Dota 2 – 7.37d

Another long-awaited stove has arrived! Valve has released a 7.37du action as of today. Dota 2 has become predictable, especially after International 13, where we had the opportunity to see all the best heroes and tactics in action. Pubs and ranked games have become monotonous. The same 30 or so heroes are always chosen, while the other 100 are forgotten. If in a ranked game you take a hero other than the 30 "target" picks, you are immediately attacked by your teammates, potentially getting a report.

With this stove that changes, we will finally see less gleipnir and vindice, as well as generally all "range" heroes who would take arcane boots and rely on that mana regeneration to keep their networth relevant.

The biggest changes in the oven when it comes to items are:

• Arcane Boots - The recipe is 100 gold more expensive (375 - 475). The total value of the item jumps from 1300 to 1400 gold. Mana regeneration halved from 0.5 to 0.25 mps. Active component also nerfed from 175 mana to 150 per use.
• Bracer/Wraith Band/Null Talisman – They are no longer duplicated after the 25th minute of the game.
• gleipnir – Recipe more expensive by 300 gold! The total value of the item goes from 5450 to 5750 gold. Bonus DMG from +30 to +25. Bonus AS from +30 to +25. Bonus HP from +300 to +275. DMG passive current from 160 to 140.
• Dispenser – No longer makes the caster immune to any type of "slow" effect. Now gives 40% slow resistance.

These changes are very significant for the current state of the game, because thanks to them "range" heroes like Lina, Mirana and Vindranerka are significantly slowed down in the early stages of the game. They are not able to easily overtake all other heroes with farm. Nerfs on early stats items like bracers are a big blow to support. It used to happen that in the 25th minute some intelligent support hero has over 2,500 helts just thanks to a pair of bracers and a neutral item like an apple. Even if a hero (such as Shadow Demon) has a talent that gives 200 HP, it becomes a nightmare for the opposing team. They use more resources to eliminate supports than they should to kill core heroes. The nerf on the Dispenser may not look significant at first glance, but immunity to any kind of "slow" effect was the main reason for buying this item.

When it comes to changes to heroes, here are a few heroes to look out for in the latest patch:

• batrider – level 20 talent changed from +4.5s Firefly duration to +2s Smoldering Resin duration. *This is something I need to test further, but at first glance it looks very interesting as it potentially brings this hero back into core position with items like “Witch Blade” that have excellent synergy with this talent.*
• bloodseeker – Bloodrage now costs 0 mana from 25. *This is another small buff for an already strong enough kor hero in the game.*
• Death prophet – Base DMG increased by 2. Exorcism ghost count increased at early magic levels from 8/16/24 to 10/17/24. *Although it doesn't look significant 2 base DMG on a hero that is built for lane dominance is a lot. Also, that first use of exorcism will be significantly more potent early in the game when the hero is most effective.*
• Phantom lancer – His spite ability Illusory Armaments now also works with a percentage damage increase (eg DD rune or Vladmir's Offering). Converted Bonus DMG to Base DMG is now 70% from 65%. *A forgotten hero after a heavy nerf bat hit is potentially back in the game. This change can revive a sort of support hero with auras that push phantom launchers in the right direction.*
• Sniper – Shrapnell DMG reduced at early levels from 120/180/240/300 to 90/160/230/300. Headshot now slows heroes depending on magic level from the previous 0.5s at each level to 0.2/0.3/0.4/0.5s *This significantly reduces the effectiveness of the sniper as a support hero, but when it comes to the core sniper is not affected by these changes in the least.*
• Wind ranger – Whirlwind facet: cooldown on ultimate spell increased from 70/50/30s to 70/60/50s. Hero no longer fires arrows while channeling. So using another magic interrupts the ult. DMG reduction increased from 30% to 35%. Magic duration from 9s to 8s. If the windrun is dispelled, the invisibility that the hero gets by purchasing Aganim's scepter is also removed. *Combined with the nerfs on the items we had the chance to see, this hero is really not a priority anymore. *

The proof that these nerfs are justified is the statistics from the biggest tournament in the season of this game, which says that the most popular hero of the tournament is Mirana with 46 games and a percentage of games won of 61%. In second place is Windranger, also a hero who shoots from a distance. She was elected as many as 44 times with 50% of the parties won and with 60 bans.

In addition to these changes, 7.37d also comes with a new collector's case for only $2.85! It contains 16 different heroes and each of them gets a new unique set! The rarest among them are Rubick with his "Secondhand Sorcery" set, Barathrum's Crystal Colossus and Undajing's Undying Love.

If you want a detailed insight into all changes to the 7.37d stove, visit the link:

Dota Patch Notes – 7.37d (dota2.com)

With all the information from this and several previous stoves, I'm ready to reveal the new best hero combination for free MMR. It's Grimstroke + Bloodseeker. Two heroes that have been under the radar of professional players for a long time due to their high level of execution and insufficiently obvious way of using them. Both heroes are strong on their own, but if you combine them with a good enough strategy, they will become absolutely unstoppable!