Today, Valve has released the newest update prior to the next Dota 2 Major Championship, the Boston Major 2016. The update will certainly make a stir for the current meta as it entails numerous nerfs on the frequently used heroes of the game. With only two months of preparations for the upcoming Major, teams will be forced to adjust for the new meta with respect to the latest patch. The big question now is, how will each team adapt to the new tide?
Dota 2 6.88f Update
Drow Ranger
One of the most affected heroes in the current Dota 2 patch is the Drow Ranger. Take note that in the previous 6.88e update, Drow has already taken a significant nerf by reducing her base damage by 4 as well as the nerf of the Dragon Lance, one of the early core items of the hero. Now, not only does the hero deals less damage in the early game, her HP is also significantly reduced as well; making her already low HP pool to shrink even further.
This would pretty much take her away in the current meta as she'll become a high risk - high reward core that can be punished severely with an aggressive laning strategy. Another thing to note is that this nerf is significantly bolstered by the previous patch nerfs which reduce the damage of illusions dealt to the towers. We all know that Drow is great with pushing strats particularly with Shadow Demon but with all the nerfs that affect her gameplay both directly and indirectly, we might be seeing lesser Drow Ranger strategies in the next Major.
Omniknight
One of the famous compositions of Drow Ranger is Omniknight which pretty much gives her divine protection especially during the mid-game. Now, Omniknight has suffered a lot of nerfs which makes running the Drow defensive strat even harder. The player must be able to correctly position himself whilst still maintaining the carry alive. The reduction of Purification range makes it harder to heal the Drow Ranger thus, reducing her survivability furthermore.
Another key nerf to the hero which affects the pushing strategy is the reduction of the duration of Repel. This ability is vital for Drow Ranger in the early to midgame especially when going for a glass-cannon built. With the reduction of the magic immunity duration, any hero together with Drow Ranger that benefits greatly from Repel (i.e Lycan, Morphling), might try to be more cautious with their positioning and overall strategy.
The other nerfs which indirectly affects the push strat is the Morphling damage reduction, Shadow Demon's Poison nerf and Bounty Hunter Track movement speed reduction.
Overall, the 6.88f heavily nerfs the above mentioned heroes and added to the previous 6.88e nerfs, it's interesting to see how each team will adapt to the new meta and if the early push strat will still be viable in the next Dota 2 Major.
