Dota 2
It’s been a while since we’ve seen a major Dota 2 update. The current patch we’re playing has been around for some time, even though Valve released a couple of small changes. The most recent one is from about a month and a half ago, and it addressed heroes, such as Lina and Nature’s Prophet.
With that said, DreamLeague Season 19 is almost over, and we’ve learned that there will be a huge Dota 2 patch coming on April 20. Speaking of this event, you can learn what happened in the groups by checking our DreamLeague Season 19 Group Stage recap, where we’ve covered everything.
Since the new major Dota 2 update is around the corner and will be here for The Berlin Major 2023, it’s time to see some of the potential heroes we expect to change. This article will focus primarily on the heroes that will receive a Nerf, but we expect to see even more changes in the future. So, here are a few names to look out for.
Lina
Starting with the elephant in the room, Lina is the Dota 2 hero that received the most changes in Patch 7.32e. The hero was the go-to option in the last patch, but she got tons of nerfs in the current one. Consequently, people stopped playing with her and started focusing on other heroes.
Since we’re just a couple of days away from the latest Dota 2 patch, we can see that Lina has the worst win rating in the current meta. With just a 40% win rate, the hero lost more than 12% for a month and a half, which is too much. Consequently, we expect to see some small buffs.
It will be very interesting to see whether Valve will change something and if they do, what they’ll focus on. Lina was one of the preferred supports/mid-laners, but people started using her in the safe lane before the Nerfs. Needless to say, we expect to see the hero back in the support role.
Terrorblade
The next hero that will receive some kind of buff is Terrorblade. Even though this was one of the go-to carries among professional players, TB is not as big as before. The hero is just not that suitable for the current meta because most players like focusing on carries that are easier to come online. That’s one of the reasons why we see a lot of other heroes.
Even though TB has never been that big in PUB Dota 2, this is a hero that gets the chance to shine every once in a while. Valve has probably noticed that he has one of the lowest win rates (around 42%), so we expect to see some kind of bonus.
Considering the hero’s specific skill set, we think the buffs will come to Reflection or Metarmophosis. The latter is one of the strongest abilities for team fights and pushing.
Templar Assassin
Although Templar Assassin is one of the mid-laners that some teams pick every now and then, the hero is not as famous as before. This may not be a surprise because some Dota 2 players remember she was the most picked hero a few months ago.
Nowadays, Templar Assassin can be a situational pick in a draft where the team needs someone to push towers and dominate the mid-game. However, considering the current meta, most teams prefer to focus on something else, such as Storm Spirit.
Templar Assassin’s current win rate is around 45%, making it among the game's worst heroes. In fact, Ember Spirit is the next mid-laner close to her, but even he is better.
Ember Spirit
Speaking of the devil, this is another hero that we expect to see among the list with buffs. Ember Spirit is probably the most dominant core hero in professional Dota 2, alongside Tiny. He is almost always a part of the meta because of the things he brings to the table. This includes amazing utility, tons of damage in the mid-game, and the ability to one-shot targets at the later stage.
Despite the many perks, Ember Spirit’s win rate has been decreasing for a couple of months. Some people will say that this is due to the fact he is hard to master, which is true up to a point. However, there is no arguing that the hero doesn’t feel as strong as before, especially versus certain matchups.
One of the buffs we expect to see regarding Ember Spirit is additional damage to Slight of Fist and extra magical damage absorption to his shield. However, Valve may decide to offer us even more things, so we can’t wait to see what will happen.
Mars
Although Mars is the only name on the list that received a slight increase in his win rate in the last couple of weeks, the hero needs a lot of work until he becomes the “monster” he once was. In case you’ve forgotten, Mars took over the professional Dota 2 scene once he became available in the CM Mode. His incredible damage output, hardiness, and ability to kill specific targets made him the preferred option for almost every offlaner.
Sadly, he faded away from the meta because several of the smaller Dota 2 updates affected his performance. Nowadays, the hero is a situational pick, but he is not as popular or as big as he once was. That’s why we think this will change once Valve decides to roll out the new update.
In terms of the potential Dota 2 changes to some of Mars’s abilities, a slight increase in his spear’s damage or a cooldown reduction might be everything he needs to see him back in the game.