Icefrog and Valve developed a nightmare— the Meteor Hammer. Two days after the conclusion of the Lima Major, they released the latest version of Dota 2. The only problem with this release was that it didn’t live up to the hype and expectations of the community.
What made it worse was it unleashed a slew of micro metas that saw screen time on the pro level. One of these micro metas is the Meteor Hammer meta—funny on paper, disastrous in practice.
For starters, Meteor Hammer is unconventional in its execution as an item. It’s the first item in modern Dota that makes a player channel an action. This is special because channeling is a hero exclusive, like Warlock’s E or Enigma’s Blackhole.
It channels for a duration, before dropping a meteor on an area. Meteor Hammer is considered a meme pickup, but how has it returned to must-buy status?
Half A Second Difference
Patch 7.32e came with a change to Meteor Hammer that made its channel time faster. A half-second reduction to the Hammer channel spelled the end for normal games until 7.33.
This 2-second channel made it possible for most stunners to buy it as a first item. Channeling after canceling the stun backswing makes them stack perfectly. Your pub offlaners and mids are buying this, and we hope it’s been kind to you so far.
At the start of Meteor Hammer’s life, it came with a three-second channel time. It garnered the name “Meme Hammer” because it was impractical on anyone without a 3-second stun. Then it got cut to 2.5, which made sense for some, but not all heroes.
Support styles like Treant Protector and Riki took it because of split push tactics. But this 2-second change made it possible to get on cores that aren’t OD, and that is quite a problem.
Why is the Meteor Hammer a Problem?
This hammer of a problem is prominent due to the risks involved in buying it. Meteor Hammer components cost as much as a Blink Dagger: it’s understandable how it can lose games.
Item choices matter in each Dota game, and buying a 2K gold item with little turnout is dangerous. Meteor Hammer makes its channeler vulnerable to stuns. It only makes sense as an item on heroes with backline prowess.
Our candidates for the perfect buyers are Rubick, OD, and Nyx. First, Rubick is undisputed in the cast range discussion due to his passive. OD is the poster boy of the Meteor Hammer pickup, being notorious for his lethal astral hammer combo.
Nyx is the dark horse Meteor Hammer user, with his incredible stun. Most heroes can stun as long as Nyx, but his Scepter makes it safer to use it later in the game.
Many players look to Icefrog hoping that this change in the Meteor Hammer is a little mistake. Despite the truth, the Hammer offers a new way to play many heroes. We do not recommend picking it up, however, because of the risk it carries with itself. Good luck in your games, and pray not to get rained on by falling meteors.
