Hey guys, a few people have been asking about how I build Stitches, so here it is. This build is only any good if you can land hooks and play as a team. If you can't do that, you might be better off looking elsewhere. That doesn't mean this build isn't viable for solo queue, because most people will automatically focus the person you hook. If you don't have people around to focus with though, it's going to make your life more difficult.
Early on, you have 2 main ways to harass whoever is opposing you in lane. I tend to go mid, because you can survive the gank attempts if you're smart about it. If they are afraid of you (which they should be) they will stay away from you, trying to take potshots at your minions. If given the opportunity, you'll want to Hook them and ideally bring them into range of your turrets for big damage. If they are hiding in their own minions, you can use Slam for damage on all of the minions and the Hero as well. If you can pickup a kill and deny the enemy team XP (even if it's very briefly), it could snowball for you very early.
Save Devour for when they inevitably have other people come to help push back. I tend to run low on Mana because I spam my abilities and make them fear me, so sometimes I'll use the fountain, even though I don't really need the health. You should be able to bully your opponent(s) and run their towers out of ammo pretty quickly. Be careful not to overextend without knowing where the enemy Heroes are. You don't have any escape options if you get surrounded.
This is a pretty basic combo, and it allows you to live through surprises and burst damage much easier. Using Devour on minions will heal you for almost all of your health, while using it on other heroes often gives you the edge you need to survive a 1v1. You can also use Devour to help clear camps and come out with all of your health.
Hook
+
Tenderizer
You can use Hook to initiate a fight, and the slow will allow you to keep the pressure on your opponent. Especially if you hook them near your minions or towers. The slow will also make it difficult for your opponents to get away from your team if they are around you as well.
I tend to try and lane a little while longer, but if teamfights are breaking out, it's probably time to stop. Basically from that point on, you'll want to be the initiator in fights. Stay with the team and use your Hook to snag an enemy, taking them out of the teamfight immediately. Try to go for the healers or assassins, as killing them quickly will usually win you the fight. Ideally you will hit 10 before your opponents, and will be able to temporarily remove important characters from the teamfight with Gorge. Often times, the temporary 4v5 is enough to take someone else out, making sure the odds are always in your team's favor.
If you are on the defensive around 10, you can use Gorge to bring an opponent behind your own walls, making it difficult for them to escape, especially if they already burned their mobility. You can also save your Hook to deal with pesky abilities such as Nazeebo's Ravenous Spirit and Valla's spin-to-win.
Use this combo to basically remove anyone from the battle temporarily (at the very least). Ideally you want to run away from the teamfight when you have someone in your belly, blocking the enemy from helping and allowing your team to focus them down when they exit. You can also just use this as a finisher, making sure whoever you capture cannot be healed to keep fighting.
Mega Smash
+
Pulverize
The increased range and cone angle, combined with the stun make this a pretty gross combo. You can usually get 2-3 Heroes with this in a teamfight, setting up other AoE combos. You can also prevent someone from escaping, allowing your team to catch up with them. You can also use this defensively to save your buddies by stunning their pursuer, allowing them to escape while you tank the damage and body block.
Lategame is pretty similar to midgame, but when teamfights aren't breaking out, you can quickly push lanes with your Slam, including lanes with catapults in them. The extra area makes it very easy to hit all the minions and clean it up, allowing you to win back lanes. Because Stitches has a ton of health, he can also do a little bit of diving to push for keeps or other important objectives. Using Devour on minions will essentially give you another lifebar, allowing you to tank pretty hard.
This will allow you to get out of bad situations and save your life. It also combos really well with Gorge by allowing you to teleport to the safety of your team and release the hero you have gorged to remove them from the fight, easily allowing your team to do all sorts of unspeakable things to the enemy.
Here's a final push with this Stitches build in action. This was a solo queue game, so there was almost no communication involved in this push. We were actually a bit behind before getting the Dragon Knight.
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Stitches, so here it is. This build is only any good if you can land hooks and play as a team. If you can't do that, you might be better off looking elsewhere. That doesn't mean this build isn't viable for solo queue, because most people will automatically focus the person you hook. If you don't have people around to focus with though, it's going to make your life more difficult.
Hook
Slam
Devour
Gorge
Ravenous Spirit
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