posted by Liightsdota,
We take a look at the current Major and try to forecast which heroes could be nerfed in the upcoming Outlanders Update.

Patchday is Coming



Dota 2 has been in it’s 7.22x patch version for almost seven months now, with the original 7.22 being released on May 24th 2019. With the highly anticipated Outlanders patch releasing after the conclusion of the first Major of the season, today we look at the heroes which have solidified into the favourites of the current metagame.

This will allow us to predict some potential tweaks in the coming patch, as well as highlight some interesting innovations still being made in a 7.22h patch that has been mostly solved.

Morphling and Earthshaker





Many of the mechanically skilled carry players present at the MDL Chengdu Majorr have taken a liking to playing morphling, although almost exclusively in conjunction with an Earthshaker teammate. Teams were often going as far as to select this pair of heroes with their first two picks, where it still frequently found success.

The combo is all built around Morphling’s Aghanim’s Sceptre, which, when paired with Shaker, fills in an otherwise awkward first item choice in his build order. Turning into Earthshaker instantly makes Morphling into a huge threat, giving him incredible mobility as well as massive burst damage.

Perhaps we will see a change to the Earthshaker Aghanim’s jump, so that the leap can be broken by stuns or the castrange or leap speed may be reduced.



Here Song 'Sccc' Chun showcases the potential lategame power of the combo, closing out a group stage game against Evil Geniuses.

Kunkka and Outworld Devourer





Kunkka and Outworld Devourer were the two favourite choices for Mid laners, with Kunkka sometimes also being used in the offlane. Both of these heroes were valued for their high damage and good laning, as well as their ability to catch an isolated enemy.

In an environment where teams are fighting early and frequently, the low cooldowns and high damage output provided by this pair has proved invaluable. OD is interestingly a great counterpick to the normally very tanky Kunkka, likely being a factor in his higher ban rate.

When OD was banned however, Kunkka proved incredibly problematic for opponents to burst down, thanks to the Rum buff attached to his ultimate, which delays 50% of all incoming damage when maxed. Expect nerfs to Kunkka in the Outlander’s patch, likely something to make him a little easier to kill.

Armel Paul 'Armel' Tabios showed us the potential for Kunkka players to push their advantage, often securing additional kills on fleeing opponents after an initial engagement went favourably.



Chen offlane





One of the more overlooked heroes in public Dota games is Chen, ranked 112th in pub game popularity out of the game’s 117 heroes. In the competitive scene however, Chen Hard Support is a perennial threat for his ability to control neutral creeps and dominate a lane from the start of the game. Nerfs to Chen’s Holy Persuasion now limit the ability to only controlling small neutral creeps at early levels.

Micro specialists like Alliance’s Neta '33' Shapira have attempted to get past these nerfs to access Chen’s full army strength earlier, by giving him more experience as an offlane core.



Jenkins of Dota Alchemy provides a fantastic explanation of how this offlane Chen was played, highlighting crucial moments of 33’s early gameplay.

When played in the offlane, players rushed Helm of the Dominator in order to further emphasize Chen’s strengths and develop a large ball of neutral creeps. While this Chen build is extremely interesting, it’s important to note that for the majority of his picks at Chengdu, Chen was still played in the conventional Hard Support role.

Keeping the Light in Check





Keeper of the Light remains one of the top problems that has emerged in the current patch. As the premier choice of Hard Supports, he completely transforms the laning phase of certain cores with Chakra Magic. On top of consistently securing the early game for many lane partners, the truly oppressive aspect of Keeper is the incredible power of Will-o-wisp.

Anybody who’s played a pub recently can attest to how frustrating it becomes to position teamfights while trying to play around Keeper’s massive ultimate. In order to address the problems with his ultimate, we could expect to see a reduction in the number of hits required to kill it.

Alternatively, we could see a change to where attack commands persist between pulses, allowing players to continue to hit the ultimate after getting interrupted.



Elvis 'Scofield' de la Cruz shows here one of the many examples of a teamfight hugely impacted by Keeper of the Light’s ultimate.

Which heroes are you most eager to see knocked down a peg with the release of the Outlanders patch? Are there any heroes that have lately fallen out of popularity that need a little helping hand?

Photo credit: Mars Media

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