Greetings, adventurers! Librarian Husky here, ready to guide you through the ever-changing landscape of Dota 2 with the latest insights from patch 7.37. While this update might not have been the most memorable in recent history, it still packs some critical changes that can make or break your games. Today, we’ll uncover the heroes you should embrace and those you should steer clear of in this evolving meta. Rather than just highlighting the usual suspects, we’ll focus on the heroes most affected by this patch’s adjustments. Let’s dive into the knowledge vault and uncover the wisdom you need to succeed!

Heroes to Avoid: Starting with Pango

Pangolier remains a versatile hero with solid tempo control and disruptive team-fighting potential. However, a key nerf in this patch affects his Thunderbolt facet. The turn rate reduction makes it harder to consistently chain stun opponents, especially during rolling engagements. While Pango can still chain stun off walls, the nerf has lowered his effectiveness, reflected by a 2% drop in win rate.

Heroes Falling Out of Favor: Pango and Shadow Fiend

Pangolier has never been a top-tier pub hero, though players found ways to improve his scaling with builds like Diffusal Blade into Aghanim’s Shard. However, with recent nerfs, he has become less viable. Leaning towards other Spirit Heroes is a better choice now. Shadow Fiend, once a strong meta pick for this patch, has also taken significant hits. Previously excelling with lane partners like Ogre Magi, Naga Siren, or Crystal Maiden, Shadow Fiend has seen a sharp decline in win rate—dropping 3% in just one day.

Specific Nerfs to Shadow Fiend

The lasting presence facet now removes stacks upon death, eliminating the prior advantage of returning to the lane with bonus minus armor. Additionally, the duration of this ability has been reduced by 10 seconds. Finally, the damage per soul for Necromastery has been decreased from 13/45 to 12/34 at level two. These changes collectively weaken Shadow Fiend’s laning stage and overall effectiveness, making him less reliable in most matchups.

Situational Picks and Heroes to Avoid

Shadow Fiend can still shine with the right hero combinations, such as pairing with Ogre Magi. However, outside of these specific synergies, the hero lacks the overpowered qualities needed to thrive universally. It’s no longer reliable as a standalone pick, requiring strong complementary setups to remain effective.

Position Five Naga Siren: A Falling Star

Coming in at number three on the list of heroes to avoid is position five Naga Siren. This hero was already a questionable pick in the previous patch, and now it’s been nerfed heavily. Even skilled players like Respect struggle to make it work consistently. Naga’s laning phase is weak, worsened by changes to her abilities. Her E ability now slows for a shorter duration, costs 80 mana instead of 50, and offers less overall impact. The hero’s limited mana pool exacerbates these issues, making her less effective. These nerfs have significantly reduced her viability, especially when compared to her peak performance just a few months ago.

Naga Siren and Tusk: High Skill or High Risk?

Position five Naga Siren is a challenging hero to utilize effectively, especially in pubs. Her laning phase is weak, and her strength lies in the mid to late game. With her Q ability maxed, Naga excels at cutting waves with zero risk and maintaining map control by providing vision and blocking camps. Song of the Siren remains an exceptional tool for resets, combo breaking, and isolating BKB-activated heroes. However, this hero demands precise execution and technical play, such as maximizing E and Q abilities, cutting waves, stacking camps, and leveraging her vision utility. While rewarding for skilled players, she’s not recommended for casual pub play.

Tusk: A Hero in Decline

Tusk has seen a sharp decline in effectiveness, particularly in pubs. While his scaling abilities—Snowball Save and Walrus Kick—provide situational utility, his overall potential is limited. The recent patch significantly weakened his laning phase. Bitter Chill, a key component of his early-game dominance, now scales with Walrus Punch instead of Tag Team. Previously, maxing his E ability at level seven granted a 60 attack speed slow; now, it only provides 35, diminishing his impact in fights. Although Tusk can still be useful in high-skill games, his reduced effectiveness makes him a poor choice for average players.

