7.19b:
==

* Buyback respawn time penalty changed from +25% of remaining time to +25s always

* Level 2 XP requirement changed from 200 to 230 (in a scenario where Team A gets 2 melee denies per wave, and team B gets 1 melee deny per wave: Team A wave requirement for level 2 increases from 2 waves to 3 waves. Team B wave requirement remains at 3 waves. Total XP needed for other levels unchanged. )

* Glyph is now on cooldown until the 3 minute timer in-game

* Stout Shield: Damage block for melee heroes increased from 18 to 20
* Ring of Aquila: Bonus damage reduced from 10 to 7
* Mekansm: Heal increased from 250 to 275
* Guardian Greaves: Heal increased from 250 to 275
* Urn of Shadows: Heal rate reduced from 35 to 30
* Spirit Vessel: Heal rate reduced from 35 to 30
* Spirit Vessel: Movement speed bonus reduced from 30 to 20
* Scythe of Vyse: Manacost increased from 100 to 250
* Phase Boots: Speed bonus on ranged heroes reduced from 16% to 13%
* Phase Boots: Instant turn ra te is now a melee only feature

* Alchemist: Greevil's Greed bounty rune multiplier rescaled from 3.5x to 2/2.5/3/3.5x
* Bloodseeker: Bloodrage heal rate reduced from 19/21/23/25% to 16/19/22/25%
* Broodmother: Base agility reduced by 3
* Chen: Penitence duration reduced from 8 to 5/6/7/8
* Clinkz: Base strength reduced by 2
* Crystal Maiden: Crystal Nova manacost increased from 130/140/150/160 to 130/145/160/175
* Dark Willow: Shadow Realm damage reduced from 120/200/280/360 to 90/180/270/360
* Dark Willow: Cursed Crown cast point increased from 0.1 to 0.2
* Drow Ranger: Base agility reduced from 26 to 19 (base damage unchanged)
* Drow Ranger: Agility gain increased from 1.9 to 2.2
* Drow Ranger: Base attack animation time improved from 0.7 to 0.65
* Enchantress: Base movement speed reduced by 15
* Gyrocopter: Base agility reduced by 5 (base damage and armor unchanged)
* Huskar: Base damage reduced from 42-51 to 40-45
* Huskar: Level 10 Talent increased from +175 Health to +225
* Io: Spirits cooldown from 20/18/16/14 to 26/22/18/14
* Io: Level 10 Talent reduced from +25% XP to +20%
* Mirana: Level 15 Talent reduced from +100 Leap Attack Speed to +80
* Nature's Prophet: Base damage reduced by 3
* Necrophos: Agility rescaled from 15 + 1.2 to 12 + 1.3
* Necrophos: Base movement speed reduced by 5
* Phantom Lancer: Level 25 Talent reduced from -7s Doppelganger CD to -6s
* Silencer: Arcane Curse manacost increased from 75/95/115/135 to 105/115/125/135
* Spectre: Spectral Dagger linger duration reduced from 2 to 1
* Spectre: Dispersion max reflection range reduced from 1000 to 700
* Spectre: Desolate single hero range check increased from 325 to 375
* Tiny: Tree Grab manacost increased from 20/30/40/50 to 50
* Tiny: Avalanche cooldown increased from 20/19/18/17 to 23/21/19/17
* Ursa: Overpower manacost increased from 45/55/65/75 to 75
* Vengeful Spirit: Wave of Terror cooldown increased from 10 to 16/14/12/10
* Weaver: The Swarm manacost increased from 70/80/90/100 to 110
* Wraith King: Wraithfire Blast cooldown increased from 11/10/9/8 to 14/12/10/8

7.19b:
==

* Buyback respawn time penalty changed from +25% of remaining time to +25s always

* Level 2 XP requirement changed from 200 to 230 (in a scenario where Team A gets 2 melee denies per wave, and team B gets 1 melee deny per wave: Team A wave requirement for level 2 increases from 2 waves to 3 waves. Team B wave requirement remains at 3 waves. Total XP needed for other levels unchanged. )

* Glyph is now on cooldown until the 3 minute timer in-game

* Stout Shield: Damage block for melee heroes increased from 18 to 20
* Ring of Aquila: Bonus damage reduced from 10 to 7
* Mekansm: Heal increased from 250 to 275
* Guardian Greaves: Heal increased from 250 to 275
* Urn of Shadows: Heal rate reduced from 35 to 30
* Spirit Vessel: Heal rate reduced from 35 to 30
* Spirit Vessel: Movement speed bonus reduced from 30 to 20
* Scythe of Vyse: Manacost increased from 100 to 250
* Phase Boots: Speed bonus on ranged heroes reduced from 16% to 13%
* Phase Boots: Instant turn ra te is now a melee only feature

