Valve rolled out one of the biggest gameplay updates of 2023 during a major tournament. Patch 7.35 introduced Frostivus to Dota 2 and brought some needed buffs and nerfs that will decide the biggest winners and losers of the coming months.
Following each major Dota 2 match, the game’s meta changes. The shift in the popularity rankings depends on the magnitude of these changes. While some updates can be meta-defining, others can be unimpressive and miniscule.
To find out the biggest winners and losers of Dota 2 patch 7.35, I delved into STRATZ.com’s meta trends data for heroes. Based on the balance changes, some heroes thrived, and others crumbled, but these results may change over time as professional players discover the potential of other heroes.
Winners of Dota 2 patch 7.35
At the time of writing, Leshrac, Timbersaw, and Death Prophet are the three biggest winners of Dota 2 patch 7.35.
Leshrac
Leshrac’s spell kit received tiny buffs, but the core items he builds just became better for the hero.
Bloodstone now provides a +75 area of effect increase, and Veil of Discord also became a part of Shiva’s Guard. While Leshrac came out as the biggest winner so far with the changes to these items, other spell casters may rise up and gain popularity.
At the time of writing, Leshrac’s win rate jumped from 47.6 percent to 58.6 percent after 7.35 went live.
Timbersaw
Timbersaw is another hero who loves building Bloodstone, Veil of Discord, and Shiva’s Guard. The changes these items received also positively impacted Timbersaw’s win rate, but the tree-hater himself also received some significant buffs.
With base STR and STR gain buffs, Timbersaw became more tanky during the laning phase. Reactive Armor is more powerful, too, and Timbersaw will have an easier time collecting stacks since each hero attack now increases its count by three.
As a result, Timbersaw leaped from a 45.4 percent win rate and is currently sitting at a 54.2 percent win rate.
Death Prophet
Well, the winners of 7.35 are certainly following a pattern. Death Prophet also took advantage of the Bloodstone, Veil of Discord, and Shiva’s Guard changes.
Death Prophet herself received some buffs that increased her catch potential. Her Silence ability received movement slow effects while a level 20 talent was also changed to support this new change.
Following the 7.35 patch, Death Prophet returned to a 51.6 percent win rate from a 46.5 win rate.
Losers of Dota 2 patch 7.35
When it’s time for new faces to shine, others might need to take a step back. Currently, the biggest losers of Dota 2 patch 7.35 are Muerta, Phantom Assassin, and Spectre, three heroes that were quite popular during TI 2023.
Muerta
Muerta lost one of her biggest laning advantages in Dota 2 patch 7.35. Gunslinger no longer prioritizes heroes, and it’s now a toggleable ability. This puts Muerta’s passive ability on a weird path. Due to the number of creeps in the laning stage, it can no longer be used as a harassing tool, and it’s also not a reliable lane-pushing ability.
Pierce of the Veil also received a late-game nerf with a damage decrease, but Muerta’s weaker laning was enough to take down its 50.9 win rate to 46.7 percent.
Phantom Assassin
Regardless of the patch, Phantom Assassin has always been one of the more reliable carries in Dota 2, especially in ranked matches. However, PA lost an essential survivability tool, which was attached to Phantom Strike.
With Phantom Strike no longer providing lifesteal, PA’s barely 50 percent win rate plummeted to 44.4 percent.
Spectre
Spectre was a top pick at TI 2023, ranking highly in the safe lane alongside Chaos Knight. Spectre’s kit was also slowly nerfed, and the most recent changes might have been the last straw for the hero.
Spectre’s base health regen was nerfed by half. In addition to this, Dispersion’s minimum radius was decreased and Reality also became less versatile. The popular level 10 talent feature of five attribute bonuses is no more, meaning Spectre’s laning is much weaker in 7.35.
Considering the rise of spell casters, Spectre’s illusions are less reliable than before, hurting her late-game potential deeply. With all of this combined, Spectre’s 55.6 win rate tanked to 51.7 percent.
