Marci nerfed? False alarm, people.
Dota 2’s patch 7.32 wasn’t kind to Marci, tanking her win rate by more than seven percent. It was the worst drop in win rate by any hero, and Valve compensated in 7.32b by giving some minor buffs to her Rebound, Sidekick, Unleash, and base stats.
But the little things add up. Three weeks after falling to a nearly 40 percent win rate, she’s treading water above 50 percent — actually higher than pre-nerf, according to Dotabuff.
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Pros are having fun with Marci too
At the pro level, the difference is even more stark. Marci is the most picked hero in pro-level pubs, according to Dota 2 Pro Tracker, and enjoys a 52 percent win rate.
She’s also by far the most picked hero through The International 2022 Qualifiers with 111 picks — 16 above the next hero, Death Prophet, according to Liquipedia at the time of writing. She’s in the top five of most contested heroes, along with Batrider, Undying, Enigma, and Death Prophet. Her high pick rate versus ban rate generally pegs her as a versatile hero that reveals little information about their draft.
And versatile she is. She’s seen play mostly in positions three, four, and five. Though she’s not as good of an initiator after the Dispose change, she’s still capable of changing the landscape of a fight through her immense mobility with Rebound and displacement.
Plus, with all the new buffs to her spells, she’s a far more capable right-clicker now — and an Unleashed Marci can throw down with the best of them. T1 trialed her as a carry with new addition Anathan “ana” Pham, who proceeded to stomp the game with 16 kills against Execration.
Whether played as a core or support, her item build generally revolved around getting a fast Black King Bar and Skull Basher, instead of the old Blink Dagger or Aether Lens rush. With Rebound now stunning, Marci can instantly catch heroes and start punching away with her Sidekick damage bonus. Even a support Marci can surprise farmed cores, taking down heroes by herself.
Her true weakness is her inability to farm, but she also needs far less net worth to fight evenly with other cores — as long as her spells are up. Marci without Unleash, especially as a core, isn’t as great as she used to be. Few things could match the potential of a good Dispose in 7.32, but it’s still a decent spell that actually cancels channeling spells and items, giving Marci two disables instead of one.
The anime heroine is back, so beware of her whether she’s in your nearest pub or pro game, lest you get punched to death.
READ MORE: The 5 best Marci counters to stop the baby-faced killer in her tracks
