G-League Group Stage Draft Analysis

Dark Seer is not a must-ban hero anymore. The times of him being the top priority in the first banning round are over, though he's still getting banned often. The Nyx Assassin is the newest hero in this compilation of top-banned heroes. Undying is currently unbeatable in banning numbers, he really rarely reaches the picking phase.

Concerning the picks, Shadow Demon surprisingly has reached the top. Even surpassing Lone Druid, he's been the most played hero in the G-League group phase by far, though not always meaning success (see below). The versatility of Lone Druid, being able to 5-man-dota and to split push very well has made him the top pick. Jakiro, Leshrac, Tidehunter, top picks in the last patch, have come out of frequency. Only in case of Jakiro, this can be traced down to the patch changes, as Ice Path was nerfed a bit.




It's some supports who really have a great time at the G-League group phase. Keeper of the Light and Enigma are the most successful heroes in those 32 matches so far. Are we seeing a return of the Anti-Mage, especially considering the final day's plays in the tiebreakers? Or are the two LGD squads and iG capable of diminishing his power with their special playstyles?




Frequency is not a guarantee for success. Although Shadow Demon was picked up a lot of times, his record is pretty bad. Sven, a successful pick of the past also didn't find much of luck in the G-League tournament so far. Because of the low number of games overall, the tables of winning percentage and score difference do not differ a lot in both most and least successful heroes.

Most picked and banned heroes (max. 32)
#	Hero	W/L	Picks and bans
1	Batrider	8-5	32
2	Lone Druid	10-10	32
3	Nyx Assassin	8-5	32
4	Shadow Demon	9-15	31
5	Magnus	7-6	29

Looking at the combined picks and bans numbers gives an insight into the meta-game importance of a hero. Interestingly, Undying falls behind in this category a bit. Though he's a high priority in terms of bans, it seems like he sometimes doesn't fit into the lineup anymore in many cases when he's not banned. Batrider, Lone Druid and Nyx Assassin as well as Shadow Demon are almost never left out in the whole draft.

Undying was only picked up in 3 games out of the 7 where he was not banned. Undying, Dark Seer and Batrider follow the heroes in the table, all with 28 picks or bans in 32 games.

First Draft Rounds
Team	Typical first ban round heroes
LGD.int	//
LGD.cn	/
DK	///
ForLove	///
iG	///
TongFu	//
MUFC	//
ViCi	///

The first four bans are crucial to the style of Dota 2 you want to play. By not allowing four total heroes to be picked at all in the draft, certain game plans are simply removed. In this question, the teams. Many teams in G-League have opted for Batrider, Lone Druid, Undying, Nyx Assassin or Chen as the heroes they never want to see.

First Pick Heroes
Team	First pick hero
LGD.int	/
LGD.cn	//
DK	/
ForLove	/
iG	/
TongFu	///
MUFC	/
ViCi	/

When it comes to the very first hero you want to have, the G-League teams are pretty homogeneous. Batrider overall is the top priority to have. Lone Druid, Dark Seer and Nyx Assassin are other heroes which also get picked up as fast as possible often.

MUFC and DK are eliminated from G-League 2012 Season 2. The other six teams continue to battle each other in the run for victory at this tournament and $32,000 first place prize money. The grand final will be in the Mercedes-Benz Arena, we can expect only the best of 6.76 patch Dota 2 action.

More information about G-League: G-League Event Page
More information about G-League: Group standings and playoff bracket