A Metagame Shift in Competitive DotA

Upcoming DotA tournaments will be moving away from version 6.48b and will be using version 6.51. This change will be significant in the tournament scene. Aside from changes made to professional team rosters over the past few tournaments, this new version will show the creativity and ingenuity of the players involved.

The most significant change will have to be the "nerf" to Kelen's Dagger of Escape, also known as the Blink Dagger. Well folks, Blink Dagger will have to be the more appropriate name here since the blink ability is disabled for THREE whole seconds (counting from the last time you were hit). If you've watched tournament replays before, it's easy to see how Kelen's Dagger of Escape is a fitting name. With this change, the dagger will probably be used for the occasional escape. An escape which you most probably would have accomplished without the dagger in the first place. The dagger will be primarily be used as a positioning tool for a key abilities, such as Epicenter, Reverse Polarity, Echo Slam or Freezing Field.

Conversely, heroes that have a blink-like ability will probably have an increased priority in lineup selection. Heroes like Queen of Pain, Faerie Dragon, and Dark Seer will most likely see tournament play in the games to come. Considering how Akasha, Queen of Pain is already widely used in tournaments, it's going to be interesting to see how the teams pick their lineups during the selection process of each match. Although Puck, Faerie Dragon and Ish'kafel, Dark Seer are new heroes that have yet to be allowed in tournament play, their innate ability to blink will be a key factor in their selection.

The next key factor that will come into play is the loss of Empty Bottle from the top and bottom lane secret shops. You need your chicken more than ever. Now called the Goblin Shops, it showcases a slew of different items are obviously key components to higher level items. These shops are also no longer accessible from the lane. You have to navigate your hero closer to the shop before you are allowed to purchase anything. These shops also create flexibility in lane selection due to the items available.

From a higher view, a lot of the changes in new version makes the game better. Games should end faster than usual because it's a lot easier to get killed. On a whole, these changes are good and fit with the overall goal of the maker. It's going to be interesting to see what the professionals do with these changes and how they incorporate them into their strategy.

Mic is an avid gamer and blogger. He can be followed on his blog, where he talks about a lot of different topics under the sun.

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