6.85 - what the hell do i draft?

ok so this was bound to come but as with all new patchs you shall hear captains from all over screaming!!!....


WHAT THE F*@$K DO WE DRAFT?


well no fear i am here my pretties!!

ok so ill run you through the big winners in the drafting scene by the positions also before people screm WTF WHERE IS MY HERO ..a) shush b) im only focusing on the top tier heroes and the newcomers that could be potentially strong.

POSITION ONE - HARD CARRY

Spectre - big winner with a lot of mechanical buffs this guys is ridiculous and with an early fighting build to solidify your lanes like drums or s&y then go into a radiance it allows a lot of power to your late game while not completely ***in with your early game.

Gyro - still a decent hard carry and one you should at least look at banning or picking for respective styles.

PL - ehhhhh he has had a huge nerf in reality and isnt a top tier pick anymore THOUGH i will say consider banning him if you draft cant deal with elusive or lacks AoE clear.

antimage - i wouldnt suggest it but it is still viable slightly slipping from top tier but clinging on due to those damn int mids

CK - watch out for a fair few picks but not enough to warrant a ban if you have a nice lineup that can deal with him.

PA - maybe just maybe we see some more of her but make sure you draft a booster with her like ogre or mag

ember medusa drow huskar and the like all are good in the right draft but are not tier 1's atm. but consider them just as well.

POSITION TWO - MID

tinker - expect this little **** to make a resurgence though he most likely will be dragged back down soonish BUT expect it being a late pick if they have 4 strong picks with a lot of teamfight strong front line and no mid. NOT TIER ONE BUT IM JUST SAYING WATCH OUT FOR HIM!

QoP/SF/LINA - these little buggers are looking less scary and are super open to ganks so though they are still TIER ONE they are weaker and easier to deal with now.

LESHRAC - dont even touch him. you can deal with his mid now and his lane strength is just been completely wrecked. you can lane anything against him and if you go aggro early enough ... he a dead pony.

Storm - again i doubt we will see this guy much but be prepared for some picks.

Viper - this guy has always been strong just make sure you either ban him or pick him because with the right line up hes going to destroy your mid lane. trust me ... viper is coming back in a big way why? BECAUSE TA

TA - yea shes seen picks and bans in the international but this patch will be her comeback... she will become a contested mid and one you should look at drafting!

INVOKER - yea hes coming. get ready boiz!

the rest i dont feel will be tier one but they might be situational.

POSITION THREE - OFFLANE

SLARDAR - im not even ***in kidding. this guy is going to be massive in pubs i dont feel he will be picked THAT much in comp play but i expect to see some picks with him as a pos 4 more on that later. but his offlane has taken a massive leap with phase.

Clockwerk - yea this guy is not going away anytime soon.... pick or ban material.

Earth shaker - strong offlaner and one who can do a lot with little to nothing and do even more with a little extra of something. id ban or pick him 100% of the time.

dark seer - you wont see much of this guy but there will be enough of a threat to consider. look out for WW or naga picks for the tell that he might be in the game.

undying - aghs upgrade is stooopid now but he still has the same faults... HE NEEDS A DUAL LANE!! still hotly contested but one that is easier to deal with in the earlier levels . rememember to hit the ******** tombstone!!!

batrider - this guy might be coming back so id expect to see teams drafting him into line ups. also use him with Earth shaker support for great zone control.

POSITION FOUR - JUNGLE/SOFT SUPPORT/ROAMER

NIGHT FRICKING STALKER - watch this guy im not even kidding this little bugger is going to become cancer in your pubs but he is F#@*ing scary in a good draft. his roaming potential is stoopid crazy good. get ready to see support NS everywhere.

OGRE - I AM OGRE I AM 11 ARMOUR I AM ROAM / support. this guy is defs making a come back. i wouldnt say tier one pick ban but defs a lookin.

SLARDAR - yea this guy is defs the new support for roaming cant wait to see how hes played.

ES - as before, can do a whole lot with little to nothing.

SB - no more offlane sb more like imma gank you for the next 30 minutes sb this guy is strong so careful to ban or pick him if your weak against him.

there a lot more but they are the main ones are there.

POSITION FIVE - HARD SUPPORT/ POSITION SIX

SHADOW SHAMAN - yea hes going to be top tier pick back by like a bazillion percent. just get ready for it.

AA - expect this guy to be there as well.

DAZZLE - PICK OR BAN THIS GUY HE IS TOO STRONG WITH SPECTRE YOU SEE DAZZLE YOU BAN SPEC

ALCHEMIST - yea your reading right alche pos 5. this guy is so close to making it work like he is right there on the line of a great transitioning pos 5 support and if the game goes late he can start to really make a difference. ive been trying it out and trust me having a 4 second stun early game is very strong along with the increase to bounty rune and grevils greed its scarry to see a 3 slotted alche with blink greaves and glimmer by 25 mins in. then once it hits 50 minutes hes helping the 6 slot carry with himself being 6 slotted.






OVERALL


big winners alche spec and shadow shaman. also night stalker ban or pick him in captains as his potential from level one is just crazy.

glhf

http://www.datdota.com/stats.php?p=draft

FailFish

I really don't see this guy as a Roamer, you either have a small Melee Range, 1.6 second Stun or Phased Movement at lvl1. Solo Offlane Slardar might happen (he's still eaily Zoned out at lvl1 though), but Roaming Slardar will never happen...unless the Hero is reworked.

