well as any other character. Also, if you K.O. an enemy with the Ulti, its CD will automatically reset, and it can be used again immediately, which is very nice indeed. Another neat thing about the Ravage is that it can be used while moving and will affect all opponents close to the Executioner, possibly striking multiple foes in team fights. So, always move in the same direction as your target, before activating this ability. Ravage will also instantly inflict four Blood Thirst marks on anyone it hits and the enemies will start bleeding. So, the Executioner will now get a speed boost and can easily catch up to and finish off any foes that survive his Ulti. Do not be afraid to tower dive or follow the injured opponent deep into the enemy territory. With such a huge speed boost and an excellent finishing ability in the form of his ultimate, Executioner is one of the best characters in the game for finishing off low health heroes.

TIP: While using Ultimate, move in the same direction as your target.

The Executioner is excellent at tower diving and can safely do it, even at lower levels! If you spot a low health hero hiding below the tower, you can do a very nice a combo by activating S2 for a temporary shield and move in with the Ulti to finish him off. The shield will absorb one, possibly two hits from the tower, allowing you to get out of there unscathed. However, take care when diving on the heroes that have stun or other, nasty, control abilities, because if the Ulti doesn’t finish them off, you might find yourself under the hostile tower without the means of escaping. All in all, this combo is one of my favorites, as most players often think that they are safe below the tower, and are reluctant to abandon the lane and get back to base even if they’re low on health.

With all that said, we can see that Executioner has a very strong start, and should exploit it further during the early-mid game, by roaming into the other lanes and helping out his allies, if he eliminates the opposing hero in his own lane (after he farms all the gold/XP from minions, of course).

As we have already seen, the Executioner has a lot of very good things in his package, but there are also plenty of downsides.

Only short-range melee skills make him completely unsuitable for any kind of poking/skirmishing. You really have to charge in and commit with this character.

No defensive mobility skills (passive speed boost only works for pursuing). So, no escape tool, except the blink.

Against a good player with a ranged hero that also has some control abilities, you will be almost helpless, because the Executioner doesn’t have any good engagement abilities, so it will be impossible for him to close the distance.

Marvel Super War Executioner mid-late game

In Marvel Super War Executioner can still run around causing havoc in the mid game, but only if he managed to get slightly ahead of his opponents in gold/XP. In the late game, he no longer has the ability to absolutely dominate in one vs one battles, but he is still more than capable of helping out his allies in team fights.  

Well, in team fights, everything remains the same except that the second part of the S2 should be activated almost immediately (no basic attacks between first and second stage), preferably close to the highest DPS-er on the enemy team. This way you will neutralize the most dangerous opponent for 1 second, and that can swing the battle in your favor in the team fights. Also, the Ravage should be used sooner, probably as soon as you see an enemy drop to 40% or less health. 

Countering the Executioner: When fighting against the Executioner just remember to never fight him toe to toe, in an open duel. In other words, if you stay in prolonged melee against him, for more than 2-3 seconds, his bloodthirst will activate, so his next strike will inflict bleeding on your hero, and the Executioner will start healing himself with each consecutive hit. Also, by this time, it will be very hard to run away from him, since he gains a huge movement boost when pursuing a bleeding target. Another important thing to remember is to never stay anywhere near the Executioner if you’re low on health because his Ulti deals True damage proportional to a missing Hp, and the True damage bypasses armor and all other types of damage reduction.

With the ranged hero, stay at maximum range and skirmish against him slowly plinking away at his health – Executioner has terrible mobility if his target isn’t bleeding. If you’re playing melee hero, strike the Executioner a few times and then retreat, denying him the opportunity to strike you multiple times and inflict bleeding.