8 Dota 2 heroes that influenced the 2016-2017 meta game

The 2016-2017 season ended with the release of patch 7.00 – a game-changing update over the past 11 years. 7.00 comes with new mechanics like a talent bar, a shrine, lots of map changes, and is the first to feature a new Dota 2: Monkey King hero.

This is also the period when receiving the most balanced update in game history: patch 7.06. In this patch, along with a few minor changes, it lasted for 3 consecutive months, going through the Kiev Major and The International 7. While it was boring at the end of its period, 7.06 is still a prime example. for balance as well as diversity of heroes in the game.

In particular, TI7 is a near-perfect tournament. Out of a total of 112 heroes present at that time, only 5 were unpicked in Seattle. That’s 95.5% of the total number of heroes picked, making TI7 the most diverse Valve annual tournament.

But of course, no matter how balanced that patch is, there are always heroes that are always picked more than others. And last year was no exception, so let’s take a look back at the most influential heroes in the metagame of 2017.

Slardar

Slardar was one of the most popular pioneers last season. Especially at the Boston Major, where Slardar was picked and banned a total of 52 times. Out of a total of 22 games selected, Slardar achieved a 59% win rate.

Despite being nerfed three times before the Boston Major (6.88f), the hero is still considered a formidable threat. Slardar is very effective in ganking roles thanks to the Guardian Sprint, and the potential of the Blink Dagger/Slithereen Crush combo.

Gustav “s4” Magnusson performed Slardar at the finals, showing just how strong the hero was at the time – in game 2 to be exact, as seen in the clip below.

Night Stalker

Night Stalker was the most picked and banned Strength hero at TI7, for a very obvious reason. In patch 7.06, Hunter in the Night was greatly buffed, allowing the hero to move through any terrain in a short time.

Due to 7.06’s focus on roaming support, this made Night Stalker extremely powerful in the metagame at the time. Ganking in the top lane and bots became extremely easy thanks to the hero’s ability to cross the terrain.

This means it’s less risky to ‘dive’ to turret 1 early in the game. FROM there, teams quickly took advantage of the Night Stalker’s new powers, or banned him immediately to stop him from rampaging.

Although this hero has won just a little more than half of the games played at TI7, Night Stalker’s influence is undeniable. Night Stalker deserved to be banned in the first round of TI7.

Necrophos

The hero with this terrible util was “storming” in the second half of 7.06, Necrophos received 25% more healing thanks to Ghost Shroud, making this hero stand out in the metagame.

This buff makes Necrophos very difficult to kill, whether in lane or in team fights. Combined with instant healing items like the Magic Stick or Magic Wand along with other Necrophos sets, this hero is nearly indestructible.

Enemies will be indignant to see Necrophos’ health return to its original state immediately after being hit by a bunch of attacks, thanks to just one item and W. Death Pulse’s fast cooldown makes Necrophos can ‘play’ the opponent while still healing himself, and then drain the opponent’s health with a Heartstopper Aura in the process.

Necrophos appeared 32 times in TI7 and almost achieved a 60% win rate. Team Liquid’s Lasse “MATUMBAMAN” Urpalainen played the hero extremely well in Seattle, having an 8-0 record in that tournament.

Bristleback

Bristleback enjoyed a stint as a top carry earlier this year. In Epicenter season 2 and Manila Masters, the hero was heavily used with an average win rate of nearly 61% out of 42 appearances.

This is a demonstration that small buffs over a long period of time can make a hero extremely weak. There really aren’t any big buffs for Bristleback until this hero shines this year. After being nerfed in 6.84c (patch was introduced two and a half years ago), each patch after that improves Bristleback a bit.

As of 7.06, the respawn time reduction talent at level 20 has been replaced by 10% spell lifesteal. Combined with Octarine Core, Bristleback’s buff is greatly increased, allowing the hero to live longer in combat to increase the stack of Quill Spray on enemies. The bonus attack points thanks to Warpath also help Bristleback become a true carry in the late game.

Keeper of the Light

Keeper of the Light is not a hero that was really used last season like the other heroes on this list. But Maroun “GH” Merhej’s reputation with KotL’s magical performance gave Team Liquid a big advantage at TI7. It was this hero that defined the metagame of that entire tournament.