Tusk and Luna: Heroes to Avoid in Patch 7.37

Tusk isn’t unplayable at a high level, as he still provides a 15 attack speed slow in the early game. While technically better in the late game, Tusk is outclassed by other melee position fours. Heroes like Bounty Hunter and Nyx Assassin, despite minor nerfs, are far more reliable and impactful choices. If you’re looking for effective melee supports, stick to those options for this patch.

Luna: The Most Nerfed Hero

Luna has been devastated by the patch, emerging as one of the worst heroes. The most impactful nerf was the removal of her level 20 talent, which previously allowed her to fire two Moon Glaives on Lucent Beam. This talent synergized powerfully with her kit, enabling high burst damage and late-game scaling. Additionally, her ultimate ability was nerfed, offering less value for a negligible reduction in cost. Luna’s night vision, as well as her level 10 and 15 talents, were also weakened. These cumulative changes leave Luna in a terrible state, making her an unviable pick for most scenarios.

Luna: A Hero in Decline

Luna has fallen dramatically in strength, transitioning from a very strong pick to being essentially unplayable. Even professionals have started to abandon her. The combination of multiple nerfs, including the removal of a defining level 20 talent and reductions to her night vision and other talents, has left Luna in a terrible state. Avoid picking this hero in the current patch.

The “Dos” of Patch 7.37: OD and Juggernaut

First on the list is Outworld Destroyer (OD). While not overpowered, OD remains a solid pub hero. It scales well into the mid to late game due to its slow-paced nature, making it less viable in the professional scene but effective in casual matches. The recent buff, granting more maximum mana per intelligence, slightly improves its scaling. However, OD remains steady rather than game-breaking.

Juggernaut is another reliable pick, similar to OD. It has been a strong pub hero, dealing significant damage, especially upon hitting the Mjollnir timing. However, Juggernaut struggles in high-level matches due to its weaknesses as an early-game laner and relatively slow farming speed. Additionally, its late game is highly situational, relying on teammates or specific items like Nullifier to counteract problematic spells like Ghost Scepter, Glimmer Cape, and Yule’s Scepter. Despite these limitations, Juggernaut thrives in games where such counters are absent.

Buffed Heroes: Juggernaut and Undying

Juggernaut received a significant buff to his Blade Fury cooldown, reduced by six seconds at level one and progressively less with each level, until it remains unchanged at maximum level. While this adjustment enhances his early game potential, it isn’t enough to push him into the high-tier meta. Had the cooldown been reduced further, like from 18 to 14 seconds, Juggernaut might have been a strong pick even in higher-level games. Nonetheless, this buff solidifies his position as a viable pub hero.

Undying: A Solid and Underrated Pick

Undying saw a modest buff of 10 additional damage to Decay at all levels, which may not seem groundbreaking. However, the recent nerfs to heroes like Luna and Medusa indirectly boost Undying’s viability. Medusa, once a difficult matchup, suffered significant changes that dropped her win rate, though she remains playable with a 52% win rate in pubs. Undying has always been a strong laner, and the strength of maxing Soul Rip, especially with its Ripped Facet talent, makes the hero highly effective. Additionally, maxing Tombstone in games against low attack-speed opponents can be incredibly powerful. Despite his potential, Undying remains an underrated choice, deserving more attention in the current patch.

Juggernaut’s Significant Buffs

I think he’s been buffed now quite significantly too. They made his spin cooldown six seconds less at level one, then four, then two, then zero, so at max level it’s the same. I would have considered him maybe even good at higher MMR if they dropped the spin cooldown from like 18 to 14 or something like that, but they didn’t do that. So, yeah, number four is Juggernaut.

Undying’s Improved Performance

Number three is Undying. He only got 10 damage on Decay at all levels, so I can’t really come out here and say, “Wow, Undying is so great now,” but here’s one thing I will say. I think Undying was pretty bad against Luna, and I think he was very bad against Medusa. Medusa got nerfed really hard in the recent patch. The only reason she’s not on the don’ts is because she was a 56% win hero. She dropped the second most win rate, but at 52% it’s like, okay, you can’t really say don’t pick a 52% win rate hero, especially considering I think in Gorge Medusa is actually quite solid. However, they nerfed her outside of just the facet; otherwise, she’d still be very, like, maybe 54% win rate.

