Dota 2: Beastmaster is dominating pub 7.20

From one of the least picked heroes with a very low win rate, thanks to the changes in patch 7.20, Beastmaster has become a strong pick.

With tweaks targeting Phantom Assassin and Magnus, Beastmaster quietly climbs to the top of pub win rates: 56% overall win rate and close to 60% in 2-5k MMR. From individual hero changes to faster game meta, Beastmaster benefits in many ways from patch 7.20.

I wonder if you still remember Beastmaster before 7.20? This is the third least picked hero – just ahead of Chen and Lone Druid. Beastmaster was not picked or banned at the TI8 main event and had an overall win rate of 45.6%, ranking 86. Now his win rate has increased to 11%, bringing him to the top of the pub rankings. This month, Beastmaster only lost to Visage in Divine/Immortal ranks, in addition, Beastmaster’s win rate has always been close to 60% in lower ranks.

VLADMIR’S OFFERING BACK

The Ring of Aquila may disappear, but the Ring of Basillus has a new direction, Vladmir’s Offering. At Bucharest Minor, it was rare to see a team skip this item. OG built this item for Ceb’s Dragon Knight offlane and ILTW’s Phantom Lancer. Keen Gaming also made this for kaka’s Rubick suppport.

In 7.20, Vladmir’s Offering is cheaper (from 2250 to 1925), offers more value thanks to changes in armor formula, and works well with turret push squads. It’s almost become a must-have item in the current meta and offlanes often become heroes that build this item. With the Beastmaster reworked, Vladmir’s Offering is sometimes just what the team needs to push and grab two turrets quickly.

CHANGES IN META

The effect of 7.20 on Beastmaster was not emphasized much, as the hero remained unaffected until 7.20e – patch nerf corrects the hero’s level 25 talent. Beastmaster’s win rate in the last month has also increased from 53% to 56% now, even though the hero has not changed.

It’s a signal that the meta is changing: Gambit used the Shadow Fiend – Guardian Greaves build in the Bucharest Minor. It’s been upgraded from the classic SF build – Mekansm, taking advantage of Shadow Fiend’s early-midgame overwhelming ability to continuously attack. At the Bucharest Minor we saw Visage and also Medusa in a quick rush and won in just 30 minutes. Beastmaster is the second most banned hero in this tournament.

CHANGES AND BUFF BEASTMASTER

Wild Axes may lose the ‘pierce spell immunity’ ability, but the rest of Beastmaster’s skills are all significantly buffed in 7.20. Call of the Wild becomes two separate moves, reducing Boar to a 30 second cooldown (from 60 seconds before). This patch also buffs Boar’s damage (from 16/24/30/40 to 16/32/48/64) and its damage type changed from piercing to hero. At level 4, Boar now deals damage to heroes from 20 per hit to 64 – DPS increased by 220%. Plus the buff from Primal Roar’s effect on the second target, Beastmaster is not only strong in teamfight, the hero is also a great threat to solo kill enemy safelane.

Beastmaster’s Hawk is said to be inferior, due to being uncontrollable after summoning, but you can now dispatch up to 2 Hawks at once. Patch 7.07 incorporated these moves to make them easier to handle, but it didn’t have much of an impact on the hero’s popularity. Heroes that depend on summons are generally less popular, no matter how good they are. Visage is still at the bottom of the pick rate chart, despite being one of the best heroes of this patch.

Beastmaster’s pick rate has more than doubled from 7.19. Perhaps these are the changes the hero needs, with the reduction of the skill difficulty of controlling Hawk and Boar. Or it could be because the hero is too strong for players to ignore.

According to Dotabuff