Strategic summary and impact analysis for patch 7.36b.
The critical change preventing Force Staff and similar abilities/items from being used on Leashed targets, combined with Nullifier's added slow, significantly elevates the power of Leash and other reliable disables. This makes heroes with strong lockdown much more effective at controlling highly mobile targets, as common counter-play is removed. The meta heavily favors heroes and items that provide hard-to-escape disables and punishes those reliant on forced movement for escape.
This patch strongly favors aggressive initiators and brawlers who can dictate the pace of fights and sustain through aggression. Heroes with high mobility and sustained damage output are also thriving, able to stick to targets and maintain pressure. A widespread reduction in tankiness from core items means fights are potentially shorter and more decisive, rewarding burst damage, evasion, or inherent durability.
Many previously dominant universal and illusion-based carries have received significant nerfs, reducing their early game impact, farming efficiency, and late-game scaling. This creates space for traditional, often strength-based, brawling carries to return to prominence.
Supports with strong healing capabilities and aggressive initiation/burst have been buffed, alongside a cost reduction for Holy Locket. This indicates a meta where supports are expected to provide significant utility either through crucial sustain for their cores or by enabling aggressive plays and securing kills, rather than purely passive roles.
Helm of the Dominator and Overlord now granting experience from dominated creeps significantly boosts their value. This encourages creep control, jungle stacking, and potentially brings back 'zoo' strategies or simply makes these items more efficient for farming and map pressure, especially for offlaners and certain carries, allowing for greater resource acquisition and map control.