The effects of the New Frontiers Dota 2 patch, released back in May 2023, continue to leave their mark on both casual and professional Dota\u2014with one hero in particular now skewering ahead of the pack for pick rate in the offlane.<\/p>
Magnus was one of the most picked heroes in the Dota<\/em> Pro Circuit Summer Tour. The burly brawler featured in 208 pro matches across all regions\u2014far more than any other offlaner in Dota. But it\u2019s not just pros who have caught wind of his power.<\/p>
His pick rate has exploded across the board, rising from 8.6 percent last patch to 10.35 percent in Patch 7.33c according to statistics site Dotabuff<\/a>. After heavy reworks with the New Frontiers update, the Magnoceros’ pick rate gain only accelerated, up to 13.59 percent this month, and to 15 percent this week.<\/p>
The culprit? The new item, Harpoon, has a lot to do with Magnus’ success.<\/p>
Magnus has been picked 489,800 times in the past week<\/a>. Harpoon was picked up in 71 percent of those matches<\/a>\u2014almost twice as much as next-closest Abaddon and three times as much as Slark. Well over half of those games resulted in wins. In fact, his win rate with a Harpoon is four percent higher this week compared to without.<\/p>
Magnus players who have an MMR of 7000 and above have been picking up Harpoon in four out of five games<\/a> and tend to complete it around the 20 minute mark. Early itemization typically starts with Magic Wand, Vanguard, and Power Treads. After that, they pick up Echo Saber and Diadem, which are then used to build Harpoon. Blink Dagger typically follows that.<\/p>
Related: This mischievous Dota 2 <\/em>hero has won over DPC pros\u2014and ranked players are catching on<\/a><\/strong><\/p>
The meta is always changing, so it will be interesting to see how long Magnus\u2019 reign in the offlane lasts. A handful of others are nipping at his hooves, including Abbadon, Doom, and Legion Commander<\/a>, but while they\u2019re all strong choices, none can emulate what Magnus offers right now.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
