How has FFA actually changed after the patch?

[Dovekie]

I haven't played a single game for a few months. Just wondering how the general meta has changed, hero usage, and balance-wise?

Do the DL, Tinker, Alchemist, MK buffs show pretty well? How did UD and Elf change?

[FML|HighTac]

Hi Dovekie,

I only know the scene before 2017 from replays and discussions, but I'll try to tell you about current meta. In general, some active players have the tendency to rush players as soon as they have 2-3k gold. I was told there were no such oldschool players and initial hoarding was more common. Due to the high skill bandwith, fast pace and general lack of scouting, we saw many freewins in previous events and inhouse matches. To avoid this, people often peace in four ways already (at least temporarily), to scout.

Elf

I guess the meta for elf has not changed much (DR/DH/Alchi + Panda + KotG or Panda + Potm + Kotg), apart from kotg being a must have right now, after the recent patch. Most players go for chippo. The only major exception is Trunks, who dominates most of his matches by playing DH + Naga + PotM and a mix of archers, talons, hippos, dryads.

Undead

Most current undead players stick to their gargs and don't get a single fiend. Qwest's build order became very popular, in which he techs ultra fast, by instantly building a second necropolis in his main. Unfortunately, necrowaggon pushes are rare these days. With the latest patch, Dreadlord became the only viable third hero and is often played as a first hero even (either with Lich or Panda + DK).

Orc

Orcs are having a hard tim these days, not only due to the patch, but also because they rely on micro quite heavily and bats are simply too costly (in a rush-heavy environment) vs all the air armies (chippo, gargs, etc.). While BM, SH, TC still is meta, certain players like to try other hero combos as well or stick with DR, SH, TC. Once Orc has a bank and stacked heroes, they can still dominate.

Human

Human is still widely considered as the best FFA race, despite 1.29. Divine Shield was shortened and Gyros are basically unplayable vs the new Carrion Swarm, but humans still have most of their weapons. Only few players apply rifle caster pushes these days (might also be due to the few small maps we play currently) and most will play whatever is needed or they prefer (tanks, dragonhawks, gryphons, spellbreakers or just hoarding on 50 and getting mass towers). Certain players (especially strong ones) play AM + Panda + Pala nowadays, while others stick to MK second. Alchemist first is played on some maps, but I wouldn't call it meta yet.

Edit: Tinker is still played by some players (e.g. Mog), but I wouldn't say the patch effected it at all and cluster rockets are still way too slow and stun too short to have an impact. MK is not played more often due to Clap and most players still prefer to skill bash second. I'd say heroes mostly impacted by the patch (in a positive way) were: DL > KotG > Alchi > Others

Hope to see you in TBR! Gl Hf

[htrt]

Human

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