How has Patch 7.33d affected the meta?

Valve surprised us with their decision to release Patch 7.33d in the middle of DreamLeague Season 20. Usually, the company waits for a given event to end, but IceFrog and co. seemingly wanted to provide the pro Dota 2 teams more time to adapt for The Bali Major 2023.

Even though the Dota 2 patch 7.33d did not change anything drastically, many popular heroes have been nerfed and rebalanced. Strangely, some names we expected to see on the list survived, whereas others even got buffed. This affects the current meta, so let’s review a few things players must consider.

How strong is Medusa now?

One of the heroes that received the most changes after 7.33 was Medusa. The hero was populra before that, but after the arrival of the New Frontiers patch, she became one of the strongest Dota 2 heroes in the game. In fact, she was the only hero with more than a 60% win rate in PUBs consistently.

Unsurprisingly, Valve addressed this in their last few updates and nerfed the hero several times. The Dota 2 patch 7.33d was not an exception because it also delivered several changes:

• Mystic Snake now has a 20% mana gain instead of 22% on level 4.
• The illusions do not have as much reduced damage from Mana Shield as before. Furthermore, they also gain less damage from the mana.
• Stone Gaze is shorter on Levels 1 and 2.
• The hero’s level 20 talent provides a 1.5s duration to Medusa’s ultimate instead of +2s.

Those things definitely had an impact on Medusa’s popularity and win rate. Yet, she remains one of the best heroes in the game, at least for now. Interestingly the trends on DotaBuff reveal that Medusa lost more than a 2% win rate in the last week, mainly due to 7.33d’s arrival.

Void Spirit exits the Meta

Credit: MoeWalls

Even though Medusa has been among the most dominating Dota 2 heroes following 7.33, she was not alone. Void Spirit was also a high win-rate hero due to being among the best mid-laners in the game. His incredibly early and mid-game capabilities allowed teams to use him and snowball out of control.

As expected, Valve has noticed that he is becoming too strong, which is why the Dota 2 patch 7.33d has addressed it. After the new update arrived, Void Spirit received the following changes:

• His base STR is down from 22 to 21, his STR gain is down from 2.6 to 2.3, and his INT gain is 2.3 instead of 3.1 per level.
• Dissimilate now costs 130 mana on all levels instead of on level 4.
• Astral Step’s Void Mark Damage is now 130/230/330 instead of 150/250/350.
• Void Spirit’s Outer Dissimilate Ring Level 15 Talent has been replaced with +70 Resonant Pulse Damage.
• The hero’s level 20 talent now gives Outer Dissimilate Ring instead of +120 Resonant Pulse Damage.

Considering all of these nerfs, it probably does not surprise that Void Spirit’s win rating is down by 7% in just a few days. Suddenly, he has become one of the least reliable midders in Dota 2, which explains why even the best teams in the world at DreamLeague Season 20 are not using him anymore.

Is Leshrac the new Void Spirit?

As is typical for Valve, the company nerfed some of the best heroes in the Dota 2 patch 7.33d, but it also buffed a few forgotten names. One of them is Leshrac, and judging by the win rate, the hero is back on track to become one of the top-tier midders.

Although 7.33d came out just a few days ago, Leshrac already has a +3.4% win rate, making him one of the most successful heroes in the game. The reason why he’s so good right now is because he received the following buffs:

• Split Earth has a longer radius.
• Diabolic Edict has 3s less cooldown on Level 4.
• Lighting Storm deals more damage
• Nihilism has an increased radius

Even though there are specific lineups where Leshrac won’t fit that well, overall, it’s safe to say the hero is pretty good. He can do more damage in the early game, land his stuns easier than before, and push faster. All those things will most likely make him one of the go-to midders for The Bali Major 2023.

Has Lina been revived?

Do you remember Lina before the big nerfs from a few months ago? She was the best Dota 2 hero in the game, and the most dominant pub carries in the last 5 years. However, Valve nerfed her so hard that she completely vanished from the game and became one of the worst Dota 2 heroes.

The nerfs were seemingly too harsh as valve have been trying to “revive” Lina in the last minor updates. The Dota 2 Patch 7.33d is not an exception because, in this meta overview, we’ve discovered that Lina has gained a massive ~ 5.5% increase in the pick rate following the new patch.

Speaking of the devil, 7.33d gave the hero the following:

• Less cooldown on Dragon Slave
• Extra Spell Damage Per Fiery Soul Stack when she has an Aghanim Scepter
• Flame Cloack now provides more spell amp and has a longer duration

In addition to Lina’s pick rate, her win rate is slightly up. However, it’s still not close to the 50% ratio, which is where most heroes want to be. Watching Lina in the upcoming weeks will be interesting to see if she will be back in the game. Even if it happens, we expect to see her in the support/mid-lane role because the buffs focus mainly on her spell damage.