* Alchemist: Greevil's Greed bounty rune multiplier rescaled from 3.5x to 2/2.5/3/3.5x
* Bloodseeker: Bloodrage heal rate reduced from 19/21/23/25% to 16/19/22/25%
* Broodmother: Base agility reduced by 3
* Chen: Penitence duration reduced from 8 to 5/6/7/8
* Clinkz: Base strength reduced by 2
* Crystal Maiden: Crystal Nova manacost increased from 130/140/150/160 to 130/145/160/175
* Dark Willow: Shadow Realm damage reduced from 120/200/280/360 to 90/180/270/360
* Dark Willow: Cursed Crown cast point increased from 0.1 to 0.2
* Drow Ranger: Base agility reduced from 26 to 19 (base damage unchanged)
* Drow Ranger: Agility gain increased from 1.9 to 2.2
* Drow Ranger: Base attack animation time improved from 0.7 to 0.65
* Enchantress: Base movement speed reduced by 15
* Gyrocopter: Base agility reduced by 5 (base damage and armor unchanged)
* Huskar: Base damage reduced from 42-51 to 40-45
* Huskar: Level 10 Talent increased from +175 Health to +225
* Io: Spirits cooldown from 20/18/16/14 to 26/22/18/14
* Io: Level 10 Talent reduced from +25% XP to +20%
* Mirana: Level 15 Talent reduced from +100 Leap Attack Speed to +80
* Nature's Prophet: Base damage reduced by 3
* Necrophos: Agility rescaled from 15 + 1.2 to 12 + 1.3
* Necrophos: Base movement speed reduced by 5
* Phantom Lancer: Level 25 Talent reduced from -7s Doppelganger CD to -6s
* Silencer: Arcane Curse manacost increased from 75/95/115/135 to 105/115/125/135
* Spectre: Spectral Dagger linger duration reduced from 2 to 1
* Spectre: Dispersion max reflection range reduced from 1000 to 700
* Spectre: Desolate single hero range check increased from 325 to 375
* Tiny: Tree Grab manacost increased from 20/30/40/50 to 50
* Tiny: Avalanche cooldown increased from 20/19/18/17 to 23/21/19/17
* Ursa: Overpower manacost increased from 45/55/65/75 to 75
* Vengeful Spirit: Wave of Terror cooldown increased from 10 to 16/14/12/10
* Weaver: The Swarm manacost increased from 70/80/90/100 to 110
* Wraith King: Wraithfire Blast cooldown increased from 11/10/9/8 to 14/12/10/8

Grimstroke
- Phantom's Embrace: Fixed the phantom latching to invulnerable targets (e.g. Cycloned units and Storm Spirit in Ball Lightning).
- Ink Swell: Fixed caster needing to be alive for the explosion damage and stun to apply
- Soulbind: Fixed its interaction with Witch Doctor’s Cask, Bounty Hunter’s Shuriken Toss, and Legion Commander’s Duel.

Grimstroke
- Stroke of Fate: reduced movement slow duration 2->1.5
- Stroke of Fate: movement slow can now be dispelled
- Stroke of Fate: reduced projectile vision radius (240->160)
- Stroke of Fate: reduced projectile’s endpoint vision radius (300->160) and duration (3.34->2)
- Stroke of Fate: fixed +600 range talent incorrectly updating the range preview
- Phantom's Embrace: reduced phantom unit's vision range 400->200
- Phantom's Embrace: changed latch duration 4.0/4.5/5.0/5.5 -> 4.0/4.0/5.0/5.0
- Phantom's Embrace: if the target dies, the Phantom now flies back to caster to refresh the cooldown
- Phantom's Embrace: fixed a bug with +2 hits required talent only giving +1.3 hits (4 non-hero hits instead of 6)
- Ink Swell: reduced bonus movespeed 28/32/36/40->18/22/26/30
- Ink Swell: damage and stun amounts now range from 0 to max, instead of from a base value to max
- Ink Swell: ink tendril particle doesn't display if the affected enemy unit is invisible
- Soulbind: no longer sees through invisibility on leashed targets
- Reduced model scale 0.81->0.76
- Fixed some tooltip values that didn't updated with talent values
- Added some tooltip notes

The Road to the Aegis
Congratulations to OG, Grand Champions at The International 2018.

OG defied all predictions, making the journey to this year's tournament through the gauntlet of the Open Qualifiers.

At first, they struggled in the group stage. But an impressive run over the final two days helped secure fourth seed and a trip to the Upper Bracket of the Main Event.

On the main stage, top-seeded VGJ.Storm were waiting. The North American squad drew first blood and kept on rolling. Riding the play of newly-returned Ana, OG weathered the early aggression, taking game one in a sudden reversal, and maintaining the momentum for a 2-0 series win.

Next would come a grudge match against Evil Geniuses. After a convincing win in game one, OG looked to close out the series, opening up a big lead. But Evil Geniuses showed amazing resilience, clawing back to force a game three. In the rubber match, Evil Geniuses tried to smash OG's defenses -- which bent but did not break. A clutch buyback teamfight wiped Evil Geniuses' chances, and earned OG a spot in the Upper Bracket Final.

With a spot in the Grand Final at stake, OG's next series came against PSG.LGD. After trading the first two games of the series, OG outlasted the DPC powerhouse in a tense battle that saw PSG.LGD throw all their heroes at the OG throne. With the help of Jerax's Earthshaker, OG barely held on, storming across the map to make a victory push of their own.

