Top 10 most influential heroes in Dota 2 history

DOTA2 has a huge amount of heroes but not all heroes have a big impact. Here are the Top 10 most influential heroes in the history of DOTA2 competition

Over the years, Dota 2 heroes have constantly changed to fit the meta game. But a few of those heroes still play an important role, not just in 1 or 2 meta.

In order for heroes to remember heroes that live forever, let’s take a look at the top 10 most influential heroes in Dota 2 history.

Before publishing the list, here are the criteria the authors used to select:

• Hero importance in Meta: Does this hero play an important role in many metas? and/or create metas around them? Including ban/pick ratio in all tournaments.
• Role Importance: How many roles does this hero have in Dota history? Does this hero change or strengthen that role in a new way, or completely change the way it was played before?
• Longevity: Is this hero important for a long time or years in Dota 2 history?
• Hero’s influence on player’s career and other factors: sometimes a hero’s influence can determine both the career of pro players and its influence on professional play. Dota 2 career

All data taken from November 20, 2017.

10. Rubick

Among the most picked heroes in professional competition, Rubick has appeared regularly since his debut. Rubick is a good gank hero with the ability to turn the tide if Spell Steal is used at the right time.

Rubick became the iconic hero of many players and became a key element in Dota 2’s most famous tackles.

The best Rubick tricks in Dota 2 history

The presence of a Rubick makes the opponent think carefully before launching important moves, because the rubick can completely change the situation in a split second. The players love to control this hero and the fans want to follow too – what more could you want?

Other notable stat: out of the top 12 heroes, Rubick is the 6th most controversial of the 7 TIs, and the 5th of all time.

9. Anti-Mage

From the early days of Dota 2, Anti-Mage has always been one of the standard carry heroes and created the brand of B-God BurNing.

B-God Burning’s Anti-Mage Brand

This was indeed true in the first year of Dota 2: Anti-Mage with the most bans being the 10th most picked hero at TI1. No matter how the meta changes, Anti-Mage is still popular.

The hero is so popular that for the past 8 years, the ability to master Anti-Mage has been seen as a measure of whether a player can play positions or not. Anti-Mage has always been and will continue to be the standard hero of many carry players in Dota 2.

8. Earth Spirit

Although newly added in Captain’s Mode in December 2015, Earth Spirit has become an integral part of professional competition. The huge gank range and easy roaming ability and helping 4th place support players have helped JerAx make a name for himself.

JerAx’s tackles with Earth Spirit

At TI6, Earth Spirit was banned/picked in half of the games and is currently the most competitive hero for 45th place, ahead of pre-existing heroes like Night Stalker (50th), Magnus (55th) and Dragon Knight (rank 64).

Earth Spirit changes the ban/pick method of teams and the roaming role of the 4th place support on the team. That’s why this hero is ranked 8th.

7. Shadow Fiend

Shadow Fiend has long been seen as the go-to for second-place gamers, the hero of what Anti-Mage did to carry players: become a yardstick to gauge their skills, so Shadow Fiend has more important than some other heroes.

Shadow Fiend is the typical hero of many players such as Ferrari_430, Arteezy, Mushi and has become the standard Hero used for 1v1 solo. While other heroes like Queen of Pain or Puck also have their own hero roles, neither of them have the same history as this hero.

RTZ vs Miracle in 1v1

Shadow Fiend was the most popular hero in the first 3 years of Dota. With players like Arteezy, he has made SF a stable pick in the safe-lane, giving the hero more influence in other lanes.

Let’s look at it this way: when players encounter Open AI, which hero do they usually play? Shadow Fiend of course! This alone does not show how important SF is in the professional scene.

6. Invoker

Invoker is seen as a new metric, replacing the old Shadow Fiend – this hero is used to measure the player’s skills and their ability to transform.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fxqfq3ogbog

Watch Miracle dance with Invoker

Although Invoker doesn’t affect the meta much, he can completely change the game. The ability to cause mutations and always present in the game make this hero very influential in Dota 2 history. Thanks to the skill set and flexible build, Invoker is very rarely outside the meta. Finally, the famous hero ranked 4th (37%), Invoker always pressured the opponent’s ban/pick every time a hero was picked.

