The Flash — Patch 1.62 Verdict
[Default: B]
The Flash — Mage Guide
The Flash is one of the most kinetic heroes in the roster, a mage-assassin whose whole identity is closing distance in an instant, detonating a target with a rapid-fire punch sequence, and dragging the survivors of your dive into a lightning storm they can't walk out of. He does not farm quietly and scale into a late-game nuke. He is a presence hero who rewards players who know when aggression is free and when it costs you. Sprint in, Q forward through the carry, W into your five-hit combo, R to pin them in the cyclone, and the kill is yours before the support can react.
This patch he sits comfortably at A tier in Thai-server ranked. He is not the dominant force he was in earlier seasons, but the mid-lane mage pool is contested enough that his mix of self-peel (Q's return dash), point-and-click lockdown (Cyclone's suck), and passive-stacked autos makes him a genuine threat teams have to respect. His power floor is higher than most mages because his escape, the Q return, is built into his damage tool, so he is never truly committed to a trade unless he wants to be. Diamond-and-above players who enjoy aggressive, rhythmic combo execution and want a mage with carry weight will feel right at home.
Strengths
- +The Q forward-and-return mechanic gives The Flash a built-in escape on the same cooldown as his engage tool, meaning he is never truly trapped mid-trade the way most melee mages are.
- +Cyclone's end-of-channel pull is a point-and-click form of crowd control that cannot be dodged once the two-second spin completes, giving the team guaranteed lockdown in skirmishes.
- +Sonicboom's 50% movement-speed slow on the empowered auto ensures that any squishy target hit before the W channel cannot walk out of the five-hit sequence, making his solo-kill potential extremely consistent.
- +With Sprint as his summoner spell, The Flash's engage range is nearly unmatched for a mage, he can cover the distance from the edge of a team fight in a single activation, catching marksmen and mages who thought they were safely positioned.
Weaknesses
- −Cyclone's full value depends on the enemy not having a dash or blink available during the two-second spin, so heroes with multiple mobility tools can simply walk out and take only the pull damage.
- −Mach Punch is entirely direction-locked after activation; a single displacement ability on the enemy mid-channel causes most of the punches to miss, dropping his burst damage dramatically.
- −Before Hecate's Diadem is completed, The Flash's magic damage output is noticeably low, and trading aggressively in the early levels risks burning Sprint defensively rather than offensively.
- −He has zero waveclear utility, Q damages only heroes it passes through, not minions in any meaningful AoE sense, so he can be shoved under tower and zoned from passive stacking if the enemy laner has strong poke.
Abilities
PSonicboom
Each time The Flash moves, he accumulates Lightning Energy. Upon reaching 10 stacks, his next auto attack becomes a Sonic Boom, slowing the target by 50% and dealing bonus magic damage. If the attack hits, the target gains armor.
1Super Speed
The Flash dashes in a target direction, dealing magic damage to enemies struck. He can reactivate the ability to dash back to the starting point, dealing magic damage. During the return, he deals bonus magic damage to enemies hit by the first dash.
2Mach Punch
The Flash throws 5 rapid punches in a target direction within 0.8s, each dealing magic damage. The final punch deals 2x damage if it hits and grants The Flash 40% movement speed for 2s.
RCyclone
The Flash spins to create a lightning cyclone, dealing magic damage to surrounding enemies. He can reposition the cyclone at 40% of his movement speed for 2s. When the cyclone ends, enemies are pulled to the center and take magic damage.
How to Use The Flash's Kit
Every step The Flash takes charges one stack of Sonicboom, and at ten stacks his next auto attack becomes an empowered dash-strike that slows the target by 50%, deals bonus magic damage, and grants him a temporary shield. The critical mistake most players make is holding that empowered auto for no reason, proc it immediately after landing W's first hit to start your combo with the slow already applied, making every subsequent ability easier to connect. The shield component is often overlooked as a survivability tool; walking in circles near a jungle camp before engaging is a legitimate tactic to pre-stack Sonicboom before a gank.
Q is The Flash's most versatile tool: a forward dash that damages everything in its path, with a re-activation window that lets him dash back to his origin point for a second hit on the same target. The return dash also applies bonus damage to whoever was hit by the first cast, so in a solo-kill scenario you always want to walk the target slightly toward your tower before engaging so the return dash naturally moves you to safety. A common mistake at higher elo is wasting Q purely as an escape without letting the return damage proc, even when retreating, the bonus hit can matter for securing a kill on a low-health opponent chasing you.
