Patch 6.79 Comparison: The Professionals' Response

As intended, the 6.79 patch succeeded in diversifying the pool of Heroes viable in the competitive Dota 2 scene. Most of The International 3 headliners are taking a backseat to previously overlooked options. Gone are the days of watching Batrider be automatically banned or picked. His ban/pick value has dropped a whopping 44% since the new patch. Considering that there are 147,737,694 possible team compositions and 7,210,666,060,598 possible ban combinations in a given game, it's nice to see some of the top ban/pick options of TI3 slink away from the limelight. We've heard the professionals' perspectives on the new patch since it came out, but as the old adage goes, “Actions speak louder than words,” so lets check out how they've been playing. The numbers don't lie. 

The top 10 most picked and banned heroes of TI3 were Batrider – 100%, Lifestealer – 95%, Outworld Devourer – 94%, Visage – 93%, Chen – 86%, Io – 83%, Alchemist – 82%, Dark Seer – 81%, Weaver – 76% and Nature's Prophet – 68%.

Since the 6.79 patch, the top 10 are Elder Titan – 87%, Visage – 85%, Clockwerk – 85%, Lich – 80%, Timbersaw – 78%, Crystal Maiden – 71%, Lifestealer – 70%, Naga Siren – 68%, Pugna – 66% and Batrider – 56%.

(The above statistics are accurate as of November 12th and are out of 420 competitive games played.)

Granted, the recent statistics come from tournaments with smaller winnings than TI3, so the pros may be more relaxed and open to testing out new strategies than at a tournament as significant as TI3; however, just at a glance, it's easy to see that the previous favorites have been greatly upset. The top 10 percentage range at TI3 was 32, with a high of 100 and low of 68. Contrast that with the range since 6.79 of 31, with a high of 87 and low of 56, and it is clear that there is a visible shift towards fewer crutch Heroes being relied on to comprise the core of any given lineup.

It can reasonably be inferred that the smaller the range, the closer in value these Heroes are considered by the pros, and when coupled with the lower overall high and low values, there's no denying that the ban/pick pool is far more diverse than before.

Only Lifestealer, Visage and Batrider remain in the top 10, and they're picked or banned nowhere near as often as before. They all received nerfs in the patch, so it's not surprising that they've decreased in rank, but the interesting thing is that of the newcomers to this top 10, only Lich, Crystal Maiden and Pugna received direct buffs. In fact, Elder Titan, Timbersaw, and Naga Siren were nerfed. So, why are they found so high up?

It's a whole new game. Defensive tri lanes are less effective and on the flip side of the coin, soloing the offlane has been significantly buffed. The relocation of the small camp to the pull location on the safe lane has made it much more difficult for the defensive tri lane's pull hero to consistently deny their enemies entire waves of XP, let alone get much XP and gold themselves. Not only will three stacks of neutrals be required to clear a full wave of creeps from this camp, but a well positioned opposing solo hero can now leech neutral XP when the pull is successful. Add in an increased XP AoE, it seems this is the patch for solo lanes.

The reworked default hard lane creep collision point makes it easier for solo off lanes to establish creep equilibrium closer to their tier one tower and keep the creep line from advancing dangerously close to the opposition’s. It should also be noted that it's much easier to block the advancement of the creep wave on your off lane now that the creeps exit the base at a reduced movement speed compared to how they used to, while the safe lane creeps exit much more quickly. Ranged Heroes now get the same XP as melee Heroes when their creeps are denied, which could help offset a solo Batrider's impotent base attack damage. Furthermore, the passive gold increase from 1 per .6 seconds to 1 per .8 seconds can really help out a struggling solo hard lane Hero.

These buffs to soloing the off lane and nerfs to the safe lane make sense of Clockwerk and Timbersaw's high ban/pick percentages. They can make the most of a difficult solo situation now better than before, to say the least.

Team fighting and pushing compositions have also been emphasized by the patch, and should explain Elder Titan and Pugna's prominent ascension. Elder Titan's Natural Order reduces armor resistance by 100% and magic resistance by 33% at max level. He's a natural for team fighting, despite the slight nerf to Astral Spirit (damage reduced from 120/160/200/240 to 80/120/160/200). Pugna can also make or break a team fight with a well placed Nether Ward, not to mention push very effectively early on with Nether Blast.

Many of the item changes underscore this point. Linken's Sphere can be cast on allied heroes to transfer its buff, rendering it more versatile for a team. For example, if you have an initiator like Enigma or Magnus on your team who does not yet have a Black King Bar, but is going to blink into the middle of the opposing team to start a fight, being able to counteract the first spell which targets them can be the difference between winning and losing the team fight.

Beyond that, Pipe of Insight's magical AoE barrier was increased almost double (500 to 900), rendering it much more effective during a team fight when your team can simply not afford to stay bunched up within a range of 500. Smoke of Deceit conceals its users even when they walk past enemy wards, improving the roaming capabilities of every Hero listed. Boots of Tranquility permit the wearer to traverse long distances in a fraction of the time, which further benefits Lich and Crystal Maiden.

Practically every Hero in the new top 10 ban/picks list benefits from enhanced roaming, pushing and team fighting. This is welcome news to avid spectators, as hour-long farm-fests are quietly exiting the professional scene. There will be more action, more competitively viable team compositions and more upsets to come as the professionals devise new and improved Hero and item combinations.