Gaming
We take a look at the new meta, as the Shanghai Major rapidly approaches.
With the Shanghai Major just a couple of months away, Dota’s next metagame is starting to take shape. The 6.86c patch has helped stabilise what is looking to be one of the most flexible versions of Dota we’ve seen yet, and has brought a bunch of forgotten heroes back into the meta.
Whilst the game still favours sides that look to bunch up early and take it to the opposition, with aggressive carries like Gyrocopter and Juggernaut, we’ve also seen the viability of various push strategies during the qualifiers, and some success with more defensive Medusa-based line-ups.
Teams are still experimenting, and we are sure to see some overlooked heroes emerge into the competitive area, but you can be certain that the popular picks in the pro scene will quickly filter down into your pubs over the next few weeks – so be prepared.
Outworld Devourer is back
That's right: he’s not a new hero. Mid-laners out there best prepare themselves because OD is one of the most disgusting laners in Dota and he's just got stronger. Astral Imprisonment will ruin the day of just about any melee laner, and Arcane Orb gives him a way to dish out huge amounts of damage whilst sapping intelligence from his opponents. Fata for Team Liquid and SY for Digital Chaos, in particular, have been pulling out the OD so check out their games if you want some tips. If you're going up against the hero, then try to get someone who can farm from range or ask your supports to gank early on and shut him down, before he shuts you down.
Death Prophet could be OP
DP has burst onto the competitive scene, wreaking havoc on structures and heroes alike as they feebly struggle to bring her down. Since 6.86c introduced a host of small tweaks, her pick rate has soared, and she’s already attracting first round bans as a result. The ability that’s winning games for DP seems to be the newly added Spirit Siphon. The small buffs it received to its lifesteal and slow may have pushed it over the edge, turning her into a monstrously powerful mid and a much more effective ganker. With a win rate of 6 percent during the qualifiers, expect to see 6.86d nerf back her laning if a decent counter is not quickly found.
Invoker is still strong
Ice Frog has responded to the constant cries of "Invoker is broken" with a nerf to his laning, by rescaling Alacrity so that it's less effective at early levels. Thank goodness. The hero was driving your Vipers and Razors out of mid lane and it was never going to last long. But those Invoker players out there need not worry too much – the hero is still top-tier material, with abilities that offer large amounts of damage and utility at all stages of the game. We're going to see a lot of him over the next few months in both pro games and pub matches. If you're struggling against those pesky Invokers out there, remember your detection and Black King Bars, and watch out for Sun Strike pick offs.
Pushing works
Nobody wants a repeat of the one-dimensional TI4 Final, except Newbee perhaps, but pushing is back big time, so get ready to deal with it. The changes to Death Prophet are one reason for this, but many other heroes, including Lycan, Juggernaut, Enchantress, Nature's Prophet, and Chen also account for the numerous push strats we have seen during the qualifiers. The introduction of Aether Lens gives Pugna and Shadow Shaman some much-needed range for their abilities, so they too are seeing a resurgence. The nerfs to Dazzle's Shallow Grave cast time and Shadow Wave mana cost, as well as the decline of the Winter Wyvern, means that Ancient Apparition is no longer the obvious counter to these line-ups. We'll have to see how the top teams look to halt them.
Hard carries aren’t always useless
There is a tentative sliver of hope for those passionate hard carry players out there. Whilst most teams have been opting for dual core line-ups, we have seen some limited success with the classic four protect one formula. Medusa, Wraith King and Sven have all emerged from the qualifiers with close to 70 percent win rates when, occasionally, they were picked. Possibly the nerfs to Gyrocopter's ultimate will slowly see his popularity fade and teams will look towards finding other options. Players do need to adapt to building such heroes to fit this aggressive meta though, which means building Linkens first on Medusa is generally a bad idea – as Flyby has hopefully now learnt following CDEC.A's loss to Newbee.
Plenty of supports to choose from
Nerfs to Dazzle, Bane, Tusk (again), Undying, and the change to Winter Wyvern's ultimate means that many of the top-tier supports are no longer as viable as they once were. As a result, Vengeful Spirit, Oracle and Disruptor have been appearing frequently and the hero pool has really opened up. It's likely that a lot of professional sides are underestimating Winter Wyvern though: his ultimate was buffed at the start of 6.86c and, as Aui showed in one of Digital Chaos's games against Complexity, the new ultimate has the capacity to quickly kill off opposition cores and can excel against push strats that provide plenty of minions to unleash upon their masters. Digital Chaos lost that game, but the Winter Wyvern impressed.
The offlane Iron Talon
Iron Talon has really found its place during the Shanghai qualifiers. Been zoned out of the offlane? No worries! Grab yourself an Iron Talon, head on over to the hard camp by your secret shop and farm up your basic items – only returning to the offlane to soak up any creep waves that reach your tower. It might feel a bit like cheating but the good news is that you can do this with any hero, which might increase the viability of situational offlaners like Phoenix or even an offlane Faceless Void.
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