Dota 2: Zoo Tactics has a chance to revive again?

While the Necronomicon’s disappearance was celebrated by most of the community, the change also took away a kind of Dota 2 strategy. The advantage in lane these days rarely gives you complete map control, in part. because push tools are almost unused. So, the whole Zoo push strategy can be revived without Necronomicon?

TOO MUCH COUNTER-PUSH

One of the big reasons why push strategy doesn’t work is the presence of counter-push heroes in the meta. These heroes are not only great at resisting push, but can also do it very safely.

Hoodwink or Winter Wyvern has a very good wavecreep cleanup. Not only do these heroes clear a wave, but they can also change the tempo in lane dramatically. Hoodwink can run out of the woods, making the chase very difficult. And WW can fly in any direction you want.

Similarly, Lina, Templar Assassin, and Puck are among the most popular mid heroes right now and can all clear creep waves quickly and escape. Lina is a bit more risky, but overall it’s fine, as long as the hero doesn’t stay on the map for too long.

Basically, there is a high chance that the opponent will have at least three heroes who know how to resist creep push. This isn’t necessarily true in every meta and update, but it’s one of the reasons why summoning or capturing creeps to push turrets is nearly impossible.

ZOO HERO IS NOT POWERFUL NOW

An interesting question to ask is whether the push strategy is not working because the push hero is weak, or simply: push hero no longer exists because the concept has been removed. Let’s take a look at the latest push hero changes.

Axmaster gets nerfed endlessly and many people have tried to bring Beastmaster back, but with no success. Beastmaster currently can’t dominate the lane, while his ability to contribute to teamfight is quite limited, compared to other offlane heroes. What Beastmaster used to do was split-push, but with Tinker on the rise and Beastmaster’s Shard untapped, it’s still a big question mark when it comes to Bestmaster.

With Lycan, from a long time ago, the hero has always depended on the Necronomicon to make an impact in teamfight. Hero needs True Sight and Purge to handle Gimmer Cape, Ghost Scepter within the limited time frame of his ultimate. Lycan is now a slower wolf and cannot outrun “buff haste” targets. Although Lycan has a slight stat buff, it is not enough to make the hero strong again. The article believes that this hero needs a lot of rework to respawn without Necronomicon.

Chen isn’t exactly weak right now. Heroes with strong healing auras can help win lanes and have a big impact when going with heroes that depend on lifesteal. Skill Penitence is like Bloodlust+Ignite of Ogre Magi. It increases the attack speed of allies plus reduces the movement speed on enemies, giving the hero a lot of benefit. Finally, restoring more than 600 HP to teammates is suitable for the meta where everyone’s armor is super high. The article believes that Chen can be used in the current patch and does not need his Necronomicon or creep to push early. Chen may no longer be a pure Zoo hero, but it’s still worth playing.

Nature’s Prophet is not so lucky. Perhaps this is the worst hero in Dota today with a win rate of only 43% at Divine rank and above. The author really doesn’t know how this hero should be played. No disables, no nukes and almost impossible to push with a heavily nerfed treant. NP now can’t TP as often in early game. The game plan of this hero has always been to get the gold advantage and make the most of this through map presence. Currently, the hero can’t take advantage of that, because NP doesn’t contribute much in lane and doesn’t always successfully gank. Even with a good start, the hero still only performs well in tier 1 turrets, because tier 2 turrets are now too strong while treants are too weak. At this point, Nature’s Prophet quickly lost its advantage and almost disappeared from the 30th minute onwards. Like Lycan, the article does not think Furion can come back without a rework, or a big buff or Necronomicon return.

Overall, we see that at least half of Zoo heroes are too dependent on Necronomicon. Even with the meta changing and the pace of the game getting faster, some heroes can’t find themselves without buffs.

ALTERNATIVE SOLUTIONS

The Necronomicon was removed from the game for a reason: the item was too effective. It is a very powerful farming tool, good for scouting and has Purge and aura, and sometimes deals huge amounts of damage. Not to mention, this item also adds stats.

However, as we have seen, removing necro books from the game is not necessarily the best solution. With the current meta slowing down, it makes the game last longer. Playing too aggressively can cost you while passive play creates feelings of boredom. The problem is that the game can’t really snowball yet. The current state of Dota 2 is this: take a little advantage and then add a little more, bit by bit to get the absolute advantage and close the game.

This is not a big deal in pubs. Bugs are quite common in pubs and the tendency to play slow for a comeback is sometimes interesting, especially if the opposing team has the advantage and tries to push early. However, in the professional arena and specifically the upcoming TI10, this can be a problem, because good teams make fewer mistakes and don’t take risks if they don’t feel it is necessary. In a way, it’s the opposite of the gameplay in TI4.

The article believes that Zoo or push can respawn without Necronomicon and more importantly, it should be revived as soon as possible. Maybe by buffing Zoo heroes more or changing the mechanics of Dota 2. Zoo shouldn’t be the tactic to completely dominate the game, but it’s still an option worth considering.

The game should have tools to gain an early game advantage, and Zoo is one of those tools. It needs to be buffed, not necessarily through Necronomicon but can be buffed more subtly so that this item does not need to return to the game. So what do you think Zoo’s current problem is? Please share in the comment section at the end of the post

According to dotabuff

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