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Valve buffs Kez a Day after Release
Kez was released on November 8th to...mixed results. The Dota 2 community loved the hero's complexity and character. However, his overall gameplay, while fun, was fairly underwhelming. The hero debuted with 36% win rate, the lowest among all heroes in the game.
Valve quickly recognized the problem with the hero and gave Kez several buffs 24 hours after his release. Let's talk about why that happened and it's impact on the hero.
Three reasons Kez deserved a few buffs
Kez was released without a gameplay patch
Often times Valve releases a hero along with a major patch that changes the game. Hoodwink came with the Mistwoods Update, Dawnbreaker came with massive map changes, including the introduction of Water Runes. Muerta was introduced along with the Dead Reckoning changes.
Kez was introduced with...well, nothing. Sure he is part of Crownfall act IV but the game is exactly the same. This hurt Kez, as other heroes have been figured out, while this new and complex hero needs a lot of time to fully understand.
If you pick Kez, you're playing an unfamiliar hero against players who have been hero spamming for months on a figured-out patch, greatly hurting Kez.
Kez came in a bad meta for melee cores
The Dota 2 meta is dominated by ranged carries right now. Luna, Gyrocopter, Shadow Fiend, and Muerta are among the most contested cores right now. With how strong items such as Khanda, and Glepnir are, and how easy it is to kite melee heroes, it's not a good time to introduce another melee core.
And that's the scene Kez steps into. While the hero does come with movement spells, it's not enough. He has to jump into ranged cores and lacks the survivability to escape.
Kez was a little weak
It's true that people need time to master the hero and figure out his item build. What's also true is that Kez had pretty underwhelming numbers upon release.
The hero needs farm but is pretty slow at getting it. Kez can harass well in the laning stage but he is susceptible to dying as a result. The hero needed some love and Valve generously bestowed it upon him.
The impact of Kez buffs on his win rate
The new update has had an immediate effect, with Kez win rate skyrocketing by more than 7%. The hero is currently sitting at an underwhelming 44%. It's still a big improvement though.
The buffs have made Kez better at trading early one, with an easier time closing gaps and less physical damage taken. Kez also hits quicker with Falcon Rush, improving his DPS significantly.
We expect the hero's win rate to climb even higher, up to 47-48% once people figure out the best skill and item build. Until then, Kez remains a fun, versatile, but underpowered hero.
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Featured Image Source: Valve