5. Chen

Chen was once considered a measure of 4th place support, before Earth Spirit debuted between 2011 and 2013. While his popularity fluctuated somewhat, Chen was considered the hero who molded the meta suport in the game. The first 3 years of Dota 2. The danger of ganking and the ability to push turrets early made Chen an indispensable part of the strategy at that time. Chen was considered a hero in the career of many professional support players at the time, including Puppey, ChuaN, and Akke.

The time when Chen + Pudge hook combo was terrifying (can’t be done now)

Few heroes in the early Dota 2 era have as much influence and popularity as Chen.

But what makes Chen really stand out is the hero’s all-time high win rate (57%), a testament to how powerful this hero can be if it falls into the right hands.

Other notable stats: the 14th most banned hero of all time, and the 5th most banned hero at TI3

4. Dark Seer

No matter how the offlane meta changes, Dark Seer always has a place for himself, with the ability to greatly influence teamfight regardless of the lineup. DS is the hero that is always picked when the offlane is still too dangerous. Although after that, the offlane meta gradually became balanced and other offlane heroes gradually fell out of favor, Dark Seer has always existed.

There are times when the Dark Seer is unpopular, but that time is usually very short. But once it’s over, the DS gets picked up a lot. Dark Seer has been considered a benchmark against which to gauge the likes of other offlane heroes over the past 7 years.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jo66mTj8NZU

The Art of Playing the Dark Seer of the Boston Major

Basically, people who played offlane in Dota 2 will probably always have Dark Seer on their play list, whether they like the hero or not – showing the importance of DS in offlane history.

Other notable stats: 4th most picked hero of all time, 3rd most controversial hero of all time and 3rd most banned hero. Top 12 important heroes in 5 of 7 TIs already.

3. Nature’s Prophet

Since the game’s inception, Nature’s Prophet has been able to win the whole match alone, if in the hands of a good Prophet player can control the whole match to his liking.

Alliance’s AdmiralBulldog competes against Team Liquid

Prophet is a hero that is rarely unpicked. No matter how the meta changes, Prophet always finds a place in the offlane, jungle, safeland and sometimes even mid. Flexible NP, good map control, easy coordination with teammates and can win the game by yourself. The influence of NP spread to many consecutive years. This is the 9th most picked hero and also the 9th most controversial hero of all time.

2. Batrider

Batrider has always been influential no matter how he plays, especially from 2013 onwards. Able to initiate teamfights, strong disables, good lane keeping, and high damage, Batrider can fill almost any space the team needs. Initially played in the mid, batrider can move into the safe lane, offlane and sometimes even the support position.

Batrider has been the top pick in most of the current meta for the past 5 years and is the #1 ranked hero in over 3,000 ban-picks. Therefore, this hero has the most impact on stats of all time.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WwW1LyntoSc

Batrider in Miracle’s hands

Other notable stats: 3rd most picked hero of all time, most banned hero, 99% win rate in TI3.

1. Io

Io completely changed the gameplay in the game and created a lot of meta around this hero in almost 5 years. In any game that Io is picked, the game is pushed to a new level thanks to the ability to be present throughout the map, helping the team to survive thanks to the ability to save teammates. Io forces the opponent to think strategically while always helping his teammates gain the advantage. For that reason, Io is almost never left out regardless of meta changes, nerfs, or gameplay changes.

Io was most prominent at the time of The International 2013 – the tournament that was absolutely exploited by Alliance to win. In addition, Io has always been in the top 12 heroes that were banned/picked in 4th place in the last 5 TIs, proving Io’s persistence.

Amazing Io Processing

Whether you love it or hate it, its standout stats and influence on pro teams on match-by-match are undeniable – Io is the most important hero in Dota 2 history.

Other notable stats: The second most controversial hero of all time, the second most banned hero of all time, and the ninth most win rate of all time.

Parameters taken from GosoGamers.net, DotaBuff.com