Meta heroes are not much different from the previous 7.31d mainstream. Several updates, Black King Bar and Healing Salve, have lost their relevance. However, we still have the same lanes playstyle, economy, landscape, Roshpit, and item builds. It's the same game. Valve doesn't intend to launch a global patch before International. So, you don't have to learn anything again, and you need to slightly change the priority when drafting. Below we analyze top-4 heroes, which you can exploit to raise your pts in the current patch.
The number of Puck-spammers in ranked games has overrated for the last month. According to the Dotabuff statistics, Puck is the most chosen mid-lane hero in Competitive Dota in all divisions of all regions, as well as in high-ranked matches. His win rate is approximately 65% in CD and 49% in public games. Impressive statistics considering that Valve doesn't buff/fix him neither at 7.31c nor at 7.32b. It seems to me that his win and pick rate seems to rise because of Black King Bar nerf (cooldown increased to 90 sec). Puck is a personage with a volcanic amount of magic damage and low spells cooldowns.
Stone Giant (Dota Allstars old name) is excellent in the present-day patch. Tiny is still the most popular pos-1 hero in 7000+ ranked publics. In Competitive Dota Tiny does not get out of the ban, and we occasionally see him as mid/carry role with fast Blink Dagger or Echo Sabre + Shadow Blade. He has 2 strong magic damage spells that grant him stun and disable effects. Moreover, Tiny still has a huge HP box and regen, strength index, and attack mark on the first level. Of course, nobody denies the simple combination of Toss + Avalanche (1 and 2 abilities), which deals close to 1000 damage.
The most accessible hero to micromanage and outperform lane. Grim is an excellent pos-4\5 character, especially with early Aether Lens and Aghanim's Shard. You can also perform mid-lane Grim with a more greedy build through a fast Eternal Blade or Aghanim's Scepter. Minor buffs from previous patches added a few extraordinary changes. For example, Ink Swell now grants more MS to shrouded heroes and bites hard щт the lane, especially if you have a melee, mid\carry mate. Stroke of Fate is a powerful nuke, and even better with Lens. But we also have an excellent silence, BKB-control spell, and high efficiency in the late game. All this makes the Grim one of the most influential and versatile heroes.
In my opinion, the strongest hero of the current patch, especially with reworked AgS. Visage can deal damage buildings, Roshan, and opponents. You can pick Visage to all core positions, and his win rate remains near 55-60%, both in high ranked and in the professional Dota scene. At the same time, in the present-day public, Visage is the most "filthy" character among boosters. That's why this hero is permaban during the draft stage. His lvl 15 talent "Hero and Gargoyle Attacks Reduce Armor by 1.5" is the broken mechanic. In my esteemed opinion, Valve will nerf him in the next patch.
LoL features one of the most extensive character rosters of any eSports game, with more than 160 distinct personages having been produced. Riot has continued to create fresh champions with intriguing kits and novel playstyles. Don't forget to check ten champions that haven't been played much in League of Legends.
