Dota 2: Post-ESL Katowice and MDL Macau meta recap

ESL Katowice and MDL Macau have closed. Let’s look back and analyze what’s so special about the meta at these two tournaments.

The top teams participate in two tournaments taking place at the same time. As a result, we have more data to analyze. Meta becomes slower compared to 7.20, but sometimes there are cases of outdraft. Hand of Midas is once again the meta of 7.21b: teams get to Midas early and win with a gold advantage or lose because of their greed.

Overall, the game went pretty well, with very few heroes being ignored in both tournaments.

SMALL STABLE META

Shadow Shaman, Earth Spirit, and Elder Titan are some of the most successful and popular supports in the professional scene. Shadow Shaman is a hero worth picking, especially when you’re a greedy support.

Earth Spirit is a bit controversial: on one hand, despite being nerfed over the years, the hero is still popular and a successful support in the professional scene. On the other hand, the hero’s win rate at the highest rank is still below 50%. That means you should pick Earth Spirit only if you know what you’re doing – practicing this hero in unranked games is totally worth it.

Remember to carry your TP and communicate with the lanes when facing Earth Spirit, so you can easily bully this hero early game if you play carefully. Earth Spirit that started badly won’t be a threat until the late game.

Elder Titan belongs to the category of heroes that need practice first, but statistically, this hero is easier to deploy. Elder Titan’s Aura works well without a lot of knowledge from the player, but getting the most out of the skill set in the laning phase requires you to know how to control the microphone well. In the later stages as well as during teamfight, the Elder Titan’s presence cannot be underestimated, and pub gamers often enjoy fighting, even though it shouldn’t be.

Troll Warlord is one of the hot heroes of this meta. Hero has a 60% win rate in both tournaments and is the answer to going up against popular heroes like Lifestealer and Ursa. Trolls can fight early game, pressure turrets, eat Roshan and farm well in lane. While not particularly good at everything like some of the current meta heroes, Troll can do all of the above and help balance the draft.

Leshrac is also making a comeback, often being picked up in the offlane to put pressure on lane and take turrets. This hero also creates a lot of space for the team in the mid game, especially when starting well. Leshrac gets weak pretty quickly once the enemy starts getting BKB, but if you’re confident in your late game abilities, this hero can become a very strong core. In addition, when reaching level 25, Leshrac will again become a big force on the map, no matter how much BKB charge at that time.

HEROS ARE NOT USED

Warlock is currently underrated, but some teams have begun to take notice of the hero. In the game, where Phantom Assassin usually gets to Midas before BKB and Juggernaut becomes less common, only Lifestealer has easy Fatal Bonds dispels and this move is extremely powerful in early game teamfight and can punish greedy heroes . The latest buff for Upheaval also makes it cost less mana and can be used as a tool to isolate enemies early in the game. We will talk about this hero in future articles.

Slardar is also not used by many pro teams despite playing well at high pub ranks. The stun immunity-piercing with 4 second cooldown is really useful if you want to focus on an opponent, allowing the team to deal with that enemy quickly. This hero has a win rate of over 60% in both tournaments and we will probably see Slardar pick up more in the upcoming Minor and Major.

Viper suddenly emerged in the later stages of the two tournaments, constantly present in the game and catching up with the farm. In the article analyzing mid heroes at 7.21b, we mentioned that this hero usually maxes Nethertoxin first to deal high damage, plus his ability to farm quickly.

EPILOGUE

The diverse meta is what sets Dota apart from simpler games and makes in-game strategy interesting. That means in pubs, you should choose your hero according to your opponent’s pick. Try out strange heroes, new combos and surprises to win more.

According to Dotabuff