Because of these carries, stacking has become a huge part of the early game for supports. In fact, I think that Sven might actually be the perfect fit for Dota’s current carry meta.įirst, let’s look at the previously mentioned TI qualifier carries. The truth is, Sven still has the ability to do exactly what he did before but is no longer just objectively overpowered. It seems like Sven might have suffered a bit from “meta fatigue.” The hero was so prevalent that everyone was ready for a change and when an excuse to move on presented itself people were happy to do so. Sven’s win rate and pick rate tanked and the hero has been largely unplayed ever since. Obviously, losing the ability to utterly murder every other hero without much counterplay at level 15 was a big deal. Patch 7.28 also took away Sven’s free attack on stun impact and made a couple other fairly minor nerfs. After months of dominance, Icefrog moved Sven’s “Storm Hammer Dispels” ability from a talent into an Aghanim’s Shard. The hero’s absurd farming speed, massive damage output and buffed mobility through Aghanim’s Scepter made him a terror.
Not too long ago, Sven was the big bad boss of nearly every Dota game whether pub or pro. One hero is noticeably missing from this roster of ancient farming greed-machines.
