Image by Gamersbook
The transition to 7.32 and the following transition from 7.32 to 7.32b was a wild ride for several heroes. Some of them are now significantly better off, some of them had a moment in the spotlight before once again becoming unviable and some had a week-long vacation before coming back fully recharged. Today we are going to have a look at the latter group and what changed for some of them.
In 7.32 the hero became effectively dead. Her movement speed was reduced by 40 and her Spirit Siphons became a pale shadow of their former self. There were some redeeming qualities past level six, once passive movement speed kicked in, but playing the hero during the laning stage became a nightmare.
It all changed in 7.32b, where her Spirit Siphons were buffed by 25% at max level. They are still strictly inferior than the percentage-based ones on targets over ~1.6k HP, but they became that much stronger in the earlier portions of the game and when dealing with squishier supports and glass cannon cores.
Most high level players opt for the Crypt Swarm cooldown talent at level fifteen and play the hero a lot more defensively, with a significantly more cautious positioning than previously. Come level twelve, the hero is actually faster than she used to be, allowing for better attack angles, which supports this playstyle even more.
All-in-all, Death Prophet is fully back to being playable, and even though her current kit doesn’t allow her to be in the center of the fight, she can meaningfully contribute with an insane amount of damage, as well as a decent amount of crowd control through Aghanim’s Shard, which is now often a priority on a position three and mid Death Prophet.
Marci is not dissimilar to Earth Spirit on release: he also had a couple of major reworks on his abilities. Unlike Earth Spirit, though, Marci seemingly became a little bit more straightforward and after an initial dip is now back in almost full force.
While the changes in 7.32 were undeniably nerfs to the hero, they created a couple of interesting side-effects. For example, Marci now has two ways to cancel a TP, as opposed to only one.
Her Unleash is now technically weaker, since it no longer provides Dispel, but it is also better at preventing an enemy core from dealing damage: as long as you keep hitting them they are affected by a pretty powerful AS slow.
An earlier Rebound cast range and jump range talent also means Marci is not that reliant on Blink Dagger anymore. In fact, given how Dispose is no longer a stun, both Blink Dagger and Aether Lens became slightly less appealing, giving way for greedier, more damage and survivability-oriented builds.
Finally, after direct buffs in 7.32b the hero is now simply tankier and slightly faster, which is a big deal for the laning stage. With a 1-4-1-1 build and a BKB into Basher rush, Marci can transition into a very powerful anti-carry, who just sits on top of enemy cores, preventing them from doing anything in a fight.
Silencer is going through a bit of an identity crisis. Personally, we feel like he is a waste of a support slot in most games, but he can be an interesting, situational core with a lot of pure damage.
Changes to the hero support this idea: he now has a lower BAT, meaning AS increasing effects work slightly better on him. His Shard now supports a more aggressive playstyle, while his Aghanim’s Scepter can now technically be considered a farming tool, though its efficiency is more or less on par with Night Stalker’s Aghanim’s Scepter, so not particularly high.
Playing him as an aggressive tempo core and getting gold through kills, though, could be a viable strategy. Silencer has a lot of early game damage, an incredibly long slow on Arcane Curse and the ability to make the most broken item of the patch, the Witch Blade, even more broken.
We still fail to see why anyone would play Silencer over Lina, though. They share a lot of similarities, both being glass cannons with tons of damage, but Lina is faster, has a stun, has better attack range, is stronger in lane and deals more physical damage, so isn’t hard countered by a BKB.
That said, in certain matchups, for example against high Agility and high-armor targets, Silencer can be an interesting adaptation. He also naturally counters Enigma, which could be a big selling point. Finally, Global Silence should not be underestimated as an early game ganking tool: dispel effects only become common later in the game.
The level twenty Undispellable Arcane Curse is also an interesting addition to the hero’s kit, as it can help immensely against elusive Illusion carries, most notably Phantom Lancer. Knowing exactly and immediately which of the clones is real can be a game changer.
All in all, the hero is definitely in a weird spot right now, but with some testing and more games, we believe there is a way to make him work in certain games.