Parity or Power Creep? Patch 6.88’s Pub Trends
It was surprising to see a patch released so quickly, almost immediately, after the Manila Major ended. In patch 6.88, Valve deployed a number of minor tweaks to “iron out the rough edges” for ESL Frankfurt and the upcoming TI qualifiers. These rough edges, it seems, are heroes that they felt are too strong, not strong enough, or just underused.
During the Manila Major main event, 25 heroes were ignored during the drafting phase. In patch 6.88, 24 out of 25 of those heroes received minor buffs (sorry, Techies). You can also add onto these beneficiaries heroes that were on the bottom of contested heroes (pick+ban), such as Kunkka, Necrophos, and Pugna. On the other end of the spectrum, 8 out of 9 of the most contested heroes (Pick+Ban) received minor nerfs.
Over the past week, 
Luna was among the top heroes with the greatest win rate changes, at 1.50%, from 54.61% to 56.11%. She received two minor buffs: one increasing the duration of 
Lucent Beam from 0.6 to 0.8, and the other increasing her movement speed from 330 to 335. Both are seemingly trivial, but they significantly increase her laning advantage in the early game. Lucent Beam is cheap harass, and the movement speed buff, which vaults her into the fastest group of heroes in the game (joined by KoTL and Enchantress), is valuable in zoning and escape.
Troll Warlord received the most changes in this mini patch. Even though 
Berserker's Rage no longer gives 100 health, the extra 3 Strength and 3 armor in the form effectively counterbalances it. The BAT change (1.55 to 1.5) is essentially a 3% damage buff. Since patch 6.88, he has literally gone from a losing hero (<50% win rate) to a winning one, with a high of 50.16% so far. The changes don’t seem significant enough to cause this jump in win rate, so a factor could be that people are just noticing him more as a viable hero and a beneficiary of the changes that came with 6.87: Dragon Lance, Echo Sabre, higher HP pool, base mana increase.
Pudge did enjoy a brief period in the competitive spotlight, and he may come back again, with a buff to 
Rot and 
Dismember. His win rate this past week has increased by 1% from his time during 6.87. Rot going from 27 %to 30% slow may seem small, but it’s an 11.1% increase to the skill’s potency. Even though Pudge’s pick rate in pubs has been the same, we may see him more soon, as Na’Vi’s Dendi, the fan favorite pro known to play Pudge without deference to any meta, will be playing at his 6th The International.
A game with 
Clockwerk is always better than a game without one. His cog antics, his emphatic long range initiation, and the rare 
Rocket Flare make Dota just a little more interesting. His win rate has increased from 49% in 6.87 to hovering around 50.8% in 6.88. The improved cast point to 
Power Cogs unlocks a new tactic where he’s able to cast cogs in the middle of using Force Staff—useful for escaping without having to destroy your own cog to walk out. Like Troll Warlord, the changes may not be enough for this noticeable rise in win rate, but rather highlighting that he may a place in the meta, with 6.87’s buffs to Blademail and Strength heroes.
Is 
Storm Spirit on his way back? After two series of grave nerfs, in 6.84 and 6.85, Valve offered some pity and threw a few buffs his way. He got a mana cost decrease to Electric Vortex in 6.86, an Aghanim’s Scepter upgrade in 6.87, an Intelligence buff in 6.87c, and now a buff to Overload in 6.88. His win rate increased from 47.3% in 6.87c to 49.1% over the past week in 6.88. He benefitted from many of the changes in 6.87, but those effects may have been delayed until now. Bloodthorn is a perfect late game item for him, as a hero who builds Orchid and eventually needs a damage item. He may not be the same, winning hero that EG rode to their TI5 championship, but a version of that hero may surface in the upcoming weeks.
Heroes have a tenuous relationship with the meta, which is by far just as dependent on the players as the strength of the heroes (Does it matter what heroes OG uses nowadays?). Sometimes no patch changes need to occur for the meta to change, as we’ve seen through the course of a LAN or an old patch. So, for patch 6.88, even though these are small, they can lead to outsized effects. One small tweak may be what it takes for an underrated hero to surge through the meta. It may happen during the upcoming TI qualifiers, or it may be happening already, bubbling underneath our pub games.
first comment woo hooo
FIRST KAPPA
SHOUTOUT TO IVAN SAMA
DAM, SOMEONE STOLE MY KAPPA
SECOND AND THIRD KAPPA
wow u with those comments i dont get it
Lets pick CK in sven and invoker meta
P.S. predict my mmr
me = still pick spect brought skadi even the meta change.. xD
OG can only lose too newbee or liquid rn , they're really benfited from secret and eg downfall . for real .
Even if EG and Secret were good, they would still get destroyed by OG. Those guys are on another level. Everyone who knows their shit about competitive doto is saying that about them.
What is up with this "first and second" comments on every post?
are u sure ? we wouldnt know the outcome , so yea . 50 : 50 , og is not on another level , they're on the same level as newbee liquid , newbee can beat og for sure.
First and second in commend give them a sense of victory..haha
Wait, 25 ignored heroes? last time I checked it was 15 ignored, and 95 picked/banned not including Arc Warden (since he is STILL disabled).
I think its safe to say that the first commenters are from the younger and ignorant part of the dota community. Just wait till they've outgrown that phase and see how it feels.
I think its funny how you all talk about the first, second, ext., comments. Its literally just as bad as joining in. Just ignore it!
Strength Mordiggan core heroes are still a reliable option?
Ignored Warden EleGiggle
Everyday until Techies is buffed.
I feel sad for luna :(
Alliance picked shadow demon
Og gg manila and Frankfurt
damn son! WHER GET THIS?)
Are we ignoring how blackhole is now pure damage? I thought enigma was the most buffed hero for 6.88
^same, that changes team fights entirely, looking forward to playing enigma soon
^^ I also think that they are ignoring the buff of Enigma
idk if it's just me, but i use the black hole more for the lockdown and not for the damage
I don't even want to pick enigma in pubs... After 20 mins you can't kill anyone alone with a black hole. And my team needs 5 seconds to realize that there is a black hole ;)
Why OSfrog is not buffing weaver???
I thought mvp played QO PA mid.
And alliance did loda centaur a few times, right?
Weaver would have to be extremely strong to be good; the meta doesn't suit him currently.
first page hell yeah
is just a fucking gianourmous noob, but what aboutn treant protector, seems to me a good supp late game.
People are seriously wondering why pubstompers were ignored in pro matches?
PUDGE NEW BUFF IS INCREDIBLE..FOR PPL WHO ARE GOOD USING PUDGE IT WILL GIVE THE HUGE ADVANTAGE
OG this OG that, i will be so happy when their downfall arrives, although they might not care, swimming in money already
Question is, which heroes had their winrate drop to make the guys on this list rise?
Brewmaster is really good became at this patch.
Norma nise
#freeyt