I play orb build, like this one, but with a few differences. I take glass cannon and the disintegrate slow at 20. Sure some people have engage, and they do get me every now and then. But its about how you play more than simply taking the teleport build because god forbid something hits you. I don't go into fights first, that's stupid. I sit outside, wait for the fight to start, then circle and throw an orb, 3 sec cd, their dps is either running away or for me, teleport and another orb, they're dead. If it is someone with engage, I slow them past 20. In all honesty, I tried the teleport build first to get used to Li Ming on day one, then ditched it for nuke em orb build. I prefer doing 50k more dmg than the enemy Li Ming who took tele build and is still dying constantly. My main issue is not people with engage like Illidan, it is Gazlowe and Zagara with 10 different extra "minions" to aim past.

Thanks for the reply Kurasami,

-I don't opt for the teleport talent in the first tier because both of its benefits require you to be out of combat in the first place. However, i can see it's applications in avoiding ganks and getting away from approaching characters such as zeratul. I'll add a section discussing the benefits of taking it
-My second recommended build takes the damage talent for teleport
-Basic damage for missiles is worth noting and i'll add it to my talents section describing pros and cons
-I have a section in its appropriate tier that actually says to take the teleport shield it if the other team is focusing you or the other team has a zera/greymane.
-The build literally takes the further teleport
-I'll add a section that discusses it (I don't like it because it makes you vulnerable to ganks)

I added multiple talent discussions talking about alternative choices in each tier. I highly suspect you skimmed a majority of my guide and probably missed my second build entirely. I firmly believe that gaming Li-Mings orbs and hitting your missile combos is paramount I say so in multiple places.

Teleport talents are absolutely vital if the other team has a zera/illidan/greymane. I've never had issues with sonya chen or other Li-Mings. Sonya only has one way to gap close, so does chen. Very easy to teleport away and be in the clear

I will gladly take your valid points into consideration and tweak my guide a bit.

Personally I feel like the build has plenty of damage even without it, you simply give up too much health for the boost. The build centers around having a reliable escape because Li-Ming simply can't take being focused. Taking the talent will only get you killed faster, and taking it means you give up Illusionist. I've escaped so many times with a a tiny fraction of health because of Illusionist both because it helped me escape and frankly Glass Cannon would of meant i was dead.

I really appreciate your constructive response, and I'm glad your enjoying the build.

I've noticed it too, quite frequently I feel like it should go off more often, it seems to only really go off when the outside edge of the explosion hits an enemy hero at absolute max range. My bet is Triumvirate is going to be the skill cap choice; you'll prefer it when your consistently hitting those long range arcane orb snipes, something I'm still working on. I'm actually going to upload a video when i expand the guide tonight or tomorrow (hopefully, working a new job so time is tight until tomorrow) elaborating on arcane orb usage and showing some of my amazing snipes I've hit so far. Hopefully it will emphasize how devastating the build can be if you're aware of the map and your spacing.

As for Dominance, it really competes with Ess for everyday "Quick Match" use. Dominance is amazing for late game teamfights or early to mid game objective fights, However if you aren't getting those kills but instead pushing teams off objectives instead, it loses value. Wereas Ess lets you hit your arcane orb arcane missiles combo for free and gives you an option to use orb at least then ideal ranges as the combo does respectable damage late game and hits like a truck early game.

In regards to Avatar, I like the talent in theory but i feel like people will catch onto it after awhile. Focusing you because they know you can't escape. Very much like Hammer like you mentioned. If your team needs some lane push, its a very solid choice and having both ultimates is awesome.

I feel like their could be something to say about learning to use and incorporating Wave of Force occasionally. As having a knockback could be amazing for spacing, escape and setting up fights. I'ts a true tossup though as baseline Wave of Force doesn't knockback quite enough and Disintegrate is just too good for securing kills. I'm gonna play a dozen or so games using it just to see if i can't make it work.

Anyway, off to drafting some updates to this guide; primarily talking about the importance of map awareness, probably going to start working on threats as well.