Changes to Pick/Ban Order, New Scan Ability Come with the Dota 2 6.87 Update

Before the hype from ESL One Manila could go totally go down and just before the excitement for the Manila Major qualifiers kicks in, Valve has decided to give us more than just a little something in between. The Dota 2 6.87 update has arrived with new items, new skills, reworked heroes, and even a reworked terrain. And it is bound to make some changes to the meta as we know it.

Here are some of the notable changes:

  • Ranked All Pick now has a 15-second banning phase.
  • Each team now has a Scan ability, available on the minimap UI. It scans a targeted 900 AoE and indicates whether there are enemy heroes in that area during the 8 seconds.
  • Captains Mode: The overall pick/ban order for the two teams is now:Ban1: 1st/2nd/1st/2nd
    Pick1: 1st/2nd/2nd/1st
    Ban2: 2nd/1st/2nd/1st
    Pick2: 2nd/1st/2nd/1st
    Ban3: 2nd/1st
    Pick3: 1st/2nd
  • New items: Bloodthorn, Echo Sabre, Blight Stone, Infused Raindrops, Wind Lace, Tome of Knowledge, and Hurricane Pike
  • The following heroes have additional or reworked scepter upgrades: Bloodseeker, Bristleback, Earthshaker, Gyrocopter, Jakiro, Legion Commander, Mirana, Oracle, Shadow Fiend, Storm Spirit, Weaver, and Winter Wyvern

You can read the 6.87 patch in full detail here.

The patch is now playable via the test client and will be available via the game client in one to two days  (EDIT: Patch is live now). This means that the Manila Major Qualifiers will be running on the 6.87 patch when it kicks off its Open Qualifiers on April 29 and Regional Qualifiers on May 3.