With Dota 2 patch 7.36 set to arrive soon, we take a look at what heroes deserve to be pushed to the front of the line in the next balance patch and beyond.
Image: LemKuuja on DeviantArt
The last professional tournament on Dota 2 patch 7.35 has been played. Valve announced a few days ago that the Crownfall update would arrive sometime in the middle of April. In the next few days, we will be graced with the presence of Ring Master in Dota 2.
Exciting as that is, a thought must go out to heroes that have been ignored for the past couple of patches. In the changes that come along with the new patch, which hopefully is Dota 2 patch 7.36, there are certain heroes that are in need of a good amount of buffs. Let’s take a quick look at who they are.
In the last two patches (patch 7.34 and patch 7.35), a total of 2995 games were played, which includes 1182 games on patch 7.34 and 1813 games patch 7.35. Before patch 7.35 was released, GosuGamers took a look at the heroes that deserved to get buffs back then. Of those, there were a few that got the buffs they deserved and were picked a decent bit in recent tournaments. Those heroes include-
- Slardar
- Sniper
- Hoodwink
- Omniknight
- Zeus
- Viper
Here, we look at which heroes deserve the buff treatment in patch 7.36. For that, we take a look at the 20 least-picked heroes in the 2995 professional games played on the last two patches. Of the 20, Phantom Lancer and Clinkz are the only ones to have an above-average win rate.
(taken from datDota)
The biggest sympathies go in the direction of those heroes who were on the least played list before patch 7.35 and there now as well. These include-
- Tinker (pub popularity according to Dotabuff: 104th)
- Sand King (pub popularity according to Dotabuff: 50th)
- Ogre Magi (pub popularity according to Dotabuff: 9th)
- Arc Warden (pub popularity according to Dotabuff: 89th)
Tinker is a cheese hero, and not one that needs a lot of buffs. The same can be said about Arc Warden as well. But Sand King and Ogre Magi have been meta picks, and do need a significant boost.
With Sand King, the story is always that he gets too strong with a few buffs, and is nerfed to the ground. With Ogre Magi, there isn’t clarity on what his best position is. Of course, he can be a lot of fun to play with in pubs because of the Multicast on item actives, especially Hand of Midas. This is why he is the 9th most popular hero in pubs.
Nyx Assassin (pub popularity according to Dotabuff: 104th)
Nyx has had a loss of identity after the transition from an agility hero to a universal hero. With Mana Burn gone, the hero now has to be used as a burst damage dealer. Previously, he served as a great counter to high-intelligence heroes. Having that skill back can be a huge game-changer for him.
Venomancer (pub popularity according to Dotabuff: 36th)
Venomancer has faced somewhat of a similar plight as Nyx Assassin after the attribute switch from agility to universal. In addition to that, with Poison Nova not being his ultimate, Venomancer’s AoE damage appeal has reduced massively.
Bounty Hunter (pub popularity according to Dotabuff: 35th)
What is Bounty Hunter’s best position? No one knows. Bounty is probably in the top 10 heroes to be out of the professional meta or the longest time. He does okay in pubs pick rate wise, but his win rate is only 49.81%.
Juggernaut (pub popularity according to Dotabuff: 17th)
Juggernaut is always on the fringes of the meta, and will see a few picks here and there, but it has been a while since he was a meta carry. He is another hero who is a comfort pick in pubs, but only with a win rate of 49.90%.
Sometimes, it is necessary to let a hero have a few weeks in the limelight, even if it means the hero is a bit overpowered. A lot of times, the first balance patch after the main patch absolutely annihilates heroes that do well in the first few days, and then they get sent to the nether realm, only to be forgotten for the next few patches. Hopefully this time, some of the heroes seen above get sizable buffs when Dota 2 patch 7.36 finally arrives.
