With the last major tournament before The International done and dusted, Patch 7.22f is set to be the version played at the biggest Dota 2 event of the year.
TI is less than three weeks away, so teams will be looking over the patch notes, hoping to see their pocket strats buffed while the heroes of the season bite the dust. While the new patch notes do deliver on some of the most commonly-picked heroes, newer additions to the meta seem to have been spared from IceFrog’s nerf hammer.
Regardless, this is a relatively light balance patch and the changes were only slight adjustments in either direction. The heroes that are most grateful for this patch are likely the ones that were left untouched.
A singular item change headlines the patch notes. Aghanim’s Blessing’s recipe cost has been reduced from 2,000 to 1,800 gold. While this is unlikely to make a dent in anybody’s pocket, considering it’s pretty much a late-game exclusive, cheaper items are always nice.
Several heroes have been adjusted slightly, but the heaviest (and still relatively light) nerfs went to common lane dominating picks like Sven, Centaur Warruner, Juggernaut, and Wraith King.
Sven received his sixth nerf in six patches, and yet he still retains immense popularity among pros for his ridiculous hard carry potential and frontlining capability, coupled with a farming speed that exceeds numerous agility carries. Storm Hammer received nerfs to its duration once again, slightly lowering his early kill potential in lane.
Centaur Warrunner has slowly increased in popularity, with huge hybrid damage potential and global save or catch. His Retaliate was also nerfed, reducing his physical damage potential.
The ever-popular Juggernaut brings an incredibly powerful kit with magic immunity, a strong heal, and late-game potential with Omnislash and Blade Dance. Juggernaut took a nerf to his already weak beginning stats, making him less powerful early on.
The immortal Wraith King gives no hoots about death, raising skeletons as his undead army and Reincarnation bringing him back when he dies. His Mortal Strike had its mana cost increased, while Wraithfire Blast’s damage has been slightly reduced. We’re probably still going to see him every other game at TI, though.
A few other commonly-picked supports were nerfed, such as Omniknight, Ancient Apparition, and Spirit Breaker. Spirit Breaker took a mana cost nerf to his Bulldoze ability and a minor Nether Strike damage nerf, making his already poor mana pool a bigger problem to manage.
Ancient Apparition’s powerful ultimate received a mana cost nerf, but it should matter less to an intelligence support like Kaldr. His Cold Feet proc range has also been reduced.
Omniknight received another cooldown nerf, this time to his Purification. His Heavenly Grace received a much bigger hit than in the previous patch. This impairs both his laning abilities and his support capabilities. In particular, support Omni will find it harder to choose between his two powerful skills to prioritize.
Popular midlaners like Outworld Devourer, Ember Spirit, and Morphling have also been nerfed. Ember Spirit’s already below-average armor was reduced again, Morphling received cast range nerfs for both Waveform and Morph, while Outworld Devourer took a big mana cost nerf to his ultimate Sanity’s Eclipse and a cooldown increase for Astral Imprisonment.
The biggest buff in the patch probably belongs to Tinker, receiving a litany of buffs to his talents. His level 15 talent also changed from the pretty lackluster spell lifesteal to a powerful mana cost and mana loss reduction.
This is a big change for the often-neglected mid hero of this season. Tinker used to be a powerful pocket pick for several teams, but he’s barely seen play this time around. The level 15 talent allows him to have much more staying power in teamfights, letting him contribute more before needing to head back to the fountain for a refuel.
Heroes that have recently surged back into the meta will be thanking their lucky stars since most of them seem to have been spared from the litany of nerfs that heroes like Sven and Wraith King received. Clinkz, in particular, seems to have got away scot-free.
His powerful ultimate and Aghanim’s Scepter upgrade have allowed him to come back into the meta less as a single target pickoff hero, but rather as a constant teamfight presence with his skelly bros raining hellfire onto the battlefield. Notable Clinkz players like Yeik “MidOne” Nai Zheng and Max “qojqva” Bröcker are probably smacking their lips in anticipation of playing the agile skeleton.
Patch changes are always fun to peruse and speculate, but TI seems to always have a meta of its own. Just like how Enchantress, Silencer, and Earthshaker became top-tier picks in TI8, expect to see a few surprises at this year’s TI. For now, we’ll put money on Clinkz, but we’ll find out for sure when The International starts on Aug. 15.
Images via Valve