We know how scary GH’s King of the Light is. He was so good that he forced the teams facing Liquid at TI7 to make an extremely difficult decision: either ban KotL and let the other Liquid players have more freedom in their picks, or let KotL get picked and resisted. against the ‘old man’ in the match.

The second option will often make the opponent lose face in fear of Liquid. At TI7, GH had a 71.4% win rate with Keeper of the Light, and had some great highlights. The ability to heal with Illuminate (when combined with Aghanim’s Scepter) is too great, always helping teammates survive in intense teamfights or pushing towers.

Earthshaker

Earthshaker was the 4th most picked hero in TI7, and 7.06’s roam meta duo revolved around this hero. After IceFrog decided to shift focus to lane with patch 7.06, supports now appear more out of lane.

When paired with ‘mana buffs’ like Crystal Maiden and Keeper of the Light, Earthshaker is considered one of the best picks of the year. The other two heroes solved the problem of Earthshaker’s mana weakness early game, allowing ES to continuously kill in lane with Fissure.

Taking the lane early makes it beneficial for the main heroes in the mid game to farm and level up. After acquiring Blink Dagger, Earthshaker becomes a formidable mid-game threat and can easily disable important enemy heroes for long periods of time.

Some mid players even use Earthshaker as the main hero to deal damage. Evil Geniuses’ Syded “SumaiL” Hassan is a prime example. In a 28-3 match against Invictus Gaming at Epicenter, he shined when he turned it into a core hero – thanks to the effectiveness of his Enchant Totem.

Earthshaker’s versatility makes this hero more dangerous in the metagame. Obviously Sand King was used more at TI7, but the win rate was 4% different at TI7, which makes Earthshaker completely different, ES is a much more effective hero.

Nyx Assassin

Nyx Assassin is another handy support hero in the 7.06 metagame. Possessing a natural high heal that makes Nyx can stay in lane for a long time, along with stun and strong nuke damage ability, will make it difficult for supports as well as carry Intelligence in teamfights.

In particular, Spiked Carapace makes the opponent hesitate when deciding to use magic on Nyx, it can cost them quite a lot. Mana Burn’s recovery time is only 4 seconds at max level allowing Nyx to punish teams with lots of Intelligence heroes. Vendetta is used to scout and deal massive amounts of damage to enemies, and the ability to Impale on multiple heroes at once will make a big difference in a pivotal 5v5 situation.

With a 71% win rate in 45 games at TI7, Nyx was the most successful hero of the tournament. Nyx’s effectiveness in that metagame was obvious, forcing Valve to nerf Nyx in patch 7.06f.

Monkey King

You know this hero will be at the top of the list. Originally designed to be a hard carry or mid, Monkey King completely changed the Dota 2 metagame by taking out opponents with his support role.

Theoretically, Monkey King’s moves look like a strong mid-to-late game hero, dealing high damage. Jingu Mastery allows high damage and lifesteal by accumulating points when hitting a single hero, Boundless Strike deals multiple damage to multiple targets at once during combat

This was initially true after Monkey King was released in the game, but the skill set was so strong that IceFrog had to tweak it a bit. Patches from 7.01 to 7.03 all nerfed Monkey King, especially his ability to deal massive damage in the early game.

7.03 is when Monkey King appears in Captains Mode. That’s when teams started using Monkey King as a support, with good laning thanks to Tree Dance and Boundless Strike. This skill can help Monkey King move anywhere in the lane, and the latter skill can both deal massive damage as well as stun the enemy. It’s a rather annoying and annoying set of tricks.

Basically, Monkey King is quite similar to Earthshaker – plus the ability to jump through trees. Towards the end of the game, the hero can transform into a core, thanks to Wukong’s Command that allows for a second effect from items like Basher and Desolator.

This ability is immediately removed after the support period. Losing that ability, Monkey King’s ultimate became less stable and more annoying, which is also when the teams decided to stop picking this hero. After being abandoned for a long time, IceFrog decided to bring this hero back to his old role, thanks to the increased damage in skill sets.

It doesn’t matter if Monkey King still has the same impact as before, because before that, no other hero in 2017 made the capture of the metagame as unpredictable as Monkey King. A hero designed to be playable in this role, but with a few balance changes and pro-player creativity, quickly transforms it into something new.

Source: Dotesports