Overview
Alice is one of the revamped Abyss heroes in the latest patch. This new playstyle that incorporates elements from her old gameplay truly highlights the prowess of the Queen of Blood herself, grounding her skillsets in blood-related techniques. This revamp makes a smooth transition from the previously mana-dependent, soul-sucking sustain queen, to more of an initiator that excels in pushing the limits of her oppressiveness. Let's take a deeper dive into her kit!
Strengths
The core strength of the Revamped Alice lies in her Ultimate, Throne of Ruin. As devastating as it sounds, it lives up to the name by delivering a crushing AoE immobilize to any enemy caught in its radius. This allows Alice to further take space and zone the opponents from neutral objective fights, turret sieges and crucial parts of the map. It can also combo with flicker or her 1st Skill for a surprising entry! In addition, her sustain and regen management is more consistent than ever, making her not just a lane bully on the Exp Lane, but more so an immovable object in heavy team fights. Her reliance on mana was removed to better cater to her initiator playstyle, which removed her core weakness in her old kit. This allows Alice to cycle skills more consistently with continuous regen. Just make sure to use her 2nd Skill wisely as it is her main form of Spell Vamp! The key to mastering Alice is the timing of her skills. Once you get the entries right, it can catch the entire enemy team off guard!
Weaknesses
SImilar to most sustain, zoning-style Exp Laners, Alice's main weakness lies in her vulnerability to Crowd Control. Any form of disruption that can either shut down her engage or control her long enough for her to be killed before her regen can take effect is a massive threat to her. While her regen is more instant after the revamp, it is still susceptible to Crowd Control and one should watch for CC effects when playing Alice. Also a similar downfall to most oppressive Exp Laners, Alice requires decent survival in lane for her to shine during the teamfights. She will have a relatively weak laning phase due to her kit that specialises in AoE CC and regen, so one should play the laning phase very warily. To render Alice useless, she has to be constantly ganked and picked off in lane before she can make her impact in teamfights.
Pseudo Magic Sustain
Tough Boots - Helps with CC Resistance, complements one of Alice's key weaknesses which is disruption Clock Of Desitny - Although Alice does not run on Mana anymore, the passives it provides helps her with sustain on lane and in team fights, allowing for some unplanned clutch plays. Think of it as the War Axe for Magic Damage heroes, you'll build it on other Exp Laners! Brute Force Breastplate - This is more of a hot take, aids with CC Resistance on top of Tough Boots and allows Alice to stay in fights longer, a solid item overall Oracle - No explanation needed, just more and more regen. Good counter to the first item Mage Glowing Wand pick-ups in the current meta. Queen's WIngs - This item allows for outplay potential at lower health bars and boosts her spell vamp overall, making her chunkier and harder to deal with. WInter Crown - This has been a traditional core item for the old Alice, but I don't think that has changed. Combos very well with her ultimate, allows her to break the tempo and regain it by rejoining the fight, good in most situations.
Additional Equipment
Dominance Ice - Can be picked up if team requires Anti-Heal/Laning against opponent with significant Spell Vamp Immortality - Second chance for escape, rotated with Winter Crown Blood WIngs - An interesting item of less value to me, but it provides decent shield and movement speed (might want to remove Agility from Emblem Talents if planning to go for Blood WIngs) -Other defense items as per necessary
Sustain, Sustain, Sustain
Go with the Support Emblem as it provides two key features, Cooldown Reduction and Movement Speed, both of which are much needed stats by Alice for her to rotate faster and establish her presence in team fights. Agility complements the Movement Speed boost from the emblem to facilitate better rotations. Festival of Blood and Brave Smite are typical Emblem Talents to increase Alice's survivability.
Battle Spell
Flicker is the recommended battle spell of choice due to her role as a key initiator. There are multiple combos that Alice can peform with flicker: - Flicker + 2nd Skill for an instant stun and burst of HP Regen when Passive is active - While Alice cannot cast skills during her Ultimate, she can use Battle Spells! Simply do Ult-Flicker to reposition her in teamfights and make up for the charging time! Alice's only form of escape is her 2st skill, which has a relatively long cooldown even at full build, thus Flicker helps in escape from sticky situations too!
Mid Game
I believe the Mid Game from the Last Turtle to the 1st Lord is where Alice's potential truly shines. It allows her to get 2 or 3 core items and join the fight with her heavy aggression and zoning capabilities. During this stage, Alice players should all try to look for openings to reach the backline squishy members. They are vulnerable to Alice's unexpected dives at key areas of the map like the Lord Pit.
Best With Hylos
Any tank with a primary engage tool or AoE Crowd Control really works with Alice. I picked Hylos here because the initial slow from his Ultimate can allow Alice sufficient time to charge up her Ultimate and descend upon her enemies for a devastating finish.
Watch Out For Pharsa
Alice counters most backline mages and marksmen who prefer to fight at a distance rather than up close. Pharsa is a great example who is prone to dive with no Blink skills and can be an easy target when the opening is found.