Towards the tail end of Dota 2 patch 7.32, we look at how the final tournament of the meta is shaping up.
The end is near for Dota 2 patch 7.32. The longest patch in recent Dota 2 history will itself be history on the 6th of March, as Valve have announced the arrival of a new patch (hopefully patch 7.33, and not patch 7.32e!) on that day. This officially makes the Lima Major the last tournament that will be played on this patch.
The Lima Major is three days into its five day group stage, and we already have an idea of what to expect going ahead. A total of 96 games were played in the first three days, and 99 heroes have been picked in those games. Let’s take a quick look at which heroes are favored more over others and which ones we can expect to see more of as the transition from group stages to playoffs happens.
All stats are taken from datDota.
Most picked heroes in the first three days of the Lima Major
Looking at the 10 most picked heroes at the Lima Major, you can see there are hardly any surprises. All the usual suspects like Lina, Rubick, Tusk, Ember Spirit and Death Prophet – heroes that dominated the 2023 DPC Winter Tour – are seen here. Teams did not find any secret new heroes to spam in the time between the Division I DPC Leagues and the Major.
Most of the heroes on this list have significantly above average win rates. Two of them, surprisingly, have abysmal win rates. Both Rubick and Ember Spirit are languishing at 36%, which is unusual as they did quite well in the DPC Winter Tour Division I Leagues. As teams learn which heroes are a liability at the international stage, we might see their pick rate go down as the tournament progresses.
Most contested heroes in the first three days of the Lima Major
The most contested list gives a more complete picture of the heroes teams deem as the best in the meta, as a lot of them get banned out in every game and don’t make the most played list. Two heroes have been contested in literally each game of the Major so far – Broodmother and Lina. These two heroes were also the two most contested the Division I DPC Leagues, so it isn’t a surprise to see them here, but the 100% contest rate is a bit of a jaw dropper, showing how good they are right now.
The third in the list is Batrider, who has a win rate of 69.57%, which justifies the high number of bans against him. Rubick is the only highly contested hero that is performing poorly. The others have rightly been banned in so many games, and that is bound to continue in the remaining games of the tournament.
Broodmother (16 picks, 80 bans, 100% contest rate)
Lina (26 picks, 70 bans, 100% contest rate)
Batrider (23 picks, 61 bans, 87.50% contest rate)
Rubick (50 picks, 33 bans, 86.64% contest rate)
Nature’s Prophet (28 picks, 52 bans, 83.33% contest rate)
Heroes with the highest win rate in the first three days of the Lima Major (picked in at least 15 games)
When the highest win rate heroes are looked at, few new names pop up. Puck and Snapfire, who haven’t been too present in the meta, are making waves at the Lima Major with win rates over 72%. But most of the heroes are ones that have been dominating the meta for a while – Pangolier, Enigma, Treant Protector, Lina, Undying, Broodmother. These heroes are bound to be hit hardest by the nerf hammer in Dota 2 patch 7.33.
Unpicked heroes in the first three days of the Lima Major
The same bunch of heroes that has been showing up in the unpicked list turns up here as well. There is quite a lot of Dota 2 yet to be played, so there are bound to be a few cheese picks like Arc Warden or Outworld Destroyer, or a Huskar and Oracle pair. But on the whole, a majority of these heroes are in need of a buff or two in Dota 2 patch 7.33.
In prominent international tournaments, the meta is dynamic and keeps changing with the progression of the tournament. The broad set of heroes remains the same, but as the number of teams reduces, the picks get very specific to counter certain playstyles. It will be interesting to see how Dota 2 patch 7.32 closes out when the Lima Major ends.