Anti-Mage: Buffed and Situationally Strong

Anti-Mage received a notable buff in this patch, gaining two additional strength. While this might seem minor, it significantly improves his early-game durability and ability to man up in lane. The Mana Void facet further enhances his laning presence, dealing more damage as enemies run out of mana. With the added strength, it’s easier for Anti-Mage to push opponents to that point. This change, combined with nerfs to popular carries like Luna and Shadow Fiend—both of which previously countered him—has made Anti-Mage more viable in the right matchups.

Additionally, Anti-Mage benefits from being relatively strong against buffed heroes like Juggernaut, as he can blink away from Omnislash and activate Counterspell effectively. Despite these improvements, Anti-Mage remains a slow-paced hero with a highly matchup-specific impact. While his win rate now exceeds 50%, his core issues persist: struggles in early team fights, even with a net worth lead. This buff makes Anti-Mage a scarier laning presence and a more solid pick in suitable matchups, but he still requires careful consideration to succeed.

Buffed Heroes: Tidehunter and the Meta Shift

Tidehunter has become increasingly dominant, benefiting from buffs not only in this patch but across several previous updates. His innate abilities and facets have been improved, along with numerical buffs to his other skills. In the latest patch, Anchor Smash received a minor mana cost reduction, which, while seemingly small, adds to the cumulative effect of his overall improvement. Tidehunter’s rise is also tied to the nerfs of key meta carries like Luna and Shadow Fiend, heroes that previously countered him effectively.

Why Tidehunter Thrives in This Patch

The continued buffs make Tidehunter a solid pick. Shadow Fiend and Luna, two of his historically difficult matchups, have been weakened significantly, creating more favorable conditions for him. Tidehunter’s low armor can be an issue in lanes against heroes like Shadow Fiend, whose raises and physical attacks exploit this weakness. However, with fewer games featuring these counters, Tidehunter is more capable of holding his own and influencing the mid to late game.

The Underwhelming Buffs of Patch 7.37

This patch overall delivered minimal impactful buffs. While Tidehunter benefits from the cumulative adjustments, other heroes, like Kez, received changes that seem minor yet unexpectedly led to a notable rise in win rate. The patch was less about individual hero transformations and more about creating shifts through indirect balance changes, making Tidehunter one of the standout winners in this subdued update.

Tidehunter: Strengthening Through Meta Shifts

Shadow Fiend has historically been a tough matchup for Tidehunter due to his high damage output and early Black King Bar timing, making it difficult for Tidehunter to manage fights. The minus armor debuff and Soul scaling from Shadow Fiend were also problematic. However, with the recent nerfs to Shadow Fiend’s laning and Soul scaling, and Luna’s effective removal from the meta due to the loss of her level 20 talent, Tidehunter faces fewer threats in his lane.

Why Luna Was a Problem for Tidehunter

Luna’s Eclipse posed a significant challenge for Tidehunter, as it allowed her to kill him in lane with the help of another hero once she hit level six. This forced Tidehunter’s team to provide protection, countering his ideal playstyle of laning alone while creating space for his team. With Luna’s fall from the meta, Tidehunter now has more freedom to dominate his lane and focus on his core strengths.

Recommended Builds for Tidehunter

A typical Tidehunter build starts with basic items like one or two branches, a bracer, or double gauntlets, along with tangoes, a quelling blade, and a wand. Building into Soul Ring, Phase Boots, and Pipe of Insight sets the foundation for a strong mid-game. Afterward, Blink Dagger and Aghanim’s Shard enhance his mobility and utility. In the late game, items like Shiva’s Guard provide much-needed armor and further cement his role as a durable, wave-clearing tank. The Aghanim’s Shard remains a key component, offering excellent utility in extended fights.

Tidehunter is thriving in this meta due to buffs across several patches and the decline of his previous counters, making him one of the most reliable offlaners in the game.

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