We take a look at the top 5 supports making waves in high-level pubs during the first month of the meta that has evolved around Dota 2 patch 7.32d.
Dota 2 patch 7.32d has been with us for over a month, and players have gotten used to the slight change in the meta it has brought with it. A few days ago, we took a look at the top 5 cores in pubs from Dota 2 patch 7.32d. Here, we take a look at which supports have been having a good time in top tier pubs since the release of Dota 2 patch 7.32d.
The heroes have been picked as the best-performing ones from the Divine and Immortal brackets. This data is as per Dotabuff and has been analyzed for the past month, so it well and truly reflects the games from patch 7.31d only. The choice of heroes has been made from a combination of high pick rate and high win rate heroes.
1) Treant Protector (Pick rate: 13.20%, Win rate: 55.35%) – Position 5
Treant Protector got a mixed bag of changes when Dota 2 patch 7.32 was released, which didn’t really help his case at TI11, where he was hardly picked. But the buffs to Leech Seed in patch 7.32d have really helped this tree grow (get it?!) in popularity. Rooftrellen is being played in both, position 4 and position 5 roles in top-tier pubs, but is more popular as a safe lane support. According to Dotabuff, the skill build for Treant Protector is all over the place, meaning a number of skill builds are viable on the hero. But a good chunk of the popular builds has level 2 Leech Seed at level 3, which gives Treant a tool to constantly harass enemy heroes in lane while keeping himself healthy.
(taken from dota2.fandom.com)
2) Silencer (Pick rate: 10.69%, Win rate: 53.11%) – Position 5
Silencer actually received a small nerf in Dota 2 patch 7.32d, where the Arcane Curse radius was reduced from 425 on each level to 340/360/380/400. But even with the nerf, the hero continues to remain a strong support in either lane, as he was at TI11.
Enigma is a strong meta-hero, and Silencer is his best counter. At TI11, teams were initially picking Silencer as a counter to Enigma. But when players began to realize that Silencer is a strong support irrespective of whether there is an Enigma in the enemy team or not, teams started first phasing him. It would give them a strong hero, which could be flexible as a core or support, and would also deter the opposition from picking Enigma.
3) Omniknight (Pick rate: 3.47%, Win rate: 54.96%) – Position 5
Omniknight was not changed at all in 7.32d. His strength comes from the in Dota 2 patch 7.32, which continues to keep him a strong support in the current meta.
According to Dotabuff, all of Omniknight’s most popular builds in pubs start with one level in Hammer of Purity and then maxing out Heavenly Grace. Hammer of Purity gives Omni an offensive impact in lane, something which he previously didn’t have.
Heavenly Grace has been one of the strongest skills in the game for a while now. Even at his worst times, if there was anything that could justify an Omni pick, it was Heavenly Grace. And with the skill now affecting the caster when cast on an ally, it just makes it an amazing tool to have in the laning stage and in team fights. It can be used offensively with the base strength bonus in mind for heroes like Lifestealer and Sven, or defensively for the double strong dispel and health regen. Granted, that it does not provide Status Resistance anymore, but the self-cast and the bonus HP regen per dispelled debuff make up for that.
4) Riki (Pick rate: 9.96%, Win rate: 54.64%) – Position 4
Position 4 Riki has been a popular thing in Dota 2 patch 7.32d. In one of the very first games of the Last Chance Qualifiers of TI11, Na’Vi’s Georgii “swedenstrong” Zainalabidov played a position 4 Riki, but the hero didn’t pick up through the rest of the tournament.
One of the things that makes Riki a strong position 4 support is his Aghanim’s Shard, which gives him a new skill – Sleeping Dart. Sleeping Dart is a great initiation tool or a good way to keep an enemy hero out of the fight for 3 seconds. And upon waking up, the target takes damage, so Blink Dagger is disabled. According to Dotabuff, in the last week, Aghanim’s Shard was Riki’s most-bought item.
(taken from dota2.fandom.com)
When used as an initiation tool, Sleeping Dart provides the perfect setup for Smoke Screen. Smoke Screen was buffed in Dota 2 patch 7.32c, with the radius increased to 375 at each level instead of increasing from 300 to 375. And the two Smoke Screen talents are available at level 10 and level 15, which make the AoE 435 and bring the cooldown to just 7 seconds! Smoke Screen lasts for 6 seconds, so at level 15, it has a downtime of just 1 second. And if the hero gets gone on after initiation, Tricks of the Trade helps in dodging enemy spells and getting out of a quandary.
(taken from dota2.fandom.com)
5) Mirana (Pick rate: 10.61%, Win rate: 52.77%) – Position 4
At this point, Mirana is just a massive comfort hero for players. Till TI9, she was hardly played as a support in professional games. But ever since TI9, the Princess of the Moon has almost only been used as a support, and that trend continues. While the current meta isn’t an out-and-out zoo meta, zoo heroes like Beastmaster and Chen are reasonably popular, and Mirana fares quite well against them because of her ability to get rid of creeps in an instant with Sacred Arrow. When Dota 2 patch 7.33 arrives, there will hopefully be a shift that makes her more viable as a core.
Honorable Mentions
Earthshaker (Pick rate: 8.29%, Win rate: 52.25%) – Position 4
Undying (Pick rate: 6.31%, Win rate: 51.06%) – Position 5
