There is always something new happening in the Dota 2 meta as content creators and professionals demonstrate the potential of undervalued heroes while simultaneously exposing the weaknesses of prioritized ones. With the current patch of 7.29, we have seen a carry meta dominated by heroes like Terrorblade and Luna. Additionally, the recently concluded The International (TI10) qualifiers also provided us with some unusual but effective heroes. Here, we picked out the top five unusual heroes in each role from position one to five and recommend you try them out in your Dota 2 matches.
Fun Dota 2 heroes to play in patch 7.29d
Position 1 (Carry)
Axe
Axe rose to prominence during the WePlay AniMajor, where PSG.LGD’s carry, Wang "Ame" Chunyu, displayed his potency as a safelaner. As a hero that dominates in laning, Axe has insane neutral creep clearing skills, can transition into a late game carry with a great deal of "Pure" damage, and has great survival with his tanky nature.
The Manta Style plus the Aghanim's Shard build is the reason why Axe first became a carry. The Aghanim’s Shard allows Axe to proc Counter Helix when he is attacking whilst also granting him 35 attack speed.
Item build for Axe in Dota 2
The Vanguard is one of the strongest items in this patch and is a good fit for the hero, helping him outlast opponents in laning phases. After buying a Vanguard, Axe players rush Manta Style and, after the 20 minute mark, Aghanim’s Shard. As a result, the hero receives a decent power surge because Manta Style illusions proc Counter Helix while hitting enemies as well as from the passive, which comes from taking damage from enemies.
If you are successful in microing your illusions to various farming spots after this stage, your net worth will skyrocket. A Blink Dagger is when Axe reaches a massive power spike, capable of solo killing many of the enemy heroes.
As the hero progresses, he can dish out a tremendous amount of damage with one Berserker's Call as well as taking down enemy cores from 100% to zero with some assistance from his allies.
Position 2 (Midlane)
Winter Wyvern
Winter Wyvern is currently the talk of the town after Tundra Esports' mid laner, Leon "Nine" Kirilin showed what an irksome hero she can be. Nine caught OG with their pants down a couple of times with this mid Winter Wyvern pick, even though Tundra couldn't defeat OG in the grand finals of the TI10 Western Europe (WEU) qualifier.
Item build for Winter Wyvern in Dota 2
In the first 15-20 minutes, this hero is moderately useful, farming the map with a Boots of Travel and a Witch Blade, while possessing the ability to pick off enemy supports with Winter's Curse. Winter Wyvern becomes a menace as soon as she grabs an Aghanim's Scepter. The Aghanim's Scepter turns the hero's first skill, Arctic Burn, into a toggle ability and speeds up her movement speed. She can deal tons of damage from afar with this.
Since she has a pesky healing ability that makes her (or any targeted ally) immune to physical damage, she can stay protected from any carry heroes who try to jump and kill her. The hero has lately been spammed a lot in pubs with the pick rate increasing from 10% to 13% in the last week.
Further, Winter Wyvern is such a powerful support hero in the current meta that teams can select her in the first phase and flex it into various roles in the later phases of the draft.
Position 3 (Offlaner)
Viper
What offlaner would not enjoy flogging the enemy carry in the lane? As one of the most lane dominating heroes in the game, Viper allows you to do exactly that.
Due to the obnoxious nature of his Poison Attack spell, Viper will have an advantage over safelane duos. As a result, he can force the carry out of the lane as soon as possible, proceeding to take their tower.
Item build for Viper in Dota 2
The traditional argument is that Viper's strength declines as the game progresses, but one right-click build popularized by T1's offlaner, Carlo "Kuku" Palad, makes the hero tanky and also helps him be effective later on. The item order by which Viper scales in the late game is a Dragon Lance, Boots of Travel, BKB, and an Eye of Skadi.
Viper’s Aghanim’s Shard allows him to use Poison Attack on towers, solving his sieging potential to some extent.
Position 4 (Soft Support)
Hoodwink
Hoodwink was not considered a hero by the professional teams when it was introduced into Captain's Mode in the 7.29 patch. The subsequent patch updates, 7.29b, and 7.29c gave Hoodwink buffs that made her a popular choice among many teams at the WePlay AniMajor and the TI10 qualifiers.
One of Hoodwink's strongest abilities, Bushwhack, allows her to stun enemies in an AoE even under fog of war. Additionally, her Ultimate ability Sharpshooter lets her apply "break" on enemy heroes, disabling their passive abilities. Since very few abilities in the game apply break on enemies, Hoodwink makes for a fantastic support option. Furthermore, this Ultimate has just a 45-second cooldown, deals damage, and works from a great distance.
Item build for Hoodwink in Dota 2
An Aether Lens would be the first item on a Hoodwink as a position four support. Bushwhack and Sharpshooter are your strongest skills so you can cast them from a longer range with Aether Lens. Depending upon the situation of the game, you can either transition to a more greedy position 4 support by purchasing a Maelstorm which works well with your Acorn Shot, or continue supporting with items like Glimmer Cape and Force Staff.
In fact, Hoodwink was the second most picked hero in the TI10 regional qualifiers. She was picked 118 times in a total of 291 qualifier games with a fair share of bans in other games.
Players like Topson have shown that Hoodwink can also be used in the midlane, which further expands what the hero can offer.
Position 5 (Hard Support)
Mars
All right! You have probably already heard of the hero and role combos listed above, but I would like to just briefly explain the idea behind the coolest hero and role combination so far: Position Five Mars. Despite looking to be more of a meme than a genuine concept, position five on Mars does have some inherent benefits.
Throughout the past six months, Mars has been a constant go-to choice for many top-tier teams as an offlaner. The fact that he is capable of performing like an offlaner despite being played as a position 5 pick makes him a valuable asset in the support role. When you reach level 6, you will be able to stun, nuke, and lock enemies in an area. Even if you succeed in pulling off this combo on just one hero, you can still take the enemy down with little assistance from your teammates.
A downside of playing a position five Mars would be his presence in the laning stage. Despite the fact that Mars is a decent laner, his lack of levels can make him look lackluster. And as a position five, you would not want to steal levels from your carry.
In addition to the ones that heal, other popular supports in the current meta include Lion, Nyx Assassin, Hoodwink, Mirana, and Phoenix, most of which provide single target lockdown. With Mars, you can essentially do that with your spells. Additionally, if you land a decent arena, you can make sure that your allies are safe from enemy attacks, as well as force your enemies into an unnecessary BKB.
Item build for Mars in Dota 2
A Blink Dagger is an ideal item to buy first with a position five Mars because you can blink directly on top of a hero that your team requires you to jump on. While a position five Mars would not have a lot of money to spend, Eul's Scepter of Divinity should ideally be the next item for the hero after the Blink Dagger, further enhancing his control and help to land the perfect spear.
If Nine did not play a mid Winter Wyvern, we would not have come across such a great idea, so remember to play position five Mars in your pubs.
