| Jakiro | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 6.75 Changes | VODS | |||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Jakiro has gone from zero to permanently picked hero almost instantaneously since his Ice Path remake, which transformed him from a clunky support with an unreliable stun and some pushing power to one of the most popular support heroes out. Was the Ice Path remake really that great? Well... yes. It was. Ice Path went from a dodgable, difficult-to-land stun to a devastating battlefield splitter. Now, a Jakiro can lay down a path in front of enemies to force them to change paths, freeze a line between heroes to divide them or just use it as a secondary disable to hold people in his ultimate. A less-lauded buff is the Liquid Fire AoE increase, which allows Jakiro to easily hit an entire creep wave or multiple heroes with the -50% AS and burn damage, boosting his killer pushing power. In short, his major weakness (the clumsiness of Ice Path) has been fixed, allowing him to shine through his AoE power coupled with naturally high Intelligence and Strength as a perfect support hero. 6.76 increased the creation delay of Ice Path by 0.1 second (to 0.5 seconds) and the manacost by 15 (to 90). Will this hurt Jakiro's viability? Definitely not; Ice Path remains a powerful spell, especially due to Jakiro's fantastic Intelligence gain doing more than necessary to accommodate the mana cost increase. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Batrider | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 6.75 Changes | VODS | |||||||||||||||||||||||
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| During the advent of the mid-game domination route, Batrider was a popular pickup due to his mid-lane power, his BKB-penetrating disable and his overall mix of durability, mobility and damage. However, along with heroes like Clockwerk, Batrider fell from favour as the game shifted to favour late-game carries and mid-to-late game utility heroes like Invoker. Well, he's back, and he's pissed. Many people fail to see the turn rate change, but combining the turn rate and the cast change together and it now allows Batrider to kite enemies with Sticky Napalm almost twice as fast. This gives him unprecedented mobility as he flits around teamfights, which is complemented by his increased strength gain, making him tankier and harder to deal with as the game progresses. Finally, the Firefly buff allows him to keep dealing that damage out, regardless of death or duration. Something key to note about Batrider is his ability to devastate solo lanes, and even hold his own in dual lanes. Heroes like Templar Assassin generally get bounced off the walls by Batrider's DPS, while heroes like Invoker and even Queen of Pain always need to play with extreme caution. Even Magic Wand is only so helpful; if Batrider initiates you, he's going to deal more damage than wand will heal before you can even blink. 6.76 decreased the strength gain from 2.7 to 2.4. Will this hurt him? In a similar vein to Jakiro, I don't think so. A grand total of 7.5 strength lost at level 25 (translating into 142 HP) is not going to destroy Batrider's spree. The main buffs were not, in fact, to his stats, but instead to his turn rate, cast time and Firefly duration and persistence. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Undying | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 6.75 Changes | VODS | |||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Undying has ramped up notably from being an uncommon pick to starring in approximately 10% of games. Pre-6.75, he was maimed with the drawback of tapering off greatly come late game, where his Decay stopped hurting as much, his Tombstone stopped being such a teamfight disruptor and his Soul Rip became his primary means of healing and harming. With the changes to Decay, as well as the Tombstone Deathlust buff, Dirge now stings late-game, filling the role of a tanky teamfight controller and Pipe carrier. fighting under the Tombstone is now suicide-by-zombie-zerg-rush at any stage of the game. Combine that with the strength of Soul Rip and the damage amplification of his ultimate, and Dirge fits in amazingly with heavy nuking and pushing lineups. With a win rate just shy of 80%, Undying is really making an impression on the scene, and I'm hoping to see the killer Undying tri-lane rise back to popularity. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Shadow Fiend | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 6.75 Changes | VODS | |||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Nevermore is one of those quintessential "skill" heroes who can deal out crazy levels of AoE damage and wipe out entire teams. However, he's been very unpopular ever since the appearance of Smoke of Deceit, as he represents the definition of a squishy mid hero with no escape mechanism. So, what has changed? While his soul bonus from hero kills in notable, along with the extra -1 armour per level of Presence, the real change is the passive added to his ultimate. With a final "screw you" upon death, heroes need to be far more cautious about ganking Nevermore once he gets his ultimate. Support heroes especially risk giving up kills, counteracting the gank. Furthermore, the ability to theoretically cast 1.5 Requiems during a single teamfight adds to the insane amount of damage Nevermore provides. Even though his early laning is still risky, Nevermore now provides enough AoE damage to make it worthwhile. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Bane Elemental | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Bane is the king of single target disables. With the ability to totally remove 2 heroes from a battle, as well as his Enfeeble which makes that terrifying DPS carry hit like a Crystal Maiden, Bane is now a viable hero due to his ability to destroy the damage of any hero, regardless of their possession of BKB or not. This makes him a huge counter to heroes like Chaos Knight, Anti-Mage, Faceless Void, Bounty Hunter and Tiny. His 5-second, BKB penetrating ultimate just reinforces his role as a carry devastator. With the ability to solo with ease, Bane is a strong addition to any team. 6.76 gives Bane further buffs, allowing him to dispel his own Nightmared state at any time, and decreasing the (already low) cooldown on Enfeeble by 2 seconds (to 10). These small changes will further boost his rising popularity as a powerful disabler and anti-carry hero. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Lifestealer | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 6.75 Changes | VODS | |||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Rising in popularity from being completely unpicked, N'aix's main buffs lie not in his own buffs, but in the buffs Armlet received. With a reduced toggle time, as well as a bonus HP regen, Armlet is now a phenomenal item in combination with the chain-stun resistance given by Rage, making N'aix incredibly hard to kill if you're unable to deal 500 damage in a very short period of time. Tie it in with his natural ability to jungle or run aggressively and passively in a lane, as well as his team-benefiting Open Wounds which allows your entire team to regain health through nuking an enemy, one finds it understandable that a buff to his core item has boosted him into the competitive scene. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
All stats taken from Dota-Academy. Take a look!
