The Rise of Slardar: A Meta Shake-up
The latest patch has brought about a resurgence of a long-forgotten hero — Slardar. Even though he didn’t receive any direct buffs in the 7.34e update, his dominance in the lane has become more pronounced. With some adjustments to itemization, Slardar has become a formidable opponent, making him one of the toughest heroes to face in the current meta.
Unchanged in the latest patch, Slardar has been steadily growing stronger in the past four months. One key improvement is that he no longer requires multiple levels into Slithereen Crush for speed, damage, and sustain. Even just a single point now provides a 7-second puddle and all the associated benefits when Guardian Sprint is leveled up. The most common skill-build includes prioritizing Guardian Sprint and Bash of the Deep to enhance auto-attack damage while in water during the laning stage.
While the current meta build for Slardar isn’t new, it has been the staple for a long time. However, many pub players have been slow to adapt and continue to rush Blink Dagger, which isn’t the most effective play in the current meta. Instead, focusing on becoming tanky and threatening by obtaining items like Bracers, Wraith Bands, Mask of Madness, and Hand of Midas is a more popular and successful approach.
There are three main items that are crucial for Slardar. Aghanim’s Scepter significantly increases Slardar’s survivability and damage output, making it one of the most important items to prioritize. The second essential item is Blink Dagger, which allows Slardar to initiate teamfights effectively once he has the necessary tools for survival. Lastly, Black King Bar can also be important for negating disabling abilities from the enemy team.
Another aggressive item route that some pro-level players prefer involves going for an Echo Sabre into Harpoon, which can be devastating as a tempo play. However, it’s not as reliable long-term and may not be suitable for all games, especially in lower level pubs.
Slardar is currently the highest win rate hero this week and one of the biggest winners of the patch. With plenty of time to learn and master playing Slardar in the current meta, he is a straightforward and easy hero to grind MMR with.
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