Valve already confirmed that the next ranked season is going to start in the new year and that means it is time to prepare for the new climb towards the top. Today we would like to talk about different strategies and motivations that can help you achieve better results in Dota and enjoy the game even more.

Clinkz was reworked slightly over a month ago. The initial impression of the community on the hero was rather poor and this reaction was more than justified—much like Drow Ranger, Clinkz started his 7.20 career as an incredibly weak hero.

Patch 7.20 introduced Holy Locket and gave heroes more reason to build Kaya, with its next tier items in Kaya & Sange and Yasha & Kaya. How have they performed in practice vs. on paper? As with most new heroes and items in Dota, they don't always stick their landing.

Chen received one of the biggest reworks in patch 7.20, and the community is still debating how the hero should be played. He no longer has access to bigger creeps from the start of the game, but now he has tools for significant lane presence that make him pretty much a new hero.

The final part of our meta overview is going to be focused on the most consistent and popular carry heroes. These are the heroes we see the most in our pubs, and the ones we must be the most prepared to face.

7.20 brought several new offlaners and solidified positions of some old ones as well, making for a rather diverse and interesting meta. It also seemingly got rid of the meta with carries in the offlane—current offlane heroes are now predominantly utility cores.

While we still see some of the usual, mainstay heroes in the mid lane, patch 7.20 has also brought forth more heroes into the fold--both familiar and new.

One of our biggest complaints about 7.19 overstaying its welcome was that the support meta got really stale by the end of the patch. There was only a handful of viable supports you could first- or second-pick in a regular pub match and not set your team up for a loss.

Three weeks into 7.20 and we’ve already had three additional mini patches, but it hasn’t been enough to stem the trends of this patch’s best and worst heroes.

Patch 7.20 introduced a big change to a fundamental mechanic of Dota 2, and from our experience players still haven’t fully adjusted to it. We're taking a frrp look into the changes to armor calculations and what it means for the players.