The gameplay patch isn’t here yet, but it doesn’t mean we have to sit around and complain. It is very unlikely any one player has exhausted the full depth of what Dota has to offer even without any external changes, so today we would like to highlight some extra fun ideas and interactions you could try out to mix up your pubs.

Despite being played on the tried and tested 7.35d, ESL One Birmingham came with a couple of interesting pocket strats to try out and toy with. They aren’t necessarily a great fit for everyday pubs and neither are they game-breakingly overpowered, but they are definitely a lot of fun to discuss and analyse. That’s exactly what we are going to do today.

We aren’t sure when the patch is coming, but it does feel like it is a bit too late to discuss the meta or the best heroes to play in Ranked. So today we are going to do something different. Today we are going to highlight some fun and somewhat stupid interactions to try in casual, unranked pubs.

The current support gameplay is exceptionally rewarding. The impact both position four and five supports can have on the game extends far beyond the laning stage and far beyond simple saves and disables. There are some supports, however, who really don’t fit into the current meta and could really use a buff or two.

There are very few overpowered heroes in the current patch: outside of pro-scene Chen, the current patch is very well balanced. That said we feel some heroes are quite heavily underpowered and as a result they are not played professionally and have limited usefulness in pubs. So today we are going to discuss heroes who desperately need a buff.

The new patch introduced some small, but key changes to the game. It might not be a complete meta overhaul, but the effects are noticeable and today we would like to take a look at the biggest winners and losers of the current patch and how it influenced the overall pub environment.