Look, it has only been a week since 7.41 dropped, and they’ve already released a letter patch. The meta is moving fast right now. Like, seriously fast. If you’ve taken even a few days off, it feels like a completely different game.

I myself had a busy weekend. Didn’t get to play. Came back yesterday and lost four games in a row. Four. I felt completely out of place. Wrong heroes, wrong read on the meta, just wrong everything.

But after figuring out what was actually happening in my games? Won my next two comfortably.

I already played the bad games so you can skip straight to the good ones.

First, Consecrated Wraps

00:56 Let’s talk about Consecrated Wraps. This was the most broken item in 7.41. They nerfed it three ways in 7.41a – magic resist 15 to 12, duration 7 seconds to 5, and I still think it’s the best item in the game. I learned how broken this was the hard way, trust me.

Basically, over time you get three stacks of Hallowed. That’s a 360 all-damage barrier. You get hit by any player damage? Boom, triggers the barrier. You used to have to stop hitting them for 7 seconds to let them rebuild stacks. Now it’s 5 seconds. But here’s the thing, you gain a stack every 3 seconds anyway. So they can literally have a new stack before the old barrier even expires.

For a 2600 gold item that gives you HP, all attributes, magic resist, AND a 360 barrier? Absurd. Still absurd.

Who buys it? Any hero that just wants to get the hell in and be a body. Offlaners mostly. I bought it on Legion Commander. Felt really good. Seen it on Primal Beast, Tidehunter. You could even buy it on durable supports or durable mids like Death Prophet or Necro.

Alright, let’s go role by role.

Carry – The Beefy Boys

16:11 Last patch? 90% ranged carries. Shadow Fiend, Drow Ranger, stand your ground, dish out damage. This patch? 90% melee bruisers. I don’t fully know why, I think it’s the camp changes and the buffs these heroes got, but that’s what’s happening.

Here’s who you pick.

Terrorblade. I wasn’t expecting this. But I saw him basically every game, and playing against him felt miserable. Playing as him felt amazing. The new neutral enchantments give you move speed, which is literally all illusion heroes need to farm. His laning is strong against beefy offlaners because Metamorphosis counters Anchor Smash and stuff. And Reflection just ruins ranged fours.

Hero of the patch for me. Easy.

But, his worst matchup in the entire game is Phantom Lancer. By a mile. So expect PL to come back into the meta to counter him.

Lifestealer. Still prime. Even with the nerfs. Still good.

Alchemist. I’m seeing him in pretty much all my games. The camps behind your T1 tower? Those got turned into medium and small camps. What hero extracts the most gold from medium and small camps? Yep, you guessed it. Alchemist. He goes Radiance into Aghs and just farms. Still getting first-pick, first-banned even after the 7.41a nerfs.

Wraith King. Fallen off a little, but still pickable.

Ursa and Slark. These guys have a place because they’re really good at chewing through all that HP the beefy boys have.

Naga Siren. Want to try her myself. She’s good against TB and good at farming those camps behind the tower.

Mid Lane – Rock Paper Scissors

13:23 Right when the patch dropped, I was skeptical about Bloodstone. But then everyone was buying it on Leshrac and Quas Wex Invoker and it seemed really good.

Then like three or four days passed and people adjusted.

Now? The meta is Ember Spirit and Pangolier rushing the new Mage Slayer. Mage Slayer now does physical damage instead of magical. Way better for farming. And on Pango? It synergizes with Lucky Shot because that’s minus armor. So Mage Slayer does more damage.

Basically, these Bloodstone mids got hard countered. Whenever I see Ember against Leshrac, it’s just GG.

So you can still pick the Bloodstone buyers. But be very, very careful if the enemy already has a natural Mage Slayer buyer.

Offlane – No More Aura Crap

Offlane isn’t directly impacted by the carry meta as much as it is by Consecrated Wraps. Offlaners are investing in the item that makes themselves hard to kill. No more auras crap.

Doom. Still busted. Still first-pick, first-ban in all my games.

Tidehunter. Still creme de la creme.

Primal Beast. Same deal.

Legion Commander. Lost one base armor. Still felt quite strong. Blademail, Blink, Consecrated Wraps. Really nice.

Dragon Knight. Sleeper pick. I don’t think he’s gotten enough credit. His laning is really strong and he builds into a magic damage hybrid that’s good against most of these meta heroes.

Position 4 – Wham Wham, Hit The Carry

I think it’s going to be Spirit Breaker plus a bunch of ranged nukers.

Spirit Breaker. Still good.

Mirana. I have an idea she’s going to be good. Please don’t grief your pubs by arrowing neutral camps. Play the lane. Attack the carry as much as you can. That’s literally what the four position is supposed to do.

Dark Willow, Rubick. Seeing a lot of play.

Basically, if your game plan is to go “wham wham, hit the carry,” you’re probably a good four right now.

Position 5 – Ranged Slowers For Your Melee Carries

Pick ranged slowers that synergize with your melee guys.

Crystal Maiden. Still a prime candidate.

Lich. Same.

Death Prophet as pos 5. I’ve seen this twice now and it looked pretty dang good. Spirit Siphon mana cost is 60 now, so you don’t need as many mana items to do your job. Definitely try it. I’d say mainly five, though, because she doesn’t have the stun or catch a normal four offers.

Avoid Venomancer. Too much hype. I saw him at least four times and it felt really lackluster. He wins the lane, sure, but his kit later on feels way less powerful. People are realizing you can just walk away from him.

Alright, that’s the meta update for one week into 7.41. Make sure to subscribe to the channel.