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Heroes8 years agoGosu "GosuGamers" Gamers

The Top Hero picks from Dreamhack All-Stars: Winter Clash

Falstad, Kharazim and E.T.C disrupted the status quo in a big way during Dreamhack. Is EU paving the way for the new standard of play?

The last moments of Dreamhack Winter ranks among the most intense moments of Heroes of the Storm history: a fitting end to such a top tier gathering of EU's best Heroes of the Storm teams. Now that the dust has settled, the hero picks tell an interesting story of a changing EU Meta and what might be expected from the EU teams competing in WCA 2015 this month.

There are a lot of things that are to be expected on this list:
 

  •  For starters, Sonya, Uther, Tassadar and Muradin are all among the top picked heroes which is a reoccurring theme in all regions.
     
  • However, the amount of Kharazim, Falstad and E.T.C play may just be an EU phenomenon.
     
  • Kharazim being played more times than Uther is especially surprising and can most likely be attributed to the popularity of E.T.C and Sonya.
     
  • These two heroes pair well with Kharazim and provide a mobile melee line to better protect Kael'Thas.
     
  • Falstad's mighty gust was once thought to be an underpowered heroic, but with the right buffs to it's cool down and slow percentage, it is becoming a staple.
     
  • Team Liquid ran Falstad + E.T.C  every match multiple times, using Mighty gust in combination with Mosh Pit for serious team fight control.
     
  • Another important note is the lack of Jaina.  She was only banned 10 times and doesn't even make the top ten most picked heroes.

 

The most banned stats give us an even more complete picture of the meta that Dreamhack Winter has introduced:

 

  • People fear strong support heroes when paired with high impact melee heroes. 
     
  • Tassadar, Tyrande and Abathur all synergies with warriors and melee heroes and were banned for this reason.
     
  • Thanks to the recently buffed healing capabilities of Tyrande's Shadow Stalk, she has become one of the most universal
    picks that can fit any line up.
     
  • As a result, her ban stats sky rocket.


If we combine the two lists, we see the overall most contested heroes:

From all of this data, we can summize the following about EU's playstyle:
 

  • All hail the team wipe. The fall from popularity of AoE healers like Malfurion, Brightwing, and Rehgar, make Kael'Thas particularly deadly.
     
  • Tassadar, Uther, and Tyrande all excel at keeping one target alive through burst damage. Their popularity can likely be explained by the dominating presence of "All protect Sonya" compositions.
     
  • Kharazim is a support that excels in a constant skirmishes where snowball style chases occur. Falstad's Mighty Gust is an excelling defense against such chases.
     
  • Tyrael remains an EU favorite, leading the charge with Divine Judgment allowing either E.T.C, Tyrande, Sonya or Muradin to chain their CC's afterward.

 

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