Dota 6.86d map update and changelog

Valve released a new patch last night with nerfs for two heroes and a big change to Aether Lens.

Invoker, despite receiving some substantial nerfs recently, is enjoying his popularity as well as Chen is - according to Dotabuff, his winrate is about 51.4%, while he's been played professionally 214 times in 6.86, and banned 293 times. Those numbers are very large, so it was a natural solution that something needs to be done about the hero. Besides the recent Alacrity change, now Invoker has a somewhat low agility at the start of the game. However, the question whether or not Invoker will be picked less is open, and once we see some more pro tournaments, he might be up for another change, either buff or nerf.

Only Chen and Invoker have been directly nerfed by the new patch while Zeus, Lina, Vengeful Spirit and all the supports are indirectly affected by the removal of Magic Resistance from Aether Lens.

Dota 6.86d patch notes

Since the first day of the 6.86 Aether Lens rapidly became one of the most popular items for casters because of the 200 increased spell cast range. And it’s not only that, Aether Lens also provides an 8% spell damage increase and used to give 15% magic resistance.

Which heroes favour Aether Lens?
Aether Lens has been an extremely popular item for Zeus due to +200 cast range it embues on spells, along with the additional 250 mana and 8hp health regeneration. Since 6.86 was released, we have seen 70 competitive games on Zeus, with Aether Lens being purchased in 60 of those games, giving the hero a 62.5% winrate with Aether Lens as his second item.

In competitive Dota 2 the top 5 heroes that used Aether Lens the most were: Bane, Zeus, Oracle, Lina and Shadow Shaman. Overall the item has been purchased 436 times since its release, with a 58.2% win rate when bought as the 2nd major item.

Do you think the change to Aether Lens will affect it's popularity?

More info: Dota 6.86d