Dota 2: What can we learn from the meta in StarLadder ImbaTv Minor 2020

The day has come again, it’s time for us to review the meta of the tournament. This time, the article will focus on some interesting meta development directions, instead of discussing the whole meta in Dota 2.

STABLE HEROS IN META

The latest patch is quite diverse, but we are slowly seeing some stable names. The four heroes that are more than 80% popular are Batrider, Timbersaw, Nyx Assassin and Ancient Apparition. Interestingly enough, of these four heroes, the first two are not among the top 19 picks of the tournament – ​​they are usually banned first and teams don’t seem to want to go up against them.

Nyx is an extremely versatile support, gives good map control and is the antithesis of many popular heroes today. But it is Ancient Apparition that is the hero that deserves more attention. With an 83% win rate in 12 games, AA is the most consistently successful hero of the tournament.

The current meta focuses on teamfights, as well as additional changes to spell immunity. Therefore, it’s not too strange that the hero excels at ganking at level 6 and has the potential to neutralize such powerful objects, but AA’s strength is really in the laning phase.

Pro support players tend to go 1-0-2 at level 3 and max Ice Vortex as soon as possible: magic damage amplification is probably the most underrated mechanism this hero has at the moment. own.

NEW NAMES?

Death Prophet is not as popular as Ancient Apparition, but has a similar win rate. This hero has been neglected in the past several patches and now, we can confidently say that this hero is not only ignored, but also despised. The latest patch buffs the hero up a bit, but it’s not the biggest factor in Death Prophet’s sudden success.

As mentioned in the previous post, Death Prophet’s big change comes from an adjustment in spell immunity: Spirit Siphon is a non-dispell debuff applied to an opponent: it persists if BKB is activated AFTER the skill has been used. . This is a big change, allowing heroes to play more actively, so that Death Prophet can heal in the middle of a fight, as long as the skill is used at the right time.

We also get to see the Aghanim’s Scepter for Death Prophet appear again, and it’s still as scary as before: no items that add close to 400 HP, 300 Mana, and about 110 damage to the hero for 4200 gold. In addition, it also gives DP skill through BKB, adds survivability and increases farming speed. Maybe rushing to the greens is a bad idea, but at least that’s what the pros think. The green staff should be the second or third main item for Death Prohet.

SNAPFIRE – OVERVIEWED OR STILL UNDERSTANDING POTENTIAL?

Earlier, the article made an assertive prediction that Snapfire was understood by the Chinese region. Snapfire’s win rate in the China qualifiers was the lowest and that could be due to the fact that the Chinese community already knew the hero so well, not because of insufficient practice. And this prediction was correct.

Snapfire won four of the 15 games that came out. This hero was used by Aster.Boboka three of those four wins. Boboka has always maxed out Scatterblast with a few points on other moves, but it’s actually the standard Snapfire build.

The biggest difference is that Aster never picked up Snapfire without another disable: They had a puck in two games and a Rubick, LC, Bloodseeker combo in the other. All of this allows Snapfire to become more efficient.

EPILOGUE

The Major starts in a week and we expect the top teams to make further adjustments to the Dota 2 meta in general. A lot of heroes still don’t compete in the Minor and among them, there are heroes that deserve the attention and treatment they deserve by top pro players.