Heroes to pick in meta 7.12

With updates every two weeks, the meta in the pro arena is constantly changing. These changes lead to new experimental drafts, with active tactics or creative combos. With TI8 approaching, let’s take a look at the most effective heroes in the current meta and their good counters and great combos.

Gyrocopter

Heroes that counter Gyrocopter:

Effective against:

Favored by:
Team Liquid
Fnatic
LGD

In the DPC tournament, Gyrocopter has been the top pick in the last 30 days – with a total of 152 bans/picks and a win rate of 53.3%. Pro teams are constantly taking advantage of Gyrocopter’s early game influence and destructive ultimate AoE. The current pace of gameplay matches up well with Gyro’s ability to engage in early game teamfights. The power of Gyrocopter comes from the combination of Rocket Barrage and Homing Missles that both helps to escape, avoid being ganked, and also get kills in lane.

Gyrocopter rose to prominence this season from ESL One Katowice – when he was ranked 4th as the most competitive hero in the pro scene. From Virtus.pro to Vici Gaming, the current successful teams are taking advantage of the opportunity to get the Gyrocopter on their roster (as long as it hasn’t been banned). Since then, this hero has always become the main choice for teams looking for a core in position 2.

With his useful skill set, Gryo can put pressure on the opponent’s lane. As the game progresses, Gyro’s presence on the rest of the map determines the pace of the match. This hero can become an effective roamer, with the 1050 cast range from Homing Missle allowing Gyro to stun enemies before approaching and dealing massive damage. When paired with strong disable heroes like Jakiro or Puck, Gyro is difficult to handle. In addition, Gyro can flexibly build depending on the situation of the match and is difficult to counter in the vast majority of cases.

Given the presence of Terrorblade in the pro scene, the Gyrocopter is a great counter thanks to the Flak Cannon. Since patch 7.12 increased Flak Cannon’s cooldown from 30 to 40 seconds and reduced the number of attacks to cancel Homing Missle to 3 – the cast range of both of these abilities remains unchanged. It is too early to determine how these nerfs might affect Gyro. Because the strength of this hero lies in the frequency of skills when the cooldown is over. In general, these changes will nerf a bit but the odds of Gyro being able to go to war at his full power are just too high. Dota 2 Asia Championship 2018 will be the first tournament where we see these changes with Gyrocopter.

While Gyrocopter often loses ground after 40 minutes into the match, the current meta is still focused on dominating early to mid game. That matches Gyro’s skill set. His presence early game, solid damage output, and faster-than-average farming – make this a reliable hero in any lineup.

Death Prophet

Heroes that counter Death Prophet:

Effective against:

Favored by:
VGJ.Thunder
OpTic Gaming
Infamous

Death Ball Dota (turret push) is restored in the current meta. This strategy prioritizes pushing turrets early and focusing on winning lives to help Death Prophet appear in recent tournaments. The Death Ball strategy – popularly used by ViCi Gaming during TI4 – requires a hero lineup with AoE abilities and strong moves to execute well. With his skill set, Death Prophet is the necessary foundation for that strategy. The versatile skill set allows the hero to play multiple roles at once in combat: push turrets with Exorcism, drain blood with Spirit Siphone, or silence multiple targets with the AoE skill up to 425 units.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hQ49nO3KTJQ

Patch 7.12 increased Silence’s manacost from 80 to 80/90/100/110, while Spirit Siphone’s charge recovery time increased from 45 to 60/55/50/45. Although nothing major has changed since patch 7.07, but we need to note how pro players will adjust in 7.12. In general, Death Prophet is still a worthy opponent in mid thanks to his buffalo as well as large amount of damage. The pro competitive meta focuses on getting the tempo of the game from the start in the laning phase. That works in favor of Death Prophet – as the hero turns to overwhelm other lanes after finishing his lane. With that said, lane dominating isn’t the only good thing – the hero affects teamfight as well. The only thing scarier than the ghosts circling around me and my teammates is the Spirit Siphone move. Spirit Siphone reduces the amount of damage Death Prohpet takes, while continuously pulling the enemy’s health.

In addition to tactics and skill set, Death Prophet can go mid well, thanks to the buffs he received from patch 7.00 to 7.07 – making this hero an indispensable choice in the professional arena. In the GESC: Thailand Minor, Death Prophet was the most competitive hero in mid and ranked 5th overall. Death Prophet is currently 7th in DPC’s pick preference stats – with a total of 120 bans/picks in the last 30 days and has a 50.8% win rate. At this point, it’s clear that Death Prophet is within everyone’s reach.

Sand King

Heroes that counter Death Prophet:

Effective against:

Favored by
Newbee
Vici Gaming
Mineski

In the past, the pro meta often ignored Sand King. But with the current lane overwhelming meta, this is Sand King’s time to shine. SK’s versatility puts him at 3rd in total bans/picks – behind Gyrocopter and Chen for the past 30 days. This hero is currently at the top of picks (with a total of 80 picks). SK is also the hero chosen to go offlane the most and ranked 4th in the top core overall. Needless to say, Sand King became the focus of everyone.

Sand King is notable for his ability to adapt to almost any role (including semi-carry if he plays well). While often preferred in the offlane, Sand King can be an active support for carries in dual or tri-lane (especially when facing melees). Skills like Burrowstrike or Sand Storm, will be what prevents the opponent from wanting to kill the carry. If Sand King is having a hard time getting kills early game, Caustic Finale helps him switch to a good farm. The low cooldown and low mana skills definitely make it easier for the Sand King to escape.

Sand King continues to be a formidable threat in the game, thanks to his ability to quickly farm with the skill set he possesses. Sand King’s skills are also strongly promoted when combined with Blink Dagger and Force Staff. If the map is right, Sand King will be one of the best hunting heroes in the game. Talking about teamfight ability, being obsessed with Epicenter can quickly overturn most teamfights. Thanks to the ability to initiate combat, it allows the hero to stun/slow the enemy, and deal massive damage before retreating without being scratched. SK is the optimal choice for teams who want to control the tempo of the game early in the game.

In pub matches, Sand King has a win rate of only 48.02% compared to DPC of 51%. The difference in win rate is mostly because this hero is quite difficult to play. If it falls into the hands of veterans, Sand King will be a big force. But if it falls into the hands of the ‘fuzzy chickens’, SK can’t level up and level up in time and easily become a good bait for the opponent.

The nerf in 7.12 does not miss the Sand King. Burrowstrike’s stun duration has been fixed from 2.17 to 1.9/2.0/2.1/2.2 seconds and base movement speed has been reduced from 295 to 290. Burrowstrike’s short stun duration relative to low level is considered a fair trade equal to get 0.3 seconds extra when max level. Movement speed reduction is easily countered by hero boosters when properly geared.

With update 7.12 being released at the same time as DAC 2018 – fans will soon find out if the Sand King continues to rise above the ground or not.

‘Timing’ is everything in Dota, especially with the current meta that is constantly changing. More than ever, the team that grasps the new trend of the meta will have the advantage. Understanding this hero will help the team the most and from the changes in the patch will help them step up to the podium. The heroes mentioned above are all suitable for the current meta but the question will be “for how long?”