Analyzing 6.88 Top Tier Offlaners
As Dota progresses, each role and position evolves. New and reworked heroes become viable on different positions and requirements for certain positions change. With the introduction of 
Iron Talon and a new, additional neutral camp, the offlane has changed a lot over the past year, allowing multiple heroes to return and excel in the position.
The following heroes are some of the currently most fearsome heroes in the pro scene--some also staples in the pub meta.
Faceless Void
Ever since the hero was reworked, Faceless Void has become a staple and one of the most popular picks in the offlane. 
Time Walk allows him to negate any burst damage, and it makes it difficult for enemies to kill him. In 1v1 scenarios, Void can trade much more efficiently as well and often time comes out ahead.
At TI6, Void was the 14th most contested and the 7th most picked hero. He’s a solid offlaner that suits many different line-ups and has a lot of potential for combination play, such as setting up an 
Invoker Sunstrike. He’s strong in both pro and pub metas, because he is difficult to counter. Surely, lane compositions can punish him and heroes like 
Disruptor will mess with his mobility, but overall he’s not like a Storm Spirit or Queen of Pain, where a single pick could ruin his laning stage and his entire impact. Worst case scenario, Void can fall back into the jungle with an Iron Talon.
His item build is quite flexible as well. For a while now, a 
Diffusal Blade and 
Manta Style build has been popular, though it’s also still legitimate to focus more on the ultimate and utility with an 
Aghanim's Scepter and 
Vladmir's Offering .
Void is the 4th most picked hero in the 5k+ MMR bracket, with a 51% win rate. Picking him rarely seems like a bad idea.
Sand King
Sand King fell out of favor once neutral creeps and their magic immunity was buffed. It prevented him from farming the jungle efficiently with Sandstorm. There’s been a trend recently that has led players to prioritize 
Caustic Finale. Not only does it make the hero more dangerous in the laning stage, it is also quite effective when farming the jungle.
As for the hero’s purpose in the game and his item build, it has all stayed the same. Sand King remains an initiator and ganker, whose goal it is to acquire a fairly early 
Blink Dagger, which he can use to find pick-offs and turn around teamfights. From here on out, any other mobility or magic damage enhancing item usually fits the bill.
His win rate in the 5k+ bracket (49%) is nothing to speak of, though with a pick rate of 21%, he’s the 11th most picked hero in the bracket. Competitively, Sand King is still a bit of a niche pick. There are certain teams and players who favor the hero, but he’s by no means as contested as other heroes in this category. Regardless, he’s a playmaker on the offlane who provides a lot of flexibility in the drafting as he works as both support and core.
Batrider
No matter the patch or meta, Batrider will find a way to sneak in. The hero’s ability to begin a teamfight 5vs4 is second to none, and his laning flexibility and farming make him transcend any patch.
At TI6, he was the 3rd most contested and the 2nd most picked hero, second to only Mirana. His pubstats don’t quite match-up and they rarely have. As strong as the hero may be competitively, he’s not worth noting in the pub scene. Batrider requires coordination and the team to move as a unit. Moves need to make sense and need to translate into objectives, which they don’t always do in pubs. As a result, he’s only picked in 3% of all games and even in the 5k+ bracket his win rate doesn’t go above 49%.
The new item and skill build of skipping 
Flaming Lasso early on and focus on farming with 
Drum of Endurance in pro games provides additional flexibility to the hero, and it could also help the hero be more successful in the pub scene, though our stats show that only barely 1% of skill builds don’t skill Lasso on level 6 so far.
Beastmaster
If Batrider poses a contrast between his competitive viability and his lack of popularity in pubs, then Beastmaster trumps that by a large margin. The hero has been one of the most reliable picks/bans this year, with multiple top contested spots at various LAN events. He fell off a bit and was “only” the 16th most contested hero at TI6, but he’s still a strong offlaner in the meta who has shown to be impactful in previous metas as well. He’s no Batrider in that regard, but he certainly competes for a top spot in this category.
As for pubs, Beastmaster fields a win rate of only 48% in the 5k+ bracket. He’s picked in only 2% of all games. Despite his split push potential and his ability to dominate lanes, he faces similar issues like Batrider. He needs communication to fully utilize his potential.
His item and skill build hasn’t changed much; the priority remains to acquire a fast 
Necronomicon (level 3) in order to push more efficiently. The lack of an alternative skill and item build might actually be part of the reason for his lacking popularity, as it is a rather one dimensional way of playing the hero, which doesn’t always work in pubs.
Offlaners the new playmakers
The offlane has evolved a lot over the past year, and one could argue that it has given birth to new playmakers in the meta. As more carries occupy the midlane, the offlane has become the new home for playmaking heroes and initiators. The ones listed above are only a fraction of viable heroes for the position; other heroes like 
Axe or even 
Puck are picked up and played there as well. Former Alliance drafter and playmaker, s4, has after all also transitioned into the offlane.
