[Update #2]: Dota 2's Update 7.32d has nerfed Marci, Wraith Pact, as well as rebalanced a whole bunch of other heroes and items.

[Update]: Dota 2's next hero, the ghastly gunslinger Muerta, will be launching in early 2023.

Dota 2's biggest annual tournament The International 2022 will be kicking off on October 7th, and in order to make sure the gameplay side of things goes smoothly Valve has now unleashed Update 7.23c. Unlike some of the previous balance updates this one hasn't done anything drastic like add new types of creeps, but has instead focused on sorting out some of the more problematic interactions and heroes.

For example, the omnipresent Refresher Orb and its little brother Refresher Shard have both received sizable nerfs. Their cooldowns no longer decrease while in the backpack, and more importantly, they now share a cooldown! So if players want to have a fresh BKB for those late-game fights, they'll actually have to keep the Refresher Orb in their inventory, at least until its cooldown is up.

The update has also nerfed lane-dominating heroes like Batrider and Chen, while also buffing some of the outliers like Broodmother and Meepo. Oh, and given that this is The International season we're talking about, it should come as little surprise to hear that the usual suspects like Elder Titan, Magnus and Tiderhunter have snatched a couple of minor buffs to make sure they'll be seen on the big stage.

If you're interested in all of the details, including the classic Rubick related bug fixes, you can find what you seek over at the Dota 2 website.

Once the next big update arrives, most likely a month or two after The International 2022, I'll make sure to let you know. Until then, enjoy the games!