With the last DPC tournament concluded there are now two month until the biggest event of the season. Two months filled with qualifiers that will hopefully provide enough data to fix some apparent issues with the game before the International 2018.

Winter Wyvern was one of the strongest heroes ever released in Dota 2. Her ultimate used to combine the best parts of Reverse Polarity and Black Hole, without channeling, but still having an ability to disable targets who would get into the AoE after the initial cast. More than three years later, this once overpowered hero is virtually non-existent in the professional scene and is not doing too well in pubs either.

Ever since Shackleshot became disjointable and its latch angle reduced, Windranger has struggled to stay relevant in the meta. But she’s been getting small buffs ever since 6.86, and on the main stage at the China Supermajor, we’re beginning to see the results.

Dota works in mysterious ways. Certain hero can go unnoticed by the professional teams for over a year, get talent buffs and suddenly become a viable pick, with half the players opting for the unchanged talents. Bloodseeker has always been a great pick in lower level games, dominating the sub 3k pubs, but recent trends show that the hero is gaining momentum even at the highest levels of play.

This week the China Supermajor kicks off, Valve announces changes to the next Dota Pro Circuit season, and two Dota vets announce their retirement.

The new patch is yet to be tested in a competitive environment, but the pub stats are already telling a story. Despite a plethora of changes, the overall impact of 7.16 on the game wasn’t particularly noticeable, with a few notable exceptions. Given how most of the changes were small number tweaks, this outcome was expected and hopefully these changes will be enough to make the meta of the Supermajor significantly more diverse, compared to ESL One Birmingham.

Zeus' dominance in pubs is undeniable, but his viability in the professional meta has been limited in comparison. His recent tweak in patch 7.16, capping off a streak of buffs since 7.00, may change that.

Spectre is always at the top of win rate charts for pub games and her prowess doesn’t diminish even in higher level matchmaking. However any discussion of the hero soon devolves into how she is virtually untouched in the professional scene and how she might be overrated, easily countered or is an inconsistent pick.

Virtus.Pro takes their third ESL title, and EG and Complexity make further roster moves as we approach TI8

Even though Patch 7.16 tweaked Kunkka’s level 25 talent (50% Tidebringer cleave damage), Kunkka’s effectiveness as a core in the meta is undeniable. With a string of buffs over recent patches and the reversion of the mid lane meta to one on one matchups, Kunkka has appeared on the big stage at recent tournaments.