At the end of Division I of the 2023 DPC Winter Tour, we take a look at the most popular Aghanim’s Shards across all six Dota 2 regions.
It felt like a while before the 2023 DPC season started gaining some momentum, but we are in the thick of it now, and the Division I DPC Leagues of the Winter Tour are already over. A total of 420 games were played across all six Dota 2 regions, and while the meta didn’t shift massively since TI11, Dota 2 patch 7.32d did bring in some changes with it.
Here, we take a look at the Aghanim’s Shards that were picked most as well as those which had the highest pick rate from the games of the Division I DPC Leagues for the Winter Tour. All the data was obtained from datDota. This data only includes Aghanim’s Shards that were purchased and does not include Aghanim’s Shard pickups from the second Roshan.
Most Picked Aghanim’s Shards from Division I (2023 DPC Winter Tour)
Rubick has the highest Aghanim’s Shard pickups, and that is in part due to his high pick rate. The Grand Magus is the most picked hero when data from all 420 games is taken into an account, and is definitely one of the strongest heroes of the current meta. One of the things that makes him good and viable as a position 5 hero is his Shard, which gives him a save for allies.
Treant Protector is in the same boat – not the highest percentage of Shard pickups, but a high number overall due to the popularity of the hero. Heroes like Snapfire, Pangolier and Riki not only have a high number of Shards bought, but they also have a high pick percentage.
Highest Percentage of Aghanim’s Shards Picked (at least 20 games) from Division I (2023 DPC Winter Tour)
When the Shard pickups are arranged based on pick rate, heroes like Techies, Zeus, Phoenix and Drow Ranger rise to the top. These heroes have Shard pick rates of over 80%, meaning one of the reasons they are so good is the Shard. For heroes like Riki, Techies and Zeus, players literally save 1400 gold till the 15 minute mark and buy the Shard as soon as it becomes available. That is how good those Shards are.
Let’s dive a bit deeper in the five most popular Shards and see what they offer to increase the heroes’ pick rates.
Rubick
Ability Upgrade – Telekinesis
Allows you to target yourself or allies with Telekinesis. Throw range is 85% longer and cooldown is reduced by 30% when targeting allies. Throw delay reduced to 0.5 seconds.
The telekinesis cooldown is 22 seconds, so when used on allies, it gets lowered to 15.4 seconds. With the level 25 talent of -12 second Telekinesis cooldown, the ally use cooldown comes down to 7 seconds. Even a 15.4 second cooldown is quite low, and the level 15 talent of +240 Telekinesis landing distance makes this Shard amazing for saving allies. It is what has prompted the rise in position 5 Rubicks in professional games and pubs alike, and will continue to be popular unless it is nerfed in the next patch.
Keep in mind though, as good as the Shard is, it does have its limitations. The Telekinesis landing distance cannot be increased with Aether Lens or any other item that increases cast range (doesn’t increase with Arcane Supremacy either). Additionally, the save does not work on an ally caught in Chronosphere or Black Hole, or being dragged away by Flaming Lasso. It doesn’t even work on an ally caught in your Faceless Void’s Chronosphere! So make sure you tell your Void to keep all allies out of his Chrono.
Riki
New Ability – Sleeping Dart
Fires a dart at the target enemy, putting them to sleep. The target will wake up at the end of the duration or if they take too much damage. Upon waking up, the target takes damage and is slowed.
Sleeping Dart is a great initiation tool or a good way to keep an enemy hero out of the fight for 3 seconds. And upon waking up, the target takes damage, so Blink Dagger is disabled. It is the perfect setup for Smoke Screen, and for allies to jump onto an elusive target. The skill only has a 12 second cooldown, so as long as RIki manages to keep himself alive, there can be multiple Sleeping Darts in a team fight, disrupting the enemy team’s rhythm.
Riki’s Aghanim’s Shard upgrade is the only reason he is popular this meta. But it has been while since Riki has been a popular hero in the professional scene, and a big nerf to his Shard is not really warranted. Hopefully, this Shard is given a small tap on the wrist and nothing more.
Treat Protector
Ability Upgrade – Nature’s Guise
Causes Treant to move faster and become invisible with Nature's Guise and root enemies upon attacking. Deals damage over time and roots for longer if the attack was near a tree.
The root duration for Treant’s Shard upgrade is 1 second, and if Treant Protector is near a tree, the root duration is 2 seconds. It’s great tool to sneak up on a single enemy from the trees without having to commit Overgrowth.
While it is a good Shard, it isn’t overpowered. The root from the Shard can cancel a TP, but unlike Overgrowth, it cannot affect a magic immune target or even stop the channeling of a spell like Death Ward. So Treant needs to be vigilant on when to come out of the trees to land a punch with the bulging wooden muscles. A player who has mastered that is Entity’s position 4 player, Vladislav "Kataomi" Semenov. In the current meta, he is probably the best at getting the most of the hero’s Aghanim’s Shard upgrade, and the hero as a whole as well.
Pangolier
New Ability – Roll Up
Pangolier curls into an immobile protective ball, gaining magic immunity and allowing him to turn. Can be cast during Rolling Thunder to temporarily hit the brakes. Can cast Rolling Thunder and Shield Crash during Roll Up. If enemies attack Pangolier during this, he will roll away from the attacker, applying Rolling Thunder damage/stun if there are enemies in the way. Cooldown: 30.
Ever since Aghanim’s Shards were released in Dota 2 patch 7.28, Pangolier’s Shard has been one of the best in the game. It does too much – dispels, dodges projectiles, is a sure fire way to get off Rolling Thunder, allows Pango to change direction while in Rolling Thunder and helps to stop Rolling Thunder when Ruptured. Irrespective of what position Pango is played in (he is viable in any position from 2 to 5), Shard is always prioritized on the hero. In an ideal world, this Shard upgrade should be on top of the nerf list.
A few days ago while streaming, Nouns’ mid laner, Nico “Gunnar” Lopez mentioned that the Shard should not dispel. That would be a fair nerf for it – grants spell immunity, but does not dispel any debuffs. This Shard definitely needs to be brought down a couple of notches.
Snapfire
Ability Upgrade – Firesnap Cookie
Firesnap Cookies become even more potent, getting increased jump range and launching a Mortimer Kiss to the landing destination.
The impact damage of Firesnap Cookie is 280, and that of Mortimer’s Kisses is 320 (380 with the level 20 talent). With an Aghanim’s Shard, the Firesnap Cooke Impact damage becomes 600 magic damage (450 with the 25% magic damage reduction for heroes). That is the same as a level 3 Dagon, every 15 seconds (11 seconds with the level 15 talent). It’s not only great in team fights, but also in clearing out lanes. And the increased jump rage makes the skill more potent in saving allies.
While a few hero names in the list of popular Aghanim’s Shards are new, a lot of them have been the same for a while now. Hopefully when Dota 2 patch 7.33 arrives, there will be a massive toss up and a whole new bunch of Shards will dominate the new world order.
