Dota 2: Tinker seems to have gone out of fashion in the last few years?!

For most Dota 2 gamers, when the name Tinker is mentioned, we usually remember the burst damage screens of this annoying hero. Tinker cannot be caught: continuously blinks and cools down all skills for a few seconds. However, 2019 and 2020 show that Tinker is no longer popular. Hero win rate is also down, reaching 45% on Dotabuff while pick rate is only 5%, lower than the average of 8% for other heroes. Despite being buffed from the beginning of 7.00 to 7.25, Tinker feels weaker than ever.

Tinker’s weaknesses are an interesting case for better understanding what other factors can affect a hero other than the hero itself. Dota 2 has changed a lot in the last year or two. The changes in gameplay along with new heroes and items gradually affected Tinker to the point that the author was forced to say that Tinker is a hero that has expired.

NEW HEROs

Tinker’s playstyle relies on dodging and maneuvering more than his opponents. Continuous blink and spell pressure while standing in a safe position where most heroes can’t reach. Ever since Dota 2 moved to the Reborn source, it’s been difficult to implement a strategy that makes Tinker effective. It seems that every new hero and item update is made to counter Tinker. Let’s have a look:

NEW HERO FROM REBORN:

• Money King: extremely mobile, can chase Tinker in the forest and approach right next to it. Has a wide AoE stun to prevent Tinker blink or TP from going.
• Dark Willow: probably the weakest counter hero on this list. Terrorize the area where Tinker can blink. Also, Dark Willow can protect himself with Shadow Realm.
• Pangolier: Rolling Thunder makes it nearly impossible for Tinker to spam any skills on Pangolier, while Pangolier can destroy trees to find Tinker. Swashbuckle combined with Basher can destroy Tinker’s Blink and also serve as an extremely mobile move.
• Grimstroke: Tinker can be discovered by Stroke of Fate. Grimstroke has a silence ability that creates vision, binding with Soulbind nullifies Tinker’s mobility.
• Mars: Blink Dagger that can blink and Arena of Blood: destroy trees and stun potential with Spear.
• Snapfire: Can Cookie someone to jump in the tree to find Tinker. Meanwhile, Mortimer’s Kisses can disable Tinker’s mobility.
• Void Spirit: Has disable in Aether remnant, lots of AoE damage and 2 extra charges of Astral Step to help catch Tinker easily.

NULLIFIER AND STATUS RESISTANCE

This item actually nullifies Tinker’s main defense options: ghost scepter and blink. The reason why this item is strong is that anyone can buy it (if there is gold). Although it is quite expensive, but Nullifier will help any core hero with mobile items to kill Tinker. Not to mention, late carries also add status resistance items.

META is SO FAST

People now realize that active play often prevails over defensive play. Currently, mid heroes that can’t gank early and pressure are considered too weak to use. Tinker needs both Boots of Travel and Blink to function properly. Often the team will fall behind the opponent to create the space that Tinker needs to farm early game.

Even with Tinker leading early in the game, Tinker only had a short window of time to win the game before the opposing core made it to BKB. The reason is that Tinker can’t push turrets. Hero can push lane, but deal no damage to turrets. In most situations, Dota 2 has many better heroes than Tinker to choose from.

EPILOGUE

As you can see, there are many reasons why Tinker is a very weak hero right now, but it is not because of the hero being nerfed. There are many factors other than buff/nerf hero that make that hero strong or weak. The article thinks Tinker is an interesting case to explore because we see how in-game adjustments can affect gameplay. If Tinker can’t blink into the woods and cast spells safely to mess with the enemy, then the hero is nothing more than a ranged creep with the ability to burst magic damage.

According to dotabuff

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