This year’s TI was a rollercoaster of emotions for everyone involved. We have new champions in Tundra Esports, previous champions have been surprisingly eliminated, and a lot of favorites this year haven’t made it to the end. But throughout these events we have been treated to some of the most exciting dota games we’ve seen for years now.
These games included a good mix of heroes used in creative drafts. While some of them were standard picks and bans, such as Marci, Primal Beast, and Enigma, among others, others included unconventional picks like Arc Warden and Medusa. The hero pool this year was large, with 115 out of 123 heroes selected throughout the tournament.
So what happened to the other eight heroes you ask?
These eight heroes went completely unchallenged at this year’s TI. According to professional players, none of these heroes posed enough of a threat to warrant a ban or offered any utility in team compositions to justify a pick. While every hero here was once a threat on The International’s main stage, that seems to have changed now.
So what caused the change? Let’s break it down hero by hero.
windranger
Where to start with this one? She was once the comfort choice of many teams, but that no longer works. His entire kit consists of skills that need to be used in unison one after the other if you want to secure kills. While it works in a pub game, skillshots are often frowned upon in professional games because mistakes are easily punished.
It doesn’t provide enough reliable damage as a core, no reliable disables as a setup/utility hero, and no reliable evasion to get out of sticky situations. Her strongest position is as a mid laner and she is absolutely outclassed by other mid laners in the meta due to her lack of punishment. She will need some major tweaks to be viable in competitive play again.
dragon knight
Simply put, there are better heroes in the meta who can do what he does. Dragon Knight is tanky with good regeneration, it has a decent laning phase, and it reliably farms well. The problem is that it doesn’t fit into today’s active meta roster, with plenty of heroes capable of the same feats, only better.
And then there’s Wraith Pact, this patch’s meta-item. Dragon Knight isn’t the most reliable aura carrier as it doesn’t provide much other than single target disable and tank effect. He’s extremely cool-dependent thanks to his dragon form in a meta that relies on fast-paced combat and map control. Basically anything he can do, heroes like Broodmother can do even better.
Clinkz
Clinkz is a perfect fit for the teamfight meta and he has a great 54% win rate right now, so why wasn’t he picked? First, it’s just his pub stats, where he can build a Gleipnir and quickly choose support heroes while speeding up his farm with the Chain Lightning. This doesn’t work in the pro scene where his movement around the map is restricted by multiple sentries, dust, and the occasional Slardar.
With the meta leaning so heavily on teamfights and aura items, Clinkz loses a lot of its burst damage potential to items like Wraith Pact. Even though Death Pact gives him a good chunk of health and damage, there are meta heroes who can reliably blast him before he has a chance to shine.
Bounty hunter
While it was once the most reliable software support in a lineup focused on teamfighting, Bounty Hunter provides very little utility now like it once did. In a meta that revolves around burst damage, Bounty Hunter feels very underwhelming. As a support, his only reliable way to earn gold is through Jinada, and is immediately punished by good teams.
His only contribution to teamfights is hunting down enemy heroes, but with so many dispel items like Lotus Orb and Eul’s Scepter picked up by every team, that doesn’t really matter. With several teams even more adept than ever with vision play, it seems like Bounty Hunter’s usefulness is eclipsing in the pro scene.
Meep
Meepo is currently in a pretty strong position, with his Dig buffs propelling him to a 53% win rate in the pub scene. The professional scene, however, paints a different picture. This is mostly due to the fact that all of the Meepo counter-choice heroes are currently in the meta. Heroes like Leshrac and Pangolier are seen in nearly every game with the occasional Earthshaker for good measure.
While Meepo is by no means weak, the prevalence of his counter picks in the meta means he won’t be picked in any capacity going forward. If the teams manage to get him in an ideal composition, he makes a great fight against Broodmother and the four Spirit heroes stopping their mobility and blowing them up.
Protective Treant
Treant’s kit has a few slows with damage over time, a damage block with a heal, and a reliable AoE root. So why isn’t it chosen more often? First of all, he is quite slow in the laning phase in a fast paced meta. It hits hard and has high HP, but the lack of armor makes it quite squishy. His escape into the trees is pretty unreliable due to picks like Beastmaster, Timbersaw, and Slark.
The one thing he excelled at in the pro scene was playing defense. He would use Living Armor on towers to heal them before the next push, but since that was badly nerfed, that utility dropped as well. His slow and healing are pretty disappointing compared to heroes like Omniknight and his ultimate can be dispelled by just about any base dispel, making him a poor pick.
Keeper of Light
He was king of the mid lane just a few patches ago. But with his Illuminate nerfs and a Null Talismans revamp, his only doghouse was ruined too. Now he occupies the position of a mediocre support hero with a decent laning step and mana providing abilities. But once the laning phase is over, it provides little use in teamfights.
What he excels at is pushing back the lanes. This is something that every main hero in the meta currently can and loves to do. With cores cultivating jungles and lanes simultaneously, there is simply no room for KotL to scale. The two handicaps he has, Solar Bind and Will-O-Wisp, do not provide a reliable means of catching opponents and can be easily dealt with using a Lotus Orb and Force Staff.
Technicians
Techies was once the most reviled hero in the history of Dota 2. With the remakes he got a few patches ago, many saw him as a reliable four or even mid laner. His burst damage combo combined with an ethereal blade is capable of taking out even the most tanky target. His silence is the longest in the game and he has a reliable disarm system to prevent enemies from attacking.
So what’s the problem ? All of his kit is destroyed by Black King Bar. With pro players going for faster BKB timings, all tech initiation and burst damage is negated. His support slayer potential is also ruined with simple Glimmer Capes and Eul’s Scepters. Simply put, the time and farm it takes techs to be relevant in professional games just isn’t worth it.
#heroes #total #unchecked #banned #TI11