Team Dignitas became the first team to qualify for the Summer Global Championship on Sunday as they won the European Regional 3-0 over mYinsanity. Top teams from around Europe were at the event and from looking at the data, it seems some heroes have become more relevant and others have faded away.
"You are not prepared!"
Recent balance and talent reworks to Illidan have left him as the single most feared hero in Europe. Out of 32 games, Illidan was banned 23 times, far more than the next most banned hero Dehaka, who was only banned ten times. He was only played twice, which is probably because he was the focus of a ban in 72 percent of games. Illidan can be a huge threat, especially on bigger maps like Blackheart's Bay and Cursed Hollow where he can chase for days.
Healing Ward
As per usual, Rehgar is still the top contested hero and only missed out on one game, getting more play time than every other support. While this isn't necessarily new, there are some other support heroes that deserve a mention. Tyrande was the third most banned hero, and the top banned support. Some teams have been running her with a double-support composition, but some have also been taking her as a solo healer. It's interesting that she would be the top banned support, but obviously EU has a lot of respect for what she brings to the table.
The top two supports besides Rehgar were Tassadar and Uther. Tassadar has been seeing a fair amount of play and can be a great way to round off a team. His shields and visibility are crucial, and a well-placed force wall can change the tide of a fight. Uther is also seeing a good amount of play and is considered one of the top supports in Europe, seeing as he was banned just once less than Tyrande.
No more Ice Mage
There was a point in time in the meta where Jaina was by far the top mage. Her baseline slow can hurt a team so much and allow for her allies to put in some serious damage. However, since her release, Li-Ming has been another great choice for a mage. Kael'thas was underpowered for a long time, and this allowed teams to get used to playing with Jaina and Li-Ming. Recent buffs to Kael'thas have shaken up the mage meta, though.
The top two contested assassins are Kael'thas and Li-Ming with Li-Ming coming up only one game short in comparison to Kael'Thas. Jaina saw minimal play at the regional, if she saw any at all, and Kael'thas and Li-Ming are easily the top mages now. Kael'thas was among the top most banned heroes, mainly out of respect of how good players were with him. He can be a serious menace and teams have found him viable again after some buffs.
It's also worth mentioning that the top two most first-picked heroes were Kael'thas and Li-Ming.
Warrior Madness
There are so many viable warrior options, and with the recent addition of Dehaka the warrior pool is only growing. Muradin is obviously still the most contested warrior and that probably won't change, but Sonya has seen a bit of an upswing though. She's always been good and players seem to have recognised that as she saw a lot of play at the regional and only missed out on a few games.
Dehaka is the newest warrior in the game and was the second most banned hero. His sustain can be hard to deal with, and a well timed Drag can literally win the game for a team. He's been a massive new factor in the meta and he's changed how teams draft, and ban. Johanna was the next top warrior that saw a lot of play time, but wasn't the target of a whole lot of bans. She's a solid pick, but European teams obviously consider Dehaka to be more of a threat.
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