TOP 5 SUPPORT HEROES OF 7.29d

Patch 7.29d has been around for quite some time now and it has been exploited by the players more than enough for us to know the answers to most questions such as: Which heroes are viable and stand out at the current state of the game? - Which leads us to show you the Top 5 Support Heroes that are dominating the scene right now, both in your pub games and the pro scene.
 

Lion has been an extremely impactful and dangerous Support and there is a good reason for it.

He is one of the few Supports that have an instant 0 second cast animation disable ability (Hex) besides Shadow Shaman, which makes him a huge threat throughout the game, especially during the later stages of the game where, if the enemy carries get jumped on by lion’s blink hex initiation without getting the chance to react in order to activate their BKB, it can be devastating and game losing for the enemy team. On top of that, Lion’s level 25 talent (+250 AoE Hex) allows him to hex multiple targets in teamfights, which makes teamfights easier for his team and can be a huge problem for the enemies if they cannot act accordingly in time.

Lion is not only a massive threat to the enemy because of his many disables, but also because of the damage he dishes out with his ultimate ability - Finger Of Death which is even more when he has access to Aghanim’s Sceptre in the late game, which basically makes his ultimate ability a low CoolDown spell that deals enormous amounts of damage in an Area Of Effect/AOE. Not to mention the added damage Lion could potentially have as his ultimate spell grows stronger with each enemy Lion kills with it.




Ancient Apparition comes next into the pool as arguably one of the strongest Support heroes with a staggering 54% win rate that also fits into the meta perfectly. If you have been updated and are active when it comes to the professional scene of Dota 2, you will notice how most teams are picking sturdy, armlet/satanic purchasing and hard to kill meta heroes such as Axe, Brood Mother, Phantom Lancer, Templar Assassin, Medusa, and more. Surprisingly, even though Ancient Apparition did not receive any major buff of some sort over the course of the last few patches, he naturally became a strong hero in the current patch due to being a default counter and naturally troublesome to the heroes that are dominating the scene at the moment.

Ancient Apparition is fairly decent when it comes to laning and can be strong if paired up with a solid partner such as a Slark or Monkey King. This hero is by nature extremely vulnerable and likes the creep wave closer to his own tower during the laning phase as he pokes the enemy with his Chilling Touch ability - a low CoolDown spell that damages and slows the enemy movement speed by 100% as he also zones the enemy out of the lane with his first ability - Cold Feet, which places a frozen hex on an enemy and will stun them if they do not move outside of the given range within 4 seconds.

Ancient Apparition is also very powerful as he inflicts tons of magical damage and is very flexible when it comes to itemization. Being a global presence because of his ultimate spell Ice Blast, which stops enemies from healing or regenerating health, is an intimidation factor for the enemies and the hero is also extremely good at scouting and giving information of where the enemies are in the map.




Grimstroke makes it into the top 5 with pride as this hero strikes terror and catches many people off guard with his amazing damage output as well as his team fight control capabilities which can be an absolute nuisance to the enemy team.

Even though Grimstroke needs good teammates to synergise and bring out his full potential, the hero has been buffed as his Phantom’s Embrace spell damage has been increased as well as his ultimate spell Soul Bind’s latch radius from 550-600. Not to mention the Aghanim Shard upgrade for Grimstroke, which causes his Ink Swell ability to do 50% more damage and heal the target ally for 50% of the damage Ink Swell deals. When the Ink Swell ability goes off, the target ally will receive a strong dispel, which can purge disables such as Lion’s hex. On top of that, Grimstroke’s level 10 talent was buffed from -4 seconds Ink Swell CoolDown to -6 seconds , which makes Ink Swell one of the most devastating spells in Dota with a 9 second CoolDown.

Another aspect that makes Grimstroke as dangerous as he is, is the fact that he is very flexible when it comes to itemizing. He can purchase Scythe of Vyse which synergises very well with his ultimate spell, allowing him to hex two targets at once if his team lacks disables. Or he can make items such as Ethereal + Dagon and go absolutely ham on the enemies!

Up next, we have Abaddon, who is probably the best save hero in Dota at the moment in Patch 7.29d. Abaddon recently received a couple buffs and the notable ones are his Aghanim Shard upgrade reducing the CoolDown of his spells Mist Coil and Aphotic Shield by 1 second. Also, Mist Coil Heal/Damage has been rescaled from 120/165/210/255   to   110/160/210/260 meaning it is weaker in the earlier levels but ultimately stronger than before.

Abaddon does not really have any losing lanes due to the sustain built in his kit, which makes it hard to take him and his lane partner down. It is also important to note that Abaddon is one of the few heroes besides Grimstroke and Oracle to have a spell (Aphotic Shield) that can be used on teammates to purge disables like Lion’s Hex or Sven’s stun in order to save them.

Not to mention the fact that Abaddon has an astonishing win rate of 52.83% in high MMR games where it is mostly played as the preferred support role and not as a core.





Lastly, we have the Nyx Assassin, who enters the top 5 without any signs of hesitation and brings with itself an impressive 52.49% win rate in the current patch, and that too for multiple reasons.

One of the biggest indicators that a hero is strong is when its win rate rises as the pick rate increases. Not only does Nyx Assassin see an increase in win rate as his pick rate increases across brackets but his win rate increases in every bracket as you climb from Herald to Immortal.

Nyx is relevant especially in this patch due to the hard to catch heroes like Puck being in meta and the need for burst damage against heroes like Timbersaw, Terrorblade and Axe.

Nyx Assassin has been picked 24 times and banned 67 times with a win rate of 58% in the AniMajor following a 50 picks and 88 bans with a win rate of 50% in the TI 10 Qualifiers.

Nyx Assassin is immensely impactful once he has access to his Aghanim’s Sceptre, which halves the CoolDown of his Impale ability and doubles the cast range as well as nearly doubling the cast range of his Mana Burn ability. It also adds an AoE stun to Spiked Carapace that does not rely on taking damage to be effective. It also makes Nyx Assassin invisible, giving him 50% damage reduction from both magic and physical damage. It also gives Nyx increased health and mana regeneration, all of which makes the hero extremely powerful and allows him the potential to defend high ground single handedly and effectively when needed.


So, ladies and gentlemen, that does it for our Top 5 Support Heroes of Patch 7.29d! Hope you guys got to know more about the patch and understand the state the game is currently in. Wishing you all good luck in your upcoming dota 2 games with the help of our article! Cheers! If you find it difficult to win in Dota 2 with these heroes, try ordering a rating boost and choose to play only on supports. Then you can analyze the games of the boosters.