Dota 2 top plays weekly 718

Top 10 most played Off lane heroes of 7.18 at 5k MMR

The top 10 most popular Dota 2 heroes in the off lane during 7.18. We will have a look at some of the best picks in the meta, and learn how to play or counter them.

More from this series:

The heroes are arranged by pick rate, and the data considers all games played in any region in the 5k+ (Divine) bracket. Note that we can’t filter data for 7.18 only, so the past 30 days are examined. Statistics from Dotabuff.

Top 5

Hero	Name	Pick %	Win %
Windranger	30.6%	49.8%
Axe	27.7%	56.1%
Skywrath Mage	19.0%	50.8%
Doom	18.7%	49.7%
Phoenix	13.3%	53.4%

Io, Night Stalker, and Sand King dropped from the top 10, and have been replaced by Phoenix, Pudge, and Mirana. Dota 2 top plays weekly 718

Usually, I present one hero in detail, and then explain all the changes brought in by the new patch. 7.18 affected almost all heroes in the new and old top 10, so I decided to focus my attention on them.

Windranger

Intelligence reduced by 2.

Powershot damage reduced from 180/270/360/450 to 150/250/350/450.

In this patch, Windranger reached the top 10 also as a mid laner, even if not with the absurd 30% pick rate she enjoys in the off lane.

Powershot was recently buffed in 7.14, which increased the damage in the last two levels from 340/420 to/360/450 – nothing huge, but still useful to improve your wave-clearing ability.

The changes in 7.18 are intended to weaken her laning stage as now she has slightly less mana, -2 attack, and -20/-30 damage in the first two levels of Powershot.

I don’t think these nerfs had a great impact. As an offlaner, her pick rate increased in the past weeks, while the win rate slightly declined from 50.8% to 49.8%. We can explain the win rate drop simply due to the popularity boost – even players with less experience with the hero are picking her.

Fires of Vashundol loading screen for Doom – Valve

Base movement speed reduced from 285 to 280.

A small nerf that won’t hinder Doom’s capabilities as an offlaner. I assure you that you can pick him in almost every game without regrets.

Thanks to the AoE damage and health regeneration provided by Scorched Earth, Doom can survive and have the upper hand against most lineups. He will often force both the enemy supports to remain in the lane against him to defend their core – meanwhile Doom’s teammates will have an easier early game without gankers.

Maximizing Devour first is a big mistake committed by low ranked or greedy players. As an offlane Doom, your goal isn’t turning into the most farmed hero in the game, but be a nuisance for the opponents during the lane phase, and then contribute to the early fights with your massive presence and nullifying ultimate.

Skywrath Mage

Arcane Bolt mana cost increased from 70 to 90.

In the past series, I praised Skywrath Mage’s skills as an aggressive dual laner. With Arcane Bolt he can harass the opponent every 5/4/3/2 seconds, and truly there isn’t much you can do to counter it.

The Magic Stick, an extra Tango, regeneration, or magic resistance are all useful, but they are still not enough until you can acquire slightly more expensive items – such as the Ring of Health – to sustain your hero.

The mana cost increase from 70 to 90 is considerable, but Skywrath Mage has still 450 mana at level 1: previously, he could use the ability 6.4 times before depleting his mana pool, now 5. It hurts him, but nowadays everyone buys Clarity potions during the lane phase, so he might be less dangerous only in the hands of greedy supports.

Relocate now has channel time instead of a cast delay.

Io has been nerfed in all the previous patches, but pro players continued picking him, and in the June tier list he was the best tier 1 hero with 344 drafts and 322 bans.

I believe that while the ultimate now is worse, the ability can still be game-changing depending on the situation and the enemies faced. Also, do not forget that among Io’s strengths there is an amazing laning stage.

Overall, this is what you must remember about the new Relocate:

You can’t move while using the ultimate.

Before, a stun was necessary to interrupt the ability, while now even a silence is sufficient.

Defensive relocates (to save cores from nasty situations) are heavily nerfed, and Io will require more items for his own survivability. The Glimmer Cape might become one of his new core items.

Offensive relocates (to gank or participate in a fight) might become almost impossible to pull out in pubs as people tend to move and break the tether, and now you can’t follow them while channeling. More communication is required.