Juggernaut in Patch 7.41f: How the Hero Is Holding Up After a Series of Buffs

Hi! Today I’m taking a look at Juggernaut in Patch 7.41f, and the reason is pretty simple: the hero has been getting targeted buffs for several updates in a row, and in the current stats he looks very solid. I think this is a good time to take another look at what exactly makes him such a comfortable carry and how the latest patches have affected him.

Role and abilities

Juggernaut is an agility melee hero with simple difficulty and a set of roles that is almost always easy to read: he is first and foremost a Carry, but he also has Escape and Pusher. According to his description, he cuts through enemies with precise sword strikes, and I think that reflects the hero’s essence well: he likes short, sharp windows where he can force a fight and end it quickly.

• Blade Fury — provides strong dispel when it ends; with Aghanim’s Scepter it increases the radius and slows enemies in the area.
• Healing Ward — heals allies, and the amount of healing depends on the ally’s maximum health; with Aghanim’s Shard, the healing and health of the ward are increased.
• Blade Dance — gives a chance to deal critical damage with Blade Fury or attacks.
• Swiftslash — becomes available with Aghanim’s Scepter.
• Bladeform — innate ability; every 2 seconds it grants an effect that increases base agility and movement speed, but the effects are removed 2 seconds after taking any damage.
• Omnislash — jumps to the chosen enemy, then attacks them and nearby enemies at increased speed; the hero is invulnerable for the duration.

For me, Juggernaut has always been a hero about tempo: he doesn’t have to wait for the late game if he can use Blade Fury and Healing Ward, then seal everything with Omnislash. At the same time, the new Bladeform makes him an even more “spring-loaded” hero: as long as nobody touches him, he ramps up, which makes both committing to fights and moving around the map feel better.

Changes in the latest patches

Going from newest to oldest, the picture is pretty steady: there’s no major turning point for Juggernaut in 7.41f, but the series of previous patches noticeably polished his core kit. I think changes like these matter most: not one huge leap, but several careful improvements in a row.

• 7.41f — no changes listed for Juggernaut.
• 7.41d — mana cost of Blade Fury reduced from 120 to 110.
• 7.41c — damage per second on Blade Fury increased from 80/110/140/170 to 85/115/145/175.
• 7.41b — base movement speed increased from 300 to 305; Bladeform got stronger in terms of the growth of base agility per stack; level 20 talent for Blade Fury damage per second was buffed.
• 7.41a — cooldown of Blade Fury reduced from 36/30/24/18 to 30/26/22/18 seconds; critical damage of Blade Dance increased from 130/150/170/190% to 140/160/180/200%.
• 7.41 — removed the innate Duelist ability; added Bladeform; removed the Aghanim’s Shard upgrade from Blade Fury and moved it to Healing Ward; changed the talents at levels 10, 15, and 20.

In my opinion, three things matter most here: a more comfortable Blade Fury, a stronger Blade Dance, and the new Bladeform. Together they make the hero less straightforward, but not in a bad way — rather, they give you more reasons to keep up the tempo and play around pressure more often.

Statistics

According to OpenDota, over the last 7 days Juggernaut has played 738,997 public matches and has a win rate of 52.5%. That’s 9th out of 127 heroes by win rate and 5th by number of games. For a hero with such a recognizable playstyle, that’s a very strong result in my opinion: he clearly doesn’t look like a random pick that only shows up in comfortable drafts.

Looking by rank, the picture is also steady and without sharp drops:

• Herald — 50.8%
• Guardian — 51.6%
• Crusader — 52.2%
• Archon — 52.5%
• Legend — 53.0%
• Ancient — 53.4%
• Divine — 52.7%

In professional matches, according to OpenDota over the latest period, Juggernaut was picked 3 times, won 1 game, and received 2 bans. That’s not a sample size you’d want to draw loud conclusions from, but the very fact that he appears in drafts shows the hero is still a workable option when you need a straightforward carry with a flexible lane and a strong teamfight threat.

Items and matchups

From professional matches on OpenDota, it’s clear that Juggernaut is most often built around very familiar items. I think his item builds here show well that the hero can be both an early tempo fighter and a more classic carry focused on damage and mobility.

• Start: Iron Branch, Quelling Blade, Tango, Magic Stick, Faerie Fire, Circlet.
• Early game: Boots of Speed, Power Treads, Ring of Health, Void Stone, Broadsword, Perseverance.
• Mid game: Broadsword, Blade of Alacrity, Yasha, Battle Fury, Diadem, Manta Style.
• Late game: Eaglesong, Blink Dagger, Ultimate Orb, Butterfly, Aghanim’s Scepter, Demon Edge.

The matchup picture is interesting too. Juggernaut looks better against heroes who struggle to survive his tempo and instant fight entry, and worse against those who make it hard for him to execute his plan comfortably or break the space around him.

• Best against: Magnus — 38 games, 73.7% win rate; Faceless Void — 32 games, 68.8% win rate; Tinker — 21 games, 66.7% win rate.
• Worst against: Treant Protector — 42 games, 33.3% win rate; Keeper of the Light — 42 games, 35.7% win rate; Night Stalker — 32 games, 37.5% win rate.

Conclusion

I’d put it this way: in 7.41f, Juggernaut didn’t get a new twist, but he didn’t need one. Over the last few patches, the hero has become a little more comfortable — less mana on Blade Fury, shorter cooldown, higher damage, stronger critical potential, and a more useful Bladeform. By the numbers, he looks very alive and stable right now, and for a carry that’s supposed to punish mistakes quickly, that’s usually a good sign. We’ll see whether this shape holds, but for now Juggernaut looks like one of those heroes you can still happily pick without second-guessing yourself.

Source: official Dota 2 and OpenDota data.

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