New Dota 2 Hero at TI12 Opening Ceremony – All Hints & Leaks

Speculations are rife about the next hero to join the Dota 2 roster at the International 2023 (TI12). Valve is a master when it comes to foreshadowing and placing easter eggs in their Dota 2 Updates and announcements.

We will examine the potential candidates based on various teasers, leaks, and data-mined information.

Ring Master (Puppet Master)

The recent patch (7.33) titled “The New Frontiers“, provides interesting clues regarding the upcoming hero. Within the patch thumbnail picture, an intriguing circus ticket was found near the map, suggesting a character with a circus or entertainment background. This struck off as an oddball, considering none of the existing Dota 2 heroes have any circus theme.

We don’t consider this could tie down to the theme of TI12 either. This year’s theme is more grandeur than clownish, with the use of fancy stained glass.

Data miners have uncovered mentions of a ‘Puppet Master‘ from older lists. However, recent files indicate the term ‘Ring_Master‘, specifically within Rubick’s Arcana files. Rubick has the Spell Steal ultimate, which lets him steal any hero skill from an enemy hero, so the developers might be preparing a new Rubick Arcana effect for Ring Master’s stolen abilities.

As to why there is a change in name, it might be due to Valve’s intention to differentiate from a character in “Heroes of Newerth” that shares the same name, to avoid breaching potential intellectual property rights.

Bird Samurai or Black King

The Summer 2023 Client Update brought forward another mysterious piece of evidence of a new hero. The updated client featured an image with a faint list of heroes behind the layover for “Player Behaviour Summary” report.

While the hero name was censored, it’s enough of a hint as this narrows down the hero name, which fit alphabetically between Beastmaster and Bloodseeker, suggesting it begins with “B”. Previous data-mined lists include a ‘Bird Samurai‘ which aligns with this clue. Additional indicators include the mention of an item named ‘Samurai Tobi‘, initially slated for release in 7.33 but was later held back.

Alternatively, ‘Black King‘ (linked to the well-known Black King Bar) is also a possible option. Albeit, the current data offers limited evidence pointing towards their imminent introduction.

Eldor Wizard: A Transition from Meme to Game?

Lastly, this one’s rather farfetched, but another potential candidate emerging from data-mined information is the Eldor Wizard. The character has deep roots in the Dota 2 dev team, paying tribute to the longstanding “Shitty Wizard” meme. During the “emoji patch preview”, it inadvertently displayed the full name “Eldor El Mago” in its Spanish translation.

While this may seem like a tempting addition to Dota 2, note that historically, the “Shitty Wizard” has been portrayed as a humorous figure, riding the game’s donkey courier. As such, this could just be an inside joke among the janitors working behind the scenes.

Nevertheless, several other references include a figurine found in Muerta’s trailer and in-game elements, alluding to this character. This may suggest Valve’s potential interest in transitioning this meme into an in-game reality.

Release Speculations

While all speculations abound, it’s anticipated that the 125th Dota 2 hero will be unveiled during the International 2023 ceremony, set to take place from October 27-29.

Valve has a history of putting leaked content onto the shelf and delaying releases indefinitely, it’s possible that we will have an actual release of a new Dota 2 hero or two.

After all, Valve did mention they wanted to develop updates that cater to a bigger population of its playerbase instead of monetizing content as their main objective. This means two new Dota 2 heroes, such as the good old days of Dark Willow x Pangolier release or Snapfire x Void Spirit, are upon us.

As the Dota 2 community eagerly waits, these speculations based on data-mined content and subtle in-game hints fuel the excitement at TI12. The upcoming hero, be it a master of puppets, a warrior bird, or a wizard from the memes, will hopefully salvage the negativity that has built up over the underwhelming TI12-related festivities and no Battle Pass 2023.