This article was originally published on GameSpot's sister site onGamers.com, which was dedicated to esports coverage.

　　The changelog for last night's Dota 2 update only listed one item however that item was the addition of Ember Spirit being added into Captain's Mode which means he is available right now in all future tournament games to be picked, banned or ignored.

　　onGamers reached out to a number of players across a range of teams to gather their reaction to the news and whether or not they think the hero will be viable in this meta.

　　

Reactions From Around The Scene

Jonathan 'Loda' Berg from Alliance

Of course it will be viable. It's broken.

　　

Tal 'Fly' Aizik from Fnatic

I think Ember Spirit is a very strong hero, the hero is good early game and becomes very scary late game. He has what most ideal carries want which is a getaway, a way to farm and the potential to kill everything with one button later on. I can see him work mostly as a safe lane carry but could even go middle. Also great for killing offlaners early on having an immobilize and a way to deal a lot of damage (flameguard).

　　

Jonathan 'Unicornxoxo' Arge from Meet Your Makers

I think adding him into CM is all right, he can easily be countered by disables and high physical damage. But if he goes out of control he can be unstoppable with his high movability. I think he will see a lot of play, until people figure him out. And then he will picked sometimes, maybe as a surprise pick or in some special strategy.

　　

Sébastien '7ckngMad' Debs from Sigma.int

Ember spirit is added to CM mode, and that's a good thing. He is definitely viable in competitive dota, as he is a good solo mider, carry, and probably even offlaner ( with some support, for instance ). I'm really looking forward to see him in action. He will surely be a firstpick/ban material, at least for the first days of his introduction in the professional scene.

　　

Jimmy 'DeMoN' Ho from Team Dog

I think with the addition of Ember Spirit it will make the games much more interesting :).

　　

Tyler 'TC' Cook from Team Liquid

One of my favourite heroes added to CM mode! When played at a high level Ember Spirit can easily take over a game. It will be interesting to see if teams will put him in mid or in the safelane, as well as which item builds players go for. Some prefer to go for the late game battlefury builds, while others like myself prefer to use his early fighting potential. He is quite strong against some of the commonly picked heroes, and can really excel at punishing solo offlaners with his massive initiation range.

　　

Sam 'BuLba' Sosale from Team Liquid

Ember spirits one of my favorite heroes to play in pubs. His skill cap is pretty high and there’s a lot of stuff you can do with the hero. I think he is best as a safe laner farmer because he needs farm pretty early and a good start. Can't wait to see how people use the hero. He's imbalanced in a pub setting kind of like Slark but not sure how he will be in competitive.

　　

Niklas 'Wagamama' Högström from QPAD Red Pandas

He's most definitely playable as without the proper lockdown spells (hex, silence etc) he can dish out immense damage in any fight. He's one of the strongest at solo killing in the game so I think he might be picked up quite frequently.

　　

Ember Spirit In Action

Yesterday's SADBOYS vs Swagenteiger Game 2 of the JoinDOTA League featured one of the first competitive Ember Spirits in Dota 2 being played by Clinton 'Fear' Loomis. You can see the highlights of that match below.