Are you wondering which Dota 2 heroes will receive a Nerf after TI12? Click to learn more.
Following the epic battle for The International 12, Team Spirit lifted the Aegis after defeating Gaimin Gladiators in the finals. The team was on another level throughout the event and deserved its success because it used some of the best heroes.
As we’ve seen in TI12 hero stats article, some options were a lot more popular than the rest, so they received way more picks. Needless to say, we expect Valve to analyze this data and address it in the next Dota 2 update.
Besides buffs for some of the heroes that weren’t that popular, we also expect to see a lot of Dota 2 heroes nerfs after The International 12. Some names will almost certainly receive changes, so let’s learn more about them.
Muerta
As reported, Muerta became the most picked hero at The International 12 Main Event with a total of 56 appearances. The hero was the main weapon of choice for a lot of professional teams, but we also saw a lot of squads that used her as support.
Despite the fact that Muerta’s 50% win rate may not seem that impressive, we wouldn’t be surprised if she is one of the Dota 2 heroes who will receive a small change. All of her abilities are pretty good, but we believe that Dead Shot will probably have its damage reduced. This ability has become one of the best for flash farming and allowed even a Pos4/5 Muerta to farm pretty fast.
Chaos Knight
Muerta may have been the most popular of the Dota 2 heroes at TI12, but this doesn’t mean she was the most successful one. To be fair, Chaos Knight is also not the hero with the highest win rate, but there is no arguing he deserves to be on the list when it comes down to Dota 2 heroes that will be nerfed after The International 12.
Chaos Knight appeared in more than 40 matches and got close to a 68% win rate, which is really impressive. Players like Yatoro utilized CK to his full potential because they ended the tournament without losing a single game.
When it comes down to nerfs to Chaos Knight, we can expect a lot of things. One of them may reduce the chance of securing a longer stun that deals more damage. That said, we can also see buffs to heroes that are strong against him. This will be an indirect nerf that will also affect his popularity.
Dazzle
Despite the fact that Dazzle did not get the opportunity to shine in a lot of games, he was one of the top-tier picks at TI12. In fact, the data reveals that Dazzle got more than a 72% win rate, which is extremely impressive for such a hero.
One of the big advantages of playing with Dazzle is that you can be defensive and aggressive at the same time. This is probably one of the best damage-dealing supports in the game, which explains why teams Team Spirit decided to see him in the midlane.
While it is true that Dazzle continues to be a support in most games, a lot of PUB players started using this Dota 2 hero in the mid-lane. In fact, the most recent stats show that Dazzle is dominating the mid-lane a lot, which si the reason why we think he will receive at least a couple of nerfs. For example, we could see things like damage reduction to Shallow Grave.
Pugna
There is no arguing that Pugna is one of those Dota 2 heroes at The International 12 that was really annoying to play against. The hero used to be one of the top-tier midders before, but nowadays, many teams use it as support. Pugna is definitely not an option you want to have in all situations, but the hero can make a big difference versus some of the big INT heroes.
If we take a look at some of the previous Dota 2 patches, we can see that there were metas where Pugna dominated the Dota 2 scene. However, this did not last long because Valve was quick to release nerfs. Considering Pugna’s state, we wouldn’t be surprised if the same happens now, and we see a lot of nerfs following TI12.
Usually, Valve nerfs Pugna’s Ward because this is the ability that makes the hero incredibly annoying. With that said, we wouldn’t be surprised if we also see changes to Pugna’s ultimate because it is the thing that allows the hero to be a pretty good support.
Spectre
Despite the fact that Spectre was not the most successful carry at TI12, she became one of the Dota 2 heroes that appeared in a lot of matches. Teams like LGD Gaming relied a lot on her, which is no surprise because Spectre has always been a late-game beast.
With that said, the current Spectre, with her item and skill build, can also be a pretty annoying option in the early game. Her Q works well early on and allows her to take part in ganks and even secure kills.
Specre is also among the Dota 2 heroes that work with many popular midders. This includes Primal Beast and Pangolier, as well as some of the more unique options like Earth Spirit.
Ancient Apparition
The last of the Dota 2 heroes that could be nerfed after the end of The International 12 is Ancient Apparition. Despite not being the fan-favorite hero, AA was an incredibly popular pick because of his ultimate. This hero is a living nightmare against heroes who rely on their healing to be successful. Besides countering heroes like Dazzle, AA is also an excellent option versus heroes that need Satanic to survive.
While some people think that AA was not that strong to be nerfed right after TI12, we expect to see some changes to the hero’s ultimate.