In the second of the five part series, we take a look at the top 5 carries in pubs from the past month for Dota 2 patch 7.32.
It has been two and half months since Dota 2 patch 7.32 was released, and by now, the Dota 2 community has gotten pretty used to it. There were a lot of changes that patch 7.32 brought with it which overhauled the meta, but after over two months of play and watching TI11 take place on the patch, the strong heroes of the meta have started to stand out.
We already took a look at the top 5 mid heroes of patch 7.32 in pubs. Here, we look at which carries have been performing well in top tier pubs.
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 one month, which has all been on patch 7.32. The choice of heroes has been made from a combination of high pick rate and high win rate heroes.
1) Slark (Pick rate: 18.55%, Win rate: 53.41%)
Slark is the highest picked carry in top level pubs right now. This is a very weird meta, where there is potential for the games to go late due to changes from Dota 2 patch 7.32, but there is also value in having a lineup that fights early. Because there is no longer a Glyph after each tier 1 tower, a snowballing team can take tier 2 towers early and establish map control, and that’s somewhere Slark shines – he comes online a lot quicker than other carries.
Slark is also a strong counter to meta heroes like Batrider and Pudge, which is always a good reason to pick a hero. He has a strong Aghanim’s Shard upgrade, and is flexible in terms of builds. But do not buy a Hand of Midas on Slark, as that defeats the entire purpose of this hero, which is coming online early. According to Dotabuff, in the last week of pub games, Midas had a less than 40% win rate on Slark. Be warned!
2) Drow Ranger (Pick rate: 14.41%, Win rate: 52.20%)
Drow Ranger was buffed in patch 7.32, but that didn’t move the needle too much on her pick rate and win rate, so she got additional buffs in patch 7.32b and patch 7.32c. The combined effect of all the buffs has made Traxex a strong carry in the current meta. The additional damage to Frost Arrows and the early levels of Multishot not only improve her last hitting potential, but also make her a force to reckon with in the laning stage, which isn’t something Drow Ranger has always been known for.
One of the strongest heroes in the current meta, in either the mid lane or the offlane is Leshrac, because of how broken Bloodstone is on the hero. Drow is a great counter to Leshrac because of Hypothermia, which she gets from her Aghanim’s Shard. Leshrac is strong because of the Bloodstone heal, and Drow can reduce regeneration by up to 70% with Hypothermia!
The small cherry on top of the cake is the buff to Dragon Lance in patch 7.32, which increased the additional range it gives ranged heroes from 140 to 150. Dragon Lance is an item that Drow Ranger gets literally every game, and the small buff helps make a case for her.
(taken from dota2.fandom.com)
3) Ursa (Pick rate: 12.79%, Win rate: 53.08%)
Ursa, like Slark, is one of those heroes who can fight early in the game. He is also an amazing counter to meta heroes like Pudge and Lifestealer, who can’t go toe-toe (or toe-to-claw?) with Fuzzy Wuzzy. With a Diffusal Blade build, he can also be a nightmare for heroes like Morphling and Leshrac. And that’s one of the great things about Ursa – there are two strong builds which he can go for depending on the game. The early fighting build is the one with Diffusal, but if there is a hint that the game might go long, Ursa is possibly the best user of a Battlefury after Anti-Mage (at least in the current meta).
Like he always has been, Ursa is the best carry at taking down Roshan, and having one of the strongest Aghanim’s Shard upgrades in the game, it benefits him a lot to take the second Roshan somewhere around the 20 minute mark to get the free Shard.
In terms of the buffs he got in patch 7.32, the talents at level 15 and 20 are quite significant. The level 15 talent gives him two 2 Fury Swipes stacks with Earthshock, which means an immediate ramp up in damage when Ursa jumps on a hero. That opens up both talents at level 20 quite nicely for him – either the additional damage for Fury Swipes or a 2 second reduction in in Earthshock. With the Shard and the 2 second reduction in Earthshock, Ursa can be in Enrage for literally 25% of his non-ultimate existence (Shard applies a 1.5 second Enrage when Earthshock is used).
(taken from dota2.fandom.com)
4) Naga Siren (Pick rate: 6.14%, Win rate: 55.85%)
Naga Siren typically rises from the depths when a late game meta blooms. Naga has the best lane control in the game, so even if there the opposition plays a fast paced lineup, the Mirror Image and Manta Style illusions can keep lanes pushed out until she hits critical mass.
The best way to play Naga is in a 4-protect-1 fashion, which was displayed by Tundra Esports at TI11. Their carry, Oliver “Skiter” Lepko, always built an Orchid Malevolence on her after Manta Style to have the ability to fight early. That was always later turned into a Bloodthorne, which has a Mage Slayer built into it, which gave Naga illusions a lot of sustain when going on to a target with AoE magic damage. Now can everyone play with the same skill as Skiter, and do they have a TI winning team around them? No. But that doesn’t change the fact if played correctly, Naga is a pretty strong hero right now. Of all carries with a pick rate over 5%, Slithice has the highest win rate in the top tier of pubs.
5) Riki (Pick rate: 2.25%, Win rate: 54.41%)
Riki got some nice buffs in patch 7.32, and then one more in patch 7.32c, which has seen his win rate go up. Although Blink Strike damage was slightly reduced, the biggest buff was the increased Cloak and Dagger damage to creeps. Riki isn’t a fast farmer, and the increased damage to creeps is surely something that helps to boost up his farm rate.
But unlike the other popular meta carries from pubs, Riki isn’t one that has been seen too often in professional games. He was picked once as a carry at TI11 by PSG.LGD against Team Aster, when he was played by Wang “Ame” Chunyu. The hero went 10/1/6, but PSG.LDG lost the game because the Riki lineup eventually ran out of steam.
(taken from dota2.fandom.com)
Honorable Mentions
Faceless Void (Pick rate: 14.92%, Win rate: 49.59%)
Lone Druid (Pick rate: 2.21%, Win rate: 53.83%)
Phantom Lancer (Pick rate: 5.71%, Win rate: 52.07%)