Five punches in 0.8 seconds with the fifth hit dealing double damage if it connects, and a 40% movement-speed boost on completion, makes Mach Punch the backbone of The Flash's damage pattern. The directional input means you must aim it carefully on mobile targets; if the enemy dashes sideways after your first punch lands, punches two through five can whiff entirely. Use the passive-stacked empowered auto to slow the target before activating W, which practically guarantees the full five-hit channel lands and the double-damage fifth punch hits.
Cyclone spins The Flash in a lightning storm for two seconds, dealing continuous magic damage to nearby enemies, and then sucks all enemies in the area to the center for a burst of damage when the spin ends. The pull at the end is the real kill-confirm tool: enemies who are still alive after two seconds of spin get yanked back into your team's follow-up. You can reposition the center of the cyclone at 40% of your movement speed during the spin, which means you can chase a fleeing carry or drift the vortex over a cluster of enemies; don't stand still inside it. Avoid using R as your opener in team fights, it's better as a closer once enemies are already grouped by your Q dive, otherwise a single dash from any opponent walks them right out.
Skill Order
Priority: R > Q > W| Skill | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1Super Speed | 1 | · | 3 | · | 5 | · | 7 | · | 9 | · | · | · | 13 | · | · |
2Mach Punch | · | 2 | · | 4 | · | · | · | 8 | · | 10 | · | 12 | · | 14 | · |
RCyclone | · | · | · | · | · | 6 | · | · | · | · | 11 | · | · | · | 15 |
Loadout
Desolate
Spirit
StainStandard Build
1
2
3
4
5Core Combos
Standard Kill Combo
P12R1Pre-stack Sonicboom to ten charges before engaging, Q into the target, immediately proc the empowered auto to apply the 50% slow, W for the full five-hit channel, R to pin them in the cyclone, then activate Q's return dash to safety after the pull lands, this is the bread-and-butter sequence for solo kills on squishy targets.
Sprint Dive
P12RActivate Sprint immediately before Q to close an absurd amount of ground on a backline carry in a team fight, ensuring the empowered auto slow lands before W even begins.
Safe Trade
121Use this in lane when you haven't pre-stacked Sonicboom, Q forward through the enemy, W immediately, then pop the Q return to exit the trade before they can respond; don't force R unless it secures the kill.
Gameplan
The Flash's first real spike is level 4, when all three base abilities are available and the full passive-into-W combo is online. He doesn't feel complete until Hecate's Diadem is done, usually around the 12-to-15 minute mark, since that item alone nearly doubles the effective damage of his W channel. His strongest window is the mid-game skirmish phase, roughly minutes 10 through 18, when he has Hecate's, Sprint is off cooldown, and enemies haven't stacked tenacity. Late game, once tanks build magic resist and CC supports can interrupt his W mid-channel, his relative power drops, so force decisive fights while the item gap favors you.
Early Game
Levels 1–6- →Walk constantly between CS attempts to stack Sonicboom — the passive procs on movement, so standing still in lane is actively costing you damage potential and shield charges.
- →Look for a level-four all-in on the enemy mid laner if they have overextended past the river; at this level you have Q+W+passive available and Sprint makes the engage nearly unavoidable.
- →Do not use Q to clear waves — save it for the next trade window or as an escape if you get ganked, as the cooldown is too valuable to waste on minions.
Mid Game
Post Broken Spear- →As soon as Hecate's Diadem completes, immediately look for a pick on the enemy carry rotating through the river — this is your largest solo-kill window in the entire game.
- →Join every Dragon and Dark Slayer contest with Sprint ready; your Cyclone pull at the end of the fight forces the enemy off the objective even if they've already started the channel.
- →Rotate to side lanes after pushing mid to deny the enemy jungler's vision; your Q return dash means you can dive a tower, get a kill, and bounce back to safety in one action.
Late Game
Teamfight phase- →In full five-versus-five team fights, never R as the opener — wait for your front line to force the enemy together before activating Cyclone so the pull catches multiple targets.
- →If the enemy composition has two or more dash-heavy heroes, save Sprint as an emergency peel tool rather than a dive initiator — the game is often decided by whether their carry survives, not whether yours does.
- →Target the enemy marksman exclusively with your dive if they have items; the mage likely has enough magic resistance by this point that your W channel won't one-shot them before their CC interrupts you.
