Alchemist is Making its Way Back to Meta

Alchemist is a hero that hasn’t been in the meta for quite a long time. However, in the playoffs of The Berlin Major, aside from Medusa and Phantom Lancer, Alchemist is getting contested a lot. The hero is slowly making his way back into the game. So what makes this hero resurfaces back into the game after quite some time?

The Answers (Hopefully)

Alchemist is considered a high-risk, high-reward hero in Dota 2. Some might even say it’s a cheese hero. Regardless, Alchemist is a very tricky hero. Despite the risks, the hero becomes a walking nightmare for the enemy team if the hero doesn’t have a proper solution. Hence, it is considered a last-pick hero.

In the recent patches, its passive ability, Greevil’s Greed, makes the hero strongest, but the same ability is also the hero’s kryptonite. Greevil’s Greed allows the hero to gain extra gold from everything he farms to the bounty runes. In the recent patches, access to the map can shut off, thus making the hero's passive obsolete if the team playing Alchemist fails to create momentum or win the laning stage.

However, in Patch 7.33, the map got bigger and shutting off access to the map became unobtainable. The average length of the match also becomes longer, and Alchemist, with some heroes, receives some reworks. Greevil’s Greed becomes an innate ability, and the hero gains a new debuff ability, Corrosive Weaponry.  Corrosive Weaponry allows the hero to farm faster, making Greevil’s Greed more potent on top of a map with farms available everywhere.

The Viable Counters  

Even though Alchemist is strong in this meta, there are still ways to beat this hero. Patch 7.33 is a late-game meta, but Alchemist easily falls off after 36 minutes. Ancient Apparition’s ultimate, Ice Blast, is a massive counter to the hero. Slardar is an offlane hero that can counter Alchemist since the laning stage if played correctly. Ursa is a counter to the hero at any stage of the game. Both Necrophos and Quax Wex Invoker are also viable counters to Alchemist as well. The hero currently has a pick rate of 25.55% and a win rate of 52.79% in pro-level pubs.