The patch was released more than a week ago. There are a lot of changes to heroes, items and gameplay. After a week of testing, people are starting to figure out what is hot and what is not in this patch. Normally in pub games, Pos 1 carry often gets to pick during the second round, which means only the support picks have been revealed. Let’s take a look at the promising carries over the last few days, whose win rates are above 51% and are popular picks. These carries can be blind picked without worries for being countered.
WRAITH KING
Winrate pub: 53.46%
Patch 7.29 changes:
TALENTS
Level 10 Talent changed from -1s Wraithfire Blast Cooldown to +0.5s Wraithfire Blast Stun Duration
Level 15 Talent changed from +12 Strength to +25 Movement Speed
Level 20 Talent changed from +30 Movement Speed to +16 Strength
Nothing changed much for the king. He still has what he needs to be a strong lane dominator and finish the game at his power spike. Not too hard to play effectively and still easy to win, King Leoric is without a doubt still one of the hottest carries these days.
Good against: Faceless Void, Sven, Riki
Bad against: Anti Mage, Phantom Lancer, Naga
PHANTOM LANCER
Winrate pub: 53.85%
Patch 7.29 changes:
Base damage range rescaled from 52-66 to 54-64
DOPPELGANGER
Cast range reduced from 600 to 575
PHANTOM RUSH
Range reduced from 600/700/800/900 to 600/675/750/825
SPIRIT LANCE
Shard damage increased from +30% to +50%
TALENTS
Level 15 Talent increased from -2s Spirit Lance Cooldown to -3
Level 20 Talent reduced from +350 Phantom Rush Range to +300
Level 20 Talent increased from +4% Juxtapose Damage to +5%
In 7.28, Phantom Lancer was in a poor state with 50% win rate. Not a bad stats, but it looks like PL did not have enough damage to finish off any of the other team’s cores.
New buff on shard makes PL out of control. Properly by the 20 minute mark, PL can finish at least diffusal + shard and become the real cancer. Just by spamming Spirit Lance onto the support, PL can actually finish off the supports without going deep into the fight. With +50% damage on illusion from the shard, .This new playstyle makes it hard to counter properly. PL with Octarine Core might be a good build, but not so many people have tried it.
Good against: Wraith King, Drow, Jug
Bad against: Sven, Ember Spirit, Leshrac
JUGGERNAUT
Winrate pub: 51.75%
Patch 7.29 changes:
OMNISLASH
Now provides Spell Immunity
Attack rate multiplier reduced from 1.6 to 1.5
SWIFTSLASH
Mana cost increased from 100 to 125
Cast range reduced from 600 to 550
Stable throughout patches, Jug can win the lane and continue to scale hard into mid game. He can still adopt the shard + swift blink and spin the enemies till death. Tanky and invulnerable during slashes, Jug is still a solid picks for pubs for easy matches.
Good against: Gyro, Alchemist, Spectre
Bad against: Ursa, riki, morph, Phantom Lancer
DROW RANGER
Winrate pub: 53.00%
Patch 7.29 changes:
Attack point reduced from 0.55 to 0.5
FROST ARROWS
Shard burst slow increased from 25% to 40%
Shard now affects creeps
GUST
Mana cost reduced from 90 to 70
TALENTS
Level 15 Talent increased from -6s Multishot Cooldown to -8s
With the new changes to Abyssal Blade, Drow has 1 less problem to worry about. With less way to close the gap Drow rises up and becomes one of the most annoying carries with slow, range attack, silence and more slow. Favorable laning stage with high range, drow can easily stomp traditional tanky offlane pick, or at least farm safely until 6 and go neutral creeps if the lane is hard. With proper creeps score, 1 teamwipe at 25 - 30 mins could lead to 1 open set of barracks, if the opposing team does not have buy back. With Weaver being a hot pick, Drow should be hot again as she is the direct counter of this annoying bug.
Good against: Anti Mage, Ursa, Troll, Weaver
Bad against: Spectre, Phantom Lancer, Faceless void
LIFESTEALER
Winrate pub: 52.48%
Patch 7.29 changes:
Base damage reduced by 3
FEAST
Now does 0.6/0.8/1/1.2% of target max health as damage
OPEN WOUNDS
Shard now also causes all hero attacks on the target to deal 2% of the target's max health as damage
Shard cooldown reduced from 25 to 15
INFEST
Scepter hero duration increased from 4 to 5
Scepter cooldown reduced from 25 to 20
TALENTS
Level 10 Talent changed from +200 Health to +20 Movement Speed
Level 15 Talent changed from +20 Movement Speed to +325 Health
Level 20 Talent increased from +8% Ghoul Frenzy Slow to +10%
With 1.2% max health as damage, Naix is now a proper tank counter again. With a reliable free BKB and strong laning phase, this bad boy is preferably a good blind pick. However, Naix can be counter by mobility, which is still the meta pick for Mid lane (Puck, Void Spirit). If these cores run away, simply hit the tower or the support instead.
Good against: Spectre, Alchemist, Wraith King
Bad against: Morphling, Faceless Void, Terrorblade
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Above are the list of promising carries in the 7.29 patch. Except for weaver, which are quite hard to make a good play out of him, the above can be picked in the 2nd round. Unless you pick during the first round and get countered, you can lane and fight comfortably.
What are your thoughts on the list above? Are we missing out any other good carries? If yes, please comment below to let us know. And please try out the Octarine Core on Phantom Lancer to see if he is the Cancer Lancer.
Thanks for reading.