Can't Jungle, can't Lane, easily Ganked and this is the Meta of strong Roaming Supports (booty, Nightstalker, ogre, venge, etc.). If anything Bat is actually weaker in the 6.85 Meta than the 6.84 Meta. He already lacks space to Farm and now he has even more chance to die trying desperately to get that 12 minute Blink Dagger.

EDIT: It's possible that he'll reemerge as a greedy Position 4 in 6.86, but he just can't survive in this Meta imo.

---

My prediction? It's the era of Roamers! <}3

Xyrus's list of popular Picks / Bans in order of positions (Safe Lane -> Mid -> Offlane -> Roaming / Farming Support -> Support) and how much they'll be picked up and banned (this may be based more around EU Meta):-

• Slark
• Lifestealer
• Phantom Lancer
• Viper (yes, Viper Safe Lane will be a thing)
• Spectre (sort of, I don't see many picks happening, but will mainly be contested due to a high Ban rate)

• Windrunner
• Shadow Fiend
• Lina
• Ember Spirit
• Dragon Knight

• Dark Seer
• Clockwerk
• Spirit Breaker
• Tusk (He'll see more play as a Roamer than SB, meaning less play as an Offlaner)
• Earthshaker (same as above ^ he's going to be needed to counter the era of Roamers)
• Mirana (not Tier 1, but we'll actually see her from time to time as an Offlaner now)

• Bounty Hunter
• Night Stalker
• Ogre Magi
• Visage (HE'S BACK!)
• Vengeful Spirit (She's back too <}3 )
• Pudge 8{D (okay maybe not in 6.85, but with all the Buffs he's receiving, as soon as Bounty hunter gets a nerf to Track, by which I mean a REAL nerf, Roaming Pudge shall appear, here's hoping for it to happen in 6.86 <}3 )

• Dazzle
• Witch Doctor
• Disruptor
• Bane
• Abaddon

As I said, venge only back if Bat is back. He seems to be a decent midlaner now.

Bat is a semi decent last pick mid. The issue is, he gets absolutely wrecked in some match-ups and that's a bad thing.

Vengeful Spirit I don't see happening unless either Bat is back, or for some reason supports are poor again. In any enviroment where supports are rich, she's a bad hero.

Shadow Shaman as a 4 sure, as a 5 never.

I don't think much will change; Heroes that were top picks in 6.84 will still be good now. Some new heroes will definately shift in now and then, but mostly it'll be a similar game, and similar drafting style.

I guess the optimal pool is bigger even if the viable pool is a little unchanged.

Also Lone Druid. I think we'll see a good share of Lone Druid now as like a semi-niche pushing hero. Windrunner as well after a while

I'm thinking that Spectre will be the Leshrac of the patch until her justified nerf in the near future. With that in mind, we'll likely be seeing Necrolyte and Terrorblade picks just to counter her. Also take into account Desolate now working on Roshan, and with Spectre being the best aegis carrier in the game I foresee some early rosh lineups to take advantage of this.

All in all I think a lot more strategies are viable - there were buffs to deathball, rat dota, rice dota and nerfs to fighting. I think the game will be a bit more passive, meaning lategame and disruptive supports like Shadow Demon will see a bit of love. But my predictions have generally been wrong, so who can tell?

This meta seems more balanced than the last one, hopefully we'll have fun.

As for the start of Spectre's reign of Terror, I'm glad I run a lot of Doom and Necrophos. I didn't play many of the counters to last meta's heroes, whether Pugna or Nyx for Leshrac (although SK with blademail was pretty good), BS or NS for AM, and Bane and Earth Spirit for Storm. I only had a good time with BS, who went down to my SK with Dagger countering his dives, or Wraith King.

The pub meta this patch seems to be Invoker, Windranger, SF, Slardar, Riki (no really), Doom, and Spectre. This is much better environment to play my mid-DK, with all the broken mids nerfed.

But yeah, drafting.

Hard Supports; Lion, WW, and WD are still great this patch, Dazzle and Bane are also quite a bit stronger and less dependent on combo picks. Lich is also useful against annoying greedy offlaners like Doom.

Semi Supports; If spectre's popular, expect to see less of ES, Tide, and SK. Chen seems good, with the late game heroes getting really buff this patch. Enigma might make a comeback, since lane momentum seems less big this patch. Abaddon might see picks, but he still is not that strong until he actually gets his ult stick. Pugna may also be a useful pick for his healing power and against deadly casters with the glimmer nerf. Magi and NS are also good for roaming this game, because they need no more armor.

Position 3: Beastmaster, the hero is strong, and suited for longer games as long as no abaddon. Elder Titan and especially Doom similarly. Lone Druid is also an option due to his really high mid game damage now. Also, possibly Nyx Assassin, his Aghs and his much better ganking potential means he might see some play.

Midders: SF, Wind, Templar, QoP, heroes not nerfed like those other guys. Due to mids being a bit more right clicky, I think more Razor play is possible. DK, Viper, Invoker, and Tinker all also got buffed and might be good mid cores due to their massively powerful late games. OD is still too weak and mainly is for countering Invoker.

Position 1: Spectre, because Dispersion is horrifying for a support now. Medusa is even stronger in lane now and she is stronger in this meta. Necrophos also might be viable for early fighting this patch, due to a nice increase in his sustain, and Slardar too due to his even earlier activation.