The Changes of Meta
During 6.72, the meta were more about split push and 4 pretect 1 strategy. The top carry heroes of that time were Anti Mage and Spectre. Occasionally, Weaver and Faceless Void were picked up by teams. All of those carry have 1 thing in common, mobility. Mobility for carry heroes was so important in 6.72 meta because teams liked to pick single core line-up. As we know, a carry without mobility can be kited easily with items like Force Staff and Ghost Scepter. Mobility also serves as escape mechanism. In the early game, teams liked to just sit back and farm up their carry. Anti Mage wa the dominating carry in because of his ability to farm and split push. Spectre is also very mobile, and is considered one of the best team fight carry.
When 6.74 came out, the meta had changed significantly. The meta game of that time was more pushing oriented. The top carry heroes of that time are Morphling, Lycan, Lone Druid and Naga Siren. The meta game had sped up compared to previous version. This forced teams to pick up carry heroes that are capable to fight in early game. Morphling is considered very powerful even in early game with high burst damage and insane escape machanism. Lycan and Lone Druid are very good pushers hence they can help their team to take down towers and secure their gold advantage. Naga Siren was picked for her insane team fight set-up as well as being a counter pick to Lycan. In late 6.74 Anti Mage was picked up quite a lot to counter Morphling.
During 6.75, deathball meta was born. The meta game was about early game team fight and aggression. With this kind of fast-paced meta, traditional hard carry like Anti Mage and Spectre simply need to much farm to come online and their popularity decreased. Teams switched to some carry heroes with great early game presence such as Luna, Lone Druid and Lifestealer. Phantom Lancer was picked occasionally by some teams. Anti Mage was still popular among chinese team.
For 6.77, the meta was basically the same as 6.75. Gyrocopter was being discovered and quicky gained his popularity. Gyrocopter is strong in all stages of game, and he has insane team fight contribution. Spectre had made a return to the meta game because she get some nice buff to her spell. She can basically just sit back and farm and use her ultimate whenever the team fight occurs. Alchemist was also picked by some teams. In this meta, teams usually picked at least 2 carry and tried to farm up both. For example, Lone Druid and Lifestealer combo was used a lot by team IG.
Meta Game of Today
We are now playing the 6.78 version. Meta game of today is similar to the deathball, but with more variation to it. Early game aggression is even becoming more common. Teams like to play aggressive trilane to shut down their enemy. Teams are more focused on gaining the map control and tried to force out early game team fight. Ganking is big part of this meta game as killing a hero now give much more assist gold. Duo-core or tri-core line-up are always picked up. 4-protect-1 strategy is just too risky because teams will tried to shut down that 1 position carry as much as possible. Most of the popular carry heroes are very good laner by themselves or they can contribute in early game team fight.
Now, let's go through the popular carry of 6.78
Gyrocopter
This hero is kinda hot now. His early game is unmatched by any other carry with his high nuking power. Rocket Barrage deals huge damage in the early game. This makes him a very good trilane carry. He can also provide a much needed follow-up stun. His ultimate is very strong team fight ability and can completely turn the fight if used correctly. Not to forget, his ultimate go through magic immunity (slow only). Flak Cannon is very good in both farming and team fight. Although this spell get a cooldown nefted recently, it is still insanely good. In my opinion, this hero completely outshine Luna with higher reliability throughout the game.
Alchemist
This hero is very versatile as he can be played by several different ways. If he get a free farm lane, he can max his Greevil's Greed and get massive farm advantage. If he faces against enemy trilane, he can max his stun and try to help his allies. If he faces against pushing line-up, he can max his Acid Spray for defensive purpose. His ultimate is one of the transformation spell, giving him huge HP bonus, regeneration and insane attack speed. As we see, he can easily get 6-slotted around 25-30 minutes and become completely unstoppable. However, he is not very good in very late game because he is not very mobile.
Spectre
This hero make a return to meta game because she get some huge buffs in previous version. Teams no longer play her as passive farming hero until she get Radiance. The meta game is not allowing it anymore. Today, players like to build Phase Boot, Drum into Diffusal Blade. This build allow her to participate in early game team fight. Haunt is such a good spell that it even deserved its spot as one of the best ultimate. It make spectre can keep on farming and she can choose to help her team whenever she wants. She also has superior mobility to keep on chasing her victim down. She is very hard to gank due to good escaping ability as well as being tanky. This hero is probably one of the best late game team fight carry if she get enough farm. However, she is weak before her level 6 and this means that she need a lot of protection before that.
Lone Druid
This hero was one of the most picked and banned hero in 6.77 version. He get some nefts in the latest version. Although not huge, but is enough to knock him down from top tier. He still has his strength and is still a worthy pick. He is one of the strongest laner and doesn't need any help in 1 vs 1 situation. Hence, supports are free to rotate. He is also extremely tanky after level 6, it means that he is not vulnerable to gank. His Spirit Bear is probably the strongest summon in the game. By using his Spirit Bear, his team can stay back and kinda slow siege towers. This is actually his biggest strength because his team can push with minimum risk. However, he can no longer buy Armlet on his bear. Hence, teams are forced to go for Radiance or MaelStrom build.
