Here are the most picked, banned, and best-performing heroes of The International 2025 Regional Qualifiers.
The International (TI) 2025's Regional Qualifiers concluded on 19 June, with 
Nigma Galaxy securing the 16th and final spot at this year's Dota 2 world championship tournament. The qualifiers featured their fair share of surprises and upsets, and interestingly, the Dota 2 metagame has shifted slightly compared to the previous major event, DreamLeague Season 26.
Notable meta changes include the reduced presence of Ancient Apparition, Ringmaster, and Sand King, alongside a significant rise in both pick rate and performance for Batrider. Most other heroes maintained a similar standing to the previous event, despite balance changes introduced in Patch 7.39b.
Take a look at our breakdown of The International 2025 Regional Qualifiers metagame below:
Most Picked Hero: Shadow Shaman
- 89% contest rate
- 101 picks
- 98 bans
- 54% win rate
Shadow Shaman emerged as the most picked hero of the tournament once again, following its large presence in DreamLeague Season 26. Despite a slight nerf to the hero in Patch 7.39b, the hero remains a go-to pick in the pro scene.
His popularity is largely attributed to his strong spell kit, offering reliable lockdown, strong lane presence, and a powerful defense ability. With an already strong base package, the hero doesn’t need items to bring impact and would typically opt for a simple Ghost Scepter or Glimmer Cape, paired with an Aether Lens.
Primarily played as a position 4 support, Shadow Shaman was frequently first-picked as it is also often shoved into the ban pool almost immediately.
The Top 5 most picked heroes at TI 2025 Regional Qualifiers:
- Shadow Shaman: 101 picks, 54% win rate
- Pangolier: 82 picks, 45% win rate
- Tiny: 79 picks, 43% win rate
- Tusk: 72 picks, 54% win rate
- Dark Willow: 61 picks, 51% win rate
Most Banned Hero: Templar Assassin
- 81% contest rate
- 24 picks
- 156 bans
- 50% win rate
Templar Assassin has once again risen to the top as one of the most formidable heroes in Dota 2. Many teams opted to ban her immediately during the drafting phase, resulting in 156 bans, despite initial nerfs to her spells and talents in Patch 7.39, followed by minor buffs in Patch 7.39b.
As a fast-scaling snowball carry, Templar Assassin is efficient at farming, excels at taking Roshan early, and is notoriously difficult to kill thanks to her Refraction buffs. Her Meld combo also gives her strong burst potential, allowing her to quickly eliminate squishy supports. With her ability to farm quickly and come online earlier than many other cores, Templar Assassin stands as a highly threatening pick.
She made it into the battlefield 24 times across all the qualifiers, achieving a 50% win rate—a relatively mediocre performance compared to other highly banned heroes like Bristleback (68% win rate) and Death Prophet (57% win rate). Interestingly, Nigma Galaxy banned her more than any other team by banning her in all 13 games they played.
The Top 5 most banned heroes at TI 2025 Regional Qualifiers:
- Templar Assassin: 156 bans, 50% win rate when picked
- Bristleback: 150 bans, 68% win rate when picked
- Undying: 139 bans, 43% win rate when picked
- Puck: 107 bans, 54% win rate when picked
- Death Prophet: 105 bans, 57% win rate when picked
Top Heroes By Role
Carry
Terrorblade led the top carry picks in the TI 2025 Regional Qualifiers, but when it comes to performance, Sven and Medusa boasted higher win rates.
Top 5 most picked carry heroes:
- Terrorblade - 47 picks (51% wr)
- Gyrocopter - 34 picks (41% wr)
- Sven - 33 picks (58% wr)
- Doom - 29 picks (55% wr)
- Medusa - 25 picks (60% wr)
Mid lane
In the mid lane, there’s nothing particularly groundbreaking. Storm Spirit remains the go-to pick in recent matches, but Void Spirit has quietly outperformed most mid laners on top, boasting an impressive 65% win rate.
Top 5 most picked mid heroes:
- Storm Spirit - 46 picks (48% wr)
- Puck - 41 picks (54% wr)
- Tiny - 41 picks (46% wr)
- Pangolier - 36 picks (39% wr)
- Void Spirit - 31 picks (64% wr)
Offlane
While Pangolier struggles in the midlane, he shines in the offlane, earning frequent picks and a stronger win rate. Meanwhile, Axe and Dawnbreaker have been on the rise, overtaking previous offlane staples like Sand King and Tidehunter.
Top 5 most picked offlane heroes:
- Pangolier - 44 picks (52% wr)
- Dark Seer - 37 picks (46% wr)
- Axe - 33 picks (46% wr)
- Centaur Warrunner - 30 picks (27% wr)
- Dawnbreaker - 28 picks (36% wr)
Supports
In the support role, Ringmaster saw a noticeable decline in picks following heavy nerfs in Patch 7.39. Surprisingly, Naga Siren has emerged as a dominant hard support, not only with a high pick rate but also an impressive 60% win rate. Batrider has also risen in ranks to become one of the go-to position 4 heroes with a solid 63% win rate.
Top 5 most picked pos 4 heroes:
- Shadow Shaman - 87 picks (54% wr)
- Tusk - 59 picks (53% wr)
- Dark Willow - 59 picks (51% wr)
- Batrider - 32 picks (63% wr)
- Rubick - 23 picks (39% wr)
Top 5 most picked pos 5 heroes:
- Naga Siren - 30 picks (60% wr)
- Ancient Apparition - 29 picks (45% wr)
- Silencer - 24 picks (50% wr)
- Jakiro - 21 picks (57% wr)
- Warlock - 21 picks (33% wr)
Uncontested Heroes
To wrap up this meta article, let’s also look at what’s non-meta. While there are heroes that you may expect to see on the bench, several once-popular heroes have now also fallen out of favor, completely ignored the entirety of the TI 2025 Regional Qualifiers.
Unpicked and unbanned heroes of TI 2025 Regional Qualifiers are: Hoodwink, Juggernaut, Lone Druid, Phantom Lancer, Pugna, Spirit Breaker, Visage, Winter Wyvern, Wraith King, and Zeus.
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