But PSG.LGD defeated Evil Geniuses in the Lower Bracket Final to set up a rematch, and a five-game Grand Final series for the ages.

There, PSG.LGD would take a 2-1 series advantage before pushing OG to the brink in game four. As they had done throughout the tournament, OG held on. Leveraging plays both crafty and clutch, they were able to outlast PSG.LGD to force a deciding game five. With an unorthodox draft of heroes that hadn't seen much success in the tournament, OG once again held out against an early PSG.LGD lead, turning the game around at the 25-minute mark and never looking back. Massive underdogs at the start of the tournament, OG took game five, and with it, the Aegis.

As bearers of the ultimate symbol of victory, these names shall forever be inscribed upon the Aegis of Champions:


2018
Anathan "ana" Pham
Topias "Topson" Taavitsainen
Sébastien "Ceb" Debs
Jesse "JerAx" Vainikka
Johan "N0tail" Sundstein



Looking Back
If you missed any of the tournament, or just want to relive the incredible moments and plays, head over to the Dota 2 YouTube channel, where you can find replays of the entire tournament, including broadcast content from in between the games. You can also find a stash of photos from the event over on the Media page and the Dota 2 Flickr.

We would like to thank all of the players, talent, and everyone in the Dota community for helping bring this celebration to life. The International is the crowning moment of the competitive season, and without everyone’s support, none of this would be possible. We hope you enjoyed this year’s tournament as much as we did.

The Days Ahead
In the wake of The International, we're extending the Battle Pass for two more weeks. So everyone that was busy watching OG's road to the Aegis can now enjoy their Battle Pass features until Monday, September 10.

Today's update releases a new hero — Grimstroke — into the world.

Chosen to serve as an arcane guardian of his people, Grimstroke was instead responsible for their eternal corruption. Trapped in agony as inky revenants, his former kindred cast cruel shadows of what might have been. But the sacrifice infused Grimstroke with great power, and he considers it a price well paid.

Learn more about Grimstroke and his abilities here. Or just launch Dota 2 and try your own hand at wielding the master's brush.

Following Grimstroke's release, the next hero debut will come this winter when Mars strides onto the battlefield, ready for war.

Don't miss out on the thrilling conclusion of The International tomorrow, August 25th. Broadcast begins at 10:00am PDT, and you can tune in right here on Steam.tv.

- Fixed a bug with the interaction of Undying's respawn talent and Wraith King's Aghanim's Scepter upgrade.
- Fixed a bug with Windranger's Sylvan Vedette and her Focus Fire ability.

* Fixed a bug where Morphling's Morph was triggering Aftershock.
* Added a new webpage where you can set your fantasy lineup and check your points during The International: http://www.dota2.com/fantasy

* Fixed Ball Lightning refunding too much mana when spam clicking it while already in ball lightning.
* Fixed a rare bug with Alchemist stun malfunctioning with high amounts of cooldown reduction.

The International Group Stage is just five days away, and as we await the crowning event of the Dota 2 competitive season, it's time to check in on some of the final details for those watching the event.

Tournament News
As always, you can check out your in-game Compendium for a complete list of Casters and Talent for this year's event. While you're there, don't forget to fill out your predictions for hero picks, team results, player performance, and tournament meta. Predictions lock before the start of Group Stage play.

Today we've also launched the official tournament website for The International 2018, your hub for keeping up with the day-to-day of tournament proceedings. As the Group Stage and Main Event progress, you'll be able to see updated standings and new social media content posted each day from Vancouver.

• Group Stage: August 15th – August 18th, 2018 – Like last year, two best-of-two groups of nine teams. Top four teams in each group advance to Upper Bracket, four – eight advance to Lower Bracket, bottom in each group is eliminated.
  
  
• Main Event: August 20th – August 25th, 2018 – As before, 16 teams battle through a best-of-three double elimination playoff. Lower bracket first round is best-of-one, Grand Finals are best-of-five.
  

Media
Eighteen teams from around the world have earned a place in Vancouver for the final test of the Dota competitive season. Look back on their journeys to the tournament with The International Lowdown videos. Multiple videos are already available with more coming each day as we approach Group Stage. Once the tournament begins, check in on what's happening both on stage and behind the scenes on our media page, which features all content from our Youtube Channel, Twitter feed, and Instagram.

Newcomer Stream
Help friends interested in learning more about Dota understand the tournament flow by sending them to the Newcomer Stream. They'll be able to watch the main broadcast enhanced with contextual overlays that call out information helpful for understanding the intricate world of Dota during the biggest event of the season.

Pubstomps
There’s no better way to enjoy Dota than watching The International with friends. But not every fan can make the journey to Vancouver to witness the tournament in person. To help people around the world connect with each other for their own celebratory Dota events, we’ve once again partnered with Barcraft United to facilitate Pubstomp administration. Just visit the Barcraft landing page to find a Pubstomp in your area.