If the offlane has evolved this far within barely a year, what will it look like in 6.89, or 2017 for that matter? For now, this is where we are, and the heroes above present the best of the best in the current meta.
Image Sources:
Faceless Void Loading Screen by Valve
Me first
SECOND
I actually play mid... But i always transition to pos 3 with my 5k friend. (magnus, void, axe,timber[situational], bat) are my priority..
I wanted to read something about magnus in the article though..
I believe he's a very great mid/offlane hero for me
Nice article :)
3k scrub here haha
why not brood? we have seen admiral buldog winning his all brood games at the ti6
What about Dark Seer?
beastmaster doesnt show loading screen..
Phoenix is also a niche pick, can destroy a weak dual or trilane.
thx for write up. Not seeing bat, but Void is everywhere.
Dark seer is da real staple pick
i weep for dotabuff blog post writers to think up stuff to write about and i pray to icefrog to ease your suffering by making IO a carry, making sven a INT hero and other unthinkable changes that u people really have to think about what the fuck is wrong with this patch
BUT seriously most balanced or most boring PATCH. PLEASE STOP POSTING ABOUT 6.88 and write a post that we seriously need a big patch this patch is dead and decomposed we need a newborn from the loins of icefrog.
yeah phoenix is a great offlaner, especially if the sup don't know how to harras / zoneoff offlaner
There are many offlaners that offer great utility for the team. Tidehunter is a good example. I see that the offlaners' many advantage is utility for the team. They bring necessary tools that help win fights. I play offlane most of the time and all the heroes mentioned in this post are great.
@dVAncED_N00B Things might change when Sun Wukong/Monkey King comes out.
@Abysswalker That may take a couple of months though. They're also working on the Juggernaut Arcana simultaneously. Since valve is well known for "polishing" stuff for months.
BM is iverestimated, void is legit good and batrider is just roastin' u know, sk w/e
@Abysswalker there should be something big coming out in the next 10-15 days because the average time between patches is around 115 days and 109 days have passed since last big patch . well maybe a little later becasue they have so much to release like underlord balance changes, monkey king, arcana, and other winter related stuff or maybe diretide(hopefully).
Omg Beastmaster TOP
I'm confused as to why people think this is a "Dead patch"... Is it because there's no go-to shit stomp hero for you to grind your MMR up with?
I've got a feeling batrider will be overnerfed again soon. The problem with that hero is that he is always either borderline useless or borderline OP. Lasso is just such a great spell, but it's not what makes the hero who he is.
> fell out of favor once neutral creeps and their magic immunity was buffed. It prevented him from farming the jungle efficiently with Sandstorm
what is the solo ranking of the post writer? does it start with 3?
what about slardar?? The most scary pick for the opponents
Timbersaw is still pretty viable. His many appearances at TI6 show that (130 games/54% win rate). Also the fact that his only core item is bloodstone opens many diverse ways of playing him such as: cutting down trees and then freezing them; cutting down double the trees or cutting down trees faster and getting healed for it (just to name a few possibilities). He also is still a great pubstomper as long as no one picks Juggernaut because despite the fact that most of Timbersaw's damage is pure none of it pierces spell immunity (I learnt this the hard way). To be honest Skim i'm just butthurt about the fact you made an article about my favourite position but not my favourite tree fellar fella :P
Finally some recognition to Puck offlaners. People tend to underestimate Puck's offlaning capabilities cuz they always say that, "Puck offlane is too soft/fragile". But this clearly depends on the one who's playing. It may be fragile but it can be the most mobility & playmaker as an offlaner.
wtf no nyx?
no nyx , no slardar , no brood GG WP
I hope they nerf Faceless Void, he directly can't be countered, I have no idea on what to do against him.
Also no Timbersaw?
what about timber...
nyx, slardar
i'm 3k and i'm happy ahahaha
who play cs go:use affilate code bigboss1---->D R A K E M O O N . C O M and get free case!
Тайдхантер по прежнему самый один из самых сильных харлейнеров.
@ "@dVAncED_N00B", this patch is crazy balanced and that makes the game great, not bad. With this patch soo much is viable...so diversity is boosted. How is that boring??
Я ПЁРНУУУУУУУУУУУЛ
And we 2k's got tinker offlaner lul
lich offlaner > all
earthshaker is a good offlane pick too
До сих пор не понимаю,зачем перед выходом очередного патча(6.89) делать инфу про текущий(6.88),который скоро уйдет в небытие?Почему нельзя сделать всю инфу через неделю после выхода патча,а не под его конец?
BristleBack ez offlane
UNDERLORD is easily the most broken and underrated offlane hero in this patch
Honestly Slardar is the perfect offlaner given his abilities.
Sprint which allows him to out maneuver heroes once he hits level 6 and roams to gank
Crush which is a great stun with short cd and decent stun time
Bash cause why not?
Amp Damage for vision and damage which allows his team to kill heroes/rs faster and is great for helping Slardar farm
Liked the article but dont know, why you didnt add timber and slardar.