Post-TI8: The nerfs expected to appear in the next Dota 2 update

Things are slowly stabilizing after the biggest prize money esports event on the planet ends. The International has it all: diverse meta, great stories and most importantly, the tournament has one of the most intense and tight-knit games we’ve ever seen.

Obviously this is a great tournament, no matter which team you’re cheering for. However, after the emotions, everything will gradually fade into oblivion for us to give way to arguments: arguments about how to make Dota 2 more diverse, more balanced and better.

ENCHANTRESS

We can’t talk about nerfs without leaving out Enchantress – the most banned hero in the league with the second best win rate among heroes picked more than 30 times. This hero single-handedly changes the meta in the vast majority of games she plays, fully capable of solo offlane.

The big advantage is clear while the opponent is forced to follow the current meta, Enchantress can roam freely. Enchantress doesn’t need to be dual lane in the offlane, which means that the position 4 support can be active throughout the map, which means you have the potential to get kills in every lane and have better map control.

We also think this is the only hero in the game that needs to be nerfed directly. While the strength of many heroes depends on what the meta is, Enchantress completely creates its own meta and this is the big deal. Enchantress isn’t the most successful hero in the league by stats, but it’s clear that everyone feels she’s the top hero.

DROW RANGER

This hero may have been forgotten in the later stages of the tournament, but Drow Ranger shaped the game in the group stage and was banned from several teams in the main event. While Enchantress has created its own meta, Drow Ranger, if in the right hands and the right lineup to take advantage of this hero, can take the team to the next level.

Drow Ranger is susceptible to indirect nerfs and can become less dangerous with general economic and laning changes in the game, but there are a few aspects of the hero that make Drow too powerful. . This hero doesn’t need to win in her lane, but with a good lineup she can easily help the other two lanes win.

Additionally, Drow has a global lane push effect, while he can safely farm in his jungle. Lane pushing is always beneficial in Dota, as it gives the team better map control, more vision and more space. Drow Ranger may not be as strong in the meta where laning becomes less important, but the way she was used in TI8 shows how beneficial Drow’s abilities can be.

EARTHSHAKER

Earthshaker is the last hero on the “need to be nerfed” list: the hero wins 60.42% of the total number of games present at the event and picked 48 time. Although this stat is considered normal for supports in the meta.

This hero is classified as a “strong” hero: no matter what changes and meta, the creation of more terrain in the game is always strong, keeping the opponent from running or creating. safe exit for teammates to retreat.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=20vrigqRe4k

However, what really makes Earthshaker shine is Aghanim’s Scepter, which now gives ES up to 1100 units of range to escape, reposition or initiate combat with a cooldown of just 5 seconds. While it’s not instant or free from projectiles, this item gives Earthshaker mobility as a support. It makes Earthshaker a hero that’s hard to catch and kill, while making it easier for ES to capture and handle objects. If the game enters its late stages, Earthshaker could easily become one of the strongest supports in the game, with the same impact as many core heroes.

BUYBACK

The last thing we want to talk about is the Buyback structure, given the current meta it seems too lenient about the price of buyback. Buybacks are now easy to use in the early game stages, making them a worthwhile investment, even for core heroes. The lack of fines means that buying back players and at least exchanging lives in teamfights will make the buyback almost immediately or even economically beneficial.

This means that heroes with low mobility or long cooldowns are at a huge disadvantage in the early teamfights. This means that high-impact buybacks happen more often, rather than being strange or unexpected, detracting from their value and detracting from the excitement of having a hero buyback.

We’ve seen how accurate buybacks can make up for poor laning and macro errors. From here on, if nothing changes, we will probably see more teams learn to buyback and it could limit the useful heroes in the game: “bad” buyback heroes, like Shadow Fiend, Enigma or Tidehunter will be leaving the meta soon. Maybe it will keep the game interesting for a while longer, as buybacks create more action and riskier decisions, but over time, the lack of diverse strategies in the game will make each match become too similar. In the end, we lose what makes Dota 2: diversity, uniqueness, and tension.

According to dotabuff