In the second of this five part series, we take a look at the top 5 carry heroes in pubs from the first month of Dota 2 patch 7.35.
Image: JimESC on DeviantArt
Dota 2 patch 7.35 is well and truly here. Gone are the days of Chaos Knight, Bristleback and Weaver dominating pubs. Those heroes are completely out of mind and out of sight. But there are others that have taken their place.
A few days ago, we looked at which mid heroes are dominating the new meta that has developed around Dota 2 patch 7.35. Here, we look at who are the position 1 heroes carrying their teams to victory. A lot of the shift in the carry meta is based on which heroes got nerfed the hardest. No carries received monumental buffs in patch 7.35, but there were heroes who dominated at TI12 that were nerfed. Bloodseeker, Chaos Knight, Spectre, Weaver and the likes were subdued through patch 7.34e and patch 7.35, which let other carry heroes rise to the top.
Read: Dota 2 patch 7.35 meta analysis
Read: Top 5 mid heroes in pubs from the first month of Dota 2 patch 7.35
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, so it well and truly reflects the games from patch 7.35 only. The choice of heroes has been made from a combination of high pick rate and high win rate heroes.
Faceless Void (Pick rate: 22.13%, Win rate: 53.20%)
Faceless Void leads the way in terms of pick rate and win rate in the highest tier of pubs in Dota 2. Void received some minor buffs in patch 7.35, and then a few minor nerfs in patch 7.35b. But even through those small changes, he continues to lead the pack of carries for the current meta.
(taken from Dota 2 Wiki)
According to the Dotabuff algorithm, he does fare well against Mars, Timbersaw and Witch Doctor, who are popular picks right now. But other than that, nothing recent stands out in his favour. It’s not like he had major buffs before patch 7.35 either – Faceless Void got nerfed slightly in patch 7.34 and was completely untouched through all the balance patches following patch 7.34.
(taken from Dotabuff)
One thing that has helped Void indirectly is the addition of attack speed to Maelstrom. That used to be a thing a few years ago, and taking away the attack speed component of the item meant heroes would require other means of producing Chain Lightening at high frequencies. In Faceless Void’s case, that was Mask of Madness. But that additional 25 attack speed the item now has goes a long way, especially in the early game. It could mean the hero could forgo Mask of Madness, especially if one of the supports gets a Solar Crest, and can build bigger items like BKB or Eye of Skadi earlier in the game.
Slark (Pick rate: 15.46%, Win rate: 52.31%)
Slark has multiple things going for him. He had small buffs to his strength gain and intelligence gain in patch 7.35, along with the Shadow Dance health regeneration. Slark is also one of the most versatile carries in the game when it comes to item builds, and he can make decent use of the new Mage Slayer, depending on the lineup. In addition to that, he is also a good hero to go up against meta heroes like Abaddon, Ember Spirit and Timbersaw, which adds to his popularity right now.
(taken from Dota 2 Wiki)
Abaddon (Pick rate: 6.52%, Win rate: 54.30%)
Abaddon doubles up in the safe lane as either a position 1 or a position 5 hero! There aren’t too many heroes in Dota 2 that can boast that kind of versatility. Recently, it was the right click core side of Abaddon that got a buff, which is why the core Abaddon is getting a lot of attention.
(taken from Dota 2 Wiki)
According to Dotabuff, his five most popular items from the last week are all right click items. His Aghanim’s Shard, which was reworked in Dota 2 patch 7.31, syncs really well for the core build, and has a pretty hefty win rate when purchased on the Lord of Avernus according to data from the past month.
(taken from Dotabuff)
Luna (Pick rate: 16.14%, Win rate: 50.23%)
Guess what changed for Luna in patch 7.35? Absolutely nothing! But that’s a win for carries, as the majority of the strong ones were nerfed in recent patches. So not being nerfed is, in a weird way, a buff. But her popularity in this patch comes from buffs to certain items – Manta Style and Solar Crest. Manta Style is a core item on Luna, and any buff to it goes a long way towards her farm rate. She is also a hero on a timer, and wants to hit her timings, and then hit buildings as her team stands behind her. Solar Crest is absolutely perfect for that – it increases her damage output with attack speed, and makes her more tanky because of the armor. But if you don’t hit your timings correctly, the hero does fall off as the game goes late.
Troll Warlord (Pick rate: 6.69%, Win rate: 51.37%)
Troll Warlord received a minor buff to his Aghanim’s Shard in Dota 2 patch 7.35, but nothing else. Like Luna, he is the benefactor of not being nerfed. Troll is extremely good against Meepo, which is a hero that is running rampant in the Immortal and Divine brackets, which makes a case for him.
Honorable Mentions
Morphling (Pick rate: 17.05%, Win rate: 48.38%)
Anti-Mage (Pick rate: 15.07%, Win rate: 49.38%)
Ursa (Pick rate: 8.34%, Win rate: 50.09%)
Weirdly enough, a lot of other carries like Alchemist, Medusa, Phantom Assassin and Sven, who received a few small buffs in recent patches, are languishing in win rates. There are very few position 1 heroes who have above average win rates in pubs currently. In the next few balance patches, we may see carries get a bit of love.
