Silencer has been an excellent pick as a core and support for almost a year now. The maligned Dota 2 hero’s win rate has steadily increased from 51.16 percent in Patch 7.28 to 55 percent in 7.32, and it’s remained there even after the huge shake-up in 7.33. It isn’t all that surprising since he wasn’t changed much. Still, his win rate has quietly become the highest of any support and the third-highest of any hero this month.
The difference is he’s being picked more exclusively as a support across this patch, especially at the highest level. Everyone from Team Liquid’s iNSaNiA to BetBoom Team’s TORONTOTOKYO and Tundra Esports’ Saksa has been picking him, and they’ve had a lot of success—much to the dismay of the Dota cores playing against them.
The go-to build at the moment starts with some familiar items—Tangos, Blood Grenade, Enchanted Mango, and Iron Branches. The Iron Branches are used to make Magic Wand, while some also opt for a Null Talisman or Wraith Band for additional damage and survivability in lane. Ring of Basilius is also situationally good for some extra mana regeneration.
After that, they build Arcane Boots or Tranquil Boots—the latter of which is turned into Boots of Bearing—as well as Force Staff, Glimmer Cape, and Aghanim’s Shard. Some also lean towards Veil of Discord, Ghost Scepter, or Hurricane Pike depending on the state of the game.
Related: One Dota 2 hero enjoying sharp spike in wins in Patch 7.33c in every role
The reason the hero is so strong right now is he’s a formidable laner capable of poking, prodding, nuking, silencing, and zoning enemies. This makes the lane a breeze for allies. Global Silence is also capable of turning a team fight on its own, which is useful in the current meta since brawling and skirmishing happen a lot. Plus, the permanent intelligence steal aspect of Glaives of Wisdom makes him scale well.
Silencer has been the most effective against tanky offlaners like Bristleback, Dawnbreaker, Necrophos, and Timbersaw. His win rate against those heroes is even higher, edging closer to the 60 percent mark.
It’s not overpowered, but it’s absolutely a must-pick hero for supports.
