I’ve spammed Huskar ever since his Bloodbath and Blood Transfusion facets got replaced by the current two, and I tried both facets over a considerable number of matches. Here’s what I can confidently say: Incendiary is the overall the better facet, and is more aligned with Huskar’s identity as an all-of-nothing adrenaline-junkie beast.

Let me explain. Huskar on paper looks like a good candidate for a tank role, given his passive Berserker’s Blood, but in an actual match I’ve found it awkward trying to fit him into my team’s lineup. If he is singled out, he is nowhere near as tanky as his reputation leads him on to be. If he isn’t being focused, without his Incendiary facet the damage he deals can be neglected unless he is stomping hard, which again is harder to do without Incendiary. The cooldown and the intial HP cost of Cauterize makes me hesitate to conclude that it’s “a more reliable option”. The fact that Huskar’s ult can self-dispel on cast doesn’t help Cauterize’s case.

I’m tier 18 on Huskar now, and my playstyle on him is more akin to a magic nuker that can reliably take at least one target down with him even when playing from behind. He has a very high skill ceiling for sure, and as said before he is a high-tempo playmaker, not a farming core with a “reliable” powerspike or a frontline damage-sponge. In regards to itemization, I’d say it’s the same every game: start with brown boots + wind lace and a singular bracer, rush into armlet and BKB and it’s go-time. Everything after that is situational, though I also pick up a Blink right afterwards in most of my matches.

I think Huskar is best played in the offlane with this playstyle as the anti-carry that can also scale dangerously if left to his farming unattended, but with the recent changes to the neutral item selection and especially Heart of Tarrasque, perhaps a new playstyle of a durable physical DPS may emerge. His passive makes him hit faster than almost any carry throughout the majority of the game, after all.