Matchups
The Flash is best first-picked when your team already has a setup support locked: an Annette, Baldum, or Grakk removes the biggest risk of playing him, enemies walking out of Cyclone. When opponents take those supports instead, seriously consider banning Lorion before you lock The Flash, because an untargetable Lorion R makes your entire ult harmless at no resource cost. In bad matchups against dash-heavy junglers like Allain who invade mid, play the first six minutes purely defensively, stack gold on safe CS, and wait for Hecate's before any aggression. He doesn't need to win lane, he needs to win the twelve-minute skirmish phase.
The Flash gets countered by
LorionLorion's ultimate puts him into an untargetable state that lasts through The Flash's entire Cyclone spin and lets him reappear behind the pull, completely negating the combo's kill-confirm mechanic.
AllainAllain's rapid directional dashes let him sidestep out of W's punch channel mid-cast and then re-engage on his own terms while The Flash's cooldowns are spent.
KeeraKeera's dragon form provides the sustained burst and hard CC needed to interrupt the W channel before the fifth punch lands, erasing most of The Flash's damage window in a single stun.
RiktorRiktor's chain hook can yank The Flash out of his Q return path or pull him away from the Cyclone's center just before the pull resolves, turning his ultimate into a solo-death sentence.
The Flash synergizes with
BaldumBaldum's barrel toss bunches enemies together perfectly before The Flash arrives with Q and R, making the Cyclone pull an almost guaranteed multi-target kill setup.
AliceAlice's crowd-control chain keeps targets in place long enough for The Flash to stack Sonicboom in melee range and complete the full W five-hit without the enemy dashing away.
AnnetteAnnette's ultimate creates a knockback wall that prevents enemies from walking out of The Flash's Cyclone spin, ensuring every tick of the two-second damage window hits.
GrakkGrakk's hook pulls a carry out of position directly into The Flash's engage range, removing the need for The Flash to spend Sprint on the initiation and keeping it available for follow-up escapes.
Pro Tips
- →Pre-walk ten Sonicboom stacks before every intended engage, even in base while waiting for your team, the passive stacks on any movement, so the habit costs you nothing and guarantees your empowered auto is ready the moment you need it.
- →The Q return dash can be deliberately delayed by simply not re-activating it; hold the recast to bait the enemy into chasing you, then trigger it to dash back through them for a free second-hit proc when they're caught out of position.
- →Position the center of Cyclone slightly behind the primary target during the spin rather than on top of them, the pull at the end will then drag them toward your team rather than into empty space behind you.
- →Sprint timing is what separates Diamond The Flash players from Masters players: pop it 0.3 seconds before Q so the dash's travel animation carries you the extra distance, rather than wasting the speed burst on standing still before the cast.
The Flash is the pick for mid mage players who want carry weight without giving up self-peel; his Q return dash is a safety net that lets aggressive players take fights a less mobile mage would get punished for. The thing to master is Sonicboom pre-stacking: every fight you enter without ten passive charges ready is a fight where the 50% slow isn't there to guarantee your W channel, and that small habit gap is what separates a Flash who picks up kills from one who creates them consistently. If you enjoy reading fight geometry and punishing overextensions rather than fishing with skillshots, this is your hero. Put in the Sonicboom reps and the kills follow.
The Flash — Frequently Asked Questions
Is The Flash good in the current ROV patch?+
Yes. The Flash is solidly A tier on the Thai server right now, a consistent, high-impact pick without being ban-priority. His mix of built-in escape and point-and-click pull keeps him relevant in a meta that rewards heroes who can solo-kill the backline without being stuck in the front line afterward.
What is the best build for The Flash?+
Start Orb of the Magi for the sustained mana and HP to survive the early laning phase, then rush Gilded Greaves and Hecate's Diadem; Hecate's is the item that makes your W punishing rather than ticklish. Finish with Apocalypse for the extra burst proc on your empowered auto and Rhea's Blessing as your final-slot survivability tool against magic-heavy lineups.
How do you counter The Flash?+
The most reliable counter is heroes with dashes available during his W channel so you escape mid-punch-sequence, or untargetable abilities like Lorion's ultimate that let you ignore the Cyclone pull entirely. At macro, constant pressure from a strong early-game jungler before he finishes Hecate's Diadem is the fastest way to keep him off his power spike.
Is The Flash hard to play / good for beginners?+
Medium. His core combo is simple to understand, but the skill ceiling is in pre-stacking Sonicboom correctly, timing the Q return for both damage and escape in the same activation, and knowing when to hold Cyclone rather than open with it. Not recommended as a first mage for new players, but for Diamond players already comfortable with combo mages he is one of the most rewarding mid-laners to invest in.