“Dark Carnival,” the MMR reset, and Patch 7.41e—highlights from the We Say Things 297 podcast
Commentators Troels “syndereN” Nielsen Lingholt and Shannon “SUNSfan” Scott discussed on the We Say Things podcast the possible continuation of the “Dark Carnival” event, the absence of Maurice “KheZu” Gutman at The International 2026, the Chinese teams’ chances at the tournament, and the impact of the MMR reset and Patch 7.41e on the game. Here’s a quick rundown of the highlights in our article.
On the second act of “Dark Carnival” and reward items
syndereN expects Valve to be preparing a large-scale PvE mode for The International 2026, as the game has long lacked such events. In his opinion, a single-player format would be a disappointment, although overall the event makes a good impression. At the same time, Lingholt expressed dissatisfaction with the presented automatons, noting that he would have preferred to receive one or two full-fledged Arcana instead of a multitude of mediocre items.
On KheZu’s Absence from The International 2026 and China’s Chances at the Tournament
Both casters called Valve’s decision not to invite KheZu to the year’s main tournament unfair. SUNSfan and syndereN emphasized that Gutman is one of the scene’s best analysts, gets along great with his colleagues, and is every bit as good as the other invited experts.
Speaking about the Chinese region, the hosts estimated the likelihood of local teams failing to advance at roughly 50%. Shannon expressed confidence that Xtreme Gaming and LGD Gaming are capable of advancing to the playoffs, while Troels was skeptical of Xtreme, even predicting a 0-4 result for them due to their inconsistent form.
On the MMR reset and Patch 7.41e
syndereN called the MMR reset the most important change to matchmaking in recent years, emphasizing that the system should have been updated even earlier due to the massive MMR variance caused by double-rank tokens.
Commentators described Update 7.41e as too cautious. Lingholt noted that the patch only slightly adjusted the overpowered heroes, so the meta for The International 2026 will remain virtually unchanged compared to recent months. However, he acknowledged that Valve is forced to proceed cautiously ahead of the tournament to avoid critical bugs.
On the Immortal Draft system and alternative solutions
syndereN viewed the removal of Immortal Draft from his ranking positively, noting that the standard role distribution makes the draft process more comfortable. To address the shortage of players at ultra-high MMR levels without reverting to Immortal Draft, Troels proposed requiring esports players to select at least three roles when searching for matches. Under his proposal, the system would prioritize roles based on participants’ ratings.
Read also:
- syndereN on “The Dark Carnival”: “There Will Be at Least a Second Act” (first part of the podcast).
- syndereN on the Dota 2 rating reset: “One of the most significant changes in the last five years” (second part of the podcast).
Earlier, commentator Avery “SVG” Silverman spoke on the Not For Broadcast podcast about the Divine Rapier nerf in Patch 7.41e: “I refuse to believe that this was really such a big problem. Well, that just can’t be.”
Photo by Shannon “SUNSfan” Scott.
