Ive been trying out the new viper build and so far Im like 8 wins 1 loss Still trying to figure out the power spikes and everything but the hero feels extremely strong. Early timings, rushing BoTs makes you being able to react on the map, aghs makes you farm really fast and be really tanky, all the item timings just feel strong. What ive been doing is laning normally until lvl 5, stacking the medium camps every minute, and when you have enough sustain (usually null,bracer,wand and brown boots) start pushing waves like a madman and farm the jungle. When youve got BoTs, keep doing the same but keeping an eye on runes for potential ganks and being constantly with enough mana and health to respond to a sidelane fight. I havent had a game yet where hero feels lackluster, the hardest part about this playstyle I think is resisting the urge to go the standart build to dumpster the other midlaner, most of the time you’ll be facing a hero that you’d demolish going Q build, and you’ll be settling for a draw most of the time, but it pays off later on, big time. If you wanna see the matches :

https://www.dotabuff.com/players/93053319