After a hiatus from competitive play, Camazotz has returned to the Smite Pro League. He was introduced as an answer to King Arthur, but players quickly realized that Camazotz was just a good character. Camazotz is primarily a solo laner, but he can be flexed into the jungle position. Camazotz is valued as a bully with high damage, healing, and kill potential. In this article, we look at why Camazotz was reintroduced to the SPL and why the Deadly God of Bats remains a presence in the competitive meta.

King Arthur was the first god released in Season 6 and has been dominating games since he came out. The majority of competitive games see King Arthur banned by the second pick team. Players were searching for counters and answers to this ungodly force. Enter Camazotz.

Camazotz was discovered to be a great matchup and counter pick to King Arthur. He first debuted in the Smite Minor League before Variety of Dignitas brought the bat into the Smite Pro League.

Camazotz is prized for his lane matchup into King Arthur. In the first few minutes of the game, Camazotz has access to a lot of healing and damage. Between Warrior’s Blessing, health potions, Essence Drinker, Vampire Bats, and Devour, Camazotz can stay healthy in situations where other gods get pressured by King Arthur. Camazotz also brings his own pressure before the first back. It is not uncommon for a Camazotz to all-in and solo kill King Arthur at level three when both characters have just their Warrior’s Blessing and a Round Shield.

Camazotz is primarily played as a check to King Arthur

The matchup changes once King Arthur purchases Gladiator’s Shield. At this point, he tends to overtake Camazotz in the 1v1. Because of his many abilities, King Arthur outheals Camazotz and outtrades the bat. Camazotz has bigger bursts of damage, but King Arthur has so many spells for chip damage and healing that he wins every extended trade. A good King Arthur player will repeatedly ult his lane opposition, dealing tons of damage every 20 seconds or so. The constant harassment and casts of Excalibur ‘s Wrath often means that King Arthur can chase opponents from tower to tower, ulting them twice and killing the foe, while ending the engagement healthier than he started.

It feels horrible playing against King Arthur as any character from behind, but Camazotz has tools to survive the matchup and mitigate the pain. He can sometimes survive through his healing and ability to run away with Bat Out of Hell. If Camazotz is able to neutralize the lane or get a consistent lead, he has done his job of not letting King Arthur solo win the mid game. A good Camazotz has the potential to not only check King Arthur, but also get a large lead and transition as a threat in team fights. If the Camazotz does get an early kill, he can try to keep up the pressure. Otherwise, Camazotz much try to survive the matchup and limit the effectiveness of King Arthur.

Both Camazotz and King Arthur are monsters in lane that fall off in the late game. Camazotz brings single target damage to team fights and cuts down squishy characters he encounters or forces out of position. On the other hand, King Arthur has more crowd control, AoE, and Excalibur’s Wrath to contribute to fights. Both characters can act as damage sponges and heal up for further punishment. Another reason Camazotz is picked into King Arthur is because they both have similar curves in games and can mirror each other in fights. Both characters are mobile threats in the mid game and can snowball fights if given the chance. Neither character is useless in the late game, but both lack considerable damage and are vulnerable to being blown up when anti-heal is applied.

Both Camazotz and King Arthur fall off somewhat in the late game.

Even though Camazotz is primarily picked to combat King Arthur, either directly after the Arthur pick or sometime later, he can be selected in other situations in pro drafts. Over time, the pros have learned that Camazotz has power on his own and does not need a King Arthur in the game to be picked.

One use of Camazotz is to bait a King Arthur ban. In competitive games, the Order side has more freedom in bans and if they don’t want to play as or against King Arthur, the team can ban Camazotz. This encourages the red-side team to ban King Arthur themselves, lest he get first picked with his common answer removed. With a King Arthur banned, another strong pick can then be selected first.

Sometimes Camazotz is just picked blind or into other matchups. When learning the Camazotz matchup into King Arthur, players rediscovered the merits of the God of Bats. Camazotz is a lane bully and brings early kill potential. Camazotz does not have great early clear and can be pushed in when played passively. Camazotz likes fighting his opponent and then jumping on the wave to resustain. Camazotz has a cleave in his basic attack chain that helps him kill groups of minions. He should always aim to be the aggressor and look for kills. Some players just like playing Camazotz and value his damage and bully status. In the SPL, Camazotz has been picked into a range of opponents and blind matchups. In a couple of games, Camazotz was even the first overall pick.

Camazotz can also be flexed into the jungle. Instead of a bruiser build, jungle Camazotz builds like an Assassin, usually damage with just a bit of survivability. While not being as tanky, this build path brings tons of damage and Camazotz can gank and kill laners in the laning phase. His damage doesn’t fall off as hard as a solo lane Camazotz, but he has to be more careful. In the late game, Bat Out of Hell can deal upwards of 1000 damage while Camazotz is untargetable and unpeelable. Because of his ability to play two roles, Camazotz gains power in drafts. Camazotz can flex between jungle and solo depending on his matchups and the composition of both teams. This pressure can cause opponents to make bad reads and let Camazotz slip into favorable situations.

Camazotz can be flexed into the jungle to confuse opponents.

Camazotz is not the best character in Smite and picking the bat god comes with some downsides. Camazotz is a damage-oriented Assassin and he lacks any form of hard crowd control. The most utility in his kit is a Slow from Vampire Bats. Because of his lack of control, Camazotz falls off late game and feels abysmal to play from behind. Camazotz must do well in the early or mid game to be relevant in the match. Camazotz is an Assassin, and so even if he builds tanky, he is squishier than other solo lane choices. Camazotz is reliant on his healing, so antiheal cripples his survivability. Even with all of these faults, Camazotz is a very pickable god that excels in several situations.

Camazotz is a strong god in the right situations, but he has exploitable weaknesses

Camazotz started Season 6 as an irrelevant god, but quickly rose to prominence. It was discovered that Camazotz was a great pick into King Arthur in the solo lane. As players experimented, Camazotz grew in perceived power. He started to be picked and banned in more situations in professional games. Camazotz brings a lot of damage and self-sustain as a solo laner and has value as a potential flex pick. However, Camazotz has less control than most solo laners and is a squishy Assassin who is vulnerable to anti-heal. With King Arthur getting nerfed in Patch 6.5, will the Wielder of Excalibur be allowed in more games, giving Camazotz more screen time, or will other characters and matchups be played in the solo lane? We will have to tune into the Smite Pro League to see if the bat can hold up in the future meta.

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