Picture courtesy of Wykrhm Reddy
After last year's close Arcana Showdown, second placed Io gets his own arcana after being defeated by Juggernaut.
Midway through last year's Arcana Showdown, there was a realization that Io the Wisp was beating accumulating more votes than any other hero in the race. Most of them were allegedly troll votes in a bid to see what would Valve's answer be if Io was made the winner. But disaster struck (for those voting for Io) as Juggernaut slashed his way to the top spot and won the showdown for 2016. There was an uproar in the community as many claimed Valve has lied to the community as they knew that the Io arcana wouldn't be too popular but a Juggy arcana would sell like hotcakes!
Whether the claim was right or not, we might never know. But it doesn't matter as Valve has blessed us anyways with Io's arcana: Benevolent Companion. After the battle pass for TI 7 was released, many people realized there was a blank spot on the level 245 and if clicked, Io could be heard (whatever odd sound the ball makes). Additionally, he was missing from the 2017 Arcana Showdown, which meant there was something cooking!
Although the arcana is here, it is only available to players who have a level 245 Battle Pass or higher, similar to Kunka's prestige item that can be obtained at level 225. It cannot be bought from the Community Market nor can it be traded. So if you like the Ball's transformation into a lovey-dovey cube, it is time to whip out your wallets!
Like the arcana or not, the community should hand it to Valve for stepping up and putting out two arcana's. If that's what we'll be getting from controversial votes, I wouldn't mind something similar this year as well!
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