The first stages of the Summer Global Championship at DreamHack Summer have wrapped up with the playoffs beginning soon. Throughout the first half of the tournament there's been a noticeable trend forming in the top heroes being picked from regions across the world. It's becoming clear which heroes seem to be the most viable picks for teams, as well as which heroes teams just don't want to play against.
- The most contested hero so far is Rehgar, who has been picked in every single game. He's absolutely the most contested support in the game right now and has been for a good period of time. However, it's interesting to note that he's been played in 23/23 games, which means he hasn't been banned once. While he's obviously the top support, teams really don't have an issue with letting their opponent pick up Rehgar.
- When it comes to tanks, Muradin is still the king. He's only missed out on one game in the tournament, and has only been banned twice. He's similar to Rehgar in the fact that he's a solid pick and a great tank to have, but it's not a necessary ban for most teams.
- Surprisingly, the top assassin throughout the tournament has been Falstad. He's also only missed out on one game, being picked 16 times and banned six. Falstad has historically been a solid pick, but throughout the regionals and qualifiers it seemed as if he lost a bit of popularity. That's not the case anymore though, he's climbed the ranks again and is at the top of everyone's watch list in terms of assassins.
- There's a lot of conversation right now about the state of supports in the competitive meta. Outside of Rehgar there doesn't really seem to be another heavily sought after support. The next most contested support is Tassadar who has been banned more than he's been picked - 8/15 games he was banned. The most picked support behind Rehgar is Kharazim, only seeing 11 games so far.
- Illidan is by far the most banned hero in the competitive scene right now. He's been banned more than double the amount of any other hero, and has only been played in two games. He's a very good assassin with a pretty flexible kit, and he's especially deadly when paired with Tassadar. Teams have made it very clear that he is a must-ban.
- Tassadar has been the focus of a surprising amount of bans. He's not necessarily the best healer in the game, but his strength comes from what he enables in a team composition. Tassadar is absurdly powerful when paired with Illidan or Tracer and even a second support, so it makes sense why some teams would try to keep him out of play.
- Sonya is also among the top most banned heroes and has actually been banned much more than she's been played. In a total of 11 games where she was contested she was banned in eight of them. She's a great pickup along with a main-tank and her ability to give a team a powerful frontline is definitely noteworthy, but it's interesting that she would be a priority ban in a lot of situations.
- Greymane is back in the action and was the most first-picked hero so far in the tournament. He's been contested in 19 games and has been picked 14 times, six of which he was a first pick. He's a highly contested assassin and seems to be a priority pick among teams.
- Muradin was also first-picked a solid amount of times which makes sense considering his prioritization among teams. He's easily one of the best tanks in the game right now but he's not so OP that he's a must-ban.
- It's worth noting that the two main mages - Kael'thas and Li-ming have dropped in terms of prioritization. They're definitely two of the strongest ranged assassins in the game and are still some of the most contested heroes, but their draft prioritization has definitely shifted.
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