EPTFollow my twitter!! @LiquidKorok http://www.twitter.com/liquidkorok
Hi TL community! I’m writing this blog while I’m on my flight to Dreamhack Summer. I don't think I'm going to get any sleep on this flight, but I'm alright with that since I have other things I can do to pass the time. The baby to adult ratio where I'm sitting is a little out of whack but surprisingly only one baby is refusing to be peaceful. However, that's really all it takes because this baby is going off like GranDGranT after he loses in Uther Party. I've had to resort to listening to music at max volume to drown out all the crying. My upcoming schedule once I land is going to look like this: On Thursday, TC, Hot_Bid, Bumblebee (Robin), and I are going to chill in Denmark and stay at Robin’s for the night. We’re getting dinner at a special place that Robin has recommended to us. Since every other conversation I’ve had with Hot_Bid has been about Man of Steel, we’re going to go see it at midnight in a Danish theater. On Friday morning, we’re going to take a train to Jonkoping where we’ll meet up with the rest of the Dota 2 team as well as the TL SC2 players. We'll probably do a few practice games at a local LAN center and become adjusted to the time zone differences. Our west coast players are nine hours behind Swedish time! If you didn't read about the groups, we're in Group A so that means we play first on Saturday.
Bulba and I went to last year's Dreamhack Summer with our previous teams but I think it's TC, Mike, and FLUFF's first time in Sweden. I'm fairly curious to see if Mike's charm will work in Sweden since he pretty much had everyone swooning over him in China. We're staying at a hotel with what I remember had a very nice breakfast so I'm hoping that it's still the same or similar to what it was the last time I stayed there. Our daily brunch meal in China was snack food and other convenience store items. It'll be nice to have an actual meal before a long day of gaming and cheering for Bdiz. I'm very excited to see how this tournament pans out because I'm uncertain on who will be able to go all the way. On any day I think any team could eliminate another team in a Bo3 with the new patch, and since it's single elimination I wouldn't be surprised if we see some upsets. I'm sure many of you have Alliance as your favorites since they are the returning champions of both DHW and G-1. My group stage predictions are as follows: Group A: Mouz/TL. Group B: Dig/VP. Group C: EG/NaVi. Group D: Alliance/Fnatic. With these predictions being said, I would be happy if I was wrong about some of them because some of these were not easy to pick and I wasn't confident while choosing them.
Regarding the new patch, there are many minor buffs and nerfs but I'll talk about the ones that I think are the most significant. Bat Rider got a 400 range hit on his daytime vision, so he's no longer like he's a BM hawk when he takes to the skies. I think this change was long overdue since he is one of the best 'utility' heroes in the game. Wisp's spirits don't give sight anymore so it's a lot easier to dodge one of his TP ganks or juke him in the trees. Naix received a 400 range decrease on open wounds (only 100 range decrease at max level) but I don't think this impacts the hero as much as many predicted it would. Lone Druid got a big nerf to his most poweful item build: armlet rush. I always thought it was bug abuse since the active armlet bonuses should only work if all of them are working. Some made the argument that since the bear doesn't get extra HP from the strength that it's fine, but that is still illogical. Even with the bear bounty increase and armlet change, I still think the hero is strong. Magnus's ult damage now changed to tickle status, a wimpy 50 damage at level one (200 at 3). It shouldn't matter that much though, since it still is a long aoe vacuum/stun. Changes that are worth mentioning since they impact heroes by making them more popular/less popular: AA, CM, Dazzle, DK, ES, Enigma, Lich, Mirana, Naga, Panda, Pugna, Razor, SK (in the western scene at least), SF, Silencer, SkeleK, SB, Tree, VS, Viper, WD. To be quite honest, most of these changes aren't a big deal but it makes people notice them which is why I think they occured. I want to say Slark would've received a buff if he didn't start getting the occasional pickup in games as of late. Feel free to let me know if you agree or disagree or think I missed out on a hero that should've been mentioned, because I probably did.
As far as items go, significant changes are AC, BKB, bottle crow, invis detection, and blink dagger. Minor changes to other items and I think they're all good. I think the unkillable gem + dust 10% slow are a result of shadowblade becoming more of a common item. Draft got overhauled, and I think spreading out the pick/ban phase brings more variety so I'm all for it. Level 11 ults are a lot easier to obtain now that 500 xp from level 11 isn't needed and instead it's needed for level 12. Gold bounty for killing snowballing heroes went up (streaks) and buyback cooldown was increased by a minute. I'm all for incentives to gank and find pick offs. Again, please let me know if you think I've missed anything important because I'd be happy to discuss it with you.
I'll also be giving away 5 TL pennants here! Post a response in this thread and let me know what you think about the patch, DHS, or anything really. I'm also welcoming any suggestions for future blogs / photo requests / whatever. At the end of your post, please let me know if you're interested in a chance at a pennant (drawn at random). I'll probably need someone trustworthy to give them away unless you can gift Dota 2 items and not have to open a trade window since I want to get these out before DHS starts.
Shoutout to the G-man if you can even read this and haven't blown up your computer, all the teams competing as I'm looking forward to meeting every one of you, and most importantly, you guys for reading my wall of text! Please follow me @LiquidKorok (http://www.twitter.com/liquidkorok). I try to reply to every question and some comments on twitter. I should probably plug my sponsors too. Much love to Shiny Things, Twitch, Razer, and Barracuda Networks.
Here is a picture of me where I'm extremely sleep deprived in the airplane. Next blog to have more pictures and a brief recap of my first couple days in Europe. Expect a more personal/health blog after I write my last blog about DHS.
![[image loading]](http://i.imgur.com/9ZekGEHs.jpg)
hope liquid does great at this year's DH :D
Would love a pennant
