Patch 7.33's best characters a week after release

Patch 7.33 and the subsequent update 7.33b brought many changes to Dota 2. Along with the global changes, certain characters have dropped out of the metha or vice versa.

In this content we'll talk about the best characters from patch 7.33 a week after the release of the 7.33b micropatch. The list will include the characters that have the highest win rate of all the other heroes. We'll also try to figure out why that's the case.

Medusa - 60.04% of wins

The most imbued character of the current metha, who has the highest win rate in the last week. Medusa was spiked in 13.17% of matches, while teams with this character won 60.04% of the time. It is also worth noting that the aforementioned hero has the highest ratio of kills, deaths and assists. The ratio is 5.21.

The reason for this success lies in the recent radical redesign of the hero with the latest updates. The main change for Medusa was the reduction in base strength and strength gain to 0. It would seem that now how can you play a hero that has very little HP, which also does not increase with level?

The developers from Valve have compensated for the new feature of the hero by redesigning the Mana Shield skill. It is now a passive ability. The hero starts the game with the first level of the ability and can raise it to the fifth. The Shield creates a barrier that absorbs 98% of the damage it receives in exchange for mana. As a result, the hero has become quite strong and popular, though he does have one obvious counterpick, which we'll talk about at the end of today's piece.

Underlord - 56.05% Victory

The Underlord boasts the second highest win rate in Dota 2, as well as being popular on the professional scene. In total, Underlord appears in 7.81% of matches, with a kill/death ratio of 3.17. The hero has been picked up frequently in tournaments due to a 40% increase in size, and the hero's ult ability allows for teleporter creation.

In Patch 7.33 and 7.33b, Dota 2 developers slightly increased the Firestorm and Atrophy Aura, but reduced the cooldown of Fiend's Gate so that players can move around the map more often with the Underlord teleport.

Legion Commander - 55.20% Victory

The Legion Commander is the only hero in today's top tier to be on both the patch's best heroes list and the most popular heroes of the patch at the time of writing. Legion Commander was spiked in 20.99% of matches, and teams that took this hero won 55.20% of the time. The ratio of kills, deaths and assists is 2.88.

The biggest change has happened to Overwhelming Odds. This ability is now non-directional and triggers around the wearer, as well as no longer increasing movement speed. Overwhelming Odds now increases attack speed and can also be used during Duel.

Silencer - 55.20% Victory

This hero boasts a victory percentage similar to the previous one on our list. But what makes this character special is that he hasn't changed much since the big update and the Minor Patch. Currently, the Silencer is spiked in 17.08% of matches and has a KDA ratio of 2.74. The only change was the change in Arcane Curse radius. The hero looks good in the current patch with the redesigned Black King Bar.

Riki at 55.02% of wins

Riki is also a hugely successful character. He gets picked in 16.96% of his matches and wins 55.02% of them. It's worth noting that Riki has the second highest kill/death/assist ratio of our top characters after Medusa, at 3.84.

The invisible hero lost his Sleeping Dart ability with Patch 7.33. In its place, Aghanim's Shard improves Smoke Screen. Smoke Screen reduces victims' armor by 6 and prevents other enemies from targeting them. And Cloak and Dagger now increases experience for kills and assists.

Noteworthy: Axe

The Axe stands out on its own. The hero certainly didn't make it to the top in terms of win rate when patches 7.33 and 7.33b were released. His KDA is 54.24%, and he gets picked 17.60% of the time. The KDA at the time of writing is 2.69. What's special about Axe, and the reason why we marked him separately in this list, is that with the updates this hero is the obvious counterpick to Medusa, as this hero now has low HP by default if he doesn't collect items that give power.

In update 7.33 Axe has reduced the duration of Berserker's Call, and also made changes to how Counter Helix works. Counter Helix is no longer pseudo-random distribution. Now it's triggered after a certain amount of attacks received. Aghanim's Shard no longer increases the trigger chance but removes its cooldown.

Conclusion

Patch 7.33 has brought significant changes to Dota 2, causing some characters to win more often and such as Medusa more often. With skill, you'll be able to improve your MMR when you play these heroes. But keep in mind that everyone has their own pool of heroes, so you may find that different characters are the best ones for you.