Ranking every Arcana

Ranking all of the Arcanas (Arcanae? Arcanum?) #11 will SHOCK and AMAZE you.

 Okay I just looked it up and the plural of Arcana is Arcanum. Anyways, deciding which Arcana to buy is a hard choice if you don't specifically main one of them. So here's my ranking of all 12 Arcanum from worst to best.

Number 12 - Swine of the Sunken Gallery

This is the worst Arcana in the game because if you wear, it's you're literally telling everyone in the game that you're a despicable techies spammer. There's no other reason you would have this item other than to display your crimes against humanity.

Number 11 - Tempest Helm of the Thundergod

This might be a weird place to put the Zeus Arcanas which people seem to like, but this really is an underwhelming Arcana that I wouldn't recommend buying unless if you're some kind of weird Zeus main, if those exist. It just doesn't look very good and the effects are very sparse. It really just doesn't do very much at all. In terms of pure looks and effects, this is definitely the worst Arcana in the game, having less noticeable effects than even the Lina arcana. He has a cloud though, that kinda cool I guess?

Number 10 - Benevolent Companion

This is a meme Arcana and barely deserves to be in the game. It literally only exists to appease Reddit. We need some actual Io cosmetics and this set the bar as low as possible. It looks okay, though, and at least adds some color to the hero.

Number 9 - Fiery Soul of the Slayer 

This was the first Arcana added to the game, and it's basically an immortal, but less flashy than most immortals nowadays. It only changes your dragon slave in a not-that-noticeable way, and the only cosmetics change is the fire hair and the fire in her hands, which looks nice but is extremely bland when compared to the other cosmetics.

 

Number 8 - Feast of Abscession

This Arcana looks pretty great, and can combo very well with other cosmetics. My main problem with this is that it doesn't change his hook at all, which is his signature skill, and the other changes are pretty underwhelming. Other than that, though, this is a solid cosmetics to buy if you're a devoted Pudge player.

Number 7 - Demon Eater

The Shadow Fiend Arcana is the start of where all the Arcanas are basically worth buying if you play the hero at all and wanna waste 30 bucks. If you main Shadow Fiend, this is a good cosmetic to pick up. It looks pretty nice, and pairs together great with the few other cosmetics he has. It's very thematically fitting and intimidating, too.

Number 6 - Blades of Voth Domosh

Even though it doesn't stand out too much ingame, this Arcana looks very fashionable. The duel effect looks cool, and it has the unique feature of tracking duel wins and displaying them ingame, which is awesome and makes it worth buying if you're planning on grinding with legion. I wish it changed the helmet and backpiece more, but the sword and armor with flames running through them look badass.

Number 5 - Great Sage's Reckoning

With the Monkey King Arcana, Valve had the brilliant idea of making the entire color palette change as your hero's level went up. This made the Arcana stand at all points throughout the game, and almost gave you something to look forwards to. Unfortunately, it's basically just a recolor and doesn't do much else, looks decent cosmetically, and there aren't many other cosmetics to combo it with.

Number 4 - Bladeform Legacy

A solid Arcana for Juggernaut players, there's not much to say about this one. The two styles is pretty cool, and the solid color palette looks great. My biggest pet peeve, though, is people who combine red and orange, the biggest sin against humanity. The Arcana isn't too bad with this, but too many people combine this Arcana with the Thousand Faces set or the Balance of the Bladekeeper set. Don't do that. Stop doing that. RED AND ORANGE DON'T GO WELL TOGETHER SO STOP DOING IT REEEEEEEEEE---

Number 3 - Frost Avalanche

This Arcana is just beautiful. If you want a dress for your waifu, this is well worth it. It has a great ult effect, it can pair well with basically any crystal maiden Arcana, and even comes with a Dog companion, making this a must-have for any dedicated support player

Number 2 - Manifold Paradox

I almost put this at number 1 just because of how cool it looks. It's an extremely drastic change to normal phantom assassin, and looks amazing. The theme and color palette is beautiful, and since it's a headpiece you can put anything over it and it looks amazing. Adding the creeping shadow set to this is a classic set for your phantom waifu.

and the single best Arcana is...

Number 1 - Fractal Horns of Inner Abysm

How could I not put this at #1? The fact that you can choose from a huge selection of colors is too good to not be #1. Basically every color looks great. This is a great cosmetic to get if you like to play terrorblade, the effects are great, the buyback sound is terrifying, and the ability to just choose your favorite color is brilliant. Not to mention the edgiest lore in the history of DotA. 

Deep in the hell of Hell, Terrorblade lay bound behind fractal walls, sentenced to an eternity of twisted contemplation. He stared long into the reflection of his worst self. And long did his worst self stare into him. Now they rise together, a single entity more powerful than ever before.