This tournament really exemplified the pro scene’s current interest in ganking, space-creating midlaners. Not only were both Queen of Pain and Shadow Fiend the tournament’s most picked heroes, but there were also a number of appearances by Storm Spirit and (of course) Leshrac. With the exception of perhaps Bristleback, there aren’t really any heroes on this list who fit the description of a traditional static, farming position two: noticeably absent are heroes like Dragon Knight, Razor, Viper, etc. It should also be noted that there isn’t a single hard carry to be found here, further drawing attention to the metagame’s current focus on early to midgame map control. The drafting focus right now seems to be more centred around cores who can come online quickly and complementary supports who possess a great degree of movement and utility.
Being one of ESL’s most contested heroes, 19 of Leshrac’s overall 20 bans were made in the first round. Broodmother was banned 58% of the time and yet interestingly enough was only picked twice throughout the event. Nothing else here is particularly surprising, since the overwhelming presence of Wisp, Queen of Pain, and Shadow Fiend is to be expected at this point. Moreover, Phantom Lancer is such a potent hero in the current meta (against popular midlaners like Leshrac, Storm Spirit, Queen of Pain, and Shadow Fiend) that it seems reasonable for him to have been banned more than twice as many times as he was picked—he was successfully drafted a total of only six times.
Queen of Pain, Shadow Fiend, Leshrac, and Tusk were undoubtedly the powerhouse heroes of the tournament, having each been picked or banned in over 95% of all matches played. And while the dominating presence of these first three comes as no surprise—and has effectively been upheld as a competitive standard since the TI Qualifiers—it is interesting to see how Tusk seems to have replaced Gyrocopter in the upper echelon of first pick material. Gyro’s 55% contest rate contrasts starkly with his being picked or banned in 82% of all matches in the TI Qualifiers (throughout all regions). Having been played a total of seven times, he saw scattered play at the hands of Arteezy, EternaLEnVy, and Loda; and yet his prevalence throughout the tournament would have been reduced had it not been for BurNIng, who played the hero in three of his matches—the most of any player—two of which he won.
Dazzle proved to be just as prevalent at ESL as he did during the TI5 Qualifiers. This is likely due to the fact that Dazzle’s defensive abilities complement the currently popular burst damage heroes (commonly referred to as ‘glass cannons’) from the laning stage well into the late game. Weave, for instance, does wonders for Shadow Fiend’s already existing armour reduction ability, and Shallow Grave—though an all around useful skill—works particularly well with heroes like Queen of Pain (granting her an opportune moment for a blink escape) and Leshrac (since an extra few seconds of Pulse Nova’s high damage output can sometimes be enough to turn a teamfight). Despite the fact that Dazzle is commonly drafted by Team Secret’s Puppey, he only won two of the five matches in which he played the hero, whereas Evil Geniuses’ ppd held a 75% winrate with the hero, winning three of the four games in which he played it. The above being said, the most successful ‘meta-pick’ of the tournament was actually Tusk: this figure can very likely be attributed to zai’s stellar performance on the hero, as he maintained an 80% winrate whenever he played Tusk, winning four out of his five matches.
This statistic really only serves to demonstrate the current strength of Team Secret and the viability of their current ‘pocket strats’. Three of the top four heroes on this list all found success at the hands of the tournament’s champions. Keeper of the Light was played five times throughout the tournament; Puppey played the hero four times and won all of his matches. All four of Bloodseeker’s picks were executed by Secret (he was played three times by Arteezy and once by KuroKy) and proved the victor in three of his matches (including when he was played in the support role by KuroKy). Lastly, Anti-Mage saw victory all three times that Arteezy played him, with the hero’s only other match being when Fear played him into a loss against Secret in the tournament’s finals.
Having just won their fourth consecutive LAN, Secret is looking very dominant whilst moving into the home stretch before this year’s International. For the sake of our own entertainment—and that of Dota fans all-around—let’s hope that they have a few more strategies hidden up their sleeve.
All statistics taken from GosuGamers' very own database and datdota.
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