Dota 2’s 7.33c patch on May 14 proved to be a larger update than most anticipated, with the conclusion of the ESL One Berlin Major—and the professional scene’s first look at the New Frontiers update—bringing about heaps of changes to the game. One such change, however, might just define the meta going forward.
Team Spirit’s Yatoro has played a lot of Juggernaut in ranked matches this week—13 games, to be exact—and he’s won 12 of them. The TI-winning star carry player is one of the best in the business, so having a winning streak on the fourth most popular Dota 2 hero isn’t all that surprising, but the sheer absurdity of his 92.3 percent win rate on it between May 14 and May 19 suggests he might be onto something.
Juggernaut hasn’t been impressive for a while due to the nerfs he received in patches 7.32e and 7.33, especially the change that increased the attack rate interval of Blade Fury with Aghanim’s Shard. His win rate is 49 percent across the board, and it’s even lower at the highest level.
In the past week, it hovered around a dismal 45.3 percent. To most players, this would mean he isn’t very good right now, but Yatoro is showing it could be because he hasn’t been used correctly.
Yatoro’s item build is nothing out of the ordinary. He starts off every game with Tangos, an Iron branch, a Circlet, a Quelling Blade, and a Magic Stick. If he loses gold during the picking phase due to his teammates, he’ll opt for Slippers of Agility instead of a Circlet.
He then upgrades these items into Magic Wand and Wraith Band and rushes Battle Fury, Yasha, then into either Manta Style or Sange and Yasha. After that, he chooses between Butterfly, Monkey King Bar, Nullifier, Aghanim’s Scepter, Blink Dagger, or Black King Bar depending on what’s needed.
He does have a knack for hitting his timings perfectly and making optimal decisions in fights, which is a big part of his success. There are, however, a few other things worth pointing out. For example, the early damage from Blade Fury works well against Vanguard, which most offlaners are rushing early right now.
Yatoro has been able to secure early kills and snowball easily because of this, and if he does, he won’t hesitate to participate in a lot of early team fights—something the hero is excellent at once he gets his ultimate.
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As for his farming pattern once laning ends, Yatoro tends to shove the enemy’s lanes aggressively while farming the opponent’s ancients. If it’s safe, he’ll also farm the enemy’s triangle to deprive them of potential gold while increasing his own, killing two birds with one stone.
Since Juggernaut can teleport away while spinning with Blade Fury, he’s hardly ever in danger. If that’s not possible, he’ll stick to his own triangle and ancients, shoving his lane instead. This does, of course, depend on how well the rest of his team is doing.
It seems like Juggernaut’s ability to apply lots of pressure early on, both in terms of farming and fighting, while also scaling well, could make him a hidden gem in the hands of those who use him right. Only time will tell whether that’s the case, or whether Yatoro’s Aegis-winning skills make him too good.
