Why is Everyone Buying Helm of the Dominator at TI14? [Explained]

If you’ve tuned into any match at The International 2025, you will probably see at least two Dominated neutral creeps running around the map. In case you’ve been out of the loop for the past few weeks, here’s why everyone is buying Helm of the Dominator at TI14. 

Unmatched Farming Power

The single biggest reason why Helm of the Dominator has become the item of the patch is the creep domination mechanic. When you dominate a creep, you don’t just take control of it – you also receive the gold and experience as if you killed it. That means, every time you use the Helm’s active ability, you’re effectively last-hitting a creep instantly. 

This alone already makes Helm absurdly efficient. You get the value of the creep immediately, and on top of that, you now have the freedom to have it farm with you. That creep can hit the same camp as you, or you can send it elsewhere – shove a lane, stack a camp, or even gank enemies. 

Helm vs. Hand of Midas – A Clear Winner

With Helm of the Dominator allowing you to essentially farm a creep immediately, the comparison comes up: isn’t this just a better version of Hand of Midas? In many ways, yes. 

With how the item currently works, both Helm and Midas exist to accelerate your farm. The difference lies in efficiency. Sure, you get additional gold and experience from using Midas on a creep, but there’s a hefty 110-second cooldown.

Helm, on the other hand, only has a 45-second cooldown. That means you can essentially “own” two creeps over the same time span – and instead of just removing the creep, you also gain a partner to help you farm. 

Stats also come into play. Midas only gives you attack speed, which is great for some carries, but pretty useless for staying alive. Meanwhile, Helm provides armor, stats, and health regeneration. 

So yes, Midas still exists as a greedy pickup, but Helm is proving to be the far more versatile option in almost every way. 

Extra Utility: Used to Farm and Pressure Lanes

Getting immediate gold and experience is nice, but the true beauty of Helm still lies in what you can do with the creeps you dominate.

• Jungle farming: Don’t forget that controlled creeps deal additional damage. You can control a creep to farm jungle camps with you by having them hit the creeps while also tanking them. 
• Lane pressure: If your hero jungles just fine, you can always send out your controlled creep to shove a lane. Not only will you get additional farm, but you’re also applying pressure to the enemy team. 
• Utility spells: Some neutral creeps bring strong abilities and auras. From the Centaur’s Stomp to the Alpha Wolf’s aura, these effects can have impact in early teamfights. 

Great Stats and Sustain

Another underrated aspect is the raw stats Helm provides. Yes, it’s a pretty pricey item, but the buildup is great. You can buy a Crown for early stats in the laning stage and grab the Helm of Iron Will to sustain in lane.

Once you’ve completed the item itself, you’ll have:

• +6 All Stats
• +6 Health Regen
• +6 Armor

With these buffs, you can withstand harassment, tank jungle camps, and stay in lane longer if you want to. For many carries, this means not having to retreat to the jungle too early.

Why It Works on Certain Heroes

While almost every team at TI14 is buying this item in one way or another (we’ve seen Helms on Marci and Enigma too!) any core hero can make use of Helm’s broken value, it benefits some heroes more than others. 

• Faceless Void: The main reason why Helm was discovered in the meta in the first place. Dominated creeps are allowed to move and attack inside Chronosphere, meaning additional damage in the early game. You can also follow up with a Centaur Stomp once Chrono is about to end. 
• Anti-Mage: Everyone knows Anti-Mage has slow ramp-up. However, with Helm, he gets jungle sustain and can even join early fights with the help of his dominated creep. Suddenly, AM isn’t just AFK farming – he can participate in fights and shove lanes more effectively. 

For every other hero, the item just provides too much value to pass up. Though I thought Helm would only be viable on safe lane or offlane heroes, the item has gotten so out of control that mid-laners are also buying the item. For example, Bozhidar “bzm” Bogdanov has been purchasing it as Invoker!

Yes, It’s Viable in Pubs, Too

Helm of the Dominator isn’t just a quirky pickup anymore. It has become a meta staple at The International, and its functionality can also be applied to pubs in all brackets. The item is straightforward, as long as you micro your dominated creep effectively and avoid feeding it to the enemy team. So, don’t go flaming your teammates for buying this item!