By this point, the most dedicated players have already finished Crownfall and are likely wondering what’s next. The big balance patch is taking time to implement, and diversifying gameplay with off-meta heroes feels like a losing strategy. However, there are heroes who went uncontested at recent tournaments and qualifiers but can excel in pubs with specific setups.

These heroes have a good chance of getting buffed soon, making them worth practicing now. One such hero has been receiving buffs for several patches and can become very powerful with his Divergence facet, requiring minimal effort from the player. His illusions are particularly effective, hitting targets and multiplying, despite the inability to focus-fire, which can be compensated by overwhelming chaos in pub settings.

Moreover, you still control your Spirit Lance illusions, allowing you to prioritize certain targets. The Phantom Lancer and Grimstroke combo is well-known, and upgraded Spirit Lance with Soulbind can be devastating early on and maintain its potency as long as PL keeps his farm on par with other carries.

The Fine Art facet for Phantom Lancer has gained popularity due to its potential. Learning to curve your Stroke of Fate requires practice, but it can be incredibly powerful during the laning stage and midgame. When maxed out, by level seven, you can get a level one Finger of Death on a 5-second cooldown, posing a significant threat to enemies, especially near creep camps or waves.

Lifestealer’s Unfettered facet is not a full debuff immunity but is close to it. Given the importance of BKB in the current meta and the community’s long-standing request for an alternative, it’s surprising few players are trying it out. However, even the classic Lifestealer is worth exploring and rediscovering, especially with his innate ability to deal with tanky characters and a built-in 7-second BKB on a relatively short cooldown.

The established meta is quite stale, and the pub scene has started paying too much attention to the professional meta. This trend is unhealthy for the game’s enjoyment and not efficient for winning in lower level brackets. Therefore, players should try out different heroes and ideas in their everyday pubs. Even new ideas in the pro scene often originate from creative minds trying out something wild in Legend games. These ideas are refined and adapted, but with a game like Dota, there is no limit to what you can do. Share your off-meta ideas in the comment section below while we figure out whether Kez is underpowered or broken.

By focusing on these overlooked heroes and experimenting with different strategies, players can breathe new life into their gameplay and potentially discover new winning combinations.