The first 100 games often decide the Dota 2 meta-game at The International every year. Aside from unique strategies and off-meta picks, few heroes were heavily prioritized by all teams in almost 85 percent of the matches in TI11. There’s also an opposite side of this coin, as a handful of heroes were completely ignored.
With less than 14 matches to go in TI11, Marci’s currently the most demanded hero in the tournament. Marci was contested in 211 matches out of 219 despite receiving heavy nerfs a couple of months prior to TI11. Though the hero’s 76 percent win rate during the group stage dropped back to 50 percent, it was primarily due to her almost 100 percent pick rate.
Marci is closely followed by Enigma, who was banned or picked in 193 matches and Primal Beast was featured in 187 matches during the draft phase. Of these three meta-defining heroes, Enigma has the highest win rate at TI11 at 55.36 percent.
Crowd-controlling abilities have been the name of the game at TI11, and all three of these heroes are decked out with such skills. Marci’s immense mobility tools make her both an early and late-game threat.
Enigma and Primal Beast, on the other hand, feature two game-changing abilities in Black Hole and Pulverize. These two abilities can be used to secure essential kills during the late game and turn matches around.
While these three heroes topped the charts at TI11, there was an elite bunch that never saw the light of day. In 219 matches, eight heroes were never picked or banned, a situation worse than being picked and performing poorly.
Bounty Hunter, Clinkz, Dragon Knight, Keeper of the Light, Meepo, Techies, Treant Protector, and Windranger are currently at the bottom of the barrel, where they have been forgotten for now. These heroes lack the tools to stay relevant in today’s meta, but they may see some play if a team in the final four has a secret strat that features them.
Published: Oct 27, 2022 03:48 pm