Is it too early to nerf Kunkka?

Although patch 7.16 has adjusted Kunkka’s level 25 talent, the effectiveness of core Kunkka in the meta remains the same. With a series of recent buffs plus a meta change to mid (to 1v1), Kunkka is constantly appearing in major tournaments.

Kunkka was banned for almost every game in a single day at the latest ESL One Birmingham. Then, at the finals, VP picked Kunkka for No[o]ne in game 2. He fought alone against Razor (usually overwhelming other melee heroes) and helped win that game.

VP.No[o]need to watch Torrent and X Marks The Spot to catch OpTic members trying to withdraw.

At MDL Changsha, Kunkka was the 5th most competitive hero in the tournament. At the previous EPICENTER XL Major, PSG.LGD started the finals with a victory by Somnus’ Kunkka. VP then prevented the opponent from picking again in the early game draft, and had to use his second ban in game 3.

LGD.Somnus jumps numbers with Tidebringer at EPICENTER XL

BY EXPLOSION at the right time

Kunkka playing in the Core position is not so new. Over the years, the Attacker player and his tricks have brought this hero into MMR paradise. With Kunkka’s Talent buff, which includes +50% extra damage for Tidebringer, appeared on patch 7.07 7 months ago. But with the recent achievements, Valve has just started nerfing Kunkka again. As the meta started to shift towards dynamic teamfights, teams started to realize that Kunkka was a perfect fit for this meta.

This hero is good against Phantom Lancer and Dragon Knight. The Torrent and X combo makes the hero a potential support and a formidable threat to the enemy mid hero. Ghostship is a powerful ultimate with a cooldown of only 40 seconds. With mid now returning to a more traditional 1v1 tradition, Kunkka can shine with Tidebringer.

LAST HIT IS SO EASY

Dota has created quite strange magic. While Valve has made sure the weird stuff doesn’t exist in the game, some of it has been kept. For example, Tidebringer applies extra damage even when denying creeps without losing charge. And one more thing: whatever the target’s armor is, Tidebringer’s splash damage on them counts as 0. It’s the opposite of Templar Assassin’s Psi Blade: this deals splash damage to enemies. another object equivalent to the original target.

The difference is that TA can take advantage of it by hitting the target with the least armor to deal more damage to enemies with splash damage (melee creeps have 2 armor). As for Kunkka, this is not important.

You can call it a game bug or Ice Frog’s intentions, but this always works. And now that Kunkka is an effective pick in the meta, every advantage he has makes us feel like this captain is too OP (overpowered). With teams like Secret and PSG.LGD using Kunkka, we’re starting to notice the recent buffs the hero has received.

Kunkka’s base heal increased from 0 to 1.5, Strength gained per level increased from 3 to 3.3 – this is an important stat to know how Crit works with basic stats. Patch 7.10 buffs Tidebringer damage from 25/45/65/85 to 25/50/75/100. And 7.07 adds important talents that help the hero thrive in the early and mid-game.

Not only is Tidebringer annoying in the laning phase, Kunkka has become more aggressive. At level 3, with Tidebringer level 2, the hero has 50 extra damage to deny creeps and harass the enemy. By level 5, with the combo of Torrent and X Marks The Spot, Kunkka becomes a formidable threat. With a duration of X 4 seconds, teammates do not need to be there, they can TP immediately after.

DOES THE LATEST NERF VERSION HAPPENED?

There are many strong level 25 talents, but Kunkka’s makes us feel so full. The hopeless feeling of being killed in one hit at 1200 units away from the hero probably prompted Valve to take action.

From the stats in the pub, this talent doesn’t create much of an advantage over the Ghostship Fleet (+3 Ghostships) talent. Either way, Tidebringer has been the key to closing several games in recent Majors. Not every team picks Kunkka and tries to get him to level 25, equipped with two Daedalus, but overall this is a pretty good pick to ensure the team has an ace in the late game.

Although patch 7.16 nerfed Kunkka’s potential late game, Kunkka’s strength in the current meta is still in the early and mid game. For now, it looks like these changes aren’t quite right. But we can’t predict anything, maybe Kunkka is just the current hot hero and teams are gradually finding a strategy to counter this hero. But the 7.16 nerf doesn’t seem to be able to hold Kunkka back.

By: Dotabuff