When 7.28 and the subsequent patches hit Dota, a lot of the uber powerful carry heroes faded from the meta. With heroes like Sven, Faceless Void, Spectre and Lifestealler getting nerfs the path has opened up for several new carries to enter the meta. Perhaps more importantly than the nerfs is the acceleration of the game. A lot of cheesy heroes have become more popular and Necronomicon and Helm of Dominator have been buffed again. This means it is a lot more important for the carry to be able to fight earlier and to be more self sufficient to allow for the rest of its team to run around the map making plays.

Perhaps it is premature to call the current meta settled, and perhaps there will be more balance patches in the nearest future, but today we would like to discuss the best offlaners in the game right now. As previously, we will concentrate on pub meta statistics and what works in the higher-level skill brackets.

The new 7.28 patch has brought a new layer of complexity and experimentation to Dota 2 in the form of Aghanim’s Shards. The introduction of Shards has allowed new strategies and builds to be more viable. One of the newest strategies to come out of the woodwork is playing Mirana in a core position. Let's take a closer look.

The new meta has begun to take shape in Dota now that we are several weeks removed from patch 7.28. With the DPC qualifiers in full swing, there is also a growing pool of data about what the pros are prioritizing. In some ways, the meta is quite similar to patch 7.27 but there are quite a few important heroes to pay attention to. Here is what we have seen so far in the support pool of 7.28a.

Very few heroes received direct buffs in the last patch, and Riki was one of them. In a true assassin fashion, he slipped into the meta unnoticed and is now among the top tier picks across all skill brackets. Today, we would like to have a look at why exactly the hero got so much better and discuss some common strategies for dealing with him.

The start of a new year is the perfect time to reconnect with our goals for Dota 2. Whether it's achieving a new tier of play in ranked, finding the fun of the game again, or maybe finally learning how to micro well, Dota 2's depth means there's always something more for its players to reach toward.

Most big tournaments were already over before the patch hit, but there are still some ongoing competitions we would like to quickly analyze. After all, professional players are almost always a step or two ahead of everyone.

It has been a couple of weeks since 7.28 dropped a whole bunch of changes on us. While there were no earth shattering changes to the core game or even the carry-centric meta of Dota, quite a few heroes had their fortunes changed.

The new patch was surprisingly tame when it comes to hero balance changes, but it is more than understandable. New items are already doing a lot of work to shake up the meta and today we would like to concentrate on the most interesting and impactful items in the new patch.