10 years since the last major patch...
Keeping the community in constant hype about the game is an incredibly difficult task. Without a continuous flow of patches both professional matches and public games tend to get somewhat boring and derivative. Yesterday Valve has used one the biggest Aces they had up their sleeve -
Techies. And no pub game is going to be the same any more. At least for the next week...
Techies falls in the category of heroes that are very different from the rest. His skillset results in a gameplay based on mindgames and skilfully placed traps. It is no wonder that the major part of the community was so excited about the promised release.
He is also one of the heroes that is extremely fun to play in the public matchmaking setup - not only do the kills you make feel extremely satisfying, but you also have all the time in the world to grief the enemy about it.
And here comes the main problem I personally have with this hero - while he has the potential to be one of the most devastating supports, it will rarely be the case since the general public will not let go off the "Dota is a Deathmatch" mindset, resulting in a lot of potential being wasted and a lot of games being thrown before they actually start.
Stasis Trap
To be perfectly honest I haven't played a single match with Techies in Dota 2 - it is quite impossible to pick the hero in an AP match. But I have a fair share of fun with him in Dota 1 (I occasionally play WC3 to check the new heroes).
More than any hero currently available in the game Techies should be extremely flexible when it comes to skillbuild. While it might appear that most of his utility comes from the ability to deal (or threat to deal) massive damage to a hero that has walked into a trap or was locked down enough for Techies to come close and personal to, it might not necessarily be the case.
The fact that both Suicide Squad, Attack! and Land Mines deal composite damage results in severe limitations in certain cases, namely when an opponent has an impressive starting armor. Additionally, if the early game did not net a substantial amount of kills Techies can suffer from XP deprivation and will have continuously lower impact on the battlefield as the game progresses.
Coupled with the fact that if you have managed to pick Techies, chances are it was the first pick in the game (allowing for possible counter-picks), knowing what to prioritize when leveling is crucial. Moreover, the launch day statistics shows an almost complete disregard for Stasis Trap, something I find inherently wrong. While it does require a setup from the team to take full effect, its potential is arguably higher than from a Land+Remote Mine combo.
I can't think of any 6 second single-ability disable in the game apart from 
Faceless Void's Chronosphere, 
Bane's Fiend's Grip+ and 
Visage's Summon Familiars. The Stasis Trap does take 4 seconds to take effect after placement, but even level 2 of the ability will allow for back-to-back chain stuns.
The information above, of course, is mainly concentrated on the teamfight presence of the hero, rather than on his unique ability to create a constant threat to the enemy team. However, while I completely agree on the fact that the hero should be played differently from the rest, in no way does it mean that one should completely neglect the team and run his own errands, while his allies are suffering from a 4v5 disparity.
Land Mines
Taking care of what I think is the fundamental reason behind the abysmal (even for a launch day) Win Rate of ~40%, it is now possible to go over the "signature" skills of the hero and the appropriate usage of them.
It is no secret that when playing against Techies 
Sentry Wards or even a 
Gem of True Sight are a must, hence the hero's main allies are ramps to high ground and forestation. In many cases placing a mine in a direct line of sight will result in a wasted mana and cooldown - always assume that your enemy is prepared, even if he is not. Making wrong assumptions about the opposition and expecting them to do (or not do) certain things is one of the cases players flatline and stop improving at certain MMR.
There is a multitude of resources, such as this neat heatmap that can be used as a general reference for where not to place the initial mines during the laning phase, but you have to think further than that. If you are playing against Techies always try to have a line of sight and some form of True Sight in the area you are going into. Yes, that usually means that many juke spots and ramps are off-limits until you had a chance to check for the threat.
As Techies a player must be unpredictable. One of my most favorite tricks was to go offlane at the start of the game to place some mines and then use a 
Town Portal Scroll to get to the other side of the map without being noticed. Not only did it usually ensure some amount of safety for the offlane hero, but it also frequently opened opportunities for the offlane teammate to net a kill.
As an opposing team you should always start the game with excessive scouting of all the keypoints at the beginning of the game. Not only does it ensure safe passage across certain key areas, but it also saves a decent amount of money, since you will not be forced to start with the extra set of Sentry Wards.
The rune spots are an obvious candidate for checking at the start of the game and in many cases aforementioned saving can be punished by Techies using 
Smoke of Deceit to get to a location only protected by an 
Observer Ward that will be assumed safe. The two-three-mines that can be placed during the duration of Smoke will not necessarily kill the enemy hero, but they will force them to get back to base. In a mid vs. mid situation this half a minute can result in a very strong lead for your teammate.
Drying out the money supply of the enemy supports is a very strong side-effect of the Techies pick and should also be abused. By being unpredictable and stealthy as well as diversifying the landmine spots you effectively reduce the chances of your mines being caught out. Counter-warding is crucial when playing the hero and it can also develop a good habit and better understanding of the concept when playing other support heroes.
Another thing a lot of players tend to forget about the fact that the Land Mines can deal massive damage to the structures - Techies can be a very good pusher both when it comes to destroying objectives and switching the lane momentum. Casually left Land Mine on the lane can make certain tower trades a lot harder for the enemy, since it is not until rather late into the game when the heroes can either tank the tower to keep the creeps alive or charge through the backdoor.
Lastly, both Land Mines and Stasis Traps can prevent the creeps from spawning in the neutral camps. While tanking the Mine damage with the face is certainly an option for jungling heroes, skipping the first "wave" of neutral creeps provides some extra time before the enemy jungler becomes active and can start earning XP and Gold.
Suicide Squad, Attack!
Suicide Squad, Attack! is an extremely powerful skill early in the game that can allow Techies to snowball. But it is extremely high risk, since a failed follow-up can result in the enemy getting away and you wasting a massive cooldown. Moreover, even if the follow-up is there and your team nets the kill, if you were not the one to deliver the finishing blow you are not going to get any experience.
While it might seem unimportant for a support hero, the time you spend dead and getting back to lane, as well as the time you use to place the traps can really add up to a very under-leveled hero, even by the support standards. Personally, I feel like the skill should only be used if it ensures the kill, while not resulting in an overkill - with a damage impact this huge the line between KS-ing a sure kill and making the kill happen in the first place is anything but fine. The former is a big no-no, while the latter is an almost definitive yes.
Like every other skill in the Techies arsenal, Suicide Squad, Attack! can be used to toy with the enemy. The best part - you do not necessarily need this skill to be leveled. You can even completely ignore the skill in favor of the stasis trap (especially good if your team has AoE lockdown of some sort) and still see enemy heroes run away as soon as you start the motion towards them.
Top that with some other obvious high burst-damage hero as your lane mate and you can completely zone out the enemy melee carry without breaking a sweat. Just make sure that you are not out of position. And have an extra skill point available in case you suddenly need to deny yourself. It is a standard practice for many heroes, but with hero like Techies it can mean all the difference. Since you spend most of the time planning and preparing traps, rather than actively participating in the laning, you can allow yourself to have one skill point unused (level 2 and 4 skillpoints are your main candidates for an explosive or disabling surprise).
Remote Mines
Much like with the Land Mines, the Remote Mines should not be placed too obviously, when looking for a kill. Unlike Land Mines the remote ones require an extra map awareness, but it comes with a huge upside that many people tend to forget about - they have an enormous sight range for a 10 second spell with 480 seconds of uptime. Use this as an advantage! Sometimes placing Remote Mines as makeshift wards can prove more beneficial than stacking them on top of each other for a big explosion. Best part - it is possible to have both the killing stack as well as scattered Remote Mines for extra vision.
In practically every other sense the general use of the skill is akin to the Land Mine. There is no extra damage on the skill, however, but it is outweighed with the fact that the mines can be detonated for full damage. With a typical "booted" speed of 350 many heroes can escape the Full Damage Radius of Land Mines by simply continuing their motion in the initial direction.
That also leads to the Remote Mines sub-ability - detonate. While it is extremely handy when you have noticed an enemy on the other side of the map and want to blow him up without changing the screen position, the turn time as well as any potential unexpected disable can mean quite a bit of difference, especially if you are escaping some other threat and turning back and forth can result in a death.
The ping + spacebar trick can really help out in these situations, unless you have binded something else to the button. You can also "spacebar" to locations pinged by your allies and they will often ask for assistance if they see an enemy passing a Remote Mine.
While I have the chance - if you are playing 
Templar Assassin and have a multitude of traps around the map, please, pay attention to the teammate pings - a timely activated 
Psionic Trap on the other side of the map can be very beneficial.
Conclusion
To be honest I was more excited about the possible balance changes to the Dota 2, rather than the release of Techies. I believe that after the initial hype about the hero dies out, he will take his place somewhere in the middle of the popularity list with a lot of players disenchanted with their Win Rate on the hero. Possibly after some professional matches the Win Rate and popularity will show some spikes, but that is no more than a speculation.
That said, I still think he is an extremely fun hero to play and he can potentially be a lot more fun if a player can properly utilize all of his skills.
Well said
Can't wait till the hype dies and I can play him as a propper support. Dropping a Wraith King stun onto the stun mine with a possible smoke suicide?
Can't wait :)
When Techies gets Aghanims Scepter a single Remote Mine kills an entire creep wave. This is where Techies A-game really kicks in. His gold per minute explodes with cash as you just activate your Remote Mines to kill the pushing creep waves in the lanes whenever they walk past.
Since the Remote Mines are also global Techies really counters Rat-Dota. No one in your team has to teleport back and defend base when you got Remote Mines placed in the lane to defeat the push.
professional games?
no pro team has ran a techies before even in dota 1.
Here you go
SHITTIEST HERO
GIVE ME FUCKING 6.82
10 "years"?
It's a play on the popular meme : "10 years since sing strim.i walk through the empty streets trying to think of something else but my path always leads to the stream. i stare at the screen for hours and try to summon the lord. i watch other asian girls streaming but it is no good. i flame dendi in his channel and try to resist the nazi mods but it is all meaningless. the end is near.i then usually watch some old sing vods and cry myself to sleep."
Get the Arcana and watch people report you for just existing, it's a blast.
Oh, thanks
Don't open the screen above my comment. It's not a screenshot, but an executable file. I highly assume that's a virus, so be ware.
>Referring to Techies with he/him/his when there are multiple techies.
Pls
techies pickers get ebola pls
Not a shitty pick... not a great pick. Everybody knows that is a pub pick. If u have more than 4k mmr and pick Techies on ranked... U deserve burn in hell xD
u kidding? pro (or "pro") players are probably way more predictable in their patterns than below 3k xD
just dont pick techies... ever
but he's so fun though...
potentially techies is a versatile hero. the statis trap is aoe. only idiots cannot see the true worth of techies. dumbasses everywhere
Yamateh and Merlini was playing techies on dota 1. And once Chammer played jungler techies and kicked some ass. So there is no support can do 2k easy damage but techies its good but not easy to play as you say. Its just like meepo
http://puu.sh/buED7/838d2f215a.jpg
cO
Well said, I feel like the Techies hype has already died down and they seem to be mostly ineffective unless used by someone who really knows the intricacies of the hero.
Techies is a total waste if your support knows anything about wards. Otherwise, you're fucked.
Give me my 2007
bullshit
to mllcg: You know nothing .. what about Say_Plz team and their sniper + techies combo? It was 'pre-historic' Dota though, but still ..